Holiday Proposal

ORLANDO, Fla., July 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. , announced today that it will provide a new service called Getaway Planner on its Web site, , to help passengers plan trips and maximize vacation experiences. Through a partnership with Home&Abroad, which provides the innovative itinerary planning service, the Getaway Planner will offer expert information about most AirTran Airways destinations, allowing customers to find the best attractions, restaurants and activities based on their personal interests and needs. To try the service, look for the Getaway Planner suitcase icon on the home page.
“At AirTran Airways, travel is our business, and we want to make planning a trip as easy as booking tickets on airtran.com,” said Tad Hutcheson, vice president of sales and marketing for AirTran Airways. “Our new Getaway Planner Web site combines an array of useful tools in one place, allowing passengers to plan any vacation, from romantic getaways to family trips, with just a few clicks of their mouse.”
Using the AirTran Airways Getaway Planner, travelers can review and select activities for their vacation by choosing one of four different offerings: trip themes, custom planner, dream trips and browse. After filling in certain criteria, including location, dates and expectations for the vacation, the site will provide suggestions for activities and help travelers develop a custom itinerary.
The site also offers additional research tools, including a hotel and attraction finder and a free activities finder for travelers on a budget. To get a better idea of which attractions they would prefer, site visitors can access ratings and reviews posted by other AirTran Airways passengers and share their own travel experiences, ratings and advice with their peers.
Home&Abroad is a travel technology company based in Boulder, Colorado. Their flagship consumer site, , was rated one of the top 25 travel-related websites by travel & Leisure magazine in 2007 and has been featured by CNN, CTV (Canada’s largest private television network), and many other media outlets.
AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc., a Fortune 1000 company, ranked number one in the 2008 Airline Quality Rating study. The airline offers more than 700 affordable, daily flights to 57 U.S. destinations, employs 8,900 friendly Crew Members and operates America’s youngest all-Boeing fleet. AirTran Airways also provides XM Satellite Radio and Business Class seating on every flight. For more information and free online booking, visit .
Media Contacts: AirTran Airways
Tad Hutcheson
Judy Graham-Weaver
Cynthia Tinsley-Douglas
Quinnie Jenkins
678.254.7442

AirTran Airways

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 17 /PRNewswire/ — The tourism industry risks being hit with significant declines in leisure travel volume and spending according to the findings of Destination Analysts’ bi-annual The State of the American Traveler survey released today. The survey of 1,000 American leisure travelers shows that 45.8% expect to reduce the number of leisure trips they will take in the coming year in direct response to the overall economic climate. General travel spending expectations are also depressed, with 29.8% saying they will spend less for leisure in the next 12 months, a figure that has more than doubled from just six months prior.
In the past 12 months, nearly one-in-four (23.6%) say they have taken a “staycation” — a vacation spent at home — in response to gasoline prices. 28.5% of survey respondents said they plan to take a staycation in the next 12 months.
“We expect to see travelers taking fewer leisure trips and visiting destinations that are closer to home. With more than half of travelers saying they will actively look for travel bargains and discounts and another third saying they will visit less expensive destinations, affordability is certain to be top-of-mind. In this climate, destinations, hotels, and others that market to leisure travelers must provide compelling offers that promise and deliver value,” says Erin Francis, Managing Partner of Destination Analysts.
The average number of trips the typical American has taken in the past 12 months has already fallen 7.3% to 5.1. The top impediments to travel continue to be high gasoline prices (57.8%), personal financial reasons (49.5%) and expensive airfare (35.2%). The percentage of survey respondents who have cited these factors as having prevented them from traveling as much as they would have preferred have all grown significantly since the survey was first conducted in July 2006.
ABOUT DESTINATION ANALYSTS: Destination Analysts is a San Francisco-based market research company specializing in the travel, tourism and lifestyle industries. Founded in 2003, the company provides innovative research solutions to organizations charged with growing the economic impact of tourism to their business or community.
The State of the American Traveler survey is conducted every six months by Destination Analysts. The summer 2008 survey was conducted online amongst a nationally representative sample of adult Americans. From June 27th-30th, surveys were collected from a group of respondents who had traveled at least once in the past 12 months for purely leisure or personal reasons. In total, 1,014 leisure travelers completed the survey, which has a reliability of /- 3.1%.
For more information on The State of the American Traveler study, please contact David Bratton at (415) 307-3283 or . A four-page summary report of findings can be found at
Destination Analysts

