Gatwick airport has been slammed for the massive price hike in its airport parking prices. The criticism comes just a week after it received much praise in improving customer relations via reducing queuing times and providing a much more efficient service.
However the prices for a week’s parking have nearly doubled which has enraged travellers and brought bad press to the airport. BAA was forced to sell Gatwick last year to break up the monopoly it had in the UK.
This was meant to mean cheaper prices for customers, unlike other Uk airports such as Manchester airport and East Midlands airport, which have both reduced their prices for airport car parking, Gatwick have raised theirs by 70%.
This was defended by a Gatwick spokeswoman, who went on to admit they had raised their prices to ensure there was space for their customers and put off people who had no intention of using the airport from using the car parks. She also said savings could be made if customers booked in advance.
Tuesday 30 November 2010
Monday 29 November 2010
Torrid Weather Causes Havoc In Scotland
Torrid weather conditions have caused havoc in Scotland and Northern parts of England. Glasgow airport cancelled a number of flights this morning whilst Edinburgh airport was closed all together. Aberdeen airport is also expecting cancellations and delays this morning.
Other airports suffering from delays this morning include Durham Tees Valley airport and Newcastle airport. Temperatures are expected to drop to -20 later in the week. Train services in Scotland have also been affected, resulting in 2 services per hour.
The Met Office has delivered severe weather warnings for the entire eastern coast including London and Scotland. Police have called for motorists not to travel unless absolutely necessary.
Other airports suffering from delays this morning include Durham Tees Valley airport and Newcastle airport. Temperatures are expected to drop to -20 later in the week. Train services in Scotland have also been affected, resulting in 2 services per hour.
The Met Office has delivered severe weather warnings for the entire eastern coast including London and Scotland. Police have called for motorists not to travel unless absolutely necessary.
Friday 26 November 2010
Plane Slides Off The Runway At Newcastle Airport
Last night a Thomson’s Airways plane slid off the runway at Newcastle airport, the aircraft which was bound for Lanzarote skidded in the icy conditions which have gripped the North of the UK.
Rescuers were charged with rescuing 196 passengers and crew members, the plane was still on the tarmac but rescue attempts were hampered by the dangerous conditions.
No damage was recorded to the plane or any of the passengers, the aircraft will be inspected however before it is allowed to return to the air.
More hazards weather is on its way with the worst set to reach London by the weekend.
Rescuers were charged with rescuing 196 passengers and crew members, the plane was still on the tarmac but rescue attempts were hampered by the dangerous conditions.
No damage was recorded to the plane or any of the passengers, the aircraft will be inspected however before it is allowed to return to the air.
More hazards weather is on its way with the worst set to reach London by the weekend.
Tuesday 23 November 2010
New Leader For Unite
Unite the biggest union in the UK with some 1.4million members will announce on Wednesday it has a new leader in Len McCluskey aptly knick named Red Len due to his involvement with the Labour government.
It will be the first General Secretary to lead the Union as a sole leader since the Union began in 2007. Standing down will be Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson who have become household names after the BA strike chaos that affected travellers this summer.
Mr McClukey stated there would be no more blank cheques for New Labour and he would seek to reclaim the Labour party for their views. He went on to talk about his plan to unite the union and focus on combating the devastation the new government is unleashing on the UK workplaces.
It will be the first General Secretary to lead the Union as a sole leader since the Union began in 2007. Standing down will be Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson who have become household names after the BA strike chaos that affected travellers this summer.
Mr McClukey stated there would be no more blank cheques for New Labour and he would seek to reclaim the Labour party for their views. He went on to talk about his plan to unite the union and focus on combating the devastation the new government is unleashing on the UK workplaces.
Monday 22 November 2010
Organ Success After Crash At Birmingham Airport
Remarkable events unfolded at Birmingham airport on Friday morning as a private aircraft crashed into the instrument landing system glide path antennae, which resulted in the plane turning into a huge fireball. The pilot was believed to be in his 50s was seriously hurt along with his passenger believed to b in his 30s who suffered flash burns.
The private aircraft was carrying a live human organ from Belfast which was due to be used in a liver transplant later that day. Thankfully the organ was unharmed and the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham announced later in the day the operation had gone ahead and been a success.
Fire fighters and ambulance workers were praised for their work in rescuing the two men aboard the plane along with the organ. Around 80 flights were cancelled and diverted to Manchester and East Midlands airport.
