Tuesday 31 August 2010

Ryanair Pulls Out Of Belfast

Ryanair has announced it will be removing its service from the George Best Belfast International airport due to the failure of the promised new runway. The Irish base firm were promised the new runway would be up and running but after 3 years it is still to start construction.

The airline operated routes to 5 UK destinations including East Midlands, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London.

The airport owners were disappointed with Ryanair’s decision but stressed the passenger numbers proved there was enough demand for another airline to fill the void left by the departing Ryanair.

Around 50 staff will lose their jobs or be re-allocated around the UK and Europe.

Monday 30 August 2010

Mexican Stops Flying

Faltering airline Mexicana has ceased trading after a group of investors failed to agree a cost cutting deal with union bosses. The largest airline in Mexico terminated its service from Gatwick to Mexico earlier in the month and although it was temporarily re-instated the company has now stopped flying altogether.

The company’s website read “Financial deterioration and lack of agreements force Grupo Mexicana to stop flying” the closure also affects Mexicana Link and Mexicana Click all stopped trading on midnight last Friday.

It is just the latest casualty in a growing list of travel firms that have gone bust in 2010

Friday 27 August 2010

Boeing Delays Dreamliner Delivery


Boeing has announced the first delivery of its long awaited 787 Dreamliner will be delayed, All Nippon Airways were due to take delivery of the first of its kind at the end of the year but that date has now been put back to the end of May 2011.

The 787 is already 2 years behind schedule due to a series of technical hitches, but ANA has been promised the first 8 of the aircraft in late May, they have ordered 55 of the planes in total.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the most advanced plane the company has built and Boeing claim it will be faster, lighter and more CO2 efficient than some smaller aircraft flying today.

The delay is due to demand for the Rolls-Royce engine that is needed for the final stages of flight testing. It is unclear at this time if other airlines delivery dates will be affected by the delay.

Thursday 26 August 2010

Sydney Airport Blasted

Sydney airport in Australia has been blasted by the International Air Transport Association director Giovanni Bisignani for being one of the top 10 most expensive airports in the world and demanded the new incoming government rain them in and make a decision on the proposed plans to be build a second airport in the city.

Mr Bisignami pointed out that in the year 2000 Sydney was ranked 34th in the world for expensive airports, now they have climbed to 9th position. Toronto airport is ranked number 1.

Sydney has also been voted the worst airport in Australia for 4 years running, which Mr Bisignami said was an embarrassing situation considering the airport owner is reporting high earnings yet the airport seems to be going downhill.

Airport parking was also criticised with the short stay having nearly doubled in the last year. Also a report found that rates were well higher than other airports.

However the airport hot back by claiming if it wasn’t for a strong exchange rate the airport would be in 22nd position.

Tuesday 24 August 2010

Man Wins Case Against BA Seating Policy

British Airways has changed its policy about refraining lone male passengers from sitting next to unaccompanied children on its planes. It comes after Mirko Fischer sued BA after being forced to move seats after he innocently sat next to a child on one of their planes.

The incident took place last year when his pregnant wife asked to switch seats with him so she could sit next to the window, which he did and sat in his wife’s middle seat, in doing so he was then sat next to a boy.

Air stewards thought Mirko was travelling alone and asked him to move as he was sitting next to a boy he didn’t know. Mirko said he had never been so humiliated and made to feel like child molester.

He took the case to court and won £2,161 in costs and £750 in damages. BA have since changed their decade old policy, lone flying children will now be seated in a special section of the plane.

Monday 23 August 2010

Stelios Not Happy With easyJet

The founder of easyJet and owner of company Easygroup Stelios Haji-Ioannou has stepped up his battle with his former company after it emerged that the airline had been using leased planes from airline Titan during the summer peak.

Stelios fumed that any customer who books a flight with easyJet should be greeted at the airport by an easyJet plane and not some leased plane with little recognition from the public.

Stelios who owns 38% of easyJet and is the largest shareholder said he would terminate the brand agreement between his company easyGroup and easyJet if such breaches of agreement did not cease by the end of the day.

The brand agreement also states the carrier can continue to use the brand name only if 25% of its earnings are created from non core activities. Which Stelios feels is not the case as they have branched into car hire and hotels, which conflicts with easyCar and easyHotel.

New easyJet chief Carolyn McCall hopes to patch up differences with Stelios

Friday 20 August 2010

Security Alert At San Francisco Airport

A security alert at San Francisco International airport forced all passengers to vacate American Airlines Flight 24 bound for New York yesterday and passengers were forced to go through security a second time, while 2 individuals were removed from the plane altogether.

The flight which was due to takeoff at 0730 hours was delayed already when it was grounded at 1000 and uniformed police boarded the plane and handcuffed a man and a woman. They were then escorted from the plane along with all 163 passengers and 11 crew.

