Author Archive
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
Belfast’s single US airline route has been saved after it was agreed that Air Passenger Duty would be cut. The Continental Airlines service to Newark was threatened after the carrier said the rate of £60 added to every ticket could make the service uneconomical. As of 1 November APD on the international route will be in line with short-haul tax. Economy passengers will pay £12 and those flying in business- and first-class will pay £24.
The move comes as the Chancellor agrees to devolve control of APD in Northern Ireland to Stormont. First Minister Peter Robinson said losing the Continental service would have been a blow to the economy and to business confidence. He added that the decision was reached after months of negotiation and meant that reduced tax to long-haul destinations would ensure that the regions airports remained competitive.
Once the devolution process is complete, it is likely that the executive will be asked to agree that APD is reduced even further so that it comes in line with the rest of Ireland. John O’Dowd, Deputy First Minister, said the move had been strongly supported in the US adding that the route was important for investors.
Owen Paterson, Secretary of State, said he welcomed the decision and that it showed that Whitehall and Stormont were able to cooperate on issues which directly affected the region.
International Airlines Group, owner of British Airways, said the decision proved that the Chancellor was aware that APD was a destructive force when it came to keeping the country competitive.
Tags: air passenger duty, APD, British Airways, Continental Airlines, International Airlines Group
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011
British Airways is launching its most ambitious advertising campaign in more than a decade. The flag carrier will use staff to promote its virtues as it hopes to finally put behind it the damage caused by a long-running dispute with cabin crew. Commercials on the television will be rolled out in the UK and America before being shown in other international markets. The ad will debut on the airline’s Facebook page.
Press ads will concentrate on the experience and expertise of BA staff. A picture of a human heart makes the point that BA is skilled in carrying precious cargo like donor organs. Another features a baby wrapped the jacket of a BA cabin crew member to show that staff are capable of dealing with emergencies like delivering babies.
BA is also promoting its commitment to superior customer service by retaining the motto: To Fly. To Serve. The airline’s chief executive, Keith Williams, said the campaign had been created to mark the beginning of a new chapter in BA’s history. He added that the last decade had been tough for the airline industry because of 9/11, political upheaval and a world-wide financial crisis.
Mr Williams went on to say that the future was looking much more positive and that he was confident about the airline moving forward.
The campaign is thought to have cost around £20 million. BA’s brand engagement head, Abigail Comber, said the advertising was meant to reignite pride in the flag carrier with customers, viewers and staff.
Tags: BA, British Airways, cabin crew, facebook, Keith Williams
Posted in UK News | Comments Off
Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
As Lufthansa explores ways to dispose of loss making BMI, Virgin Atlantic has said that it is interested in discussing the possibilities of a tie-up. The move could potentially feed more traffic onto the airline’s long-haul routes and help it compete with British Airways which has an agreement with American Airlines on transatlantic routes.
Emirates was rumoured to also be interested in BMI but has since said that it intends to concentrate on growth which does not involve the acquisition of another airline. Fellow Middle Eastern carrier Etihad is also said to be interested. A spokesman refused to confirm that the airline was looking to buy BMI adding that Etihad often discussed business opportunities with other carriers.
Air France is another potential buyer. However, the airline has refused to comment on the matter. Lufthansa has recruited the services of Morgan Stanley to examine opportunities for selling BMI which it was forced to purchase a controlling stake in just two years ago. Michael Bishop, founder of the UK carrier, exercised a right to ask Lufthansa to buy his stake which he sold for £223 million.
Lufthansa has attempted to turn around BMI’s fortunes by concentrating on oil routes to Russia, the Middle East and Scotland from Heathrow. However, hopes of a profit were dashed earlier this year because of the political and social unrest in North Africa and the Middle East.
For the first six months of the financial year BMI recorded a loss of 120 million euros. Over the same period in 2010 the airline lost 93 million euros.
Tags: air france, american airlines, bmi, British Airways, Emirates, etihad, Lufthansa, virgin atlantic
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Wednesday, September 7th, 2011
Despite the current squeeze on consumer spending, Premier Inn and Costa Coffee owner Whitbread has managed to publish positive results for the last few months. Sales growth across the group was up by 12.9 per cent for the 11 week period to 18 August. The second quarter performance for Costa Coffee was particularly impressive as like-for-like sales rose by 9.7 per cent.
