Companies often go to great lengths to keep a lid on costs, but here's one place where many won't skimp: airfares. Corporate travel providers say that many of their clients are asking them to block airlines' basic economy airfares. These are usually the cheapest seats on the plane, where passengers often cannot select a seat ahead of time, upgrade, make changes or get a refund. Airlines say the fares are aimed at the most price-sensitive customers, who would give up perks that used to be free in exchange for a good price. Airline executives haven't been shy that they measure the product's success by how many passengers pay higher fares to avoid basic economy. That companies are opting to block basic economy from travel systems is great news for airlines. <br/>
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GE Aviation’s GE9X turbofan engine, which will power Boeing’s new 777X aircraft, completed its first flight test under the wing of GE Aviation’s 747 flying testbed in Victorville, California. GE said the first flight marks the start of a flight test campaign that is slated to last through most of 2018. The program is under time pressure as the company originally hoped to start flight tests around the start of the year. Testing was delayed when GE discovered a design issue with the lever arms, which actuate the rows of variable stator vanes that modulate flow through the engine’s 11-stage high pressure compressor. In addition, the lever arm issue delay was compounded by the late emergence of maintenance issues with the flying testbed’s CF6-80C2 engine that were uncovered during a routine A-check. <br/>
The sky remains the limit for spring travel, with airlines projecting Wednesday another record-setting holiday season with nearly 151m passengers. The 4% year-over-year gain in travellers during March and April comes on top of a record number of travellers for all of 2017, according to A4A. The average 2.47m daily passengers means about 94,000 more passengers will be flying each day as compared to same period a year ago, according to the airline group. Airlines are responding to the increased demand by adding more flights and bigger planes on existing routes. That, the group says, will add an average of 114,000 seats each day. John Heimlich, A4A’s chief economist said: “An expanding economy, employment gains and surging household net worth are also contributing to the growth in demand for air travel.” <br/>
Holidaymakers are not being adequately informed of the risks that Brexit could pose to their plans when booking, the consumer group Which? has warned. With several of the UK’s biggest tour operators selling holidays for 2019, Which? said customers should be told of the possibility of flight disruption, and what compensation could be paid. No legal framework yet exists to manage flights to Europe once Britain leaves the EU in March 2019, and Ryanair and Lufthansa have cautioned that planes could be temporarily grounded without an aviation deal. Which? called on the govt to clarify consumer rights and strike an aviation deal as soon as possible. It advised anyone booking a holiday after March 2019 to check cancellation and refund policies. <br/>