BMI said that the sale of bmibaby would involve 100 per cent of the airline. The carrier added that the buyer has said that it intends to keep staff on at Belfast City, Birmingham and East Midlands airports and wants to develop the company to provide low cost fares across Europe.

BMI said that bmibaby would continue operating under the banner for the time being and that it was pleasing that the business will continue as an independent carrier. Bmibaby currently operates two Boeing 737-500s and 12 Boeing 737-300s. Figures published by Credit Suisse show that the airline made a 120 million euro loss last year.

Last month, Germany’s Intro Aviation said that it might be interested in making an offer for bmibaby. Although it is not the company currently involved in the deal with Lufthansa and BMI, a spokeswoman for the firm said that she could not comment on whether it was still interested or not.

Last December, Lufthansa agreed to sell BMI to British Airways owner International Airlines Group in a deal worth £172.5 million.

However, the situation changed recently after the Olympic organising committee gave back 120,000 bed nights it had originally booked but now no longer needs. VisitBritain said that it expected around the same number of visitors who came to the capital from abroad as last year, although the tourism body did admit that some may be put off by the Games.

When Sydney and Athens hosted the Olympics in 2000 and 2004, many visitors stayed away from the cities. Tourism minister John Penrose said that visitors from at home and abroad who are not particularly interested in sport tended to avoid any country which is hosting an Olympic tournament.

The apparent rise of costs in London is also deterring potential visitors according to the European Tour Operators’ Association. Chief executive Tom Jenkins said that there could potentially be damage to the economy in London if travellers are scared off by the high price of hotel rooms.

David Leslie from VisitBritain admitted that some establishments appear to have hiked their prices, but that most were charging what they usually would at peak times.

Sir Stelios said that he was more than happy to accept the board’s resignation adding that he was sure that it would not be difficult to find a group of more capable and less expensive people to replace them.

The easyJet directors stand to share around £8 million if targets are met over the next three years. Sir Stelios said that something had to be done about the people at the top who were using the firm as a piggy bank which they felt they could dip into at any point. He added that a decade which saw £180 million worth of shares issued for free now had to come to an end.

Sir Stelios and his family currently own 38 per cent of the airline. He founded the company in 1995, but stepped down from the board of directors in 2010 after a disagreement over strategy. He is currently at odds with the airline over its spending strategy and a decision to order more aircraft from European planemaker Airbus.

In her first full year as chief executive of easyJet, Carolyn McCall took home £1.5 million. £840,000 of this was in the form of bonuses.

An industry source said that the meltdown had caused hours of irritation for passengers as they waited for the Amadeus system to be restored. The airlines affected by the disruption are all members of the oneworld alliance.

However, industry experts said that the problem had occurred at a time when airlines are not as busy as they are during peak holidays.

There are four main distribution systems used by the industry, but other booking programs run by Worldspan and Galileo were unaffected. Amadeus is yet to announce what caused the breakdown, but has issued an apology to all customers who have been affected, as well as the airlines.

A number of travel agencies were also affected by the disruption as they were unable to book airline tickets on behalf of their customers. The booking systems play a vital role at a time when airlines are encouraging as many customers as possible to complete processes such as reserving a seat and checking in over the internet before they turn up at the terminal.

Paul Deighton, Locog’s boss, said the return of the rooms would allow hotels to plan more effectively for the summer.

The number of rooms coming back onto the market is around 20 per cent of those originally reserved by the committee. They were initially booked for International Olympic Committee members, the International Sports Federations, sponsors, media and those working at the event.

VisitBritain’s chief executive, Sandie Dawe, said the availability of the rooms was good news for those who will be travelling from abroad to enjoy the festivities this summer. He added that the sector would be boosted by the addition and that it would help the UK to showcase itself as a destination of choice.

Miles Quest, of the British Hospitality Association, said that the reintroduction of the rooms would mean that an extra 8,000 night would be available to the public. He added that there would now be around 110,000 hotel rooms available in London, and some 75,000 more in the area around the capital.

