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Thursday, December 29th, 2011
Europe could face retaliation from foreign governments if it goes ahead with plans to introduce a carbon tax on airlines at the beginning of next year. Airlines flying to and from Europe who do not agree to the new rules will be faced with steep fines and could also find themselves banned from entering the EU.
A number of countries have already threatened various forms of retaliation. Russia said that it is considering charging European airlines for flying through its airspace; India has said it may introduce a tax of its own and China has threatened to cancel orders for aircraft with Airbus, which is based in Europe.
US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, said that any taxation would force Washington to take appropriate action. A joint challenge to the new rules by US and Canadian airlines last week was dismissed in the European Court of Justice.
According to the International Air Transport Association, Europe’s carbon tax could cost airlines in the region of 900 million euros over the course of next year. This figure could rise to 2.8 billion euros per year by the end of the decade. This is expensive for an industry which IATA predicts will only make 3.5 billion euros in profit as a whole in 2012.
Europe has admitted that the introduction of the carbon tax is likely to mean a hike in air fares. It also expects the demand for seats to fall. In September, a total of 21 governments got together to condemn the tax.
Tags: airbus, airlines, carbon tax, EU, IATA, tax
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Thursday, October 27th, 2011
Severe flooding in many parts of Thailand over the past two months is beginning to take its toll on the country’s tourism industry, according to officials. The crisis has worsened as the flood waters encroach on the capital, Bangkok. Don Muang, the city’s second airport, has had to close its doors because water levels have risen to a point where passengers and staff have been unable to reach the terminals.
The airport was being used as a shelter for citizens trying to escape the floods, and the government had set up its crisis centre there. Officials will now have to find somewhere drier, as will around 4,000 refugees.
The closure will not significantly affect the ability of foreign tourists to fly into Thailand as the airport deals mostly with budget airlines and regional services. Suvarnabhumi International airport is currently functioning as normal, and is the hub into which most foreign visitors fly.
Head of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, Sisdivachr Cheewarattanporn, said that if the situation gets any worse, the country could see a drop in visitor numbers of around 20 per cent. He added that tour operators were already receiving cancellations from some markets.
He went on to say that European visitors appeared to be staying away, but that people were still arriving from countries such as Russia, India and China. Thailand relies on tourism to make up around six per cent of its GDP. About 15 per cent of the country’s workforce is involved in the industry.
Tags: airport, Don Muang, floods, Suvarnabhumi, thailand, tourism
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Thursday, August 11th, 2011
The travel company behind First Choice and Thomson has announced a 57 per cent increase in third-quarter profits as its main rival Thomas Cook parts company with Manny Fontenla-Novoa, its chief executive, after a raft of profit warnings. The increase in profits also comes as Holidays 4 UK, a tour operator in Brighton, closes its doors.
According to Peter Long, TUI’s chief executive, the positive results are due to a rise in demand for package deals from couples. He explained that couples in the UK were coping better with the current economic squeeze than many families with children.
According to the TUI boss, all-inclusive deals to First Choice Holiday Villages and Thomson’s Sensatori resorts were selling particularly well. The popularity of package deals is down to consumers wanting to know the total cost of their holiday upfront, according to Long. He added that the number of 10 and 11 night holidays being booked by customers had risen by 24 per cent.
Long explained that the popularity of shorter, cheaper holidays reflected the economic situation in the UK. TUI has fared less well in the French market because of the Arab Spring. Bookings to Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt have dropped by 28 per cent following the political and social unrest in North Africa.
The problems in the French market may lead to a merger of TUI’s businesses in the country. It currently employs around 900 people across France. TUI said that third-quarter profits meant it was still on track to deliver full-year expectations.
Tags: First Choice, holidays, Holidays 4 UK, thomas cook, thomson, Tui
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Thursday, May 26th, 2011
In reaction to a heightened demand for seats following the disruption caused by the Icelandic ash cloud this week, Eurostar has announced that it will be adding extra services to its timetable this weekend. The extra trains will run between London St Pancras and Paris Gare du Nord on Friday and Saturday.
The timetable will be the same on both days with trains departing from St Pancras at 10.01 scheduled to arrive in Paris at 13.17. The trains will then leave Gare du Nord at 14.43 to arrive back in London at 15.59. Each of the trains has 750 seats and refreshments are available at the buffet bar.
