USA's Delta to Start One More Daily Atlanta-London Service

Flyers seeking an added connection on the popular Atlanta-London route would be delighted to find the same happening as USA’s Delta Air Lines has decided to expand its flights services on the sector. The carrier currently offers two daily flights on route and from March 31, 2013 a third option will be added, resulting in more opportunities for tickets seekers.

Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson International and London Heathrow are hugely popular hubs that attract millions of flyers, every year. The carrier’s third daily connection between the large airports will ensure that there are maximum travel opportunities and travellers who are seeking flights tickets are not disappointed.

Additionally, customers who book air travel tickets on the new Atlanta-London service would find themselves enjoying the in-flight Internet access. The carrier’s press release makes it clear that from early 2013, the USA carrier will start establishing Wi-Fi on its fleet of more than 150 international aircraft. Delta will be the first and only operator that would be offering Internet access to tickets holder at 30,000 feet on non-stop flights between the U.K. and the USA.

London-Atlanta flights are huge hits with British passengers as they book tickets on the flights for making onward connections to other cities in the USA, like Orlando, Tampa, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Miami.

In the last few years, Delta has really pushed its Heathrow connections and has gone from no to nine daily nonstop flights to different cities in the USA.

News Reference

ATRA Releases Top 10 Safest Airlines List

If you’re an anxious traveller who gets all jittery when faced with the prospect of air travel, there is some good news and some bad news for you.

First the good news - Air Transport Rating Agency (ATRA), a Geneva-based rating agency that deals with aviation risk evaluation and advanced data analyses in the aviation sector, has come with a list that features top10 safest carriers. So, now whenever you are required to book cheap flight tickets you can opt for the airlines that are the ‘safest’ as per the list (check the list below).

Moving on to the seemingly bad news - this list released by the ATRA does not feature a single airline that has been awarded by Skytrax this year. So, basically it means that most probably you will not be flying with the carrier of your liking if you prefer to book cheap flights tickets keeping in mind ATRA’s top 10 safest airlines list. It seems flight quality and flight safety do not go together!

Another striking feature of this one of its kind list is there is no airline from Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East in the list. No Qatar Airways, No Qantas, No Virgin Australia, No Jetstar and No Air New Zealand! On the other hand, six US based airlines have made it to the list along with three European and one Asian airline.

World's 10 Safest Airlines (In Alphabetical Order)
Air France-KLM
AMR Corporation (American Airlines)
British Airways
Continental Airlines
Delta Airlines
Japan Airlines
Lufthansa
Southwest Airlines
United Airlines
US Airways

Airlines to Hike Fares in the Backdrop of Rising Fuel Costs

United Airlines and Continental Airlines have raised their airfares. This move was followed by American and Delta Air Lines. Approximately, $20 to $60 has been added to the cost of round trip tickets. The move is geared towards business travel segment air travellers making last-minute bookings. These steps are an attempt by airlines to balance out their losses due to the continuous spurt in fuel prices. The Associated Press reported that travellers who book ‘first class and instant-upgrade tickets’ will be effected by the rise in fares. The Associated Press also reported that such travellers ‘are less likely to put off or cancel trips because of rising prices’. Since mid December, leisure fares have gone up four times.

Twin Cities’ Passengers to be Hit Hardest

With Delta Airlines also increasing ticket prices, travellers catching Delta flights from the Twin Cities of St Paul and Minneapolis will have to bear the brunt of the impact at the local level. Delta Airlines is the largest airline in the town and handles more than 450 departures from the Minneapolis St Paul Airport everyday. However, there has been no instantaneous response to this hike from budget airlines such as Southwest, AirTran, Frontier, and Sun Country.

Qantas to Also Hike Fares

Qantas voiced plans to increase the fares of trans-Tasman, regional, and domestic airfares by a maximum of 5%. The move will significantly dent its cheap flights segment. The airline claimed that the rise in the average prices in Singapore Jet Fuel (SJF) and West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil (WTICO) are the major factors behind the step. Qantas has claimed that the prices in WTICO and SJF are higher than the level of prices during the first half of FY11 and also at their peak after FY08. In fact, the SJF average per barrel rise has been from US$88 from September, 2010 to US$110 in January 2011. In the present week, this reached the figure of US$117 as per internet sources. The increased airfares would be applied to the tickets sold from February 25th onwards.

Qantas CEO’s Take on the Issue

Alan Joyce, the CEO of Qantas commented ‘Airlines in Australia and around the world continue to monitor oil and fuel prices very closely, and many have already responded to the current high prices with changes to their surcharges and fares’. He went on to say ‘Domestic, regional and Tasman fares have been under review and, while we have been absorbing higher fuel costs for some time, this increase is an appropriate response to this significant and additional cost to our business’. Mr Joyce even voiced the concern that future hikes can be a possibility and that ‘after fuel hedging and this change to our fares, Qantas will still not fully recover these higher fuel costs’.