British Airways Increases Frequency of Morocco Flights

British Airways (BA), the flag carrier of United Kingdom, voiced intentions of increasing the number of flights currently operating between the UK and the Kingdom of Morroco, a sought-after tourist destination in Northern Africa. After the increase of services to Morocco, travellers will be able to buy tickets aboard any among the ten weekly flights of BA to Marrakech and the thrice in a week operations to Agadir, a city in Morocco, from the United Kingdom. The change in schedule is expected to be enforced in late October, 2013.   

This expansion was made possible after BA’s purchase of British Midlands International, a former Lufthansa AG subsidiary with operations on various routes across Africa. Since the acquisition, this UK-based operator has added BMI’s fleet to its own and started increasing its flights to key routes across the African continent such as Liberia and Sierra Leone. This increase in frequency is expected to be beneficial for holiday makers to Morocco as well as business travellers who purchase air tickets to the country for work-related purposes. This proposed increase in flight operations on these routes would improve connectivity of key commercial areas in Morocco with London and onwards to other commercial centres globally.

Currently this full-service operator provides interested travellers with the option of purchasing tickets aboard daily flights that connect Marrakesh, Morocco with the UK as well as the twice a week service to Agadir city. This level of connectivity was achieved after four new services in a week to Marrakesh were added by the airline, less than a year back, when the BMI acquisition was completed. The increased tickets availability is expected to help in improving the current levels of trade as well as existing tourism relationships between Britain and the Kingdom of Morocco.

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BA launches Special Fares from Mumbai to London & New York

United Kingdom’s national carrier, British Airways has come up with special fares to delight travellers departing from India! The premier full service carrier is all set to make sure that holiday makers who book tickets on its return flights to travel from India’s Entertainment Capital, Mumbai to London and New York City are a happy lot.  

These special are being offered for a limited time period. These fares are available only on tickets booked for World Traveller (the airline's Premium Economy cabin) and Economy classes aboard British Airways’ flights departing from Mumbai in India to London and New York City.

The deal is sure to please not only the British Airways’ hospitality fans but also those budget tourists who wish to procure tickets on relatively cheap flights with BA and enjoy ergonomically designed seats, unlimited in-flight entertainment and the variety of delectable refreshments from India.

Industry insiders believe that British Airways is offering tickets aboard its flights departing from Mumbai to London and New York City in its endeavour to tap the increasing travel demand on the popular routes from India. 

Under the latest promotions rolled out by the airline, the special fare will be available for booking till June 30, 2013 for travel till August 31, 2013.  

Using a fleet of wide and narrow-bodied Airbus and Boeing aircrafts, BA offers tickets aboard flights to various destinations located within Europe and in North America, Latin America, Canada, Africa, Asia and Australia.

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BA Offers Discount Airfares between Singapore and Sydney

Bringing cheers to its fans and patrons, British Airways has launched special fare for return tickets on its international flights between Singapore and Sydney. Under the scheme, passengers booking tickets for return flights to travel on the popular route will be able to net huge discounts on all travel classes.

The tickets for return flights will start from S$688 for economy class, S$1,888 for premium economy, S$3,388 for business class and S$7,888 for first class. The relatively cheap air tickets from Singapore are sure to please budget vacationers who hope to board BA’s flights on the route.

Under the latest promotions rolled out by the airline, the tickets will be available for booking between March 31, 2013 and April 7, 2013 for travel from March 31, 2013 to July 31, 2013.

In addition, the airline will deploy its newest swanky aircraft, the Boeing 777-300 ER (Extended Range) aircraft to offer tickets aboard all its international flights on Singapore-Sydney sector.

In another recent development, the airline announced to launch its first Airbus A380 on its ‘Red Carpet Route’ from London to Los Angeles. Tickets for its first A380 flights are now on sale. The new A380 flights are all set to start from October 15, 2013.

Using a fleet of wide and narrow-bodied Airbus and Boeing aircraft, BA’s extensive network includes services to Europe, North America, Latin America, Canada, Africa, Asia and Australia.

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Maximise your Compensation during Flight Cancellations

India remains a dream destination for many Britons! But what when the dream turns into a nightmare as traveller faces the annoying issue of flight cancellation!