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 9 /PRNewswire/ — Virgin America, the California-based airline that is reinventing domestic air travel, today took the top honors as “Best Domestic Airline” in the prestigious travel Leisure Annual World’s Best Awards readers’ survey.
“We’re delighted to welcome so many new winners this year,” said Nancy Novogrod, Editor-in-Chief of travel Leisure. “Virgin America came on strong in its very first year of service, winning the prize for Best Domestic Airline.”
Travel Leisure’s World’s Best Awards readers’ survey is an annual, impartial reader survey that allows travel Leisure readers to share their opinions of their favorite travel finds.* Airlines are rated by travel Leisure readers in several categories: cabin comfort, food, in-flight service, customer service, and value.
“Virgin America was launched just last year with the goal of creating a different kind of airline: one built around providing an upscale, innovative, high-value customer experience for smart travelers in the urban destinations we serve,” said Virgin America Chief Executive Officer David Cush. “So, we couldn’t be more honored to take the top award as Best Domestic Airline from travel Leisure’s readers — those who fly the most and expect the very best in design, comfort and service in all their travel choices.”
The complete 2008 results, including the Top 100 Hotels Worldwide, Top 100 Hotels in the Continental U.S. Canada, and Top 10 Cities in the World, are featured on now and in travel Leisure’s August issue, available on newsstands July 22, 2008.
“These awards are certainly not a finish line,” Cush said. “It shows that we are moving in the right direction, but our goal from the start was to design an airline by listening to what travelers actually want. We’ve already implemented customer suggestions taken from our seatback video-screens from some of our very first August 2007 flights. We may not be the biggest, but we aim to be the most innovative, customer-facing and best in the domestic airline market.”
The travel Leisure World’s Best Awards winners for 2008, including Virgin America’s Cush, will be honored in New York City on July 24, 2008, at an awards luncheon at the Four Seasons Restaurant, followed by a gala event at Hudson Terrace that evening.
About Virgin America: Virgin America launched service in August 2007 from its base of operations at San Francisco International Airport’s ultra-modern International Terminal. The airline’s brand new fleet of Airbus A320-family aircraft offers guests interactive in-flight entertainment systems, power outlets for laptops or other electronic gear and a host of other innovative features aimed at making flying good again. In Zagat’s 2007 Global Airlines Survey of frequent fliers, the airline was ranked No. 1 among U.S. carriers for quality in First/Business Class and No. 2 for quality in Main Cabin. To learn more, visit:
EDITORS NOTE: Virgin America is a U.S. controlled and operated airline and an entirely separate company from Virgin Atlantic. Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is a minority share investor in Virgin America.
About travel Leisure: The premier chronicler of the way we travel now, travel Leisure examines the places, the ideas, and the trends that define modern global culture. The magazine and its website, , inspire millions of people to explore the world, equipping them with reliable advice and a clearer understanding of how travel can change their lives. travel Leisure has a network of international editions, including travel Leisure Mexico, travel Leisure Australia, travel Leisure Turkey, travel Leisure China, travel Leisure South Asia, and travel Leisure Southeast Asia.
*About the Survey: A questionnaire developed by the editors of travel Leisure, in association with Harris Interactive, was made available to travel Leisure subscribers at during the first quarter of this year. Respondents reported where they had traveled worldwide, and rated only the destinations, properties, and companies that were relevant to their recent travel experiences. Respondents were asked to rate hotels, cities, islands, spas, hotel spas, outfitters/safari operators, cruise lines, airlines, and car-rental companies on several characteristics. The scores are indexed averages of responses concerning applicable characteristics. The complete survey methodology is available in the August issue of travel Leisure, and online at
Virgin America

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PANAMA CITY, June 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Copa Airlines, a subsidiary of Copa Holdings S.A. , announced that it will offer a new service from Panama and connecting cities to Belo Horizonte, Brazil, beginning August 21, 2008.
“This new flight to Belo Horizonte strengthens our position as the best travel option in Latin America,” said Pedro Heilbron, CEO, Copa Airlines. “We continue to expand our extensive route network and reaffirm our commitment to the development of business and tourism in Latin America and the rest of the American continent.”
The new flight will depart Panama on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 6:48 p.m.*, arriving in Belo Horizonte at 3:29 a.m.* the following day. The return flight will depart Belo Horizonte on Mondays, Tuesday, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 4:28 a.m.*, arriving in Panama at 9:11 a.m.*
Belo Horizonte will be the airline’s 42nd destination and its fourth in Brazil. Copa also offers service to Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Manaus, Brazil. Copa passengers can travel to the principal cities of the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and the United States with immediate connections and no immigration or customs processing, through Copa’s Hub of the Americas in Panama.
Belo Horizonte is the third largest city in Brazil with a metropolitan area population in excess of five million. Belo Horizonte has a developed industrial sector, being traditionally an axis of the Brazilian siderurgical and metallurgical industries, since the state of Minas Gerais has always been very rich in minerals, specifically iron ore. Many multinational companies have established subsidiaries in the region; sectors represented include automobile, steel, electronics, textile, cosmetic, food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, furnishing and refractory companies, among others. It is also considered a cultural center, with three universities, museums, libraries, and sports stadiums, as well as colonial buildings and ecological attractions. The capital of the state of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte is served by an extensive air and land transportation network, which facilitates tourist travel and investment.
Copa will operate a Boeing 737-700 Next Generation aircraft on the flight. This comfortable and modern aircraft has seating capacity for 124 passengers
– 12 in Business Class (Clase Ejecutiva) and 112 in the main cabin. The aircraft has a spacious interior, with large overhead compartments, reclining seats with headrests and a 12-channel audio-video entertainment system.
*All times are local.

