Rotorua International Airport and the Rotorua District Council were informed just over six weeks ago.A flight between Rotorua and Sydney on Saturday, April 2, was cancelled because of low passenger numbers, bringing the total number of flights cancelled so far this year to seven, compared with just two flights cancelled because of low numbers last year.However, the airline said it remained committed to the success of the flights.The cancellations have had an impact on events at Queen’s Birthday Weekend including the 3D Rotorua Off Road Winter Multisport Festival incorporating the 2011 Australasian Multisport Championships.Organiser Neil Gellatly said 11 top athletes from Australia travelling to the event had to change their travel plans, at extra cost.

One of the performers at the Rotorua Blues Festival, Alison Penny, has also had to change her plans and travel earlier to Rotorua because her direct flight on June 11 had been cancelled.Festival organiser Sally Garner said it was the second consecutive year the performer had to change her plans because of a flight being cancelled.The Galaxy Travel NDuro Winter MTB Series 2011 is on June 12 but organiser Marcus Diprose said it was not affected by the cancellations.However, he was not surprised flights were being cancelled.

He said he was on a transtasman flight a fortnight ago and there were only 49 passengers.Rotorua District Councillor Charles Sturt said the flight cancellations were extremely disappointing.Less flights, less income for the airport company, less money to pay the interest on the debt .If people don’t use it they will lose it.Ratepayers were paying a lot to promote Rotorua in Sydney, Mr Sturt said.That money should be bearing fruit and obviously it’s not.He said he believed flights to Brisbane and Coolangata should be introduced as many people had been asking for them.

Another councillor, Glenys Searancke, said she was not surprised about the cancellations but was concerned.If we don’t get more flights – internal or international – the ratepayers will continue to carry the airport.However, she said two transtasman flights a week in winter was asking too much and she wondered if Air New Zealand would cut it back to one flight.
Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing general manager Don Gunn said the cancellations were disappointing but the winter months were always going to be a challenge.May and June was always a quiet time,he said.

He said the tourism industry across the Tasman also faced challenges with more Australians travelling to countries like the United States because of the strength of the Australian dollar.Mr Gunn said passenger numbers for July were looking okay.Rotorua mayor Kevin Winters said a small number of cancelled flights during the traditionally slow pre-winter period was not unexpected and the practice of cancelling flights was normal for airlines everywhere.However, he was pleased to hear the number of domestic passengers in the period between July 2010 and April 2011 was up 17 per cent on the same time the previous year and passenger numbers on the transtasman service between December 2010 and April 2011 were up 26 per cent on the same period last year.

Asked if the transtasman route was in danger of being canned altogether, Mr Street said the airline remained committed to the success of the flights and had no plans to cancel further flights.The airline was about to start a major ski season campaign in Sydney and Melbourne promoting Rotorua, Christchurch and Queenstown as New Zealand’s three main gateways to the country’s best ski fields.The promotion, which would include a ski photography exhibition from some of Australia’s best ski photographers, would run for about three weeks, he said.Last week Air New Zealand announced transtasman plans under the alliance with Virgin Australia, starting between November 2011 and March 2012. Capacity on Rotorua-Sydneyflight was expected to increase by about 8 per cent – or 940 seats during that time due to the reconfiguration of seating on the A320, Mr Street said.

In return, Delta can offer Virgin Blue flights from Sydney to other destinations in Australia and New Zealand.Connectivity within the US is extremely important to Australian travellers, with around 60% of guests travelling on to other destinations following their arrival in the US  said Virgin Blue Group’s Merren McArthur.Virgin Blue has worked successfully with Delta for three years in an interline and codeshare capacity and today’s announcement is a natural next step forward in our relationship.

Virgin Blue is still awaiting a decision from the US Department of Transportation on cementing a more formal alliance with Delta.This would elevate the US carrier to the same partnership status as V Australia currently enjoys with Etihad and Air New Zealand, and in the process turn Los Angles into what Virgin Blue Group CEO John Borghetti calls the airline’s.

That means there’s no no business class  or even Jetstar’s premium economy-featured Star Class  but that’s standard for the route. Air New Zealand is the only other airline to fly between Auckland and Cairns, and it doesn’t use aircraft with business class seats either. It does offer a “middle seat blocked option called Works Deluxe, usually at a premium of NZ$150 (A$112).It’ll be up to business travellers to figure out whether the convenience of direct flights outweighs the discomfort of all-economy seating on the route.Jetstar’s flights operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, which is complementary to Air New Zealand’s schedule of Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Both airlines offer one-way flights at no cost penalty, so it’s simple to mix and match schedules

A larger 747-400 has recently been deployed on the Tokyo route, increasing capacity by 25 per cent.Air New Zealand delayed one flight into Japan over the weekend, but flights are operating as usual, a spokesman said.Nearly 88,000 Japanese tourists visited New Zealand in 2010.

