Princess Cruises has secured seats on British Airways flights to help keep down air fares for customers joining its Mediterranean cruises on its newest ship, Sun Princess.
The cruise line has taken an allocation on multiple BA flights from next February, for the European debut of Sun Princess, Vice President for Europe and the UK Eithne Williamson told Travel Gossip.
The BA fares will be released next week, she said.
The new 4,300-passenger Sun Princess will spend its inaugural season in Europe, with 10-night Grand Mediterranean and Western Grand Mediterranean itineraries departing from Barcelona or Rome (Civitavecchia), and seven-night cruises departing from either Rome (Civitavecchia), Barcelona or Athens.
Princess already has allocations on Aer Lingus flights to the Med from Dublin, but Eithne said it was keen to take seats on other flights to secure the best possible prices for its customers.
“Airlines are not fully back to capacity yet so we are definitely seeing a shortage of flights and higher fares, so the best thing for agents to do is to persuade clients to book early when flights are cheapest,” said Eithne.
“We are also looking at what we can do to secure the best prices for customers, taking seat allocations is something we want to develop and grow.
“We’re starting with BA for Sun Princess, we’ll be releasing those seats next week, and we’re now talking to other airlines around the world.
“We need an agreement that works for the cruise line, for the airline and for guests.”