The private aircraft was carrying a live human organ from Belfast which was due to be used in a liver transplant later that day. Thankfully the organ was unharmed and the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham announced later in the day the operation had gone ahead and been a success.
Fire fighters and ambulance workers were praised for their work in rescuing the two men aboard the plane along with the organ. Around 80 flights were cancelled and diverted to Manchester and East Midlands airport.
Friday 19 November 2010
Qantas Passengers Lucky To Survive
Details are coming to light just how lucky the passengers on the Qantas A80 that had to make an emergency landing at Singapore airport really were. Research into the investigation has revealed that shards of shrapnel had actually punctured the fuel tank.
Experts say it was a miracle the huge super jumbo didn’t explode in the sky and had the fuel leaking from the punctured tank ignited this would have been the outcome. Fairfax media an Australian media company claim they have seen reports showing metal parts of the engine shot through the fuel line and caused major tears in the wing and punctured the fuel tank.
If that wasn’t enough amid this chaos the pilots were faced with multiple system error messages in the cockpit which took an hour to work through. Vice-president of the Australian and International Pilots Association Richard Woodward said the crew had faced an unprecedented number of failures that they wouldn’t have been trained for.
Experts say it was a miracle the huge super jumbo didn’t explode in the sky and had the fuel leaking from the punctured tank ignited this would have been the outcome. Fairfax media an Australian media company claim they have seen reports showing metal parts of the engine shot through the fuel line and caused major tears in the wing and punctured the fuel tank.
If that wasn’t enough amid this chaos the pilots were faced with multiple system error messages in the cockpit which took an hour to work through. Vice-president of the Australian and International Pilots Association Richard Woodward said the crew had faced an unprecedented number of failures that they wouldn’t have been trained for.
Wednesday 17 November 2010
Manchester airport to test new eye scanner
Manchester airport is once again leading the way in technology as it becomes the first the first Uk airport to trial new eye scanners that read passengers iris as they are walking around the terminal.
Bosses hope the trial will prove successful and be implemented on a permanent basis, the hope is that criminals will be unable to swap boarding passes before take off as the eyes are scanned instead of the ticket.
The trials are only being used on volunteers and no security is being stepped down as a result. Manchester airport was the first airport to test the highly controversial body scanners, which have now been extended to more UK airports.
Bosses hope the trial will prove successful and be implemented on a permanent basis, the hope is that criminals will be unable to swap boarding passes before take off as the eyes are scanned instead of the ticket.
The trials are only being used on volunteers and no security is being stepped down as a result. Manchester airport was the first airport to test the highly controversial body scanners, which have now been extended to more UK airports.
Tuesday 16 November 2010
easyJet To Pay First Dividend
easyJet shareholders are due to receive their first dividend since the company was founded by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. While Sir Stelios has no involvement in the day to day running of the airline he is still the biggest shareholder.
easyJet have seen its profits triple as it leads the way in the resurgence for the aviation industry after a pretty terrible last two years. The move will also please Sir Stelios after a court order was recently settled regarding branding rights issues.
The annual payment would be based on a dividend cover of five times, unlike Ryanair who chose to pay their dividend in a one off payment instead of annual payments.
easyJet have seen its profits triple as it leads the way in the resurgence for the aviation industry after a pretty terrible last two years. The move will also please Sir Stelios after a court order was recently settled regarding branding rights issues.
The annual payment would be based on a dividend cover of five times, unlike Ryanair who chose to pay their dividend in a one off payment instead of annual payments.
Monday 15 November 2010
Boeing Dreamliner In Another Setback
Iconic airline manufacturer has seen its flagship aircraft the Dreamliner suffer yet another setback. The luxury aircraft which is yet to enter commercial operation has been dogged by problems and is massively over its original deadline by three years.
The latest problem was an electrical fire started in the fuselage, which resulted in an emergency landing taking place. Boeing confirmed that all other supporting systems worked as they should in the situation.
The incident has resulted in Boeing grounding all their Dreamliners while tests are carried out. The long awaited Dreamliner is still due to be delivered on March 2011 with All Nippon Airways to be the first airline to take delivery.
The news comes after main rival Airbus experienced major problems with its Trent 900 engines on the Qantas fleet of A380’s.
The latest problem was an electrical fire started in the fuselage, which resulted in an emergency landing taking place. Boeing confirmed that all other supporting systems worked as they should in the situation.
