On Wednesday, Aeroflot abandoned their effort to purchase a significant stake in Alitalia. Also on Wednesday, Ryanair’s bid for Aer Lingus was blocked by the European Commission. Ryanair has already confirmed that they will contest the European Commission’s decision. Is it time for Ryanair and Aeroflot to reconsider bravado as a strategy? Perhaps, but we » Read more

This and that. 1. Today’s Kazakhstan special report in the FT. Summary: oil, Nazarbayev, grand architecture, and, um, oil. 2. Ryanair extends its “lowest price guarantee” through September 30. The guarantee has 11 stipulations. Best of luck. 3. We like Guardian Unlimited’s Czech “beer experiences” top-ten list. At long last, lads and frat boys have » Read more

Here. There. And Elsewhere. 1. Europe A La Carte Blog warns of delays at UK airports. Partially to blame: Spain’s new security rules for air passengers, which seem to us to flirt with violating the spirit of Schengen. 2. Italian somewhat low-cost carrier Volare is hawking a €10 discount on all July flights, if booked » Read more

UK low-cost carrier Monarch is bursting with confidence these days, trumpeting their dominance of the Manchester-Barcelona route to anyone who will listen—a group of people, we suppose, that includes us. After Monarch inaugurated a Manchester-Barcelona service in late 2003, BMIBatwo other players on the route—ceased flying the route. Now Jet2, which began flying between Barcelona » Read more

New, nasty, and noteworthy. 1. Polish wonder LCC WizzAir announced this week that they’ll open their 7th base in Poznan in January 2008 by launching new routes connecting the western Polish city to Doncaster, Glasgow Prestwick, Malmö, and Oslo. Hot on the heels of that press release, the Wizzers announced today that they’ll inaugurate a » Read more

We just devoured the July/August issue of Budget Travel, noting happily Caitlin O’Neil’s story on carbon offset firms. O’Neil’s story points readers toward several different carbon offsetters, going so far as to profile four “recommended” outfits: Atmosfair.de, CarbonCounter.org, ClimateFriendly.com, and NativeEnergy.com. We liked O’Neil’s digest-like coverage of the issues surrounding carbon offsetting. She provides a » Read more

It’s Wednesday, a.k.a. midweek madness freak out day. On our minds: 1. The Tirol tourist site. First of all, there’s no regional tourism logo as timeless as that white-on-red “Tirol, “the dot of the “i” safely lodged in the cross of the “t.” But beyond that, the Tirol tourism site is just so crisp and » Read more

German low-cost carrier TUIfly is offering a bunch of cheap air fares for travel within Germany and from Germany to various points across Europe. Promo fares are good for flights in July and August. The catch? Tix must be purchased by midnight tonight. That’s midnight in Germany. In other words, time is of the essence. » Read more

Today, Ryanair fires off another salvo in its summer price war with easyJet versus merely knowing about their technical existence—we appreciate Ryanair’s route pricing lists. EasyJet, note the utility of said front page fare lists.