Last year, following the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland, Eurostar put on more than 60 extra services to cater to people who found they were stranded because airlines across Europe were grounded. More than half-a-million passengers were carried which was 100,000 more than had originally booked.
Eurostar director of communications, Mary Walsh, said: “Our services are always busy over bank holiday weekends, but we have seen a spike in demand over the next few days following the ash cloud disruption. We continue to monitor the situation and if the demand for tickets grows further we are in a position to lay on more additional services.”
Eurostar said it expects the additional seats to be snapped up quickly and is advising anyone wishing to travel between London and Paris to look into availability and book their tickets as soon as they can.
Tags: ash cloud, bank holiday, Eurostar, Gare du Nord, St Pancras, volcano
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Thursday, February 17th, 2011
The Competition Commission of India has cleared nine foreign airlines of forming a cartel in order to stop awarding travel agents a commission on any airline tickets they sell to customers. The airlines involved include Continental Airlines, Lufthansa, German Airlines, Swiss International Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, North West Airlines and Air France.
The Travel Agents Association of India is claiming that because the airlines fly under the umbrellas of either the Sky Team Alliance or the Star Alliance Network, they were complicit with each other in coming up with the decision to do away with the five per cent Standard Agency Commission.
The commission has been looking into the matter for more than a year now and has announced that the airlines could not be branded a cartel because between them they only represent some 20 per cent of the market flying in and out of India. This means that they are not dominant and that their customers are not reliant on one particular carrier to make a journey. None of the airlines were found to have any commercial advantage over the competition.
The TAAI claims that the removal of commission on tickets is anti-competitive and has rejected the commission’s conclusions. Lawyers working on behalf of the travel agents’ body said it was their right to be paid a commission.
The TAAI has asked the CCI to now include the civil aviation ministry in the matter. The airlines involved announced they would no longer be awarding commissions on 1 November 2009.
Tags: airlines, catel, Indian, price fixing
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
Uncertainty about the political situation in Egypt is throwing up some bargain holidays for Brits wishing to soak up some winter sun on the Red Sea. Although the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is advising that travellers avoid major cities including Suez, Alexandria, Luxor and Cairo it has said that the popular resorts of Taba, Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh and Marsa Alam have not been touched by the country’s uprising.
The Egyptian authorities have imposed curfews across a number of cities, but the restrictions do not apply in the resorts. Some holiday firms, including Thomas Cook, are slashing the price of package deals to the area by as much as 50 per cent in order to lure customers.
Bob Atkinson, of travelsupermarket.com, said there were currently some amazing deals to be snapped up. He added that anyone tempted by the low prices should ensure that their package deals are covered by Atol, just in case the situation in the region changes.
A Thomas Cook spokesman confirmed that it was business as usual on the Red Sea and that travel experts on the ground were continuing to monitor the situation. Because the FCO has announced that the Red Sea remains calm, travel insurance is unaffected in the region.
Travel association ABTA has also confirmed that there is no threat to those choosing to travel to the Red Sea resorts. It added that any holidaymakers who had booked through its member operators would be assured safe passage home in the event that the protests do affect the area.
Tags: abta, ATOL, egypt, FCO, package deals, Red Sea, thomas cook, travelsupermarket.com
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Friday, December 3rd, 2010
Flights have been cancelled at airports across the north of Europe and heavy snow continues to disrupt travel. Air France-KLM announced that none of its aircraft would be leaving Amsterdam Schiphol as workers struggled to clear snow from the runways. Dublin airport said it too would be cancelling services because of the severe weather conditions.
The country’s second busiest airport, Gatwick, was also forced to suspend services. Chief executive, Stewart Wingate, said that as the snow begins to ease, flights will again start to take off and land, but warned that delays were still extremely likely on a number of services.
Although there has been disruption at London City, Edinburgh and Geneva, the airports’ have been able to resume operations. Although Heathrow has managed to stay open, officials are warning passengers that delays at other airports will probably have a knock on effect.
Channel Tunnel operators Eurostar will be keen to avoid the troubles they experienced during last winter’s cold snap. The company said there had been a number of cancellations on its services between London, Paris and Brussels and warned passengers of potential delays on the remaining services. Eurostar said it has introduced speed restrictions meaning journeys will take longer than usual.
