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Passengers in search of a luxury holiday to the Seychelles will soon have additional routes to the destination.
Air Seychelles is to increase its international services and following the introduction of Moscow in December 2008 the airline will be operating routes from Zurich and Frankfurt from April 2009.

A new aircraft will also be delivered to the fleet, as Air Seychelles has confirmed it will be taking delivery of a Boeing 767-200ER aircraft.

The economic downturn is taking effect right across the globe and Emirates are, like other airlines, feeling the effects of the downturn in world travel.

2008 saw the launch of the Airbus A380 and Emirates was one of the first customers to take delivery of the super jumbo. However, they have recently revealed plans to withdraw the aircraft from one of its main routes, Dubai to New York JFK.

The aircraft will be replaced with a Boeing 777-300ER, which gives a reduction of 132 seats.

The airline has confirmed that this decision has been motivated by the current economic conditions. The A380 aircraft will be moved on to routes to the new destinations of Toronto, Canada and Bangkok, Thailand in the next few months.

On a brighter note, Emirates have confirmed that they are continuing with plans to expand further into the US market, by introducing long haul flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco in May 2009.

Passengers looking for cheap flights within the Middle East are increasingly turning to flydubai, Dubai’s first low-cost carrier. The passenegers will soon be enjoying the benefits of the new Terminal 2 at Dubai International Airport.

Launch routes will soon be announced and, in keeping with flydubai’s current route network, flights will operate to a number of destinations within 4 and a half flying hours from Dubai.

Flydubai is a Dubai Government owned airline and is the first low cost airline of its kind in the country, using a fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft. They have been operating successfully throughout the Middle East region, offering cheap flights to a number of destinations.

American Airlines has become the first airline in the world to fly a Boeing 767-300ER with Winglets.

Winglets are becoming an ever more common sight on aircraft as airlines seek ways of conserving fuel and driving down costs to remain competitive.

Winglets provide increased lift without requiring increased engine power and each modified 767 aircraft should save up to 500,000 gallons of fuel annually.

American Airlines has revealed plans to equip its entire fleet of 767 aircraft with winglets and should see a saving of 29 million gallons of fuel each year, a staggering amount.

American is quoted saying, “The fuel savings and emissions reductions that we will achieve with the winglets are one more step in our efforts to both moderate costs and shrink the impact we have on our environment”.

Malaysia’s biggest budget airline AirAsia X flew its inaugural flight from Kuala Lumpur to London Stanstead Airport on March 11th 2009.

This is set to please passengers looking for cheap flights, as AirAsia and AirAsia X are famed for offering low cost flights throughout Asia and this is now being extended into the UK.

Previously there have been few low cost flights between the UK and Asia, so AirAsia X are revolutionising the long haul market by bringing cheap fares and a quality service.

The service, which operates 5 times per week provides passengers with access to the international hub of Kuala Lumpur and on to a further 64 destinations throughout the region, as well as Australia.

AirAsia X aim to increase the frequency of the Stanstead – KL flight to 7 per week and expand the portfolio of European destinations available.