Heathrow To Get New £500 million Rail Link

New plans for a £500 million rail link connecting Wales to Heathrow airport is being drawn up by the transport secretary Phillip Hammond. The new route will end the need for travellers having to enter London from the West to get to Heathrow.

The new route which will include the West of England will cut 30 minutes off journey times according to the Department of Transport. The proposed plans would see a new rail station built at Heathrow that would see 4 shuttles leaving an hour.

The Government has also confirmed that plans to electrify the line between Cardiff and London set out by the previous Labour Government would go ahead, which is essential to the new spur to Heathrow.

Heathrow To Introduce Face Scanners

The UK's largest airport Heathrow will install facial recognition scanners in September in an attempt to prevent illegal immigration into the country. The passenger's face is scanned, after receiving a boarding pass and just before the security check. Before the person boards their flight, their faces are scanned again when they leave the airport waiting room.

Facial recognition scanners are to ensure that passenger board the correct flight. For example, a passenger who arrives from LA won’t be able to get hold of a domestic ticket and fly to Edinburgh.

Aurora Computer Services is the company behind the technology which is based in the UK, the company says their machines known as AIR Systems(Aurora Recognition Systems) can identify a passenger from up to 3 feet away by reading the biometric details of the passengers.

Heathrow To Use Geo-Thermal Technology

BAA is looking at ways to minimise future disruptions caused from snow and ice that brought chaos to Heathrow last winter when the airport was in a standstill for 5 days.

BAA are working alongside a mystery private company about the possibility of storing the heat from the summer sun in the runway, then using that heat in the winter to stop planes from being stuck in their stands.

The idea is to dig holes in the tarmac that will house the Geo-Thermal technology this will store the heat from the runway which will in turn heat water which will be pumped to the slabs of concrete where the planes are.

BAA have not yet confirmed the cost of the project but have initiated a facelift to one of the terminals may take a back seat to help finance the technology.

Heathrow Bomb Scare Was A Hoax

The bomb scare alert at Heathrow airport yesterday turned out to be a hoax, in what was first reported to be a stand-off between police and a crazed suicide bomber turned out to be a 70 year old man innocent man that must have been terrified.

Officers surrounded the man after they had received bogus information that the man was carrying a bag with a bomb in it and was planning to kill himself and as many others as possible. Terminal 5 was evacuated in scenes of panic and chaos as cops could take no chances.

However the old man was totally innocent and was released without charge.

Suicide Bomber At Heathrow

Police are in a stand off with a man who is threataning to blow himself up at Terminal 5 right now!!!...... More information as we get it.

On the Road to Recovery

September saw more than 6.2 million passengers travel through the busiest airport in the world, Heathrow. This figure equates to 7.6% more travellers this year compared to September 2009. What does this mean for the air industry? Is it finally on the road to recovery?

The recession was a dark time for everyone and all business sectors, in particular the travel industry. People stopped booking airline tickets; airlines cut the number of routes and travellers flew less. However, it would appear that we are finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

According to BAA there are a number of explanations for the growth. Perhaps some of the main reasons are the sudden increase in business travel and low cost airlines restarting routes and flight schedules which had been stopped because of the recession. It also indicates a rise in the number of long-haul flights, especially to China and Brazil. However, it will be some time before leisure travel returns to normality.

Mixed Mode At Heathrow For 6 Weeks

Residents living under Heathrow flight paths will be subjected to additional aircraft noise as of today as the airport runs on a mixed mode basis. This is due to essential repair works being carried out on the Northern runway, that will take an estimated 6 weeks.

Mixed mode is when aircraft lands and takes off on the same runway, normally Heathrow operates an alternate policy where one runway is use for take-off and one used for landing, they switch at 1500 to give residents a break from aircraft noise pollution.

The idea of using mixed-mode on a permanent basis was thrown out recently by the Government as the airport pushed for it to become a permanent feature, however Teresa Villiers the Minister of State for Transport said the benefits of mixed mode were outweighed by the negative effect on the surrounding communities.

Jail Term For Hoax Bomb Threat

A 61 year old man has been handed a 4 year jail term for sending Heathrow airport fake e-mails about bomb threat. Adam Busby from Ballmun close to Dublin airport sent the hoax emails from a Library in Dublin in 2006.

The emails claimed there were explosive devices on planes from Heathrow bound for New York. The judge told him he had caused unessercery anxiety and fear. He was charged with two counts of sending hoax messages for the purpose of causing annoyance and panic.

The man was traced after his computer IP address was tracked to Dublin City Libraries then onto Charleville Mall Public Library.

The judge suspended the final two years of the sentance and told the man he could not ignore the fact that he had been convicted twice for similar crimes.

Coalition Says No To 3rd Runway At Heathrow

The newly formed government between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats has announced that the 3rd runway at Heathrow will not be going ahead. Whilst the outgoing Prime Minister Gordon brown was a strong supporter of the project it seems David Cameron and Nick Clegg don’t share his views.

Not content with putting the brakes on Heathrow the new coalition are extending this stance to the other major London airports, newly owned Gatwick and another BAA airport Stansted will not be allowed to add additional runways in the near future.

This will come as a major blow to BAA who have been pushing for the new runway ever since the plans were drawn up 7 years ago, added to the fact that Stansted will not be allowed to extend will be a big disappointment, especially after they had the backing of the previous Prime Minister. The new Government is thought to be in favour of giving the rail network an overhaul.

But BAA argue that by denying Heathrow the opportunity to expand it will fall behind other European airports. The news will be strongly greeted by environmental activists and home owners within the proposed 3rd runways’ flightpath.

Strike Impact Felt At Heathrow

BAA has revealed the true extent of the damage caused by striking British Airways workers, during the industrial action Heathrow airport saw 180,000 fewer passengers against the March average and 200,000 fewer accross all its airports.

Statistics revealed by BAA show a total of 5.2 million passengers passed through its Heathrow terminals in March which was slightly up on 2009 figures, though BAA claim had it not been for the Unite strike then it would have seen a 3.8% rise in traffic.

British Airways announced the two stage strike action had cost them in excess of £40m, as of yet no more strike action has been planned.