Author Archive
Monday, May 14th, 2012
Boris Johnson’s plans to build a new international airport off the Kent coast saw demonstrators gather outside City Hall last week. The newly re-elected Mayor is keen to see a new island crated in the Thames Estuary which will replace Heathrow which is currently close to capacity.
Kent County Council has also published its own study into the aviation problems being encountered at UK airports. It has advised against continuing with plans to build a new airport and said instead that improvements should be made at the country’s existing airports.
KCC said that better rail links were needed between regional airports and that a high-speed link should connect Heathrow to Gatwick. Although it admits that a lack of action is no longer an option, a new hub off Kent would take far too long to develop and would not necessarily be an answer to the UK’s capacity problems.
The report, which is called Bold Steps for Aviation, has asked the government to look into developing regional airports including Lydd and Manston. Paul Carter, leader of KCC, said high-speed trains were already travelling between London and Ashford and that an upgrade of the line between Ashford and Canterbury would mean that Manston airport could be used to take up some of the slack.
There are presently two plans for an airport in the Thames Estuary. Norman Foster has designed an airport to be constructed on the Isle of Grain and Mr Johnson wants to see an artificial island created onto which to build terminals and runways.
Tags: boris johnson, City Hall, Gatwick, Heathrow, Manston airport, Norman Foster, UK airports
Posted in UK News | No Comments »
Monday, May 7th, 2012
In an effort to combat the problem of drug driving, ministers have outlined plans to make it easier to prosecute. Under the current rules, the police have to prove that a motorist’s ability to operate a vehicle has been impaired. The new techniques take a more scientific approach to the problem.
Before the end of the year, the Home Office hopes to have approved new drugalysers which can be used to detect the presence of a controlled substance within the body by taking a sample of saliva and a breath test. If the amount of a drug such as cannabis or cocaine is above a specified amount, then the driver faces a £5,000 fine, a one-year driving ban and time in jail.
The new regulations will be announced in the Queen’s Speech and will become a part of the Crime Communications and Court Bill. The drugs, which are to be covered by the legislation and the amounts that will be considered dangerous, will be confirmed after public consultation and discussions with experts.
Mike Penning, minister for road safety, said making it an offence to drive after taking drugs was an important step in trying to stamp out the menace. He hoped that it would rid the roads of the irresponsible minority who continue to risk the lives of pedestrians and other motorists.
David Cameron said he hoped that the new legislation would reduce the amount of drug driving in the same way that harsh penalties have reduced the number of drink drivers.
Tags: David Cameron, drug driving, drugalysers, Mike Penning, motorists
Posted in UK News | No Comments »
Monday, April 30th, 2012
Parent of British Airways, International Airlines Group, is moving closer to formal talks about acquiring a share of former Japanese flag carrier JAL. Head of IAG Willie Walsh said that the idea of investing in the airline had been met with a positive reaction.
JAL is looking to re-launch on the Tokyo stock market in September having been in bankruptcy protection since 2010. Rescue for the company came in the form of the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp which is currently in control of 96.5 per cent of the airline.
Although the Japanese regulator is said to be looking at the possibility of a deal between IAG and JAL there are still regulations in place which mean the airline is not supposed to be actively pursuing investment as it has still not formerly declared its intention to re-float.
Walsh said the plans should not be seen as a warm up for a takeover and that IAG would be looking for a 10 per cent share. He explained that moves like investing in partners was a way of making relationships with other carriers more concrete. He added that such agreements were more about commitment to future joint ventures. Both IAG and JAL are members of the Oneworld airline alliance.
Walsh was attending the World Travel and Tourism Conference which is being held in Tokyo when he made his comments. He also took the opportunity for another dig at the British government and its lack of a policy on aviation after David Cameron said it was important that the country remains linked to the world’s growing economies.
Tags: airline, British Airways, David Cameron, IAG, jal, Oneworld, willie walsh
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Monday, April 23rd, 2012
Passenger satisfaction with the London Underground is higher under Boris Johnson than it was when Labour’s Ken Livingstone was Mayor, according to recently published figures. Since Mr Johnson took over the reigns, investment has grown four times, delays have been cut and people are happier with the service they are being given, according to Transport for London.
