Travel Update-Weekly Edition
July 17th, 2008
Airline News
American
Airlines - American Airlines will add a second Miami-St. Maarten flight
beginning in November. The new American Airlines flight is scheduled to leave
Miami International Airport at 5:15 p.m. arriving in St. Maarten at 9:10 p.m.
The aircraft will depart the next morning at 9:10 a.m., arriving in Miami at
11:30 a.m. In addition, American will add a second New York-St.
Maarten flight for the 2008-2009 tourism season. That flight, originating from
JFK International Airport, will commence December 18 and is scheduled to run two
times per week. It will increase to five times per week on January 6, 2009 for
the remainder of the peak tourism season.
British Airways/Virgin Atlantic price fixing
suit - In April, a federal judge preliminarily approved an
agreement by two British-based airlines to pay about $210 million to settle a
massive price-fixing lawsuit that accused the carriers of colluding to gouge
transatlantic passengers with fuel surcharges. U.S. District Judge Charles
Breyer granted tentative approval for British Airways and Virgin Atlantic to
refund one-third of the surcharge paid by each of the airlines’ passengers from
Aug. 11, 2004, to March 23, 2006. Breyer scheduled a fairness hearing Sept. 26
to make a permanent decision. The class-action lawsuit represents 5.1 million
passengers who bought tickets in Britain and 2.1 million passengers who
purchased tickets in the United States. British Airways last year paid nearly
$550 million to U.S. and British officials and pleaded guilty to price fixing
after admitting to conspiring with Virgin. Virgin wasn’t fined or charged
because it turned itself in to U.S. and British officials in March 2006.
Criminal investigations were also launched on both sides of the Atlantic. The
settlement provides that British Airways & Virgin Atlantic will refund up to
$59,007,273 to members of the U.S. Settlement Classes who submit valid claim
forms, with any unclaimed refunds being paid to a charity. They will also refund
up to £73,531,076 to U.K. Class Members who submit valid claim forms. Members of
either Class who file a valid claim will be paid 33.3% of the passenger fuel
surcharge they paid on qualifying coupons. Refund payments will range between $7
and $34 per passenger per round-trip ticket purchased in the US, and between £4
and £20 per passenger per round-trip ticket purchased in the UK. Travel
and Transport will be able to obtain the data required to submit your reports,
provided they were booked through Travel and Transport . Please contact your
Client Service Representative if you are interested in the report. Details of
the settlement, along with how to file the claim form, can be found at
www.airpassengerrefund.com.
Emirates Air - Emirates Airlines will,
once again, delay its inaugural flights from Los Angeles to Dubai, as
well as from San Francisco to Dubai after being advised of additional delays to
its galleys, which has impacted the delivery of their next four Boeing 777-200LR
aircraft. The commencement of the Los Angeles to Dubai route has been postponed
until October 26, and the San Francisco flight has been moved to December 1. The
airline expressed deep regret over any inconvenience the delays have caused for
customers and announced that any passengers with bookings before these dates
will be re-booked by Emirates reservations.
Horizon Air
- Beginning Dec. 18, Alaska Air subsidiary Horizon Air will add daily
nonstop service between Los Angeles and Mammoth Lakes, CA. The service will
operate throughout the California ski season, ending April 12. Horizon will
operate one daily round-trip flight using Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft
that seat 74 or 76 passengers, depending on each plane's configuration. The
flights will fly to the Mammoth Yosemite Airport (airport code MMH),
located about five miles from Mammoth Lakes. Horizon's flight will be the only
regularly scheduled commercial service to the airport.
JetBlue - Beginning Oct. 9, JetBlue
will add nonstop service between Portland, OR., and the airline's focus city in
Long Beach, CA. The service will start with one daily round-trip flight with a
second daily flight added to the schedule on Nov. 9. JetBlue will fly its
100-seat Embraer E190 jets on the route, which the airline says will mark the
debut of scheduled service for that aircraft in Portland. JetBlue says it
will reduce its nonstop route between Portland and New York JFK to seasonal
service from year-round service. JetBlue will cut some flights on the
JFK-Portland route during the fall, reducing its schedule to five flights a week
during certain periods. The route will be suspended altogether in January before
resuming in May or June.
Beginning Nov. 2, JetBlue will add nonstop
service between Richmond, VA., and Orlando, FL. The carrier will offer one
daily round-trip flight using 100-seat Embraer E-190 jets.
