KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (eTN) -- A study commissioned by Malaysia Airlines has revealed that eight Asian-based airlines, with the exception of Japanese Airlines, charge the lowest fares per mile in the world for domestic flights on full service carriers.

Domestic airfares in France comes in at ninth, charging US$1.03 per mile and the UK at tenth lowest, charging $1.05 per mile for European-based carriers in the table of ten lowest fares. US and Canadian carriers, outside of the top ten on the table, charge an average of $2.88 per mile. "Thai carriers charge the cheapest at only 17 cents per mile, followed by Malaysia a close second at 19 cents, with the highest charged by an Asian carrier at 54 cents per mile, by Australian carriers. The study confirms the assertion in the travel industry that Asian carriers offer the best deals for holiday travel when bundled with hotel rooms.

Tarom halves domestic airfares in a time-limited offer

All the tickets for Tarom's domestic flights will be available to buy at half price from October 15 through to the end of the year, Transport Minister Radu Berceanu said yesterday. He explained the decision was part of an analysis started by Tarom, concerning the sale of more tickets than usual, yet at lower prices. "I talked with Tarom's management to half the pricing of tickets on domestic routes as of October 15. We want to see if we can generate higher profit by allowing more people to travel cheaper, rather than fewer passengers buying more expensive tickets," Berceanu said. He added Tarom was preparing a new strategy to operate flights abroad, which could see it introduce new destinations as of January 1, such as Lisbon, New York, Beijing and Bangkok. .

Demand for Mangalore- Kuwait flight

MANGALORE: NRI members of Mangalorean Associations in Kuwait on Thursday urged the centre to operate direct flights from Kuwait to Mangalore.

United Associations of Karnataka (UAKK) government affairs coordinator Pascal Pinto told mediapersons that the need of Mangalorean NRIs in Kuwait at this moment is a direct flight to Mangalore from Kuwait.

The flight schedule will be a big relief to a large number of Mangalorean NRI population and surrounding districts including northern parts of Kerala.

At present thousands of families and bachelors fly to Mangalore from Kuwait and other gulf countries through Mumbai airport and other points in India.

Passengers including women, children, elderly and sick have to wait for many hours to catch connecting airports to secure domestic flights to Mangalore.

Taxes and fees can make airfare bargains vanish

Don't jump for joy when you find what looks like a fabulous $508 Chicago-London fare for travel this month. By the time the U.S. and United Kingdom tack on taxes and fees--and the airline adds its fuel surcharge--you will discover your ticket actually costs $752.50.

The airlines aren't trying to hoodwink you. That's just the way final fares are calculated, whether you're flying internationally or domestically. Carriers will give you an approximate fare, but until you book an itinerary for a particular routing, they can't tell you what that final number is until the taxes and fees are added.

For that Chicago-London fare, the Air Transport Association, a Washington-based airline trade group, chose a United Airlines flights departing Oct. 9 and returning Oct. 16.