Premier Inn also seems to be defying the UK’s current economic problems as room occupancy rose from 78 per cent to 79 per cent. Whitbread is currently planning to add 21,000 rooms to the 44,000 it currently has by 2016. Premier Inn’s growth does not appear to have been slowed by a decision to increase the room-rate by 3 per cent.
Chief executive, Andy Harrison, said that demand in London remained strong and had enabled room prices to be pushed up without much complaint from customers. The top rate for a hotel room in the capital is now £189.
Harrison said he believed Whitbread had performed well because it continued to offer customers exceptional value for money. He explained that consumers may not be spending on big ticket items, but they were still able to treat themselves to a decent cup of coffee.
Evolution Securities’ analyst, Nigel Parsons, said that Whitbread’s trading statement showed that although consumers are watching their spending they were also recognising the company’s excellent value for money. Whitbread has seen a drop in trading at its pub restaurants recently, but said it would try to reverse this by offering customers better value on their meals.
Tags: Costa Coffee, hotel, hotel room, Premier Inn, pub, restaurant, Whitbread
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011
Hopes that the contract to build trains for the Crossrail project will remain in Britain have been given a boost after French train manufacturer Alstom pulls out of the bidding process. Derby-based Bombardier is now one of the four remaining companies which will be asked by the government to bid to supply carriages for the £16 billion project.
The scheme will see west London connected to the east via a rail link which runs from Heathrow to Canary Wharf. The rival bidders for the contract to build the trains are Siemens, Hitachi of Japan and CAF of Spain. Industry experts still believe that the German train builder is the frontrunner as the rolling stock required will be very similar to that being provided for the Thameslink project by Siemens.
The government is currently reviewing the process by which contracts are awarded for such projects after it was condemned for giving the Thameslink project to Germany rather than Derby-based Bombardier. The manufacturer has said that the project could have saved British jobs and that it will now have to axe around half of its workforce.
The Department for Transport has said that it will not review the Thameslink contract in favour of Bombardier as it would cause legal problems as well as delay the completion of the project.
Shadow transport secretary, Maria Eagle, said that if the government was capable of reviewing the tender process for Crossrail then it should be able to reassess the Thameslink project in favour of a British based manufacturer.
Tags: Alstom, Bombardier, Crossrail, Heathrow, Hitachi, Maria Eagle, Siemens, Thameslink
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Wednesday, August 24th, 2011
A passenger from the US has received an assault charge after he reportedly threatened to stab staff on a British Airways flight to Heathrow. According to witnesses on flight 288, 32-year-old Tim Bradley began spitting at the cabin crew and abusing fellow passengers after he was not served any more alcohol.
Fellow passengers claim that the mortgage consultant had already got through a number of glasses of beer and wine during the 10 hour journey to London from Phoenix, Arizona. After Bradley was informed that he would be having no more alcohol to drink his temper apparently flared to the point where he threatened to attack the crew with a shard of glass.
Lesley Lewis, a 31-year-old bank worker from Southampton, was also on the flight. According to Lewis, Bradley was stumbling around the cabin swearing and shouting. He then pushed the cabin crew manager into the galley and demanded to know why he was permitted no more to drink. Lewis said when Bradley returned to his seat he was holding a piece of broken glass.
Passengers became increasingly concerned after Bradley reportedly threatened to stab the pilots of the aircraft. The consultant was arrested immediately after the Boeing 747 landed at Heathrow on Saturday afternoon. He has appeared in court and has been remanded in custody. He is due to be sentenced at west London’s Isleworth Crown Court on 23 September.
A British Airways spokesman said that the airline would not tolerate its staff or its customers being abused in such a manner.
Tags: alcohol, assault, boeing, British Airways, cabin crew, Heathrow, Isleworth Crown Court, pilots
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011
Holiday firm Thomas Cook is hoping that a merger with Co-op will signal a reversal of fortune when it goes ahead next month. Both travel operators have been given the go ahead by the Competition Commission. It has been a terrible year for Thomas Cook with share prices sliding 70 per cent. A raft of profit warnings also saw the recent resignation of boss Manny Fontenla-Novoa.
When completed, the deal will create Britain’s largest high street holiday firm and result in the formation of the country’s second largest foreign money exchange. The tie-up will also result in the new company having some 1,240 shops.
Thomas Cook is due to take a 70 per cent share and contribute 780 shops. Co-op will provide 360 premises and Midlands Co-op currently runs 100. Thomas Cook is hoping that the deal will also save around £35 million per year.
