United Airlines Tuesday afternoon announced the rollout of its basic economy fare within hours of American Airlines debuting its basic economy fare this morning. But United is taking a different tack than AA did with its introduction of the new basic economy fare designed to make legacy carriers more competitive with ultra low-cost carriers. United is introducing basic economy fares in just one market initially, Minneapolis/St. Paul, for travel to and from 7 principal United hub markets, including Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, NY/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United said the move to introduce basic economy for travel to and from just one market was to "ensure a smooth rollout." The new fare class will be expanded to the rest of the US, Caribbean and short-haul routes to Latin America at a future date. <br/>
star
Turkish Airlines will make Phuket its second port of call in Thailand with the launch of regular flights starting in July. The airline is to operate 4 non-stop flights a week between Istanbul and Phuket beginning July 17 with A330-300 wide-body jets, according to insiders. It will be the first time in Turkish's 27-year history in Thailand to serve a destination beyond the Thai capital from Istanbul. Turkish aims for holidaymakers from Europe to fill the seats on board the Airbus A330-300, configured with 28 business-class seats and 261 in economy, on the Istanbul-Phuket route. The launch is timed to take advantage of the European summer holiday season that brings many visitors to the Thai resorts. Critical flight slot constraints at Phuket airport were a major consideration leading Turkish to launch the Istanbul-Phuket service at this time. <br/>