Edinburgh Airport Additional New Flights to Barcelona Summer Season

Edinburgh Airport is to benefit from the addition of new flights to Barcelona this summer, restoring one of the links lost when Flyglobespan collapsed last year.

From 21 May onwards Spanair will operate a five-times weekly service to the city, with flights departing from the Scottish capital on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The new service dramatically increases the frequency offered by Flyglobespan before its demise, allowing more Scottish travellers to take advantage of the popular summer route.

Commenting on the new link, Spanair chief executive Mike Szucs said: “Via our new hub in Barcelona, passengers will enjoy connections to a range of Spanish peninsula cities and Islands, which they could otherwise only reach during the peak season with low-cost and charter carriers.”

Gordon Dewar, managing director of Edinburgh Airport, added: “It is only right that Edinburgh and Barcelona – both major European cities – have a direct link between them.”

In addition to the new Edinburgh route, Spanair is also expanding its presence at Birmingham Airport by opening up a Barcelona connection as well as adding flights to Madrid.

Southwest Airlines Profit and Revenue in First Quarter Improved

Southwest Airlines reported revenues of this airline in the first quarter increased to well beyond some other U.S. airlines. Southwest Airlines profit improvement due to the increasing demand from consumers to conduct flights to some destinations.

Southwest posted a profit of $11 million, or a penny a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $91 million, or 12 cents a share. Excluding fuel-hedging and other impacts, earnings were 3 cents, compared with a 3-cent loss a year earlier. Revenue increased 12% to $2.63 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast a 3-cent profit on $2.62 billion in revenue.

Revenue per available seat mile, considered the best measure of revenue for airlines, rose 9.1%.

Per-gallon fuel costs rose 33% to $2.34. Southwest said it expects second-quarter costs, based on its current fuel-hedging portfolio, to range from $2.40 to $2.45 a gallon.

Earlier this month, Southwest said load factor, or the percentage of seats filled, grew to 75.9% from 69.9% as capacity decreased 6.4%. Traffic rose 1.6%.

Earlier this week, smaller discount rival AirTran Holdings Inc. (AAI) reported a narrower loss than analysts expected. Delta Air Lines’ (DAL) loss narrowed, while American Airlines parent AMR Corp. (AMR) surprised analysts with a wide loss.

Southwest’s stock closed at $13.58 Wednesday and was inactive premarket. The shares have risen 82% the past year.

Extra Fees Airlines Passengers : Airlines Expected to Collect $22.6 Billion In Fees In 2010

All of those extra fees airline passengers pay to check bags, fly standby and order food, among other costs, will generate an estimated $22.6 billion in 2010 for the world’s air carriers.

That is the forecast included in a study released Friday by IdeaWorks Co., a Wisconsin-based consulting firm for the travel industry.

Major U.S. carriers will generate $6.7 billion of that total in 2010, the study estimated.

IdeaWorks did not perform a similar estimate for all airlines for 2009. However, the company previously reported that 97 airlines around the globe collecting $13.5 billion in fees in 2009 and $10.25 billion in 2008.

IdeaWorks calculated the projected revenue from such charges — known as ancillary fees — by studying the revenue reports released earlier this year by 46 airlines.

The revenue from such fees now represents less than 5% of the operating revenue for the airlines, according to the IdeaWorks study.

Still, the revenue from airline fees can jump significantly in the next year if every airline decides to maximize the range of services and products offered passengers, said Philippe Chereque, executive vice president for Amadeus, a Madrid-based technology company that specializes in helping airlines collect fees.

Air Travels- US Airways increases baggage fees after Delta, American

US Airways has just increased their baggage fees. There will now be a $5 additional charge on the first and second bags checked which raises the first bag fee from $15 to $20 and the second bag fee from $25 to $30. American and Delta airlines have recently upped their prices as well and US Airways claims it was necessary for them to do so in order to maintain company profits.

Travelers who are members of frequent flyer’s programs, Star Alliance Silver, Gold status members, first-class passengers and active military members will not be subject to the added fees. The change no doubt will displease many patrons. Long gone are the days when airlines included basic services and amenities such these at no extra cost. Many airlines have limited the snacks and meals offered, some charge for soft drinks and renting the headphones on board will run you about $5. One can’t help but think what’s next?

Southwest Triggers Turf War And Lower Prices By Landing In Boston

Southwest began flying out of Boston-Logan last Sunday, a move that their CEO once declared would never ever happen. Nonetheless, we weren’t particularly surprised: we flagged the expansion back in April when they announced their routes, and again a few weeks ago when AirTran gave them a “welcome to Boston” by announcing free WiFi for Boston flights.

What is much more interesting is what the move means for the LCC niche and the airline industry as a whole, two different markets that are increasingly difficult to untangle.

We’d add that this is also increasingly true not just for specific foreign markets—Europe has long been an LCC playground—but also for the broader international market. Malaysia’s gigantic AirAsia X, an LCC known to brag about its own awesomeness, just announced flights from Kuala Lumpur to Abu Dhabi starting November. The new route will finally allow them to take customers from Southeast Asia to one of the Middle East’s chief travel hubs.

Back to BOS: Southwest’s entrance has introduced all kinds of delicious turf war dynamics to the airport. AirTran knew what they were doing with the free WiFi. They’re now competing head-to-head for airport hubs like BWI and Milwaukee, which all but guarantees future deals. JetBlue responded by adding a $39 Boston-Baltimore route right after Southwest launched theirs. Downward pressure is a beautiful, beautiful thing.