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With spring break just weeks away, Canadians looking to jet-set their way to a new destination either now or when prices come down in the spring are being reminded by experts to review their fares carefully. While Statistics Canada suggests prices for airfare(opens in a new tab) dropped in 2023 by roughly 14%, airline analysts say the lower fares can be a catch-grab. “They offer you a low fare as a way of drawing you into travel,” said Karl Moore, a business strategy professor at McGill University who also studies the industry. Lured in by low fares, would-be travellers sometimes find that once on the booking page, the other costs add up. Frequent flyers will be well aware of fees for checked bags, seat selection or refundable tickets, but for those less aware, these add-ons can increase the overall price significantly. This month, West Jet has increased its baggage fees system-wide for the first time since 2018. This follows an increase in November that applied to excess checked bags paid for at the airport with an airport agent. The new prices for checked bags(opens in a new tab) are up at least $5 across the board. For example, pre-purchased on a base fare, a first checked bag will cost between $35 and $42. That’s up from $30 to $36. The airlines says these changes only apply to tickets purchased on or after Feb.15. In a statement from Air Canada, the airline said, “We are aware of these trends in the industry and monitor them for competitive purposes, but there has been no change to our policy with respect to baggage fees.” The airline wouldn’t say whether an increase loomed. A first checked bag with Air Canada costs roughly $36.<br/>

Brussels Airlines, a subsidiary of Germany's Lufthansa, said on Tuesday it would cancel one in five flights on Wednesday, the first day of a three-day cabin staff strike over pay and work pressure. "We have preventively cancelled some flights to ensure that 80% of the flights can certainly take place," a spokesperson for the Belgian airline said, adding the cancellations mainly affect European flights for which alternatives can be found. The Christian union, which called the strike, together with the liberal and socialist unions, will meet management on Wednesday to discuss the cabin staff grievances, she also said. Belgian press agency Belga said the liberal and socialist unions would decide after the meeting whether or not to join the strike. German labour union Verdi has called for a three-day nationwide strike at Lufthansa itself from Wednesday after the company's pay offer remained unchanged in collective bargaining with the union.<br/>

German union Verdi has called for a three-day nationwide ground staff strike at Lufthansa from Feb. 28 to March 1, but said the action will be carried out in areas away from passengers and it does not expect any flight cancellations.<br/>Employees at subsidiaries including Lufthansa Technik, Lufthansa Aviation Training and Lufthansa Technical Training have been urged to take part, the union said on Tuesday. "We assume that the three day strike for technical staff planned by Verdi will not have a major impact on Lufthansa's flight schedule on Wednesday," a Lufthansa spokesperson said. The effects of the strike on Thursday and Friday are currently being examined, they added. The strike has been called after the company's pay offer remained unchanged in collective bargaining with the union. Lufthansa said on Sunday that it wanted a quick pay deal with unions to avert further strike action. Verdi previously demanded that the airline needed to make an improved offer before it would take part in a fresh round of talks.<br/>

Lufthansa flight attendants want people to pay extra for special meals, in an attempt to dissuade people from ordering them. AeroTelegraph reported the flight attendants are frustrated by the volume of special meals that passengers are ordering. The airline offers 11 different special meals to its passengers, including gluten-intolerant meals, low-cholesterol and low-sodium meals and vegetarian and vegan. A Lufthansa's cabin staff representative said up to 190 guests would order a special menu on long-haul flights. This is an “excessive amount,” she complained in a letter. Special menus are usually handed out to passengers before the standard meals. The individual menus at Lufthansa were reportedly not labelled with the passenger’s name or the seat. This makes distribution even more complex, especially since 100 special menus are now quite normal, as Lufthansa flight attendants said. The flight attendant staff representative suggested limiting the amount of special meals per flight, or limiting the selection to options that are religiously or health-related. In addition, the right to a special menu should be recorded on the boarding pass so that there were no endless discussions. She also wanted the costs for the additional effort to be charged to the passenger. The staff representative complained that the topic was discussed with management for the first time in 2017, but there seems to have been no “real interest in really seriously solving this issue”.<br/>

Thai Airways International is to lease three Boeing 787-9s from US company Air Lease, as part of its fleet-modernisation programme. The Asian operator recently disclosed that it was ordering up to 80 787s, of which 45 were firm. Air Lease says it has reached long-term agreements for three -9s, all from its Boeing backlog, which will be delivered to the airline next year. “Incorporation of these aircraft underscores our dedication to fleet modernisation and delivering exceptional comfort and efficiency to our passengers,” says Thai CE Chai Eamsiri. Air Lease says the twinjets will be used on intra-Asian, Australian and European routes. Thai has already revealed plans to lease three 787-9s from Irish-based AerCap next year, part of a package of 17 aircraft it is taking from the company. AerCap is leasing four Airbus A350-900s – some of which have already been handed over – as well as 10 A321neos.<br/>

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has opened a new lounge at Perth Airport, a month ahead of its resumption of four daily flights from the WA capital. The redesigned SilverKris lounge will serve SIA’s business class and qualifying frequent travellers, with the airline to add a fourth flight per day from 31 March. The extra flights will use 303-seater A350-900 aircraft, adding 220,584 more seats to the Perth market per year. According to Perth Airport’s chief commercial and aviation officer, Kate Holsgrove, SIA is Perth’s number one international airline for seat capacity, delivering more than 930,000 seats per year. “Singapore Airlines has been instrumental in growing WA’s business, education, trade, and tourism links with Singapore,” she said. “Singapore has become Western Australia’s second largest international visitor market, injecting $260m into the WA economy in visitor expenditure alone last year.” “The airline also has a long and proud record of linking the world with Western Australia and the additional flights will provide even more options for West Australians to travel to multiple cities in Asia, Europe and the USA via its Singapore hub.”<br/>

* Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines receive regulatory approval to extend JV alliance.<br/>* Carriers will jointly operate 38 return services weekly between New Zealand and Singapore during peak months.<br/>* Singapore Airlines welcome decision by NZ’s Associate Minister of Transport to reauthorise JV alliance for another 5 years.<br/>* On extension JV partners to operate four daily seasonal services between Auckland and Singapore from 27 October to 29 March 2025.<br/>