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French strikes to cause more travel chaos Holidaymakers and businesses are facing travel chaos next

week amid warnings of a twin strike aimed at French aviation

and ports. French air traffic controllers have announced plans to walk

out over four days next week from Tuesday to Friday in a move that is likely to lead to thousands of flights being

grounded. Airlines have been told to cut 40 per cent of flights. Ryanair, the budget airline, warned that the move would see

millions of customers having their holiday plans cancelled or

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industr

ies/transport/article4481472.ece

Kuwait Airways flight diverted to UK after passenger struck down with food poisoning

A Kuwait Airways flight travelling from New York to Kuwait

City has been diverted to the UK after a medical emergency. KU118 was over German on its way to the Middle East when

the pilot announced the situation. There are reports a passenger was suffering from extreme

food poisoning. The plane has diverted to the UK and has now landed at

Heathrow Airport. Police have confirmed there was a medical emergency on

board. Flightradar24 shows the flight looping back over Europe

before crossing to the UK. There were concerns when the flight made a dramatic u-turn

over Germany, following last night's terror attack in Kuwait City.

http://www.9news.com.au/world/2015/06/27/18/36/kuwait-

airways-flight-diverted-to-uk-after-medical-

emergency#6RsLxHdtPV9ZYsgv.99

Hidden costs in flight ticket cancellations

should be regulated When you are booking an air ticket online, the website

gives you a list of options and picks up the cheapest ticket

for you as the default option. If that does not suit you, you

make your own selection. However, sometimes due to

some glitch, the web page may not save your selection

and revert to the default option and if you have not noticed

it, you may well end up buying the wrong ticket. Thats exactly what happened with SK Namrata when she bought tickets for herself and her mother to travel from

Bengaluru to Delhi. She had opted for an afternoon flight,

but when she completed the transaction, she found that

she had tickets for the early morning flight, which had

been the default option. She immediately called up the

airline and asked them to change it to the afternoon flight.

They did, but charged Rs 1,600 per ticket for making the

change! Prasad had an equally unpleasant experience. Two days

after he bought tickets to travel from Delhi to Bengaluru,

he had to move the date of journey by a day. Even though

the travel date was 10 days away, he had to pay Rs 1,800

for making the change.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/hidden-

costs-in-flight-ticket-cancellations-should-be-

regulated/article1-1363638.aspx

However, since the airline had announced some offers by then and the air fare for

the journey that he was seeking was much lower than what he had paid earlier, he

hoped that he would gain there. But no, he was told that if the fare for the

changed ticket was higher, he had to pay the difference, but if it was lower, he

would not get any money back! When he demanded an explanation, he was told that the airline did not permit

change from a higher class or category to a lower one, even within the economy

class. However, there was no bar against moving form a lower to a higher class! I quote these examples to show how airlines are imposing unreasonable and

exorbitant charges for changing the date or time of journey. While some charge

anywhere between Rs 1,000 to a whopping Rs 3,200, depending on the class fare (class I may attract a lower change fee than class W), some charge Rs 1,250 to Rs 2,500, depending on the date of cancellation. But whats worse is that these levies are applicable per sector and if your travel covers two sectors, then you will have to pay double the amount. And then of

course, in addition to this, you pay the higher fare applicable for the new ticket.

This is sheer exploitation. Airlines argue that while fixing the ticket change charges, they take into consideration the risk of potential revenue loss on account of such re-scheduling.

But that argument holds true only if the cancellation is done at the last minute,

and the airline is unable to fill the seat vacated due to re-scheduling of the ticket.

What about changes made well in advance? In fact in such cases, the airline is

more likely to gain by selling it at a much higher price. Besides, how do airlines explain the levy of Rs 3,200 (for two tickets) imposed on

Namrata, for changing her ticket within minutes of buying it? What loss does the

airline suffer there? The only cost to the airline would be the cost of making the

necessary changes in their passenger information. Its time the aviation regulator puts a stop to such exploitative practices, and came up with a more reasonable, fair and logical formula for airlines to follow.

This formula should reflect the true cost associated with changing the tickets. It should also become mandatory for websites and call centres to inform

consumers at the time of buying tickets about the charges for making any

changes to their booking.

TAP Portugal now flying under new owners LISBON, Portugal - The sale of TAP Portugal has now been

completed. The new owners expect the loss-making airline

to return to profit next year due to new routes to Brazil and

the United States and an investment of 600m. Called The Atlantic Gateway consortium it is made up of American-Brazilian aviation investor David Neeleman and Portuguese

bus company owner Humberto Pedrosa. It would add new

routes but at the same time focus on cost-cutting. "This year it will be difficult to have a profit because of the

crisis in Brazil and other things. But next year, when we've

implemented our changes, we expect to have a profit, and

post profits going forward," said Neeleman, who is the

Chief Executive of Brazilian airline Azul. He said that TAP would introduce 10 new destinations in the

United States, where it now has two Miami and New York, and eight to 10 new destinations in Brazil, where it already

has 11. The consortium has said it will buy 53 new Airbus aircraft

for TAP. Neeleman noted that new orders would include 14

wide-body A330s and 39 narrow-body A321s. No mention was made of its existing membership of Star

Alliance. Rival domestic carrier Avianca of Brazil has joined

the consortium.

http://www.eturbonews.com/60787/tap-portugal-

now-flying-under-new-owners

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