The travel firm has declared three profit warnings in the last 12 months. In July it said that profits were likely to be as much as £60 million lower than forecast. Thomas Cook blamed its poor performance on a number of factors including a continuing lack of confidence from consumers in its UK market. Its French business has been hit by a lack of bookings to Tunisia and Egypt following the troubles in North Africa at the beginning of the year.
The company has also suffered from the effects of a rise in the price of oil. Thomas Cook is currently trying to sell off assets worth £200 million to help with its debt situation.
Tags: Co-op, Competition Commission, holiday, Midlands Co-op, thomas cook, travel operators
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
A man has appeared in a Los Angeles court after stowing away on board a Virgin America flight from New York. According to the prosecution, 24-year-old Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi managed to get past security using an out of date ticket and boarding pass issued in the name of another traveller. The Nigerian-American man entered a guilty plea and could face a fine of $250,000 and a maximum of five years behind bars.
The incident occurred on 24-25 June and Noibi was arrested on 29 June as he attempted to stow away on a Delta Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta. According to the FBI, 10 boarding passes in other peoples’ names were discovered in Noibi’s luggage when it was searched by the authorities.
Although the exact motive for Noibi’s activity is yet to be established, he claimed that he was travelling around the country trying to recruit people to join his software company. The prosecution has not mentioned terrorism.
According to a spokeswoman for the FBI, crew on board the Virgin America flight out of JFK became suspicious because Noibi was sitting in a seat which should not have been occupied. Other passengers were also apparently complaining about his body odour.
Because the crew could not find his name on the passenger manifest they radioed ahead to Los Angeles to say they had a suspected stowaway on the plane. Noibi was taken for questioning after the aircraft landed but was released by the FBI pending further investigation because he posed no physical threat.
Tags: delta airlines, fbi, JFK, terrorism, Virgin America
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011
As aid agencies battle to get food to the mouths of millions starving in the countries of the Horn of Africa, international airlines are being asked to do all they can to help. The United Nations Children’s Fund is asking for discounted or free cargo space so that supplies and food can be flown to the region.
Severe drought is causing a humanitarian crisis in many parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and Somalia and it is estimated that some 12.4 million people are on the brink of starvation. According to Marixie Mercado, Geneva-based spokeswomen for UNICEF, there are 2.3 million children suffering from acute malnourishment in the Horn, around half of whom face starvation within weeks if aid does not reach them.
UNICEF said that as well as flying supplies to the region it would be shipping food, but warned that this was a much longer process. A number of airlines have already said they will cut their prices or carry cargo for free including British Airways, UPS Virgin, Cargolux and Lufthansa.
Valerie Amos, the United Nation’s humanitarian chief, said more funding was urgently required if the famine in southern Somalia is to be prevented from spreading. Agencies are looking for $1.4 billion so that efforts can be stepped up a gear to tackle the problem.
Continued fighting in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, is making it difficult for aid agencies to distribute supplies to those most in need. Reportedly, around 100,000 displaced Somalis have entered the city since the famine and drought began.
Tags: aid agencies, airlines, British Airways, Cargolux, drought, famine, Lufthansa, Somalia, UNICEF, UPS Virgin
Posted in Health & Environment | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 27th, 2011
The aviation authority in France is due to formally report on the circumstances which led to an Air France passenger jet crashing into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009. The BEA will deliver the report in Paris on Friday. A spokeswoman said the contents would explain the lead up to the crash, but that a later report would deal with exact causes.
The tragedy occurred on 1 June 2009 as the Air France jet was carrying passengers to Paris from Rio de Janeiro. After entering an electrical storm readings sent from the cockpit show that the pilots were having problems with their air speed indicators. They then lost control of the aircraft after it stalled and it fell out of the sky and into the sea. All of the 228 crew and passengers were killed.
Rescue teams at the scene of the crash managed to recover some debris and 50 bodies. A number of seabed searches then took place to locate the rest of the wreckage and nearly two years after the plane went down its remains were discovered.
Accident investigators were able to retrieve the aircraft’s voice and data recorders which were sent to Paris for analysis. They also managed to pull a further 104 bodies to the surface which have also been sent to the French capital for forensic identification.
The BEA has been subject to some criticism by groups representing the victims’ families for not giving out enough information on what caused the tragedy and not allowing families to fully come to terms as to why it happened.
Tags: air france, air speed indicators, aviation authority, BEA, crash, data recorders, pilots
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