Flight cancellation, though a common issue, can seriously spoil your holiday mood and ruin all the efforts you made in browsing cheap flights to India. However, having knowledge about the various compensation rules can help you in getting over the insurmountable travel inconvenience caused due to flight cancellation.

Go for Travel Insurance

To gain the maximum compensation on flight cancellation by the airlines, you should opt for travel insurance well in advance either with the airline or with some reliable travel agent. Travel insurance can ensure you full compensation for the cancellation of your flight to India due to various issues including weather conditions or some technical problems. For example, the comprehensive travel insurance offered by British Airways cover trip cancellation or delays, lost or delayed baggage, medical cover, repatriation, and 24 hour support to ensure peace of mind and safety to the travellers. BA is a popular choice for flights to India travellers can get a quote and book travel insurance on the airline’s website.

Stand For Yourself

If you do not have a travel insurance, you do not need to feel like a deprived passenger.   With travel insurance or without it, you are liable to get airline compensation for a cancelled flight. However to get the maximum compensation from the airline, the first thing you need to have is the correct ticket confirmation. Moreover, you must also book for the compensation as soon as possible to gain utmost benefits.  

Airline's Responsibility

Once you have completed all the formalities after your flight gets cancelled, the airline will definitely offer you compensation. However, compensation policies depends from airlines to airlines. For instance, holiday makers booking cheap flights to India with British Airways are liable to get rebooking of flights and may even ask for complete refund of the ticket fare if their flight is delayed for five hours or more. The airline also offers complementary meals, refreshments, accommodation option near the airport and means to contact two persons outside the airport premises.

However, if you do not get any such compensation from the airline you are flying with, you must go through the fine print in the airline's policy and ask for compensation by writing a formal letter, if needed.

British Airways’ Owner Takes BMI under Wing

Christmas revelry for British Airways and bitter holidays for Virgin Atlantic! Well, that’s what seems to have been the consequence of International Airlines Group (IAG) outbidding Virgin Atlantic to acquire BMI from Lufthansa.

IAG, British Airways’ owner, made a successful bid of 172.5 million-pound ($271 million) to bring the loss-making venture under its wings. BMI is Heathrow airport's second largest airline and the acquisition of BMI will consolidate BA’s position as Heathrow’s most potent carrier, with its share rising from about 44% to 53%.

BMI also runs BMI regional and BMIBaby, a budget airline known to offer cheap flight tickets. IAG has emphasised it is only interested in BMI’s mainline business and also has warned Lufthansa to face “significant price reduction” if the German carrier is unable to find buyers for both units.

British Airways is one of Europe’s leading airlines and is known to offer connections to many destinations. With the acquisition of BMI, IAG will now look to exploit some of slots by offering more flights to Asia – Flights to Malaysia and Korea appear to be quite a possibility, apart from Indonesia and Vietnam. BA has never served South Korea’s Incheon airport and it stopped its flights to Malaysia in 2001 for more focus on Bangkok and Singapore.

Virgin Atlantic’s Sir Richard Branson, however, is not buying IAG’s plans of new Asian markets from Heathrow and calls them “smoke-screen.” He also hinted at the prospect of air tickets prices going up and cheap flights becoming rarity in case BA has monopoly on London Heathrow.

IAG has rubbished the claims.

Odyssey Airlines’ Launch May Spell Trouble for British Airways

A soon to be launched British airline, Odyssey Airlines, is likely to emerge as a new rival to British Airways on an all-business class route to New York City. With its launch shrouded in mystery, the airline plans to offer non-stop all-business class flights from London city to New York initially. However, the airline is not expected to start operations before 2014 or 2015.

This mysterious airline for which no official information has come forth, is predicted to challenge British Airways which also operates twice daily all business class flights to New York. Online news reports indicate that Odyssey has plans to use Bombardier’s CSeries jets which are more advanced than the Airbus narrow body planes currently being used by BA.

The use of CSeries jet will eliminate the necessity of fuel stop for those taking flights to New York. BA’s A318 plying from London City airport to New York currently stop to refuel in Ireland because these can't carry enough gas to complete transatlantic travel in one go.

Focussed on the corporate travellers, Odyssey may not be a great choice for most leisure holiday makers who seek tickets on cheap flights. Even those leisure business class travellers who seek tickets on cheap business class flights are not likely to form a large customer base for Odyssey.

