Special offer on direct flights to Bangkok

Economy Class flights to Bangkok From £581 pp
Elite Class flights to Bangkok From £876 pp
Business Class flights to Bangkok From £1766 pp

Offers are inclusive of all taxes and charges and subject to availability booking open by 30 nov 2011

Qatar Airways to Expand Wings Around the World

Qatar Airways is all set to expand its horizon in the year 2012. The airline made public its route expansion program for the next year at the Dubai Air Show held on Friday. With the new program, the airline hopes to make its presence stronger in regions like Australia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

The five-star airline is going to launch flight to Perth (Australia), Helsinki (Finnish capital), Zagreb (Croatia), Gassim (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Zanzibar (Tanzania), Kigali (Rwanda) and Mombasa (Kenya).

While cheap tickets on flights is not exactly what people think when they hear of Qatar Airways, the rise in the competition on the seven routes will perhaps ensure that budget travellers have better chances of grabbing cheap flight tickets.

Each of the seven new routes will be operated from the Qatar Airways’ hub in Doha. As per the airline the routes will become functional over the next few months. These new flight routes will accompany flights to Baku and Tbilisi, the capital cities of Azerbaijan and Georgia, respectively that were announced earlier in the year.

Qatar Airways’ Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker spoke about the company’s aggressive strategy.

“We are continuing what we started back in 1997 when Qatar Airways was launched with new routes and new aircraft being introduced at an unprecedented rate to further strengthen what is truly a global network airline,” Al Baker was quoted in the company’s press release.

“Our mission has been to operate to key business and leisure destinations around the world, but also to underserved markets where others dare not venture into. We take bold decisions to serve certain markets because we believe it makes strong business sense.

“Today’s announcement shows the confidence Qatar Airways has in such a diverse range of destinations. We look forward to offering even greater choice to the travelling public that they so deserve,” Al Baker continued.

Qatar Airways’ New Routes

Qatar Airways’ flights to Perth will be second air travel route in Australia after it launched operations to Melbourne couple of years ago.

The airline’s operations to Helsinki and Zagreb will give a boost to Qatar’s presence in Europe. In 2011, Qatar started seven routes to Europe.

If one talks about the African continent, then the launch of three new routes will surely bolster the carrier’s business in the area. Kenya’s Mombasa and Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean are considered popular holiday destinations while Rwanda’s capital city of Kigali is a mining hub and is sure to attract business travellers.

Much closer to home lies the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the airline is in the mood to keep it closer and covered. The carrier has added fifth destination to the country - Gassim.

News Reference

Kingfisher Airlines Crisis: More Flights Cancelled

Travellers suffer the most as India’s Kingfisher Airlines keeps on cancelling its flights. The airline grounded 30 flights on Thursday, the fourth consecutive day of flight cancellations. DGCA sends a show-cause notice to the carrier.

Kingfisher Airlines cancelled flights for fourth day in a row on Thursday to cause great inconvenience to passengers all over the country. More than 30 flights were grounded yesterday. This takes the total tally of flight cancelled in past few days to well over 100.

Chaos was the order of the day at various airports around the country as confusion ruled the roost with no clear information or guidelines coming out of the airline. Very few international flights have been cancelled so far but many foreign tourists on Indian holidays were concerned about their domestic travel within India.

Kingfisher Airlines is one of the biggest names in the India’s aviation industry and the company’s massive flight cancellations have left people in lurch. Those who made advance booking with Kingfisher Airlines in a bid to net cheap flight tickets were perhaps most disappointed with the grounding of flights.

Sources in the industry said that more than 30 pilots and crew members with Kingfisher have not reported for duty in the past few days on grounds of illness. There have been other unverified reports that say that some 100 pilots had quit the airline in past few weeks.

The airline’s flight schedule has also been affected with three oil companies - HPCL, IOC and BPCL – discontinuing the grant of credit to the carrier for lifting jet fuel. The oil companies have put Kingfisher on a cash-and-carry payment mode.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that Kingfisher has been sent show-cause notice as to why the airline had not taken the regulator's prior approval to limit its operations. The DGCA has also asked the Vijay Mallya-owned carrier to offer information regarding steps that have been taken by the airline to take care of the passengers with bookings on the flights that were cancelled.

Kingfisher is yet to reply to the DGCA’s notice.

Kingfisher Airlines had said in a statement: “For a limited period, these flights are either being cancelled or clubbed with other Kingfisher flights in a well-controlled and pre-determined manner.

“In continuation of our earlier announcement to focus on the full-service market, KFA has initiated reconfiguration of its aircraft,” it further said.

Chief Executive Officer of Kingfisher Airlines, Sanjay Aggarwal was quoted in news websites as stating, “We decided to reduce frequency in some of the routes where we had multiple flights like Delhi-Mumbai or low passenger load like Nanded-Mysore.”

Kingfisher Cancellations Cause Surge in Air Fares

Kingfisher Airlines’ cancellation of substantial number of flights over the period of four days means an increase in air fares for travellers. In the current scenario it has become extremely difficult for passengers to net cheap flight tickets for domestic travel.

Passengers at major airports in the country have complained of inconvenience. The have been forced to rebook on other airlines paying a premium of 20-40 per cent at the last moment.