United Airlines - United has added ticketing requirements to fares
that previously did not have ticket time limits. Unticketed or speculative bookings
decrease the number of seats available to offer our customers, increase
distribution costs and result in lost revenue opportunities. As part of United's cost control efforts, United
is applying advance ticketing requirements on most refundable fares
with North America (U.S. and Canada) point-of-sale bookings. The
revised policy requires ticketing the later of three days before departure or 24
hours after booking for First and Business, and Normal Economy (Y, B) Classes;
and 24 hours after booking for all other Economy
classes.
|
Fares* |
North America
(US & Canada)
Point of Sale
Requirements
(for bookings
made after Monday, July 14 at 9 p.m. CT) |
|
First Class: F, A,
P
Business Class: C, D, Z
Economy: Y, B
|
For bookings made at least 3 days before
departure, tickets must be issued 3 days prior to
departure
For bookings made less than 3 days before
departure, tickets must be issued within 24 hours of
booking. |
|
All other Economy Fares |
Tickets must be
issued 24 hours after
booking. |
Further details or questions can be obtained from your
Travel and Transport representative.
US Airways - US Airways will drop its
cross-county route between Charlotte and Sacramento on Aug. 18.
US Airways will end all of its service to Oklahoma on
Sept. 3 when it eliminates its daily US Airways Express service between Oklahoma
City and both Phoenix and Las Vegas. Also losing service on Sept. 3 are Medford,
Ore., and Panama City, FL. Eugene, OR., is scheduled to lose its US Airways
Express service Oct. 1.
Airport/Destination
News
Beijing, China - Officials announced on
July 17 that Beijing Capital
International Airport (ZBAA/PEK) will be closed to all "non-Olympic traffic"
during the opening ceremony on 8 August. No non-Olympic traffic will be
permitted to take off from or land at the airport between 8:00am and
midnight local time; dozens of flights will have to be rescheduled as a result.
Although aircraft are already banned from overflying Beijing during the Games,
authorities announced this most recent restriction as an additional effort to
prevent terrorist
attacks.
Miscellaneous
State Dept Travel
Warnings and Public announcements - For the full
announcements or further detail on Travel Warnings and Public Announcements,
please see http://travel.state.gov/travel
Belize - On July 14 the U.S. Embassy in Belmopan issued a
Warden Message, which reads in part as follows: "The U.S. Embassy in Belmopan
advises American citizens traveling to or residing in Belize that recent
increases in violent crime in the central and western regions of the country
serve as a reminder that everyone should take an active role in their own
personal security. U.S. citizens should exercise caution when in unfamiliar
areas and be aware of their surroundings at all times. "Violence affects many
parts of the country including both urban and rural areas. Residents and
visitors to San Ignacio, Benque Viejo, and rural villages in the Cayo District
should remain alert and be aware of their surroundings at all times. Crime in
Belize continues at high levels, and it is often violent, especially in Belize
City and the Cayo district. Other areas have lower, but still serious, levels
of crime. In its efforts to combat violence, the Government of Belize has
deployed military troops in the western parts of the country. Military patrols
have increased along the Belize-Guatemala border.
Central African
Republic - On July 15 the U.S. Embassy in Bangui issued the
following Warden Message: "The American Embassy in Bangui is currently
monitoring the effects of the power shortages occurring in Bangui since June
24. We understand that there has been a noticeable increase in the number of
residential robberies, some of which have been committed by men using
firearms. So far, these robberies do not appear to be targeted at expatriate
residences, but we can not discount the possibility that such attacks may
occur as the power shortage continues. American citizens are therefore urged
to take such security precautions as they can to protect their residences
without putting their lives in danger."
July 10, 2008
July 3, 2008
June 26, 2008
June 19, 2008
June 12, 2008
June 5, 2008
May 29, 2008
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May 15, 2008
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May 1, 2008
April 24, 2008
April 17, 2008
April 10, 2008
April 3, 2008
March 27, 2008
March 20, 2008
March 13, 2008
March 6, 2008
February 28, 2008
February 21, 2008
February 14, 2008
February 8, 2008
February 1, 2008
January 24, 2008
January 17, 2008
January 10, 2008
January 3, 2008
December 27, 2007
December 20, 2007
December 13, 2007
December 5, 2007
November 29, 2007
November 21, 2007
November 15, 2007
November 8, 2007
November 1, 2007
October 25, 2007
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October 4, 2007
September 27, 2007
September 20, 2007
September 13, 2007
September 6, 2007
August 30, 2007
August 23, 2007
August 16, 2007
August 9, 2007
August 2, 2007
July 26, 2007
July 20, 2007
July 12, 2007
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