Virgin Australia will launch seasonal flights between Darwin and Bali from April 10.

The airline’s three return services a week will make it the only full-service operating the route and comes in time for Australia’s Easter school holiday travel peak.

The move will see Virgin add 1000 seats a week on the Bali -Denpasar route between April and October and pit its full-service offering against Qantas low-cost offshoot Jetstar.

Virgin also flies to Bali from Brisbane, Sydney and Port Hedland and to Darwin from Alice Springs, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

READ: Virgin Australia wins coveted cabin crew award.

“Today marks 17 years to the day since our first flight to Darwin and since then, we’ve continued to build upon our presence and make travel more accessible for Territorians,’’ said Virgin Australia general manager network, revenue and management and alliances Russell Shaw said.

“Our guests will now have more choice and flexibility when looking to fly to Bali, with Virgin Australia offering what we believe is the most convenient schedule on this route, allowing for our guests to arrive well before midnight when traveling from Darwin to Bali.’

NT Airports chief executive Ian Kew predicted the new service would be a winning combination for Territorians.

“We are confident that through the support of Territorians, there will be strong demand for these services,” he said.

Fares went on sale December 20 with all-inclusive fares starting at $A199 one-way.

Virgin Australia has also recently upgraded its trans-Tasman service in the wake of its split with Air New Zealand.

It now gives all passengers food, drinks, luggage allowance and wi-fi after breaking away from the “Seats-to-Suit” model imposed by the Air NZ alliance.

The carrier is also searching for a new chief executive after incumbent John Borghetti announced he planned to leave the airline next year.

US snowbirds rejoice: American Airlines is this week launching 28 new flights that offer increased access to warmer climates such as Miami and the Caribbean.

More than 40 percent of the new flights are heading to the Caribbean, including the Bahamas, Aruba and Grand Cayman.

They include a resumption of service to the Caribbean islands of St Thomas and St Maarten from Philadelphia International Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Services to both islands were suspended after they were badly damaged during Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

JFK also a adds flights to Nassau in the Bahamas and Vail, Colorado.

READ: First American biometric boarding trial starts in LA.

Also available to those wanting to escape the winter freeze are five new American flights to Miami and two new ways to head to Sarasota.

Chicago gets one of those Sarasota services as well as flights to Grand Cayman, Honolulu, Nassau, Aruba and Providenciales, Turks and Caicos.

The other is from American’s hub at Dallas/Fort Worth, which also gets new flights to Buffalo, New York;  Oaxaca, Mexico; and Aruba.

The five Miami services are to Grand Rapids, Michigan; Greenville/Spartanburg, North Carolina; Knoxville, Tennessee; Providence Rhode Island; and Houston, Texas.

The airline is also starting the only service between Los Angeles International Airport and Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

US Airlines are expecting a Christmas travel bonanza in the holiday period from December 20 through to January 6.

They will add 143,000 seats a day across their global networks to cope with a forecast 45.7 million passengers over the 18 days.

That’s up 5.2 percent on last year and equates to an average 2.54 million passengers a day –  126,000 a day more than the same period in 2017-18 – between December 20 and January 6.

Industry lobby group Airlines for America (A4A) forecasts daily passenger volumes will range from 2.1 to 2.9 million with Thursday, December 20, Friday, December 21 and Wednesday, December 26 the busiest days.

A bizarre strategy by obsessed fans wanting to meet their K-Pop idols has prompted Korean Air to introduce an additional 200,000 won ($US177.39) penalty for people who cancel a flight after going through the departure process.

The increase comes after 360 passengers were forced to deplane at Hong Kong International Airport and go back through security after three fans of K-Pop group Wanna One canceled their flight after boarding the plane to meet the band.

Flight attendants convinced the obsessed trio — two from Mainland China and  one from Hong Kong — to leave the band alone but they then demanded to disembark , prompting the entire plane to be emptied.

They also demanded a refund, something they were entitled to do because they had bought fully-flexible tickets in three classes.

READ: At last, an airline boss who rejects the economy crush.

Korean said in a statement issued Tuesday that it currently charged no-show penalties to passengers who fail to board ahead of departure time, after check-in or who disembark.

These varied according to distance but were 120,000 won on long-haul routes, 70,000 won on medium-haul routes and 50,000 won on short-haul routes.

“To reiterate, a fee of KRW 200,000 will be assessed as an additional penalty for each instance of a passenger who cancels their international flight after going through the departure process,’’ it said.

“Flights departing from Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines will be applicable after government approval.

The airline said it had seen 35 “misappropriations of low-penalty and penalty-exempt bookings” at Incheon airport after passengers falsely reported for departure and then canceled their flights after using the lounge and getting on an aircraft.

It estimated this amounted to hundreds of instances if all airlines were included.

It said the need to take all passengers off the aircraft and put them through security again led to unnecessary flight delays.

“Moreover, boarding cancellations and the following processes involve an unnecessary waste of manpower and expenses for both airlines and airport authorities,’’ it said.

“Through this strengthened measure, Korean Air expects to create a sounder customer service culture, especially during the boarding process, and provide more actual passengers with opportunities to make flight reservations.”

Australian air safety investigators are looking into a rare double flame-out on a twin-engine commuter plane descending into the nation’s capital.

Both engines on a Virgin ATR-72-600 turboprop, registration VH-FVN, experienced problems near Canberra Airport on December 13.