Satisfaction has gone up by 2.5 per cent to 79.1 per cent since Mr Johnson took power in 2008. The mayor has also pumped £2.6 billion more than Mt Livingstone did into investing in the Underground. This money has been spent on replacing around 200kms of train track and upgrading 80 stations.
According to a spokesman for the mayor’s office, the cost of running the underground fell to £2.3 billion in 2008 from £2.7 billion in 2006. He said that this showed that the investment was working and that Mr Livingstone should not be allowed to undo all of the hard work by removing £1.14 billion from the transport budget.
Labour’s candidate for mayor claims that Mr Johnson has been fiddling the figures. He has also said that he will cut tube fares by seven per cent if he is elected to power.
The Rail. Maritime and Transport union said that the reason people were happier with the Tube was because of the hard graft of its workers.
Tags: boris johnson, Ken Livingstone, London Underground, Transport for London, tube
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Monday, April 16th, 2012
Virgin Atlantic is to challenge a decision made by the European Union to allow British Airways owner International Airlines Group to take control of loss maker Bmi. Lufthansa recently agreed to hand Bmi over to IAG in a deal worth £172.5 million. The sale has angered rival airline Virgin Atlantic which claims that the takeover will seriously damage competition in the industry.
IAG is interested in the acquisition of Bmi because it will mean the group will be able to increase its dominance at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest hub. In a statement, Sir Richard Branson’s airline said it was concerned that the Commission had not fully appreciated the seriousness of the decision to allow the sale.
The statement said that competition at Heathrow would be harmed because British Airways will be handed almost complete domination at the hub which would mean an end of consumer choice. Virgin is also saying that the EU appears to have ignored the advice of business groups, politicians and other airlines.
IAG was created in 2011 after British Airways joined forces with Spanish flag carrier Iberia. Since then chief executive Willie Walsh has made no secret of the fact he is interested in consolidation through partnerships or takeovers.
Although Walsh said he would try to protect as many jobs as possible after the acquisition of Bmi, BA has admitted that there are likely to be around 1,200 redundancies.
Tags: airline, British Airways, Heathrow, IAG, Lufthansa, virgin atlantic
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Monday, April 9th, 2012
Families jetting off on holiday in the summer are being advised to be wary of the extras they are likely to have to pay if travelling abroad with a budget airline. Later this year, it will be illegal for carriers to make an additional charge to customers booking tickets with a debit card or a credit card. However, at the moment it is not and Ryanair has pushed its booking fee up from £5 last year to £6 this year.
BMI Baby has also increased its booking fee by 50p to £3.50. Easyjet has renamed its booking fee an administration fee and has hiked the cost to £9 from £5.50 for every booking made.
Another area in which the airlines pull in extra cash from passengers is luggage. The cost of taking a suitcase weighing 20kg with Ryanair has increased from £30 to £40, a hike of 33 per cent. Easyjet has also pushed up the price of a 20kg bag by 31 per cent to £14.50 from £11.
The largest increase in baggage charges has come from Aer Lingus. It now costs £18 to travel with a 20kg suitcase compared to £12 which represents a 50 per cent rise in price. The maximum charge of putting luggage in the hold of a Jet2 plane has been pushed up to £24.99 from £15.99.
Travelsupermarket’s Bob Atkinson said it was vital that families understood that airlines were looking to get every penny out of the customers who choose to fly with them and that the add-ons can significantly increase the price of a holiday.
Tags: aer lingus, airline, baggage charges, Bmi Baby, easyjet, holiday, jet2, Ryanair
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Monday, April 2nd, 2012
British Airways is to expand its presence in Asia after the European Commission gave the go ahead for a takeover of bmi by International Airlines Group. The deal will mean that the airline group will gain 42 take-off and landing slots at Heathrow.
The agreement was finalised in Brussels after IAG said it would give up four more pairs of slots at Heathrow in addition to the 10 pairs already on the negotiating table. Those slots will now go into trust before they will be auctioned off to rival airlines. Virgin Atlantic, which lost out to AIG in the race for bmi, is likely to be interested in the acquisition.
IAG hopes the deal will be completed with Lufthansa, bmi’s current owner, by 20 April. IAG boss Willie Walsh said that bmi’s summer schedule would continue as normal, but that afterwards he intends to reallocate a number of the Heathrow slots to BA for long-haul Asian services.
