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Did you know you can now book cheap Austrian flight tickets with low-cost airline Niki?

This budget airline is posting impressive profit figures of Euro 7.1 million for 2008 which is a massive increase of 103% against the previous year.

Passenger numbers currently stand at 2.1m and the airline is seeing traffic growth for 2009 and is increasing its fleet to 12 aircraft in total.

Niki offer an extensive destination list from London, meaning there are plenty of cheap airfares into Europe. From Manchester you can fly direct to Paderborn in Germany and cheap tickets from Jersey are available into Munich, Berlin and Vienna.

Although operating as a budget airline, Niki passengers are provided with a complimentary in flight meal and a non-alcoholic drink. You can upgrade your food choice up to the day before travelling from around Euro 11.

Magazines and newspapers are provided on all flights and are free of charge. Such perks mean Niki passengers benefit from cheap flight tickets with a little more luxury than offered by other airlines.

Swiss International has confirmed it is one of the few, major airlines in Europe who are currently profitable. It has posted a pre-tax profit of Euro 335 Million for 2008, with revenue for its operating activities rising by 7.6% to Euro 3.4 billion.

The airline, Swiss International was bought four years ago by German airline Lufthansa and appears to have benefited from the savings it has been able to make by being a member of the Lufthansa Group.

Swiss International operates 31 flights daily from the UK from Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham and London City. The airline offers a number of competitively priced, cheap flights from the UK to Switzerland and beyond, with return flights from Birmingham to Zurich starting from £136. Single fares from London City to Basel start at just £49.00

Two of the worlds major airlines, Lufthansa and Quantas, are reacting to the slowdown in air travel and declining passenger numbers by delaying orders for new aircraft and ground parts of their existing fleet.

Germany’s largest airline Lufthansa has increased its grounded aircraft to 24, which represents 10% of its fleet. Lufthansa Cargo is also seeing a decline in demand for its services and has introduced shorter working hours for all staff and its managers have taken a 10% voluntary pay cut.

Lufthansa flights from Germany to the UK have been affected by some of these cutbacks. London City has lost its Lufthansa flight to Berlin, as the airline has switched the route to London Heathrow (to allow it to use an Airbus A319 aircraft on the route). However, there are some positives for the UK, for example a third daily service between Edinburgh and Frankfurt is being added, plus there will be a new Inverness to Düsseldorf service for summer 2009.

Australian national carrier Quantas has revealed plans to defer delivery of four Airbus A380 aircraft by around 12 months. 12 Boeing 737-800 aircraft have also been deferred by up to 14 months. The airline is also grounding 10 aircraft, which will result in a 5% capacity drop on domestic routes. Staffing levels will also be adjusted, with the airline expecting to make 1250 full time staff redundant.

Turkish Airlines has revealed highly impressive profits for 2008, in a climate where many airlines are struggling to even break even. The net profit for 2008 was $712 million USD, and this is up more than four times against the figures posted in 2007.

The increased profit is, in part, due to an increase in passenger numbers, which stand at 22.6 million – an impressive increase of 15%. The first part of 2009 also saw a rise in passenger numbers with 3.1 million travelling in the first two months alone,

Turkish Airlines now has a fleet of 127 aircraft and is planning further expansion. Its newest long haul route operates from Istanbul to Sao Paulo, Brazil via Dakar.

Turkish Airlines has an impressive destination list with long and short haul flights serving 152 cities, 116 of which are abroad.

Turkey is proving to be a popular holiday destination for many British holidaymakers, who are searching for cheap flights and deals to the sun in regions outside the Euro Zone.

Thomson and First Choice, both part of TUI Travel, have been forced to delay expansion plans for flights and holidays to long haul destinations due to the delayed delivery of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft it has on firm order.

TUI Travel have 23 of the new Boeing aircraft on firm order and Boeing have pushed the entire delivery schedule back. The introduction of new long haul destinations for both Thomson and First Choice is now no longer possible.

The delay in the delivery of the 787 aircraft is quite significant. First Choice Airways (which became part of the TUI group in 2007) was due to receive the first of the 23 787 Dreamliner aircraft in February 2009. This date has been put back to at least March 2011.

First Choice and Thomson are both now taking bookings for long haul holidays departing in 2010. These holidays can be secured with a deposit of just £100 and include destinations such as Sri Lanka, Cuba and the Maldives.

First Choice boasts some of the best long haul cabins in the UK, with economy customers receiving a generous 33” seat pitch, leather seats and a free pampering pack.