The incident has resulted in Boeing grounding all their Dreamliners while tests are carried out. The long awaited Dreamliner is still due to be delivered on March 2011 with All Nippon Airways to be the first airline to take delivery.
The news comes after main rival Airbus experienced major problems with its Trent 900 engines on the Qantas fleet of A380’s.
Wednesday 10 November 2010
Drunk Woman Cause Havoc On Thomsons Flight
A 45 year old woman had to be escorted off a Thomson’s Airways flight after she got drunk and started attacking staff. The UK woman had allegedly sneaked alcohol on board and starting attacking cabin crew about 4 hours into the journey.
The plane bound for Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, was re-routed by the captain and landed at Bermuda airport, where the woman was met by police and removed from the plane. How the woman smuggled the alcohol on board is still unknown but will no doubt draw more focus on security standards.
The plane eventually reached its destination 28 hours behind schedule, some of the 260 passengers on board commented how one of the cabin crew workers was sporting a black eye as a result of the intoxicated woman.
The plane bound for Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, was re-routed by the captain and landed at Bermuda airport, where the woman was met by police and removed from the plane. How the woman smuggled the alcohol on board is still unknown but will no doubt draw more focus on security standards.
The plane eventually reached its destination 28 hours behind schedule, some of the 260 passengers on board commented how one of the cabin crew workers was sporting a black eye as a result of the intoxicated woman.
Tuesday 9 November 2010
App Success For BA
British Airways mobile application has been hailed as a huge success after the 250,000 download was made before they announced there will be updates made to the hugely popular service. The apps were rolled out back in July across the iPhone, blackberry and android markets.
The iPhone has been the market leader with 200,000 downloads on its own, the blackberry version saw 50,000 while the Google backed android slumped to 7,000. The iPhone is the only device that is currently equipped to serve as an online boarding pass.
This will be rolled out to the other two devices later in the year, said Chris Davies the BA head of digital global marketing.
The iPhone has been the market leader with 200,000 downloads on its own, the blackberry version saw 50,000 while the Google backed android slumped to 7,000. The iPhone is the only device that is currently equipped to serve as an online boarding pass.
This will be rolled out to the other two devices later in the year, said Chris Davies the BA head of digital global marketing.
Monday 8 November 2010
More Problems For Qantas
Further problems have been found on Qantas’s fleet of Airbus A380’s after a major engine failure led to an Airbus having to make an emergency landing last week at Singapore airport. Since the incident Qantas has grounded all of its Airbus planes while an investigation takes place.
That investigation has led to more discoveries of faults such as traces of oil where there shouldn’t be after such a short time of service. The CEO of Qantas confirmed that all six Airbus A380’s in his fleet had been inspected and that three engines had been found to be leaking oil.
Other airlines including Singapore airways and Lufthansa also use the same Trent 900 engines in their Airbus’s had originally grounded their planes but after they performed their own checks have now put them back in the sky, despite Qantas’s findings.
That investigation has led to more discoveries of faults such as traces of oil where there shouldn’t be after such a short time of service. The CEO of Qantas confirmed that all six Airbus A380’s in his fleet had been inspected and that three engines had been found to be leaking oil.
Other airlines including Singapore airways and Lufthansa also use the same Trent 900 engines in their Airbus’s had originally grounded their planes but after they performed their own checks have now put them back in the sky, despite Qantas’s findings.
Friday 5 November 2010
Ryanair departs Belfast City Airport - Flybe takes over
Flybe has announced three new routes to Bristol, East Midlands and Liverpool from Belfast. This news comes following Ryanair’s decision to pull out of George Best Belfast City Airport back in August of this year. Air links between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK are very important for the NI economy and tourism, and so Flybe is playing a key role in the country’s growth and development by providing connectivity.
The new routes started on Sunday and Flybe has reported positive feedback from customers who are pleased that they can continue to fly direct from Belfast to these destinations.
These routes are very important for business and tourism customers, with four flights a day from Belfast to Liverpool and two a day to Bristol and East Midlands.
The new routes started on Sunday and Flybe has reported positive feedback from customers who are pleased that they can continue to fly direct from Belfast to these destinations.
These routes are very important for business and tourism customers, with four flights a day from Belfast to Liverpool and two a day to Bristol and East Midlands.
Thursday 4 November 2010
Suspicious Bag Shuts Glasgow Airport
A suspect bag left at Glasgow airport last night caused a part closure of the airport, the package found around 8pm by a member of staff was treated with high concern following the incident at East Midlands airport earlier in the week. When a bomb was discovered inside an ink cartridge.
