Thursday 24 February 2011

Panic Grips Tripoli

Scenes of panic have gripped Tripoli airport as thousands and thousands of foreigners try to flee the country. Hundreds of protesters have already lost their lives in the battle against Colonel Gaddafi’s loyal forces as they try to force the dictator out of power.

The first rescue plane provided by oil giant BP for its Libya workers arrived at Gatwick airport this morning with some 70people on board, one of the workers described Libya as going into meltdown with constant gunfire which has now spread to the airport as flocks of people try to escape.

David Cameron has apologised to stranded Brits for the delay in deploying evacuation planes though three Hercules Military aircrafts have now been deployed with the first expected at Gatwick this evening.

Tuesday 22 February 2011

New BA Route To Tokyo

British Airways started a new service to Tokyo this week as a flight took off from London Heathrow bound for Haneda airport Tokyo which marked the start of a 5 flights a week service between the 2 airports.

The new route is in addition to existing service to Narita airport in Japan at the same time American Airlines also started a fresh service between Tokyo Haneda and Ney York’s JFK airport.

BA General manager Jamie Cassidy claimed it was a historic day and that BA were very proud to be the only airline offering a route from Haneda direct to the UK and that it would give BA customers greater choice and flexibility.

Monday 14 February 2011

Potential Strike At London City Airport

A potential strike is looming over London City Airport as Union leaders will meet to debate whether to ballot its members over a potential strike related to pay and conditions.

A resounding 97% polled to put the strike to a vote and it seems likely it will take place, the dispute is founded on the fact that ground staff at London City Airport have not seen a wage increase since 2008.

A GMB official said if the strike takes place there is no doubt the airport would be heavily affected.

Wednesday 9 February 2011

EU plan to transfer air passenger data

The European Commission is proposing to create a bigger exchange of air passenger data between national authorities at arrival or departure destinations within the EU. The motive for this plan is to prevent terrorism and other crimes such as drug trafficking.

This plan must first be examined by EU Parliament and EU governments before it is put in force. The Commission also assures that the information will be treated with confidentiality in accordance with European Human Rights Standards.

Passenger Name Record (PNR) data, which includes information about the travel dates, travel itinerary, airline tickets, contact details, travel agent who booked the flight, method of payment used, seat number and baggage information, will be transferred to the national authorities on request and it will be kept for 30 days after the flight. The proposal will not apply to flights within the EU or domestic flights, but rather all international flights arriving in or departing from an EU country.

Tuesday 8 February 2011

Manchester And Heathrow Airport To Re-Developed

Heathrow and Manchester airport will be re-developed after two contracts were signed for engineering and construction firm Costain to refurbish Manchester airport’s main terminal and be one of the suppliers to minor works at Heathrow airport.

Manchester’s second runway will be used to keep the airport operating 24 hours a day, the work is scheduled to be finished by September this year at a cost of £18.6m. The works at Heathrow will start in March and is expected to run for up to 4 years.

Costain chief exec commented “The contracts represent significant investment in the UK's infrastructure and will help the airports meet the growing needs of passengers in the future."

Thursday 3 February 2011

Ryanair breaks the rules again


Ryanair is one of the most important low cost airlines in Europe, but it is also one of the most criticised.

The most recent attack comes from Judge Barbara Maria Cordoba of the Barcelona commercial court who has ruled that Ryanair is breaking international law by charging customers £40/€40 for issuing a boarding pass at check-in.

In May 2009 Ryanair introduced this fine for passengers who did not bring their pre-printed boarding pass to the airport prior to departure.

The no-frills company claims that without this penalty, it would have to start employing handling staff to issue boarding passes and at present, around 99% of its passengers arrive at the airport with the pass.

If the airline looses its appeal, Ryanair may stop issuing boarding passes to passengers who have forgotten to bring them to the airport.