Additionally, this mysterious fledgling carrier is expected to tempt executive flyers off the business class travel companies such as NetJets.

However, in the past, numerous all-business airlines have foundered against the high costs such as Canada's Roots Air, U.S. based Maxjets and UK based Silverjet and Odyssey’s path may also be riddled with challenges.

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Kingfisher Airlines All Set to Join Oneworld Next Year

Finally, Kingfisher Airlines has some good news to share! Signals are all green for the airline to join oneworld, one of the world’s most prominent airline alliances.

Kingfisher Airlines will be called a member of the oneworld from Feb 10, 2012. And will become the first airline in the entire subcontinent to be part of any such international alliance. Germany’s airberlin and Malaysia Airlines will follow Kingfisher in joining the group next year.

Formed in 1999, oneworld is a consortium of several airlines, including the likes of American Airlines, British Airways and Cathay Pacific. With the inclusion of the India’s Kingfisher Airlines, oneworld will undoubtedly have better flight connections to India. The airline will be able to serve 800 cities in approximately 150 countries.

Currently, oneworld’s American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Japan Airlines, Qantas and Royal Jordanian offer flights to India with Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad being the five gateway options.

While the move is beneficial for both the parties, Kingfisher’s inclusion in oneworld is perhaps most advantageous to the travellers who seek cheap flight tickets to India. India is a top holiday destination as well as an emerging business hub and it comes as a no surprise that cheap flight tickets to the country are highly sought all over the world.

With Kingfisher joining the alliance, there will be better flight connections on offer, which might assist travellers in finding cheap tickets. Additionally, frequent flyers club members of the Kingfisher Airlines will be able to redeem their travel miles in other airlines of the alliance as well.

Alluring Fare Sale Started By Oneworld Alliance Members

With Christmas around the corner, American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia – Oneworld alliance members have organised a fare sale to celebrate the first anniversary of their joint business, as revealed by American Airlines’ recent news release.

The airline trio plans offering tickets as low-priced as $224 each way for round-trip economy class travel. However, to obtain cheap tickets passengers need to book the economy class tickets atleast seven days and business class tickets atleast 14 days prior to travel.

Interested flyers can log onto http://www.aa.com to find the detailed schedules and book cheap flights. However, these airline tickets would be non-refundable and non-transferable and may not be obtained on all flights. In addition, the federal excise tax, local airport charges, September 11th Security Fee and government taxes and fees are not included in these special fares.

Flyers interested in booking cheap flights under this scheme must procure ticket not later than 11:59 p.m. Nov. 15th 2011 (Central Time).

From Sundays through Thursday, special economy class fares for travel to the continental Europe are lowest. Economy class fares for travel to the UK would be lowest from Mondays through Wednesdays. However, discounted business class flights fares are valid throughout the week.

While the travel origination dates for economy class travel are valid from Nov. 8th 2011 through Dec. 16th 2011 or from Dec. 25th 2011, through April 1st 2012, the travel origination dates for business class travel are Nov. 15th 2011, through May 22nd 2012. However, the return travel for both classes should be competed by midnight June 15th 2012. For more information travellers can log onto www.aa.com.

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Shopping & Nightlife – Great Lures to Buy Flights to Hong Kong

The amazing splendour of uber modern Hong Kong International airport (HKG) is only a brief prologue to your long exciting tour of this mind boggling city-state. The aura emanating from the attractions of Hong Kong is so intense and alluring that often travellers end up extending their holidays. The magic of Hong Kong is extremely incredible and excessively nostalgic making any trip to this city-state highly rewarding.

The best bit is that you are sure to get the value for travel money spent on flights to Hong Kong. Talking of flights to Hong Kong, check out Cathay Pacific from London Airports as it is the national carrier and is likely to offer highly competitive fares. British Airways and Qantas Airways are likely to show among airlines offering tickets on cheap flights to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has nothing to dismay its fans; shopping, eating out, night life, sightseeing and activities – there are unlimited possibilities. Talking of shopping, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and Central shopping precincts offer wide variety for both extravagant five star travellers as well as shoe-string budget holiday makers booking tickets on cheap flights to Hong Kong. Wan Chai is a place for street-shopping while Central is ideal for extraordinary shopping and wine and dine moments. Take a trip to Causeway bay, a revered destination among travellers for high street shopping.