Southern Railways said it had suspended most of its operations because of the weather. The company has managed to keep a limited service running between East Croydon and both Victoria and London Bridge. A limited service is also running on the south coast. Later today, trains should start to run again on the Brighton line.
Tags: air france, airports, Channel Tunnel, Eurostar, Gatwick, Heathrow, London City, severe weather, snow, Southern Railways, travel
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Friday, November 19th, 2010
Early in the New Year, Nissan will be launching its new electric car for the mass market – the Leaf. Instead of a petrol driven engine the hatchback runs on a bank of batteries capable of powering the vehicle for 100 miles on a single charge. The company claims this will make it perfect for driving in the UK’s cities.
Although initially owners will have to charge the car at home, it is planned that public charging stations will be established capable of charging the car’s batteries to 80 per cent capacity in around 30 minutes. A home charging kit will be made available which can fully charge the car in less than eight hours. The Leaf can also be plugged into the mains, but this will take a little longer.
Finding the nearest fast charging station will be made easier with a sat nav system. Spokesman for Nissan, Richard Candler, said an application for the iPhone has been developed which will tell the driver how much power is left in the Leaf’s batteries. The car’s heating system can also be turned on and off via the smartphone.
As part of Boris Johnson’s plans to make London the European leader in terms of electric vehicle solutions, 1,300 charging points will be set up in the capital by 2013.
Nissan has managed to produce a car which looks very similar to any other five-door. The Leaf is extremely nippy around town and is capable of a top speed of around 90 mph.
Tags: boris johnson, charging stations, electric car, hatchback, iphone, Leaf, Nissan
Posted in UK News | Comments Off
Friday, October 8th, 2010
New research, conducted by Virgin Atlantic, suggests a getaway early on in a relationship may not be as romantic as it sounds. Of those surveyed, 33 per cent said the first time away with a new partner would either strengthen or break the relationship. In retrospect, 66 per cent of those polled thought couples decided to take a trip away together too early on in their relationship.
An impressive 17 per cent said either they or their partner had gone home early because the whole experience of spending time together was too much. Of those who chose to stick it out, 35 per cent wished they had gone on holiday alone and 55 per cent said they needed some time apart from their partner after they got home.
Staying in close proximity to a new partner was a problem for nearly half of all respondents who found they would be sharing a toilet with their new lover.
Virgin’s director of product and services, Dee Cooper, said: “We have lots of couples who take their first flight together on us to our great cities or more exotic destinations. Of course they are excited but they may also be a little nervous jetting off to a faraway country with somebody new, so we do our best to help them relax and enjoy their trip,
“A complimentary drink always helps our customers settle. But if the conversation dries up we have over 300 hours of interactive in flight entertainment to enjoy whilst on board. We’ve even recently introduced Love Heart Sweets on board to try and get those couples in the mood for nostalgia and romance.”
Tags: couples, holiday, reletionships, romance, Virgin, virgin atlantic
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
Last summer, many popular European holiday destinations suffered from a lack of car hire availability. This year, that problem looks set to continue. Car hire firm Argus has issued a warning to all of its customers through its website that it is already running low on vehicles, and that those wishing to guarantee a car at their chosen holiday destination should think about booking it in the near future.
According to the Argus website, Spain is one of the countries which is really struggling to find enough vehicles to supply to holidaymakers. In particular, destinations such as Malaga, Alicante, Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza are rapidly running low.
Barry Malone, brand manager at Argus said: “We wouldn’t like to see our customers disappointed so to avoid a repeat of last summer’s severe vehicle shortages, we’re issuing all of our clients with an email warning them about the current low availability situation. We have some great value deals on offer at the moment but these are subject to availability – customers will have to move quickly if they want to get the cheapest rates for June, July and August.”
The global economic downturn is the main reason why fleets in country’s like Spain are so diminished. As lenders became more reluctant to issue loans to car rental firms there was no way for them to refinance and replenish their fleets.
The situation is ongoing, which means for the time being those who want a car when they are away should book early to avoid high prices and disappointment.
Tags: Argus, car hire, car rental, cheapest rates, holiday
Posted in Car Rental News | Comments Off