About Copa Holdings

Copa Holdings, through its Copa Airlines and AeroRepublica operating subsidiaries, is a leading Latin American provider of passenger and cargo service. Copa Airlines currently offers 126 daily scheduled flights to 42 destinations in 22 countries in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean through its Hub of the Americas based in Panama City, Panama. In addition, Copa Airlines provides passengers with access to flights to more than 120 other international destinations through codeshare agreements with Continental Airlines and other airlines. From the U.S., Copa offers nonstop service to Panama 20 times a week from Miami; daily from New York City, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.; and 12 times a week from Orlando. Copa is an associate member of the Global SkyTeam alliance, giving its passengers access to more than 15,200 daily flights to more than 790 cities in 162 countries. AeroRepublica, the second-largest carrier in Colombia, provides service to 12 cities in Colombia as well as international connectivity with Copa Airlines’ Hub of the Americas through daily flights from Bogota, Bucaramanga, Cali and Medellin. For more information, visit .
CPA-G
Copa Airlines

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DALLAS, June 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Bucking the current industry trend to reduce capacity and flights, Southwest Airlines announced today that the carrier will utilize a brand new optimization model to add service in select markets and tweak its schedule. Through the elimination of 31 existing roundtrip flights from its current flight schedule, Southwest has added 40 new roundtrip flights in key growth cities such as Denver and Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood. To view a complete chart of the schedule changes in each city, click here: . To view a blog post from Schedule Development Lead Planner, Bill Owen, explaining the airline’s optimization efforts, click here: . To book flights, click here: .
“We are trimming our flight schedule, frequently and continually, of unproductive flights, while we continue to grow in cities like Denver,” Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly said. “We have a much different story to tell today than our competitors. We are well prepared financially, we are the nation’s Leading Low Fare Airline, we are still growing, and our People provide outstanding Customer Service. Best of all, we don’t nickel and dime our Customers with added fees.”
The Company will be accommodating this new service with two aircraft that it previously planned to retire, bringing this year’s net aircraft growth to 15. The Company’s 2008 year-over-year available seat mile (ASM) capacity growth is still expected to be in the four percent range.
Several markets will be gaining new nonstop service, including:

BEGINNING NOV. 2, 2008:
— Three new daily nonstop roundtrips between Denver and Orange County.
— Two new daily nonstop roundtrips between Denver and Tulsa.

– One new daily nonstop roundtrip between Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood and Las Vegas.
– One new daily nonstop roundtrip between Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood and Kansas City.
– One new daily nonstop roundtrip between Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood and Albany.
– One new daily nonstop roundtrip between Ft. Myers and St. Louis.
To celebrate the new nonstop service, Southwest is offering a $69 one-way advance purchase fare between Denver and Tulsa and a $79 one-way advance purchase fare between Denver and Orange County. Southwest is offering an $89 one-way advance purchase fare between Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood and Kansas City and Albany and a $149 one-way advance purchase fare between Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood and Las Vegas. The carrier will offer a $69 one-way advance purchase fare between Ft. Myers and St. Louis. These 14-day advance purchase fares are available for purchase today at for travel beginning on Nov. 2, 2008, through the end of the schedule, currently Jan. 9, 2009.
NEW SERVICE FARE RULES
Fares are available for purchase today through the end of the schedule, currently Jan. 9, 2009. Fares are for nonstop flights only and do not require an overnight stay. All tickets must be purchased 14-days in advance. When combining fares, all ticketing restrictions apply. Seats are limited. Fares may vary by day of travel and will not be available on some flights that operate during very busy travel times and holiday periods. Fares do not include a federal segment tax of $3.50 per takeoff and landing. Fares do not include airport-assessed passenger facility charges (PFC) of up to $9.00 one-way and U.S. government-imposed September 11th Security Fees of $5.00 one-way. Fares are subject to change until ticketed. Tickets are nonrefundable but, if unused, may be applied toward the purchase of future travel on Southwest Airlines. Fares are valid on Southwest-operated published, scheduled service only and are not available through the Group Desk.
Southwest is the only U.S. airline to remain consistently profitable this decade, and enjoys an unprecedented string of 35 consecutive years of profitability. Southwest has among the lowest cost structures, a strong balance sheet, and the most comprehensive fuel hedge of any major U.S. airline. At Southwest Airlines, fees don’t fly with us. You can check your first two bags for free, there are no change fees, no fees for a window or aisle seat, and, as always, snacks, sodas, and smiles are all complimentary!
After 37 years of service, Southwest Airlines, the nation’s leading low-fare carrier, continues to differentiate itself from other airlines- offering a reliable product with exemplary Customer Service. Southwest Airlines is the most productive airline in the sky and offers Customers a comfortable traveling experience. Southwest offers a very comfortable ride with all premium leather seats and plenty of legroom with a young all Boeing 737 fleet. Southwest recently updated its gate areas and improved its boarding procedure to make flying Southwest even more convenient and simple. Southwest Airlines , the nation’s largest carrier in terms of domestic passengers enplaned, currently serves 64 cities in 32 states. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,400 flights a day and has more than 34,000 Employees systemwide.

Southwest Airlines

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