Get acquainted with new definition of nightlife at Central District, Lan Kwai Fong, Soho and Noho. Tour the exhilarating bars and clubs, bask into the spellbinding ambience and drink and eat with awesome people out there.

Latest UK Airports and Flights Information

A slight improvement in the weather conditions of Europe has resulted in the resumption of flights from different airports. So far, hundreds of passengers have faced inconveniences, especially at London Heathrow Airport.

In what spells as a tremendous relief for air ticket holders in the UK, airlines are slowly but steadily on the way to resume services. Normal operations have been reported at Manchester, Stansted, Luton and London City airports. The last week led to the grounding of hundreds of flights to and from the UK owing to immense snowfalls. However, a let up in the situation facilitated different airports as well as other transport hubs in clearing up part of the accumulated backlog of passengers. Here is a little detailed information on the latest developments.

London Heathrow Airport

The British Airports Authority announced that London Heathrow would now operate to its full capacity. A number of flights that had been diverted earlier have now been rescheduled to fly from Heathrow as planned earlier. To cite an example, the Etihad flights EY017 and EY018, will take off from Heathrow as per initial schedule and will not be diverted to Manchester. Etihad also announced a refund of travel expenditure for passengers who had fixed travel plans to Manchester. The refund would be according to the terms and conditions of the airline. However, like other airports, London Heathrow has also advised passengers to travel to the airport only if their flights are confirmed by their airlines.

The Heathrow Airport is known for serving not only numerous international and regional full service airlines, but also a high volume of budget carriers offering cheap flights to different parts of the world.

Gatwick Airport

Thanks to the laborious efforts of the cleaning crew, the Gatwick Airport also resumed services from Tuesday. However, passengers have been warned of knock-on delays due to heavy snowfall covering many parts of Northern Europe.

Scotland

As per reports trickling in, the snow has been cleared away from the Edinburgh and Glasgow airports. However, passengers need to be prepared for inevitable cancellations and delays. These delays are plaguing Aberdeen as well.

British Airways’ Loss

British Airways is perhaps the hardest hit airline due to the snow. According to analysts, the airline has been suffering losses to the tune of £8m to £10m. However, the airline announced the confirmation of its schedules for today, 22nd December and that the schedules for 23rd and 24th December will be confirmed as soon as they are finalised. This means, people who had booked advance tickets with British Airways in the hopes of netting cheap flights, still stand the chance of utilising their tickets.

British Airports Authority (BAA) faces criticism

British Airports Authority has been under fire for failing to handle the snowfall at London Heathrow Airport. In fact, many quarters have demanded a probe into BAA’s response to the situation. The call for probe has also been backed by the Association of British Travel Agents.

UK Snow Chaos: Thousands Remain Stranded before Xmas

Christmas season this year is turning out to be a nightmare for travellers stuck in the different UK airport as snowfall disrupted flight movement across Britain.

London Heathrow turned out to be the worst-affected with the airport cancelling all of its incoming flights on Sunday. BAA has been receiving flak from all quarters after it was unable to de-ice the taxiing areas.

Travellers’ Trouble

Travellers who got their flights’ tickets and were hoping to spend some quality time with their families during the holiday season got a reality check with thousands of them still at the Heathrow waiting for the flights to take off. Passengers who were lucky enough to book early and grab cheap tickets on flights proved to be not so lucky after all as LHR was inundated with stranded holiday travellers.

Secretary of State for Transport, Philip Hammond promised an inquiry into the matter and acknowledged the public indignation as travel plans of thousands went for a toss.

He told BBC Breakfast: "Once we have got through the problem, once we have got things moving again, then we will have to have that discussion and find out exactly what went wrong and, most importantly, what went wrong in handling passengers who were stranded.

Colin Matthews, the chief executive of BAA, also tendered an embarrassing apology to sooth the tempers.

Airlines Grounded

British Airways, the national airline of the United Kingdom, grounded 70 of 130 departures at Heathrow, and 89 of its 133 arrivals.

Budget airline Ryanair, popular for cheap flight tickets, was among those which were grounded at different airports.