budget airlines

11 Stories

Frontier Offers New Option for Seatmate-Averse Fliers

Keep the middle seat next to you empty by paying for UpFront Plus fee

(Newser) - Let's be honest: Most of us have hoped that the seat next to us on the plane remains empty, with some even going so far as to place personal items on nearby seats to discourage way-too-close neighbors. Now, one budget airline will allow you to pay for that privilege...

Budget Airline Merger Could Create 5th-Largest US Carrier

Frontier has offered $3B to scoop up Spirit Airlines

(Newser) - Frontier is offering to buy Spirit Airlines in a $2.9 billion cash-and-stock deal that will create the nation's fifth largest carrier. The tie-up is valued at $6.6 billion when accounting for the assumption of debt and other liabilities. The companies said Monday that the transaction will provide...

EasyJet: Plane's Too Heavy— Get Off or Get Arrested

Passengers ordered off plane after fuel bungle

(Newser) - British budget carrier EasyJet is under fire for its heavy-handed treatment of passengers who found themselves on a plane that was too loaded to take off. The flight from Birmingham to Geneva had been filled with 10 tons too much fuel, so 37 passengers were asked to leave the plane....

Ryanair Refuses to Pay Stranded Passengers' Bills

Regulations can go jump in a volcano, says chief

(Newser) - The budget airline boss who first floated the idea of charging passengers for using airplane toilets is balking at paying the food and hotel bills of fliers stranded by volcanic ash. Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary says that he doesn't care if European laws require him to foot the bill for...

Airline Pulls Own Mag After Holocaust Memorial Shoot

Budget easyJet did fashion spread without permission

(Newser) - British budget airline easyJet has taken its in-flight magazine out of its planes after the New Statesman pointed out that a fashion spread in its current edition was shot at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial. The airline blamed the outside publishing house in charge of the magazine, which, judgment and taste...

Ryanair Boss: You Want Service? Try Another Airline

(Newser) - The budget-airline boss who's thinking about charging passengers to use the bathrooms on his planes wants you to know that he doesn't feel a bit bad about it. If you expect to be coddled, Michael O'Leary tells the New York Times, Ryanair's not for you. O'Leary—famed for his rudeness...

New Budget Airline Launches With 1 Plane, $9 Seats

First few seats are $9; all extras will cost you

(Newser) - The founder of the short-lived discount airline Skybus thinks conditions are right for a second attempt at adding service to less-used regional airports, the Chicago Tribune reports. JetAmerica will follow the model of European budget carriers like Ryanair, offering a handful of seats for $9 and charging for services like...

Airline Eyes Charging for Toilets

Irish budget carrier may put coin slots on lavatory doors

(Newser) - Just when you thought the airlines had figured out how to wring every penny out of flyers, budget carrier Ryanair announced it was mulling a new fee: a $1.50 charge to use the toilets. The Irish airline's CEO said today he was considering "putting a coin slot on...

Fuel Costs Bump Up Budget Airfares
Fuel Costs Bump Up Budget Airfares
Jun 20, 2008 3:43 AM CDT

Fuel Costs Bump Up Budget Airfares

Discount carriers forced to dump discounts or go bust

(Newser) - Rock-bottom airfares are going the way of the zeppelin as fuel prices continue their climb into the stratosphere, the New York Times reports. Some budget carriers have gone bust. Others have hiked fares and begun to woo more business travelers, blurring the line between big carriers and discount operations. Southwest...

Thousands Stuck as Asian Budget Airline Folds

Hong Kong airline becomes 4th carrier to go bust this month

(Newser) - Thousands of passengers have been stranded in Hong Kong, London, and Vancouver with the collapse of Asian budget airline Oasis, the New York Times reports. In a sign that the industry's woes are spreading rapidly, the Hong Kong-based airline joins three US budget carriers to have gone under this month...

Death Toll at 88 in Thai Air Crash
Death Toll at 88 in Thai Air Crash
Sep 16, 2007 1:08 PM CDT

Death Toll at 88 in Thai Air Crash

Survivor says plane tried to land too fast in torrential rain

(Newser) - The death toll has risen to 88 in the crash of a budget airliner on a Thai island resort today, Reuters reports. Officials said the plane broke up and burst into flames as it tried to land in torrential rain.The 42 survivors are being treated for a variety of...

11 Stories