More Flights to New York

Signaling an upturn in the Aviation business, increased frequency between Heathrow and New York is being scheduled by Continental Airlines.

The carrier is also introducing flat bed seats in its business class cabin.

An early-evening departure from London to New York/Newark will be introduced from March 28th for the first time.

This fourth daily flight will be supplemented by a fifth daily service in October from Heathrow Terminal 4.

This will bring the total number of daily departures from Heathrow to seven, all aircraft from Heathrow will feature new flat bed seats in BusinessFirst from June 2.

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Industry Reaction to Budget Inaction

The travel industry has reacted with anger and dismay after the Government failed to scrap plans for a rise in Air Passenger Duty. In his Budget announcement last week, the Chancellor Alistair Darling made no reference to the travel tax, which is due to increase in November and again in 2010. Airlines, agents, ABTA and other industry associations had urged the Chancellor to scrap the tax altogether, or at least cancel the second phase of increases. But despite their pleas, and evidence to show the negative impact on the tourism industry, the Government has refused to back down.

"The rise in APD to destinations such as the Caribbean, dependent on tourism, will be as much as 87%, equating to a tax bill of £600 for a family of fourt ravelling to the Caribbean in premium economy in 2010 compared with today's£160.

*Here's how the phased increases will impact travel costs:

For flights to Europe, APD will go up by 10% to £11 and to £12 in 2010. US travellers, the UK's key market for tourism, will see their taxes rise from £40 to £60 in 2010.

For long-haul visitors travelling over 6,000 miles (including Australia, NewZealand and Malaysia, three key inbound markets), taxes will rise from £40 to£85 in 2010.

Business visitors will also be severely affected with taxes for travellers ona ny flights above economy rising to anything up to £170 from 2010.

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Spend a Penny Will Cost 1 GBP

Budget airline Ryanair could soon be charging customers £1 to spend a penny if plans to install pay-for-use toilets go ahead. The Irish carrier, which consistently looks for ways it can charge customers for extras on top of the basic ticket price, has insisted the charge won't risk passengers being caught short as nobody "has got on board a Ryanair aircraft with less than a pound".

Chief executive Michael O'Leary said: "One thing we have looked at in the past and are looking at again is the possibility of maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door so that people might actually have to spend a pound to spend a penny in future." "I don't think there is anybody in history that has got on board a Ryanair aircraft with less than a pound." "We're all about finding ways of raising discretionary revenue so we can keepl owering the cost of air travel," he said.

Rochelle Turner, head of research at Which? Holiday, said: "It seems Ryanair is prepared to plumb any depth to make a fast buck and, once again, is putting profit before the comfort of its customers. Last week, Ryanair announced it was to shut all check-in desks at airports and have passengers check in online instead. Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara said: "Michael makes a lot of this stuff up as he goes along and, while this has been discussed internally, there are no immediate plans to introduce it. "However, this highlights Ryanair's continuing obsession with lowering costs and passing these savings on in the form of lower fares. "Ancillary revenues, all of which are avoidable, help to reduce the cost of flying Ryanair and passengers using train and bus stations are already accustomed to paying to use the toilet so why not on airplanes? "Not everyone uses the toilet on board one of our flights but those that do could help to reduce airfares for all passengers." What do you think?

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Delta and Northwest Merger Talks

Northwest Airlines has entered into formal merger discussions with Delta Air Lines and will look for another partner if Delta tries to merge with United Airlines instead, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said in a newspaper interview.

U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar confirmed the talks in an interview with the Star Tribune, saying he met with two Northwest executives Tuesday in his Washington office.

The Minnesota Democrat said Ben Hirst, Northwest's senior vice president of corporate affairs and administration, and Andrea Fischer Newman, Northwest's senior vice president of government affairs confirmed that Delta is considering both Northwest and United as options for a merger.

During the meeting, Oberstar said the executives talked about how a merger would yield cost savings and that the two carriers' route networks are complementary, with Northwest strong in the Pacific and with Delta with a major presence in the Atlantic.

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