News Reference

Oneworld Alliance Members Geared Up For Lucrative Fare Sale

American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia are celebrating the first anniversary of their joint business. These oneworld alliance members have decided to offer cheap tickets with distinctive fare sale to amplify the Christmas festivities.

American Airlines recent news release promulgated the launch of a joint fare sale by the oneworld Airline Trio - American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia. This unique fare sale is set to lure budget travellers with cheap flights between the United States and European destinations.

The airline trio plans to offer round-trip economy class tickets as low as $224, each way. However, flyers would need to book the economy class tickets atleast seven days and business class tickets atleast 14 days prior to travel to enjoy the low fares; tickets must be booked not later than 11:59 p.m. Nov. 15th 2011 (Central Time).

As per the news release, special economy class fares to continental Europe will be lowest for travel, Sundays through Thursdays, while for UK, economy class travel fares will be cheapest Mondays through Wednesdays. However, special business class tickets would be valid throughout the week.

Tourists willing to partake in this scheme can log onto www.aa.com to find the schedules and book cheap flights.

Originating Dates

The originating travel dates for economy class to Europe run from Nov. 8 through Dec. 16, 2011 and Dec. 25, 2011 through April 1, 2012 with June 15, 2012 travel as conclusion date.

The originating travel dates for business class are from Nov. 15, 2011 through May 22, 2012 with June 15, 2012 as the travel conclusion date.

Embargo Dates

While the Embargo dates for economy class travel are from Dec. 17th through Dec. 24th 2011, there are no embargo dates for business class travel.

Ticket Validity

Economy class tickets will be valid for travel originating from Nov. 8th 2011 through Dec. 16th 2011 or from Dec. 25th 2011, through Apr 1st 2012, with return completed by midnight June 15th 2012.

Business Class fares will be valid for travel beginning Nov. 15th 2011, through May 22nd 2012, with return travel completed by midnight June 15th 2012.

Additionally, if the flights are cancelled before scheduled departure, partially used tickets would be valid for one year for from the travel date; unused tickets will be valid for one year from the issuing date. Conversely, if the tickets are not cancelled before scheduled departure, the ticket will have no value.

Fare Information

The tickets will be non-refundable and non-transferable and may not be available on all flights. Additionally, the change fee for economy class tickets to Europe will be $275 plus fare difference (if any) and for business class fares to Europe will be $500 plus fare difference.

The special fares will not include

• A federal excise tax of $3.70 per U.S. domestic flight segment, defined as one takeoff and landing, of a passenger's itinerary

• up to $18 per round trip in local airport charges

• September 11th Security Fee of $2.50 per enplanement originating at a U.S. airport

• government taxes and fees of up to $190 for Economy Class and $250 for Business Class, for international destinations, which may vary through destinations.

News Reference

Virgin Atlantic to Serve Vancouver; to Add Second Flight to San Francisco

Virgin Atlantic will start operating flights between Vancouver and London Heathrow from May 2012. The services will go on till October and will be offered four times a week. Virgin Atlantic also announced a second London and San Francisco service.

Yesterday, Virgin Atlantic Airways made a significant announcement of launching a new seasonal route to between Vancouver and London Heathrow Airport.

The new flight service that will be offered four times a week from May 24th to Oct. 25th is expected to provide a boost of $54 million to Vancouver’s tourism revenue. Vancouver – London route is likely to be utilised by 40,000 travellers.

In a response to the airline’s announcement, the Honourable Christy Clark, Premier of British Columbia was quoted as stating, “Today’s announcement by Virgin Atlantic, of four new weekly flights between London and Vancouver, is positive news for British Columbia’s tourism industry.”

She was also quoted as saying, “The United Kingdom is one of our key markets and also serves as a hub for other international travellers heading to our province. Virgin Atlantic is recognized around the world as a progressive airline and we look forward to welcoming their passengers to British Columbia when their service begins next summer.”

The launch of the new air travel route gains significance in the view of the Olympic Games 2012 that will be hosted by London. Then there is the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne. Both these events are likely to attract tourists from all over the world to the UK capital.

Airbus A340-300s will be plied on the new route. Aircraft will have the configuration of Upper Class, Premium Economy and Economy. Travellers with a preference for cheap tickets on flights to San Francisco will surely have much better chance of grabbing them as ample amount of premium economy and economy seats are available on the new route.

Virgin Atlantic also announced the launch of a second flight between London and San Francisco. It will start operating from March 2012 and will run until October 2012. It will be a three times a week service (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays).

“The North American market has always been at the core of our business. Our success here has been due to our investment in product innovation and our willingness to respond to customer demand,” Steve Ridgway, Virgin Atlantic’s Chief Executive said.

“With almost 20,000 people flying from the UK to Canada each month in the peak season, the UK is the largest overseas market for passengers to British Columbia,” he was further quoted.

The increased competition among the carriers will also be beneficial for passengers as it will be much easier for them to net cheap flight tickets, something that Steve Ridgway emphasised on.

“Greater competition to both Vancouver and San Francisco will benefit passengers through improved choice and better value for money,” he was quoted in news reports.

News Reference