They were taken back to the terminal for a second security check, while the man and woman were detained for questioning. It is unclear what the threat entailed as no details have been released.

Thursday 19 August 2010

Unite Hypocrites?

The Union Unite has stunned its workers after it announced it would freeze its 1000+ workers pay, it comes after it has fought tooth and nail all summer with British airways, BAA and Fujitsu.

Unite caused havoc for UK travellers this summer by persuading British airways cabin crew workers to go on a series of strikes during summer and then nearly making BAA shut all six of its airports due to pay and conditions.

The move smacks of hypocrisy, with workers furious that after securing better pay for its 1.6 million members, they have been left with their own pay frozen.

Unite Chiefs Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson’s pay will also be frozen at £135,330 and £197,497 respectively, one worker commented “Woodley can afford to have his pay frozen, but what about the workers who are struggling to make ends meet”

Wednesday 18 August 2010

Kiss Flights Goes Bust!

The ash cloud and ongoing recession has claimed yet another holiday company as Flight options announced yesterday at 5pm it had ceased trading. The main trading name of this company is Kiss Flights which specialises in flights mainly to Spain.

Kiss Flights has some 13,000 customers abroad and has left an estimated 60,000 customers travel plans in ruin. The Civil Aviation Authority has been notified and have announced that all customers who have flown out with Kiss Flights will be able to fly home as normal. The CAA also stated people who had booked with Kiss would get refunds.

The collapse of Flight Options has also meant the closure of the rest of its trading names including Africa Options, America Options, Canada Options, Caribbean Options, Dubai Options, Elgouna Options, Elgouna Villas and Apartments, Florida Options, Florida Owners Club, Golf Options, Holidayops.com, Orlando Villas Direct, Sportops.com, Travel Options Direct and Travelplus.

Kiss Flights is the 3rd Uk travel firm this year to fall victim to the credit crunch after Goldtrail and Sun4you

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Strike Fear Averted At BAA

The strike threat has been lifted at all six BAA airports after talks that went on for nine hours deep into the night resulted in a new offer being presented by BAA. The offer will be balloted to the union members, but in the meantime there will be no strike action.

As reported yesterday it was predicted that an improved offer would be made as the alternative was to shut down all six BAA airports including Heathrow the busiest airport in Europe in terms of passenger numbers.

The result of the ballot will be announced in 3 weeks, although no details have been revealed about the improved offer it is though that it will be accepted as both parties want to avert further unrest for the travel industry.

Monday 16 August 2010

Fresh Talks To Take Place

Fresh talks are due to take place today to try and avert strike action at all six BAA airports, a ballot was returned last Friday voting in favour of a strike. Of the 50% of workers who voted strike action was voted 3 to 1 in favour.

The airports would be forced to close as the workers in question are firefighters, medic workers and security staff, leaving the airport unable to operate because of safety issues. The workers have been offered 1% pay rise which was called measly by the union.

BAA says it will move quickly to avert the strikes and an improved offer is expected today, but still claim that 1% is a fair offer considering the drop in passengers due to the recession and the ash cloud.

The August bank holiday has been mentioned as a potential strike date causing chaos for families flying from Heathrow, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen or Southampton airport.

Thursday 12 August 2010

Ballot Result Expected

The result of the BAA strike action is due to be revealed later, in what could cause mass heartache for UK travellers throughout September. The ballot was put to 6,185 members to decide whether to strike or not over a pay dispute.

BAA has offered its workers at all six airports a 1% rise which the Unite Union described as paltry, but BAA insist it is fair considering the current climate. Even worse BAA has confirmed that its airports would shut on strike days causing chaos for the UK.

Other arguments include bonus target that BAA said if reached would be paid, it was missed by 3% but Unite feel that was harsh and the workers should have been rewarded. Both bosses for Unite and BAA said talks were ongoing.

New Maritius Terminal To Improve Tourism

The Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam (SSR) international airport of Mauritius, was originally built around WWII to serve as an RAF airfield/base on the island. With time and the island's development, it changed its purpose and became a passenger airport, serving as the national carrier's, Air Mauritius hub.

In the mid 80s, with tourists arrivals on the rise and in order to better prepare for the future, the airport had its first renovation and expansion works with a new passenger terminal and the extension of the current runway so as larger jets be able to land and take off.

In the past couple of years, it has known several small renovations in order to ease passenger traffic.

In the 1980s, nobody thought that the Mauritian airport would see huge amounts of traffic as it has been the case for the past 8-10 years. In 2008 only, over 2.6 million passengers went through its gates! As so and in view of offering a quality service to airlines and passengers, the management company, AML (Airports of Mauritius Ltd) teamed with an subsidiary company of ADPG (Aeroports De Paris Group) to build the new passenger terminal in December 2009.