The military government in Egypt has said that it will be investigating the funding of all such human rights and pro-democracy organisations currently operating within its borders. The authorities have said that foreign interference into how Egypt conducts its affairs will not be tolerated. The government has so far conducted raids on another 17 organisations.

Mr LaHood was stopped by an official in Cairo on Saturday as he tried to pass through the airport. He said that he asked her why he was not being allowed to fly, to which she replied that she did not know. The 36-year-old was then given back his passport and told he would be allowed to leave the airport.

According to Mr LaHood, 300 NGOs are currently being investigated by the authorities. Michael Posner, a US State Department human rights official, said that the move by the Egyptian government raised questions over its intention to move towards democracy following last February’s uprising against Hosni Mubarak.

Mr Posner said that if the issue was not addressed, future aid to Egypt could be compromised. Although the list of those not allowed to leave Egypt has not yet been made available, other NGO officials believe the move is directly related to the recent raids.

Reportedly he did not have his uniform on, and a source has alleged that he visited a hotel in the city with another crew member. Police were called to the airport and arrived at around 5.30pm. The pilot was then breathalysed and arrested after the test indicated that he was over the legal limit.

The pilot had been due to take off for Cork at 5.10pm following a stopover in Bristol of around five hours. Passengers who had bought tickets on the Aer Lingus flight did not leave for Ireland until 9.20pm because a new pilot and crew needed to be located. At the time the airline said that the disruption was to do with operational issues.

According to an Avon and Somerset Police spokesperson, because the pilot had failed that breath test at the airport he was taken to a police station where another test was conducted. The pilot apparently passed this one and was not charged.

Aer Arran, the company operating the flight, said it was taking the matter seriously and that an investigation was already underway.

The decision to begin operations again has been made after a close assessment of the security risks was conducted by BA. However, the fact that the FCO is still advising people not to travel to the North African country means it is unlikely that BA will be carrying tourists for the time being.

BA boss Keith Williams said that the airline was extremely pleased to once again be able to offer a vital economic link between the UK and Libya. The airline joins several other European carriers which have made the decision to resume operations since the end of the conflict including Italy’s Alitalia.

Air France has already announced that it will be resuming services as of 27 March. BA has said that it will be running three services every week to and from Tripoli.

The problems in Libya meant that many tour operators offering holidays to the country had to cancel bookings. Responsible Travel, which previously arranged visits to sights around the country including the Leptis Magna Roman ruins, said that it was unlikely that tours would resume until the FCO drastically changed its advice.

Thomas Cook claims that the drop in bookings is because it is attempting to cut costs by reducing capacity. Rival operator TUI, which owns Thomson Holidays, has reportedly seen an 11 per cent fall over the same two weeks.

In a statement issued by Thomas Cook, the company said the last time it reported on booking figures in the UK was in December, adding that the results suggested that going into January the operator’s order book was ahead of the market. However, because of weaker consumer sentiment, the company also announced that it would be slimming capacity by 8 per cent.

This apparently meant that a drop in the number of holidays being booked was to be expected as margins were to become the focus, not volume. Thomas Cook pointed out that the latest UK figures did not reflect performance in overseas sales or its specialist arms.

Shares in the company lost around 75 per cent of their value in November 2011 after it was announced that extra financing needed to be secured from the banks. Thomas Cook said that it had faced a number of problems including the flooding of large areas of Thailand and unrest in North Africa.

The issue concerns a bracket which attaches the skin of the wing to its internal structure. Although Australian airline Qantas has since been told that the problem does not affect its fleet of the jet liners, the carrier’s engineers association has demanded that safety checks be made over the next few weeks.

Paul Cousins, president of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, said All A380s should now be inspected. He explained that any issue which could impinge on the integrity of a wing was a cause for concern.

He added that if one of the brackets begins to crack, then unnecessary pressure could be placed on other brackets which could in turn cause them to crack. Safety authorities have said that there is no immediate danger, but are concerned about the longer term problems if the issue is not dealt with.

EASA has said that the 20 planes it has focused on should be brought in for inspection over the next four days if that have flown 1800 flight cycles or more. A flight cycle is a take off and a landing. Planes which have flown less than 1800, but more than 1300, will have to be inspected within six weeks.