National carrier Air New Zealand announced it would cut
average airfares on routes to the Pacific Islands by up to
50 percent as it unveiled the final stage of its revamp of
short-haul services.
Air NZ has already introduced a no-frills model on
trans-Tasman and domestic flights, stimulating demand as it
fends off competition from Virgin Blue and Qantas. The new
Pacific Express service would see fares across both
business and economy classes between New Zealand and
Australia and the islands of Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and the
Cook Islands reduced by up to 50 percent, the company said
in a statement. The cheapest one-day flight between
Auckland and Fiji, excluding taxes and levies, would cost
NZD$229 and NZD$289 to the Cook Islands.
An airline pilot, reported by passengers for flying his
Boeing 737 erratically, was fined 1,500 euros (USD$1,845)
after a breath test showed he had been drinking, German
police said. The pilot worked for a north African airline
and was flying from Morocco to Düsseldorf in western
Germany. Police declined to name his airline. Police
launched an investigation against the pilot for
“endangering air traffic” and the civil
aviation authority had confiscated the plane’s flight
recorder. “Several of the 108 passengers complained
about the pilot’s ‘erratic’ flying style,” Düsseldorf
police said in a statement.
New European low-cost airline WIZZ Air secured its third
base in Gdansk, Poland. The airline plans to start
operations from May to coincide with European Union
enlargement. Low-budget airlines are emerging across
Central Europe, where treaties protecting national carriers
must be scrapped after several countries in the region join
the EU.
WIZZ Air said it planned to become central Europe’s
third-biggest airline this year after Poland’s LOT and
Czech CSA
JetBlue has announced its intention to begin nonstop
service from its hub in New York to Santiago and Santo
Domingo, both in the Dominican Republic.
Privately owned Spirit Airlines, which currently flies
to Mexico, recently won federal approval to fly to 11
countries: Aruba, the Bahamas, Canada, Costa Rica,
Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
Jamaica, Nicaragua and Panama.
America West announced nonstop service from Los Angeles
to four new international destinations in Canada and
Mexico.
British Airways plans to introduce a new Russian
regional route and increase the number of flights on its
existing routes to Russia. BA franchisee British Mediterranean
Airways will operate three flights a week from London to
the Urals city of Yekaterinburg from May 10.
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