The US Department of Transportation published its final rule on Traveling by Air with Service Animals today, bringing an end to the Emotional Support Animal (ESA) era. Under the new guidelines only dogs may be designated as service animals and owners must attest that they are specially trained to provide services to the passenger, among other requirements.
ancillary
EasyJet shrinks cabin baggage allowance
The carrier is pitching the move as a push to improve on-time performance, but easyJet’s new hand baggage policy looks an awful lot like an ancillary revenue push.
American Airlines drops change fees for long-haul flights
Earlier this year the US carriers went through a round of cuts to change fees, but they focused mostly on domestic or regional routes. American Airlines took that a step further today, announcing that the new policy would also apply to First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy and Main Cabin (except Basic Economy) tickets for all long-haul international flying when travel originates in North or South America. Typically those changes cost $200.
Lufthansa Group launches short-haul buy-on-board catering
The stale half-sandwich snack will disappear from Lufthansa Group flights in the new year. Passengers demanded better, and now they have the option to pay for it.
United launches contactless payments for buy-on-board
Buy-on-board snacks are coming back to United Airlines next month. But the company wants to ease customer concerns over payments, with a new contactless option being added.
Immfly launches ground experience bookings in the sky
Passengers can add to their activities at the destination while en route, while airlines have an opportunity to increase ancillary revenue through the system thanks to a new partnership between Immfly and GetYourGuide.
Basic Business Class now on sale
Forget about the punitive selling proposition of a Basic Economy fare. Long-haul LCC startup ZIPAIR is ready to sell a Basic Business Class seat.
Bluebox, dnata partner for in-flight retail push
Bluebox Aviation hopes to further its reach into the ancillary sales market of the South Pacific with a new partnership. The company announced it will work with catering and logistics giant dnata to develop and sell solutions powered by the Bluebox WOW streaming IFE solution in the region. The companies will support each other in product customization and processes for delivering joint solutions to customers.
Eastern Airlines nears completion of AirFi streaming IFE deployment
Eastern Airlines passengers will soon have inflight entertainment available across the carrier’s entire fleet thanks to AirFi. The wireless IFE system began deployment over the summer and will soon be fully fitted on all eight 767s Eastern operates.
Luthansa, Austrian launch SKYdeals "shoppertainment" platform
The future of in-flight shopping is digital. And it will consume passengers’ attention throughout a flight. This is the hope of marketers everywhere and the underlying concept driving the launch of SKYdeals, the new in-flight “shoppertainment” platform now flying on Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines.