British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have been in the news for the last few years for being apart of an alleged price fixing scandal. Well, the lawyers got to work and now there is a huge settlement on offer.

If you flew British Airways or Virgin Atlantic between the US and the UK between August 11, 2004 and March 23, 2006, you are entitled to a partial refund of the fuel surcharge you were charged.

The amount you receive is based on $7 to $34 a flight. My wife and I travelled back and forth to England twice in the time period, so we should get a hundred bucks or so. Not a bad deal considering how pissed we were to see the fuel surcharge cost more than the tickets when we purchased them.

If you are in the US, you can go the Official Air Passenger Settlement Site to register and make your claim. If you are in the Uk, you can go to this site, the official UK Passenger Settlement Site.

Be sure to make your claim by September 12th or else you might miss out on this money.

This past week, American Airlines began operating a new transatlantic route between Chicago O'hare and Moscow, Russia. This makes American Airlines the first American based airline to offer a direct flight Chicago to Moscow.

The new route marks a change in strategy for American, which because of the troubles facing all airlines right now, is trying to diversify by expanding to more lucrative international and transatlantic routes.

The flight will feature a Russian speaking cabin crew and vodka and wine will be served. The route is expected to be popular as there is a large Russian community in the Chicagoland area.

The flights will be daily and will cross a distance of nearly 10,000 miles and take about 10-11 hours depending on tailwind speeds.

This past week, Air Canada announced that it was launching a new transatlantic route from it's Capital Ottawa to Frankfurt Germany.

Previously, passenger would have to drive two hours to Montreal to get non-stop flights to Europe.

The new flight will fly seven days a week, will leave at 5:10pm and arrive in Germany at 6:30am the next day.

The transatlantic flight industry is certainly heating up.

Continental Airlines recently launched a new transatlantic service from Cleveland, Ohio to Paris, France. The flights have been taking place since May 22nd.

The new transatlantic route will be flying from Cleveland Hopkins Airport and Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport. This is the second transatlantic flight to be launched from Cleveland Airport. Continental has been flying to London Gatwick from Cleveland since 1999.

Continental expects the new service to be popular with business class transatlantic travelers who may use the flight to connect to other flights on the European continent. The service will only be running through the summer until September. If it's a success, the airline will most likely continue the service.

Expect many more airlines to launch new transatlantic routes as the US-EU open skies agreement comes into full force.