Kingfisher Airlines Fishes out More and More Awards

Kingfisher Airlines, the only Five Star airline from India, bagged five Frequent Traveler Awards for its loyalty programme King Club. Kingfisher Airlines is the only airline from India, which won from the Middle East and Asia/Oceania region. The different awards are Best Redemption Ability, Best Earning Promotion, Best Elite Program, Program of the Year, and Best Loyalty Credit Card.

Importance of the Awards

The airline is based in Mumbai and remains a natural choice for millions of Britons who seek luxury flights to Mumbai. Besides Mumbai, from time to time, Kingfisher also advertises special deals and cheap flights to India in general. By winning this award, Kingfisher has again managed to hog limelight. Voting was carried out by frequent flyers across the globe and reflects the immense popularity of the King Club programme. In fact, more than a million travellers from over 200 countries voiced King Club as their favourite programme across different segments during 2009.

Future Prospects from the Awards

These awards are truly democratic in nature as travellers get to rate hotel and airline programmes from their very own perspective. Going by the popularity of the programme, it is logical for anyone who frequently takes flights to India, especially Mumbai flights, to sign up for the King Club programme.

Kingfisher also bagged awards across the following categories:

-The Best Earning Promotion
-The Best Redemption Ability for the guests ability to redeem free flights on Kingfisher Airlines and Partner Airlines
-The Best Loyalty Credit Card for Kingfisher First American Express Credit Card
-The Best Elite Program for King Club Platinum Tier benefits

Awards Venue

The announcement of the awards took place at the Sheraton North Houston at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, TX. The ceremony was attended by more than 125 representatives from the sectors of loyalty, credit cards, hotels, and airlines.

Get the latest fares on flights to India destinations here

Early Christmas for Delta as it Expands Operations to Heathrow

Delta Air Lines got its Christmas gift early this year with both the U.S. Department of Transportation and the European Commission giving its nod to operate new daily, year-round flights between the London's Heathrow and Boston and Miami international airports. Delta will start operating new flights from March 27, 2011.

Delta Air Lines, which is in a transatlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia, will operate the new flights within the scope of its joint venture. With the move, the number of transatlantic routes operated by the member airlines from Boston rises to four and the figure goes up to five for routes offered from Miami.

Glen Hauenstein, Delta's executive vice president for Network Planning, Revenue Management and Marketing, was quite pleased with the news and expressed his appreciation for the authorities in the company’s press release, "Delta appreciates the efforts of the U.S. Department of Transportation and the European Commission to expand competition between the U.S. and Heathrow by making slots available for new entrants on these routes."

In the early part of the year 2010, Delta applied for the approval to operate flights to Miami and Boston from London; and on 10th Nov 2010, Delta got its wish. The fact that Delta’s global alliance – SkyTeam – holds the smallest percentage of slots at Heathrow seems to have worked for the company. Delta Air Lines started operations in Heathrow following the conclusion of an Open Skies agreement between the U.S. and the E.U in 2008. Currently, the carrier has seven daily round-trip flights in the Heathrow market.

News Source: Early Christmas for Delta as it Expands Operations to Heathrow

BAA Numbers Soar as Business Travellers Return

The biggest airport authority in the UK, the British Airports Authority (BAA) reported an increase of 3.4% in passenger air traffic in October, thanks to an upswing in the business travel division. BAA stated that all of its six airports collectively handled nearly 10 million passengers in the last month. The 1.2% increase in the number of flights in the region also contributed to this impressive growth in travellers’ traffic.

The London Heathrow Airport reported an increase of 6% in its flight traffic along with a rise of 7.2% in passenger numbers which is up by 410,000. Buoyed by the impressive numbers, BAA believes that 10.6% rise in Heathrow’s European travel can be an indicator of improving things after the traumatic economic depression.

Long-haul flights between London Heathrow and China improved by 16.1%, which is a phenomenal number given the fact that the hub serves only two Chinese destinations. The number of flights between BAA airports and North America increased by 7.5%, while long-haul flights from UK to other destinations spiralled up by 3.2%.

Colin Matthews, the Chief Executive of BAA is pleased with the reported numbers and stated in a press release that “Passenger growth is good for the economy with thousands of people across the country employed in aviation, international trade and tourism. We are continuing with our £5 billion Heathrow investment programme – the biggest private investment project in the UK – providing thousands of jobs as we modernise facilities to improve everyone's experience of the airport.

Among other BAA airports, Edinburgh’s passenger traffic rose by 3.5% while Southampton mounted up by 1.0%.

News Source: BAA Numbers Soar as Business Travellers Return

Latest fares on flights to India with Southall Travel

Cheapest flights to India from UK:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Latest airfares on FLIGHTS TO INDIA FROM UK

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special offers for Atlantis the Palm hotel in Dubai

Three Major Airlines Announce Transatlantic Venture

American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia have announced a joint business partnership after procuring an approval from the travel regulatory authorities. The joint agreement enables these three major airlines to work together commercially on flights between USA, Canada and Mexico and the EU, Switzerland and Norway.

This trilateral business collaboration is great news for travellers as they will have access to more benefits than they presently do through these member airlines individually. In turn, the alliance is in much better position to compete aggressively with its rival alliances across the Atlantic.

This alliance means more destinations, extra flights and cheap tickets for business as well as travellers on holidays.

The combined route network of American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia will expand to more than 400 destinations in more than 100 countries throughout the world with nearly 5,000 daily departures. By functioning jointly, the three airlines will also increase options for customers by supporting routes that may not be economically feasible for a single airline.

In addition, the airlines announced new flights to Budapest from New York JFK, London Heathrow to San Diego, Madrid to Los Angeles and Chicago to Helsinki.

Additional Customer Benefits

• Better access to an extensive option of fare deals
• Suitably timed flights
• Customer transferring support teams at London Heathrow, New York JFK, Chicago, Madrid and Miami
• Convenient online check-in and boarding pass printing from your home or hotel
• Flights information on each of the three airline’s website
• Enhanced prospects of earning and redeeming frequent flyer benefits
• Comprehensive account management for corporate customers