SEATTLE, Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Farecast.com, the airfare prediction website, announced today that consumers can now shop for airfare on Farecast.com for any airport and destination nationwide. The company also added free airfare predictions from 20 additional cities, bringing the total to 75 cities across the country.

With Farecast.com, airfare shoppers can buy directly with airline websites. Unlike other airfare search engines, Farecast.com simplifies the shopping experience by showing only the booking options that provide the best value and the lowest fares to consumers.

"It's a myth that shoppers need to search across 'hundreds' of airfare websites to find the best price," said Hugh Crean, Farecast's president and chief executive officer. "Booking with airline websites provides the best value -- no booking fees, earn bonus miles, lowest fare guarantees -- so the reality is that for most trips, you only need to see results from a handful of airline websites."

With support from some of the world's largest carriers, Farecast.com developed technology to streamline the Farecast.com-to-airline-website booking process, making airfare shopping and booking much easier for consumers.

Swift service to SWF: AirTran heads for the Hudson Valley

A major move by discount airline AirTran Airways into the exurbs of New York City, specifically the Hudson Valley. To kick things off, the carrier is offering introductory discount airfares as low as $79

Five Countries To Tax Airfare To Pay For AIDS Drugs - NYT

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- A group of countries led by France plan to raise at least $300 million next year, mostly through taxes on airline tickets, to help pay for the treatment of children with AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, The New York Times reports in its Tuesday edition, citing a senior French official.
The countries, acting through a Geneva-based organization called Unitaid, plan to pool their buying power and have asked former U.S. President Bill Clinton's foundation to negotiate with drug companies for volume discounts, the paper reported.
The countries - France, Brazil, the U.K., Norway and Chile - will announce the new undertaking Tuesday at the U.N., The Times reported.
France is the dominant donor to Unitaid, providing $250 million of the $300 million for next year, all from an airline ticket tax it began collecting this summer, the report said.

Airfare tax plan for Aids drugs

New York - France, Brazil, Britain, Norway and Chile on Tuesday announced a tax on airline tickets to raise $300m to buy Aids drugs for patients who cannot afford them.

Representatives from the five nations, including Presidents Jacques Chirac of France and Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, were present for the announcement at the United Nations.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former US president Bill Clinton also attended.

Annan called the initiative to tax airline tickets an "innovative" way to raise money for Aids patients.

"It can provide a continuing source of funding," Annan said. "It is a real and immediate tool to fight HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria."

The plan, known under the acronym Unitaid and based in Geneva, can help pay for treatment of 100 000 children living with the Aids virus and another 100 000 who have become resistant to the antiretroviral Aids drugs.