Lufthansa-Lufthansa has been forced to operate to a special timetable until Monday, December 20, 2010, in which numerous flights on German and European routes into and out of Frankfurt will have to be cancelled. This measure is necessary in order to reinstate flight operations on their customary stable basis. Lufthansa long-haul flights are not affected.There is a dedicated phone number for changes/cancellations.
Ryanair-Passengers who were booked to travel on one of the below cancelled flights can either apply online for a refund of their unused flight(s) OR transfer to the next available flight free of charge (a) online, (b) the airport ticket desk or (c) by calling our reservation centres…
Easyjet – can rebook or request a refund online for affected flights.
KLM / Air France – can apply for refund for canceled flights through December 19. Can also make changes to bookings with departure dates up to December 23.
United Airlines – travel waivers issued for London and Paris.
Delta Airlines – If your flight is canceled or significantly delayed, you are entitled to a refund. Even if your flight is not canceled, you may make a one-time change to your ticket without fee if you are scheduled to travel to, from, or through the following cities on Delta, Delta Connection, or Delta-coded flights during the specified time periods listed…Cities include Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London and Paris, and travel dates of December 17-20.
American Airlines – One time change without fee for affected flights – you’ll need to contact reservations regarding potential refunds.
Air Canada – Changes are permitted, refunds are permitted and if you are scheduled to travel to affected areas in the next few days changes / refunds without fees are also permitted. Air Canada does advise  Air Canada deeply regrets the inconvenience caused by the cancellation of our Heathrow flights by circumstances outside of our control. Unfortunately, we do not anticipate resuming normal services at Heathrow for at least 48 hours. Furthermore, due to the tremendous backlog caused by the closure of Heathrow over the past two days, our ability to provide seats to customers of already cancelled flights will be severely limited by already full flights during the Christmas holiday peak and the scarcity of available slots at Heathrow airport.The flexible policy mentioned above is for all affected European routes, not just London.

Qantas – may rebook without penalty but new travel date must be before December 27, or use ticket as a future travel credit.
Air New Zealand – for London,If you decide not to travel, you will be entitled to re-book on another Air New Zealand flight (conditions apply) or, if you have not yet commenced your travel, you will be entitled to claim a refund (even if your ticket is non-refundable). Our Contact Centre is able to assist with this. Free phone 0800 737 000 from within New Zealand or 0064 9 357 3000 from outside New Zealand.

My colleague, who covers Germany Travel, weighs in, and provides links for the major German airports. And over at Paris Travel  a brief look at how the snowy weather is affecting air travel in France.Regardless of the policies, even as snow is plowed off the runways, skies clear, and planes take-off – expect delays as airlines scramble to catch up after the major snowfalls and with the busy holiday season upon us – already full flights to boot.

Fundamentally, anything that would improve safety standards is of very significant interest to us.We place huge significance on safety.Mr Barrell said regardless of the CAA’s decision, the aero club would remain at the airport.
We’re here to stay. We’re the Kapiti Aero Club and our future is in Kapiti.
A spokesman for the CAA said the authority would not comment on the matter as it was still being discussed.

UK airspace was among the last to be cleared and airtports will officially be allowed to operate from later this afternoon NZ time.The first Air New Zealand flight to London from Los Angeles is due to land in London at 11am local time today 10pm NZ time.The first flght out of London will leave at 4.15pm local time and arrive in Auckland via Los Angeles early on Friday morning.

A special flight has left Hong Kong and will arrive in London at 2.45pm local time .45am Thursday NZ time.In its advisory to travellers, Air New Zealand says priority for booking passengers on available seats is being undertaken in the order of:those who were stranded in Hong Kong and Los Angeles enroute to London on Thursday night customers with existing bookings on scheduled services; and passengers in a chronological order from their original point of delay.Other airlines flying to Europe through Asia have advised all non-urgent travellers to delay their plans until later in the week.

The airline’s A320 aircraft on trans-Tasman and Pacific services will have one-class and 171 seats. But customers can chose from four options. A Seat option allows one carry on bag of 7kg, tea, coffee and water and access to some entertainment options but no new release entertainment.A Seat Plus Bag option allows one carry on and one checked bag, tea, coffee and water and some entertainment. The Works option has a meal and drinks and a seat request.

Works Deluxe allows two priority bags, a carry on bag, a seat request, a meal and drinks, a guaranteed empty seat next to you, premium check in, lounge access and better entertainment options.General manager short haul, Bruce Parton, said the fastest growing part of the trans-Tasman market was at the leisure market.Businesses really aren’t flying a lot in business class. They just won’t pay it, he said. A Works Deluxe airfare would be $500 to $600 cheaper than a business class airfare and the seat-only option would be “in exactly the same place” as budget airlines.

Seat-only will appeal for children. Where there is a family going across, Mum and Dad may book The Works and the kids get booked as Seat, he said.He said the product range announced today was world leading.Certainly no one has done it on an international sector, he said.The airline was also introducing automated check in procedures similar to those currently used on domestic flights. A chip in a passport could be used to check in.

Christchurch would be the first market to receive the new product offering, with fares on sale from April 29 for travel late August, before it goes on sale network-wide in early September with travel rolling out from late-November.Closer to launch time we will be revealing how much we will be slashing the cost of travel, but it would be fair to say the savings on lead-in fares would buy an extra night’s accommodation for a family of four on their holiday to the Gold Coast.

The airline said it would also introduce a new way of selling airfares.The Tasman is one of the most fiercely competitive airline markets in the world, with eight airlines competing for the 5.8 million passengers who fly between Australia and New Zealand each year, said Mr Parton.Air New Zealand had a market share of 2.1 million of these passengers and planned to maintain this.
Air New Zealand operates trans-Tasman 280 flights per week and 72 Pacific Island flights each week.The announcement was welcomed by the Tourism Industry Association (TIA) and Wellington International Airport Ltd.

Wellington airport chief executive Steve Fitzgerald said the changes could be an important step in generating even more travel between New Zealand and Australia.The range of products will further enhance choice and competition, and Wellington Airport is very pleased with the increased capacity that will result, Mr Fitzgerald said.Based on Air New Zealand’s current schedule of services, the reconfiguration of Air New Zealand aircraft will add around 4.7% in capacity on the Tasman for Wellington.

TIA chief executive Tim Cossar said the products provided real choice for every section of the market, at the same time as providing more seats on the crucial trans Tasman route.Simplifying travel into New Zealand for Australian visitors will be a significant new boost for our single most important market, especially as we emerge from recession. Australia has been critical to supporting our tourism industry through the last few difficult months and this move by Air New Zealand will help continue that trend, he said.