Although the disruptions were momentary and the aircraft landed safely, the probability of both engines shutting down during a flight is low and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is treating the incident as serious.

Turboprops use gas turbine engines to power the propeller and a flameout occurs when the flame in the combustion chamber is extinguished.  A flameout is believed to occur once in every 100,000 non-military flights, according to Air & Space Magazine.

“While the aircraft was descending through 11,000 ft in heavy rain, the right engine’s power rolled back (decreased) and the engine flamed out,’’ The ATSB said. “The engine automatically re-started within five seconds.

READ: Jetstar faces $A1.95 million fine for misleading customers.

“The descent continued and, while passing through 10,000 ft, the left engine’s power also rolled back and that engine flamed out before automatically relighting.

“The crew selected manual engine ignition for the remainder of the flight and the landing.”

Although engines are designed to cope with extremely heavy rain, experts say it is normal to switch to continuous ignition as a precaution when heading into storms.

This allows an engine to quickly relight in the case of a flameout, as was the case with the Virgin ATR.

The aircraft spent three days on the ground before being returned to service. Virgin said the incident had not impacted customers and it was assisting the ATSB with its inquiries.

The ATSB has downloaded the flight data recorder and is gathering additional information that will be included in a final report.

“Should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant parties so appropriate action can be taken,’’ it said.

There have been a number of instances of jet engines flaming out in bad weather, not all of them with the happy ending in Canberra.

In 1977, a Southern Airways DC-9 was forced to land on a highway in the US state of Georgia after suffering hail damage in a thunderstorm and losing thrust in both engines. Sixty-three people died.

In 1988, A Salvadoran Boeing 737 operated by TACA flew through thunderstorms around New Orleans when both engines quit.

The crew managed to relight them but they would not accelerate from idle speed and dangerously rising tailpipe temperatures forced the pilots to shut them down again.

The captain dead-sticked the aircraft into a levee embankment and ditched the plane without loss of life.

In 2002, a Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737 flight encountered severe thunderstorm activity on approach to Yogyakarta and suffered a flameout in both engines.

The pilots  tried several times to restart the engines but were forced to ditch in a shallow river with the loss of one life.

Tigerair Flt TT271 from Sydney to Melbourne was forced to return to Sydney, Monday, December 17 after an alleged bomb threat.

Sydney’s runway 34L was closed during the incident and the aircraft towed to a remote area of the airport.

The threat was in the form of a written note.

Australian Federal Police officers were called to meet Tigerair flight TT271 when it touched down at 8.35pm after the crew became aware of a potential threat. It had taken off at 7.30pm.

The plane was taken to a remote area for two hours before passengers were allowed to deplane at 11 pm.

Tigerair has confirmed the incident on Twitter.

“The Captain made the decision to return to Sydney following an incident onboard. In line with standard procedures, the Australian Federal Police met the aircraft on arrival,” Tigerair said.

“The safety of our crew and guests is always our highest priority and we are working with the relevant authorities to investigate the matter.

Read: Jetstar faces fines for misleading passengers 

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Jetstar is facing court action and a $A1.95 million penalty for making false or misleading representations about consumer guarantee rights under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said Jetstar had admitted that it made representations on its website that some fares were not refundable, and that consumers could only get a refund if they purchased a more expensive fare.

“No matter how cheap the fares are, airlines cannot make blanket statements to consumers that flights are non-refundable,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.

Jetstar has also admitted that its terms and conditions contained representations that consumer guarantees under Australian consumer law did not apply to its flight services, and that Jetstar’s liability in providing remedies to consumers was limited.

The ACCC and Jetstar have jointly submitted to the Federal Court that Jetstar should be ordered to pay a $A1.95 million penalty and to make a contribution to the ACCC’s costs.

The Federal Court will now decide whether the proposed penalties and other orders sought are appropriate.

The ACCC said services such as flights came with automatic consumer guarantees, and these rights cannot be excluded, restricted or modified.

If a flight is canceled or significantly delayed, passengers may be entitled to a refund under the consumer guarantees, which give consumers a right to a remedy if services are not supplied within a reasonable time.

READ Perth Airport sues Qantas over alleged short paid fees.

“It’s frustrating for travelers when they have difficulty getting a refund for flights when they are entitled to one. This case is important not only for holding Jetstar to account, but sending a wider message that businesses cannot exclude or limit consumers’ rights under the Australian Consumer Law,” Sims said.

The legal action against Jetstar is part of the ACCC’s response to common consumer issues arising in the airline industry and the ACCC’s concerns. The ACCC detailed its industry-wide concerns in its report Airlines: Terms & Conditions Report.

The ACCC has also separately accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from Jetstar, as well as each of Qantas, Virgin Australia and Tigerair. These undertakings are commitments from the airlines to amend their policies and practices in relation to the Australian Consumer Law consumer guarantees.

Jetstar chief executive Gareth Evans said the airline took its obligation under Australian Consumer Law seriously and it had worked closely with the ACCC on changes to the wording on its website.

“We also updated our terms and conditions to make it easier for customers to understand when they are eligible for a refund,’’ he said.

“Like other low fares airlines in Australia and around the world, customers who purchase our cheapest fares cannot get a refund if they decide they no longer wish to travel.

“For customers who are likely to change their mind or need flexibility, we have a number of fare types that give them that option.”