Travelography
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Alan A. Lew
 
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Show's Description
The Travelography podcast discusses travel and tourism related news, opinions and more from around the globe. I discuss travel in the news, and news that affects travel.
Archived Post
Travelography 146: Direct Flights are Best & Filling Cruises at Any Price |
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Stories discussed in this podcast are from the Travelography Twitter Blog for the week of 1 to 8 March 2009. This podcast is also available at Blubrry.com and Travelgeography.info. Nimble
discount airlines here and around the world are growing and opening new
routes even as the recession forces traditional carriers to cut flights
and jobs. Low-cost carriers, such as New York-based JetBlue (JBLU),
Ireland-based Ryanair and Canada-based WestJet, are making inroads
where higher-cost carriers are shrinking amid falling travel demand,
especially among cost-conscious fliers.
"Threatening
civilian airliners' normal operations under international aviation
regulations is not only against international rules but is an act
against humanity," ... North should "immediately withdraw the military
threat."
Several
cruise lines including Carnival have reported strong bookings in recent
months. ... Still, "while these bookings are clearly being taken at
steep discounts, it is a positive that consumers are responding to the
operators’ promotions and making up for some lost load factor,"
Alaska
“appears especially weak” with pricing down from 20 to 40 percent as
fares “hit new lows in February….We believe both companies [Carnival
Corp. and RCCL] are now aggressively moving to fill remaining Q2 and Q3
capacity after attempting to hold price as long as possible,”
...
the marginal cost of a connecting flight was $12 more expensive than
that of a direct flight. The change is probably driven by the
increasing fuel cost in the sample period. Since the fraction of fuel
consumed at the takeoffs and landings could be as high as 40 percent,
rising fuel costs offset the benefit of denser traffic created by
connecting flights.
The
world's largest cruise line says it recorded the highest number of net
weekly bookings in its history during the one-week period that ended
Sunday. On a cumulative basis, net bookings are up 10% as compared to
last year since mid-January.
"With
the centennial this year of the Robert F. Peary discovery of the North
Pole, combined with the fear that global warming may soon change the
arctic regions forever, it's a very busy year for us,"...
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Posted March 08, 2009
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