The project, valued at over 300M US$, is expected to be delivered about 3 years later (late 2012-early 2013).

The new terminal will have a passenger capacity of nearly 4 million per year (1640/hour at peak), a larger surface area of around 57 000 square meters (3400 M2 for commercial use, 2200 M2 for lounges), 8 contact stands (Airbus A380 compatible!), 52 check-in desks, 9 telescopic bridges, 6 baggage carrousels, tour operator counters, modern parking lot, closer and larger taxi parking zone and many more facilities.

The new terminal is also expected to help the national carrier Air Mauritius become an important force in the region and improve transits for both airlines and tourists visiting the paradise island of Mauritius.

Wednesday 11 August 2010

Air Steward In Emergency Exit

Air steward Steven Slater has become an internet phenomenon by exiting a Jetblue via the emergency chute with beer in tow after falling out with a passenger.

The dispute started before take off at Pittsburgh airport. When 2 women were arguing about the storage of their bags, Mr Slater stepped in only to be cursed by the woman
When the aircraft landed at JFK International airport another altercation took place which resulted in Mr Slater being hit on the head by the women’s bag.

After she refused to apologise and once again swore at the steward, he flipped out. Taking to the passenger announcement system he thanked customers for their dignity and respect, grabbed some beer from the galley and opened the emergency chute and slid down to the ground. He then proceeded to his car and drove home.

He was later arrested at home and now faces a jail sentence, though he has become a sensation on the internet with facebook pages attracting over 90,000 fans already. T-shirts have been printed picturing him sliding down the chute drinking beer. He is being described as a hero for working people.

Tuesday 10 August 2010

Heathrow Increases Passengers For July 2010

BAA celebrated a record number of passengers passing through its Heathrow terminals last month. The airport owner which owns Heathrow, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Southampton, Aberdeen and until recently Gatwick saw some 10.9 million passengers across all its airports for July.

Heathrow also recorded its busiest ever day on the 18 July as the airport catered for 232,000 passengers and was up by 3.5% to 6.7 million for the month. Its other airports had mixed results as Glasgow, Stansted and Aberdeen’s traffic fell. Whilst Edinburgh and Heathrow increased.

Travel firm Tui confirmed they had taken more bookings for their holiday packages but admitted their profits were down due to the low prices they were charging to try to entice Uk holiday makers abroad. The news was welcoming at Heathrow but there is still a long way to go before the travel industry returns to normal.

Thursday 5 August 2010

Ryanair Break Traffic Record


Ryanair have announced their passenger numbers have grown by 13% for July when compared to 2009 whilst BA has declined by 2.6%. The Irish based airline carried over 7.5 million passengers last month a record high, which was previously 6.8 million held in August 2009.

British Airways enjoyed a strike free month, yet only managed 3.1 million passengers a decline from 3.2 million the previous year.

Ryanair also announced they had carried 70 million passengers in the 12 months leading to the end of July, which was far better than expected, in light of the ash cloud debacle. The airline had to cancel 10,000 flights during the airspace lockdown.

A company spokesmen said Ryanair’s low air fares, no fuel surcharges and good customer service was the key to attracting so many passengers. In a dig aimed at a certain airline he also went on to say customers were switching from strike ridden flag carriers.

Philippines In Bomb Scare

A suicide bomb attack has taken place in the Philippines at Zamboanga airport, reports suggest there was one fatality and numerous injured. Though not claimed by ant terrorist groups it is thought to be the work of terrorists.

The attack took place hours before the United States ambassador to the Philippines Henry Thomas was due to arrive. That trip has now been cancelled with Mr Thomas citing extra security issues and giving the authorities time to investigate the incident as the reason.

The only fatality of the bomb scare was indeed the bomber himself, early suggestions are linking the attack to the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic organisation which was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people in a 2004 bombing.

Tuesday 3 August 2010

Talks Prove Fruitless

Further talks between British Airways and Union Unite have taken place and failed, the talks took place under the supervision of the mediation service Acas but were adjourned for a later date in an effort to prevent further strikes.

A new pay deal had been offered to the Union, a 2.9% pay rise next year and 3% the year after, but that was rejected in a recent ballot. BA insist that any new deal would be formed from that basis.

The Union is threatening more strikes in September and stated there was no point in BA carrying on with the dispute. But BA boss Willie Walsh hit back by saying flights including all long haul would be unaffected by future strikes. Volunteer workers have been trained and will be on stand-by if needed claimed Mr Walsh.

Both sides claim to want an end to the long running feud, yet both seem unlikely to change their stance.