Germanwings: Oil to drive up ticket prices

Germanwings, the Lufthansa-owned no-frills airline, has said that it expects ticket prices to rise as a consequence of surging fuel prices.

The cost of oil reached another record high yesterday - $139.89 (£71.53) per barrel - and according to Germanwings chief executive Thomas Winkelmann carriers must respond in kind.

He told German magazine Wirtschaftswoche that low-cost airlines will be forced to jack up their prices in the near future, and predicted the availability of special deals will begin to decline.

Germanwings extends flexible ticket scheme

Germanwings has extended its Flex Plus tariff to a number of international routes, giving passengers the option to make alterations at short notice free of charge, or cancel the booking.

Previously the option had only been available on domestic routes operated by the German airline, but the option will now be available for customers heading from Stansted to Cologne, starting at £199, or for flights between Stansted to Stuttgart again starting from £209.

The Flex Plus tariff will also be extended to other business travel destinations in the Germanwings network, including Zurich, Vienna and Milan, with tickets eligible for double points, as part of the airline's Boomerang Club loyalty scheme.

New smart way to book with Germanwings

Germanwings has launched a new service for passengers to book multi-leg flights.

Travellers using Smart Connect will only need to book one ticket for their entire journey, which the carrier has said will be cheaper than the cost of two separate tickets.

Previously, those people flying with Germanwings had to book a ticket for each leg of their journey.

Germanwings adds extra Stansted flight to Cologne/Bonn

Low-cost airline Germanwings is adding extra flights from German airports, including one to London Stansted.

The carrier has added an extra flight on Mondays from Cologne/Bonn to Stansted. This is because of strong demand from business travellers and will add to the existing two Monday flights between the two cities, TravelMole reports.

Flights to Cologne/Bonn will now take off three times daily on each weekday, and twice daily at weekends.

Germanwings sets sights on new destinations

Low cost operator Germanwings has added 18 new aircraft to its fleet and outlined its plans for the future.

The airline said it would look to expand from Cologne/Bonn, which currently serves Gatwick, Edinburgh and Dublin airports, over the coming years.

Possible new routes may include destinations in the south and east of Europe, as well as France, the Middle East and, interestingly, North Africa.

Extra flight on Stansted to Cologne route

Germanwings has said it will be adding an additional flight to its daily service between Stansted and Cologne/Bonn.

The extra flight will come into operation from October 31, adding to the existing two daily flights the airline provides between the two airports.

Germanwings rated highest by consumer study

Germanwings has been ranked the best airline for punctuality and value by a recent consumer survey.

A group of consumer protection organisations carried out a study that found the airline to be the best in Germany, Travel Daily News reports.

The organisations, from Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and The Netherlands, questioned about 9,000 passengers on their experiences with 110 airlines during the period July 2004 to September 2005.

Germanwings merges website with Condor

German airlines Germanwings and Condor have signed a new deal that will see their websites become mutually connected.

Germanwings customers will now be able to get access to flight offers from Condor, part of the Thomas Cook group, at the touch of a button.

Germanwings doubles Airbus fleet

Germany's leading low-cost airline Germanwings could be poised to add more UK flights after virtually doubling its fleet of Airbus A319 planes.

The no-frills airline has ordered 18 new A319s directly from Airbus, bringing its total A319 fleet to 37.

The planes can carry 156 passengers and feature a comfortable single-class cabin layout.

Germanwings launches new Stuttgart flights

© Germanwings

Germanwings has announced six new destinations from its Stuttgart hub.

The German low-cost airline will begin flights to Paris, Milan, Prague, Dusseldorf, Bologna and Verona on October 30.

It will fly twice a day between Stuttgart and Dusseldorf and once a day to Milan Malpensa and Paris Charles de Gaulle airports.

The airline will operate four flights a week to Prague and Bologna and three flights every week to the Italian city of Verona.

Germanwings offers more flights to Hamburg

Business travellers and tourists looking to explore northern Germany will soon have a number of new low-cost flight deals to choose from.

German budget airline Germanwings has announced that it is planning to make Hamburg a new centre of operations.

The airline currently operates the majority of its cheap flights to and from Berlin, Cologne-Bonn and Stuttgart.

However, in an interview with the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper over the weekend, managing director Andreas Bierwirth outlined plans to base a number of planes and increase the number of flights operated by Germanwings from Hamburg.

Germanwings ponders Polish future

Germanwings, the German budget airline, is considering a major expansion in Poland.

The low-cost airline already operates a number of services from three Polish cities - Katowice, Krakow and the capital, Warsaw, which have proved extremely popular with passengers.

As a result, the airline is considering setting up a permanent base in the country, which would see a number of planes and staff based there.

Andreas Engel, a spokesman for Germanwings, believes demand for more services linking Poland with destinations in western Europe is extremely high.

"For us Poland is the most important country in the region," he added.

Germanwings' cut price deals

Germanwings is offering 19,000 summertime flights starting at just €19, which includes taxes and charges.

Bargain-priced tickets are available for flights to and from London, Berlin, Rome, Vienna and many other destinations across Europe.

But you will have to be quick as Germanwings says tickets can only be booked between 7pm on May 25, and midnight on 29 May (all times CET).

But travel can be taken between June 1 and July 31, 2005.

Berlin base for Germanwings

© Germanwings

From the beginning of June Germanwings will be flying direct to Berlin from Ankara, Istanbul, Moscow, Split, Stockholm and Zagreb.

The low-cost airline will be setting up its third hub at Berlin's Schönefeld airport and will initially have two aircraft stationed there for the first flights on June 5

A total of four major German cities will then be directly within reach of Berlin (Cologne, Stuttgart, Munich and Düsseldorf).

Prices for a single ticket start at 19 euros including all taxes and charges.