The Royal Navy’s bomb disposal unit were called in to inspect the suspicious bag left at the airport, which was revealed to be a false alarm. The bag was reunited with its owner and the airport was re-opened.
Only a few planes leaving Glasgow were delayed in the incident and a small delay in getting passengers off planes that had arrived.
The Royal Navy’s bomb disposal unit were called in to inspect the suspicious bag left at the airport, which was revealed to be a false alarm. The bag was reunited with its owner and the airport was re-opened.
Only a few planes leaving Glasgow were delayed in the incident and a small delay in getting passengers off planes that had arrived.
Wednesday 3 November 2010
Ryanair Airfares on the Rise
The cost of travelling is continually on the rise and so the latest announcement from Ryanair comes at a time when customers thought that the cost of flights could not get any more expensive.
Europe's largest low cost airline, Ryanair, announced that it expects to increase the price of airfares by around 10% over the next six months, which will have a knock-on effect on profit forecasts. This statement follows the 12% rise in the price of airline tickets over the last six months.
According to Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's chief executive, other airlines such as Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa are also expected to increase the cost of airfares. He also states that add-on fees for baggage check-in, priority boarding etc. will also increase.
Europe's largest low cost airline, Ryanair, announced that it expects to increase the price of airfares by around 10% over the next six months, which will have a knock-on effect on profit forecasts. This statement follows the 12% rise in the price of airline tickets over the last six months.
According to Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's chief executive, other airlines such as Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa are also expected to increase the cost of airfares. He also states that add-on fees for baggage check-in, priority boarding etc. will also increase.
Tuesday 2 November 2010
Car Bomb Found At Q-Park Belfast
A car bomb which failed to detonate has been found at a Belfast airport parking compound, unbelievably it has been there for almost a year until recently discovered. A faulty timing device was the reason the device didn’t detonate.
The car identified as a Toyota Carina was discovered by staff to have a pipe bomb attached to several cans of petrol, returning passengers were holed up in hotels while police were called in to remove the hazard.
It is believed to be the work of dissident republicans opposed to the peace process, officials are shocked the bomb went undetected for so long at Q-Park car park.Police checkpoints were removed from Aldergrove after the Good Friday peace treaty was signed in 1998.
The car identified as a Toyota Carina was discovered by staff to have a pipe bomb attached to several cans of petrol, returning passengers were holed up in hotels while police were called in to remove the hazard.
It is believed to be the work of dissident republicans opposed to the peace process, officials are shocked the bomb went undetected for so long at Q-Park car park.Police checkpoints were removed from Aldergrove after the Good Friday peace treaty was signed in 1998.
Monday 1 November 2010
Explosive Devices Found On Cargo Planes
Two explosive devices have been found on US bound aircrafts as terrorist once again rock the aviation industry. Disaster was avoided when security were tipped off by an al-quaed member who had turned himself in 2 weeks earlier.
The devices were aboard cargo planes and had both passed security checks before a second screening found them. The first device was sent from Yemen and was found at East Midlands airport, the second was discovered in Dubai, where it had already travelled on two passenger planes, both devices had been hidden in an ink refill cartridge inside a printer.
David Cameron the UK Prime Minister confirmed the device had been designed to go off in mid-air but it was unclear as to when. All packages have been banned from Yemen and a woman has been arrested on suspicion of posting the packages.
Yemen authorities have also shut down the local shipping offices of the US cargo firms FedEx and UPS, both companies have pledged full cooperation while an investigation takes place.
It is a major blow to the UK travel industry as airline bosses were only last week saying security should be toned down a bit. But security will now be on full alert.
The devices were aboard cargo planes and had both passed security checks before a second screening found them. The first device was sent from Yemen and was found at East Midlands airport, the second was discovered in Dubai, where it had already travelled on two passenger planes, both devices had been hidden in an ink refill cartridge inside a printer.
David Cameron the UK Prime Minister confirmed the device had been designed to go off in mid-air but it was unclear as to when. All packages have been banned from Yemen and a woman has been arrested on suspicion of posting the packages.
Yemen authorities have also shut down the local shipping offices of the US cargo firms FedEx and UPS, both companies have pledged full cooperation while an investigation takes place.
It is a major blow to the UK travel industry as airline bosses were only last week saying security should be toned down a bit. But security will now be on full alert.
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