The big things shaping the air travel industry | Airlines

Everyone likes an empty seat next to them when they fly economy, and several airlines now make it possible to keep that seat free. Air New Zealand began selling “Twin Seats” as early as 2018, and Emirates, Fiji Airways, Etihad, Philippine Airlines and Qantas now give their economy flyers the option of reserving vacant adjacent seats. Although this “neighbour-free” seating costs far less than the cost of an actual seat booking, it depends on the seat remaining unbooked. If a passenger comes along prepared to pay full price for the seat, whatever you’ve paid will be refunded. Neighbour-free seating is available on about 70 per cent of Qantas’ domestic network, at a cost of $30-$65, depending on flight length. Expect more airlines to tap into this potential revenue stream. See emirates.com; fijiairways.com; etihad.com; philippineairlines.com; qantas.com

Narrow-body, wider scope

The coming year should see the Airbus A321XLR carrying its first passengers. Seating 18-220 passengers in a twin-class configuration, the single-aisle A321XLR has a range of 8700 kilometres, over 2000 kilometres more than Boeing’s 737 MAX 9. That opens a new array of city pairs, for example London to Vancouver, New York to Istanbul or Brisbane to Honolulu. That’s a big selling point since the A321XLR allows airlines to operate narrow-body aircraft on long-distance, lower demand routes where they might struggle to fill a twin-aisle aircraft. Qantas has placed an initial order for 20 A321XLRs with an option to buy 20 more to replace its fleet of Boeing 737s and 717s. See aircraft.airbus.com

Taking flight, taking fright

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Several ways to buy cheap airline tickets.
- Start searching at least 2 months in advance and sign up for email alerts so you'll always be notified when flight prices drop.
- Budget airlines typically offer the cheapest flights.
- Save money by taking your flight early in the morning or late at night.
- Consider flying on a weekday instead of a weekend.
- Use an aggregator site to compare prices across airlines.
- Once you have found the best trip, select it on the aggregator site and move to the airline’s direct website to book your tickets. Some aggregators allow you to book the ticket through their website, but there may be an additional service fee.