Good news for first-class flyers: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that global first- and business-class air travel rose 6.3 percent on the year in February, supported by rising business confidence and increased global trade. The report also noted that traffic within Europe suffered as the region’s debt crisis continued.   Premium traffic between Europe [...]

Despite revenue gains, in the first quarter 2012, AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines (AA), reported a net loss of $1.7 billion compared to a net loss of $436 million in the same period of 2011. Excluding reorganization and special items, the net loss was $248 million compared to the net loss of $405 million [...]

A good sign for Europe‘s skies: The airlines in the Lufthansa Group are reporting that they carried a total of 4.8 percent more passengers in the first quarter 2012 compared to the same time period last year. All in all, 21.9 million passengers opted to fly with Lufthansa, Germanwings, SWISS or Austrian Airlines. Besides lifting [...]

Now armed with its new baggage fees of up to $35 per bag, Allegiant has announced new air services linking Honolulu  with the mainland. The carrier will offer introductory fares as low as $174 one-way, including taxes and fees, from Honolulu International Airport (HNL) to: Fresno, Calif. (begins June 30) and Las Vegas (begins June [...]

As the East Coast gets ready for nonstop flights from New York and Washington, D.C. to Hawaii (courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines and United, respectively), other airlines are looking to remain major players in the game, increasing service from the West Coast to the islands. This week, Alaska Airlines announced new nonstop daily service between Oakland [...]

Southwest Airlines on Monday raised fares by $4 to $10 round trip, depending on mileage, in what it says is an effort to offset rising fuel costs.   The move follows an airfare hike by JetBlue Airways on Thursday of $10 round trip on most domestic flights. Virgin America over the weekend increased fares by [...]

  Germany cannot arbitrarily close its budget gap on the backs of the U.S. airlines and their passengers who already pay taxes at excessive rates, Airlines for America (A4A) argued in its legal complaint to reject a German Air Transport Tax.   A4A says the tax illegally penalizes carriers serving the country by taxing U.S. [...]

Lufthansa will resume its daily A380 service between Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on March 25. Roundtrip rates start from $1,415.16 including taxes and fees.   San Francisco was the second A380 destination for Lufthansa, after New York’s JFK International Airport. Lufthansa also flies A380s to Tokyo, Singapore, Beijing and [...]

  United Airlines will shut down its operation at Oakland International in June. The airline connects Oakland to its Denver hub, but those flights will operate for the last time June 3.   “We are no longer able to continue the service between Denver and Oakland after June 3,”  said United spokeswoman Mary Clark. “The financial [...]

Tails of US Airways and American Airlines aircraft as seen at Washington Reagan National Airport on April 22, 2009.   Get ready for the US Airways-American Airlines merger speculation to take off.   That comes after Bloomberg News reported today US Airways is “seeking support for a possible merger with AA and has discuss(ed) a [...]