Mr Walsh said talks with the unions were now necessary over job losses at bmi. The carrier currently has 2,600 employees. He said that every effort would be made to see that as many jobs as possible remained, but warned that there would be redundancies.
The takeover could still become turbulent if Virgin Atlantic decides to step in with an appeal. Mr Branson’s airline said it was concerned that such a significant deal was so easily passed by the regulators. Virgin is worried that the takeover will damage competition in Europe and negatively affect the choice given to passengers.
Tags: AIG, airline, bmi, British Airways, virgin atlantic, willie walsh
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Monday, March 26th, 2012
International Airlines Group, the carrier created through a merger of British Airways and Iberia, is reportedly keen to grab a stake of American Airlines in order to stop it from being taken over by a rival. American declared bankruptcy in November last year, and IAG has apparently been meeting with banks to look at options for investing in the carrier.
Willie Walsh, chief executive of the group, wants to protect a codeshare agreement IAG has with American on routes across the Atlantic. Other airlines also exploring the possibility of investing in American include Delta and US Airways.
If either takes over American, then it is unlikely that a cost sharing deal would no longer continue to be an option for Mr Walsh. Because ownership rules mean that foreign companies are not allowed to own more than a 49 per cent stake in a US airline, it is believed that Mr Walsh will start by going for a 25 per cent voting stake.
The IAG boss could also become a partner with and American firm such as private equity company Texas Pacific Group which could buy American completely. Mr Walsh has always considered that a codeshare agreement would be followed by a merger. If this happens then one of the largest airline groups on the planet will be created.
However, if a rival carrier acquires American it could be forced to leave the Oneworld alliance and severe all ties with IAG.
Tags: american airlines, British Airways, IAG, Iberia, willie walsh
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Monday, March 19th, 2012
David Cameron wants to see the UK’s road network receive a significant boost from private funding. He has asked the Department for Transport, as well as the Treasury, to look into the possibility of getting cash from sovereign wealth funds. He has also suggested that road tolls should be introduced.
The Prime Minister would also like to see congestion reduced at pinch-points with road widening schemes and more use of the hard shoulders on motorways at times when traffic is particularly heavy. He said it is important that the country builds for the future with ambition and confidence to reverse decades of degradation.
However, acknowledging that the financial situation is tight, Mr Cameron said he wanted to encourage innovative ideas on how to tackle the problems with the country’s infrastructure. Getting more goods and people onto the trains would be part of the solution, he added.
The proposals come as a poll suggests people are not impressed by the government’s pledge to be one of the greenest ever. The survey commissioned by the RSPB and Greenpeace found that only two per cent thought the promise was being kept.
RSPB chief executive Mike Clarke said this week’s budget could be bad news for the environment. He added that evidence showed that smart regulation of environmental concerns was not a hindrance, but a stimulus for growth.
Tags: David Cameron, Department for Transport, Greenpeace, roads, RSPB, trains, Treasury
Posted in Political News | Comments Off
Monday, March 12th, 2012
A group of airlines has sent a statement to the Treasury with the aim of persuading Chancellor George Osborne not to go ahead with a planned increase in the cost of Air Passenger Duty at the beginning of next month. The heads of easyJet, Virgin Atlantic, International Airlines Group and Ryanair would all like to see APD scrapped.
The carriers claim that the tax is destructive to jobs and is also doing nothing to help the economy to recover. The Chancellor is due to present this years’ budget in front of parliament on 21 March.
Willie Walsh, IAG’s chief executive, Steve Ridgway of Virgin Atlantic, Carolyn McCall, boss of easyJet and head of Ryanair Michael O’Leary are all calling on the government to initiate independent research into how APD is damaging the economy and losing people their jobs.
The tax will go up by eight per cent in April. A Treasury spokesperson defended the decision by pointing out that the price was frozen last year and it had always been the government’s intension to push the price up again this year.
He also pointed out that domestic passengers in the UK were not charged any VAT on the price of their tickets, and that UK airlines did not pay tax on jet fuel like in various other countries in Europe.
Tags: air passenger duty, airlines, APD, easyjet, International Airlines Group, Ryanair, virgin atlantic
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
