Thursday 29 April 2010

BAA Announce Ash Cloud Losses


BAA has announced it lost an estimated £28m during the six day UK air space strike imposed by (NATS) during the Icelandic ash cloud debacle, over 100,000 flights were cancelled causing BAA’s monthly passenger average to drop by 1.6million resulting in the massive financial losses.

Colin Matthews BAA’s chief executive stated it had been a tough time getting through the recession and it was unwanted additional cost. He also said that plans would be made to recover some of the lost revenue.

On a brighter note passenger numbers had improved in the three months up to April in what has been the worst recession on record according to Mr Matthews.

Siim Kalls the European Union transport commissioner stated yesterday that European governments would be ordered to pay up to €2.5bn in compensation to the travel industry for the subsequent losses due to the volcanic ash cloud

Tuesday 27 April 2010

Iraqi airliner welcomed at Gatwick

An Iraqi airline touched down at Gatwick this week for the first time in 20 years the Boeing 737-400 would have arrived a week earlier had it not been for the volcanic ash cloud. A scheduled flight from Baghdad to London has not taken place since 1990.

Iraqi Airways who carried out the historic flight gained the rights to revive the service that had been ended due to military events and UN sanctions, although the flight did make a short security stop there are plans to make it a direct flight that will run twice weekly on a Sunday and Wednesday.

The director of civil aviation in Iraq said although he was happy about the proposed new service and success of the initial flight, but had Western Europe been more cooperative the flights would have taken place much sooner.

Friday 23 April 2010

Ryanair In Refunds U-Turn


Ryanair have made a dramatic U-turn on their announcement that it wouldn’t be giving its customers refunds or compensation during the UK airspace ban caused by the volcanic ash cloud week which lasted for 6 days

Michael O’ Leary CEO of Ryanair who is no stranger to controversy stated customers would not receive refunds for flight tickets they had purchased but were unable to use, as he felt it was the authorities who stopped his company from carrying out its services therefore Ryanair should not be held responsible for payouts.

But that stance has now changed as EU261 regulations require all airlines to refund there passengers for cancelled flights and any extra costs incurred such as hotels and extended accommodation. O’ Leary’s change of heart came about soon after EasyJet had announced all their customers would be receiving full refunds and all extra costs covered.

Ryanair and EasyJet have had a long running feud and once Mr O’Leary challenged the CEO of EasyJet Stelios Haji-Ioannou to a race around Trafalgar Square to settle a legal dispute

Thursday 22 April 2010

Thomas Cook Plane In Ash Scare

A Thomas Cook plane had to return to Manchester airport yesterday in what is thought to be a volcanic ash related problem, the Boeing 757 was bound for Corfu, to rescue stranded passengers on the holiday island. The plane which only had cabin crew on board ran into trouble at 20,000ft over Stratford, with the captain reporting an intense smell of ash.

After reaching 37,000ft the captain reported they had lost an engine bleed valve, which sucks air into the cabin to maintain pressure, the cause of this is thought to be the volcanic ash clogging the valve. The captain then made a request to land quickly back at Manchester airport, free of being placed in a queue.

Once back on the tarmac Thomas Cook officials claimed the aircraft had to abort its flight due to a minor technical malfunction with its air-conditioning and refused to lay the blame on volcanic ash.

Wednesday 21 April 2010

UK air space open


An end to the travel nightmare looked closer last night as UK airspace was re-opened allowing the first flight to land at Heathrow airport in 6 days, BA on the orders of Willie Walsh sent flights to Heathrow whilst the ban was still in effect in act of defiance against NATS. The ban was lifted at 22.00 hours and the BA plane was allowed to land.

Some sources think the gamble by BA to send the planes to Heathrow forced the hand of officials to open airspace as pressure was beginning to mount from disgruntled airlines and some 150,000 stranded passengers. Though NATS insist the ban was lifted after data collected from BA and various other test flights revealed that the aircraft’s could deal with volcanic ash.

Which does back up Willie Walsh’s theory that the “blanket ban” was an over-reaction and could have been handled much better, Mr Walsh also commented that it would take 2 weeks for operations to return to normal. Global airlines have lost over £1billion with BA losing £20million a day along with other major holiday providers recording huge losses as travellers demand refunds and compensation.

Tuesday 20 April 2010

Ash Cloud Latest

Some airports mainly in the North of the UK have re-opened this morning, planes left the tarmac at Glasgow and Edinburgh airport but the opened airspace is set to be short lived after (NATS) confirmed that the Volcano in Iceland had emitted a new ash cloud that was heading for Britain. Causing more heartache for Britain with an estimated 150,000 britons still stranded abroad.

The Navy has been drafted in to help rescue the stranded passengers with 3 warships being dispatched to ferry travellers back to the UK, but as these ships can carry an estimated 200 passengers at a time it is not going to be a permanent solution to the ever growing problem.

Manchester airport was due to open at 0900 hours this morning but it is still yet to open with a statement on their site stating it hopes to be open by 1900 hours tonight though that looks unlikely with the conditions worsening.

Similar statements can be read on the websites of Heathrow and Gatwick airport as the travel industry goes into meltdown in what is already an incredibly difficult time. An update from (NATS) is expected at 1500 hours today with the likely-hood of a further extension to the airspace ban on the UK.

BA have confirmed that it has 12 long-haul flights bound for Heathrow airport, a company official stated that contingency plans were in place if Heathrow remained closed, but would not reveal what those plans were or where they intended to land the aircraft.

Monday 19 April 2010

Britain Stranded

Millions of British travellers around the World are still stranded after the UK airspace ban imposed by (NATS) enters its third day due to the volcanic ash cloud engulfing the country. The earliest time at the moment for airlines to fly their aircraft is 0100 Tuesday morning, as the damage to the travel industry continues to grow the volcano is still emitting the dangerous ash clouds.

The chaos has spread throughout Europe with a number of airports being closed though Finland airport has been open today along with the Spanish airports, the majority have been shut though.

BA flew a test flight through the ash cloud with CEO Willie Walsh on board to see the effects for themselves, experiencing no difficulties the plane was landed at Cardiff airport where a full technical investigation was carried out, the results of which found no damage had been done to the plane.

BA are now calling for the ban to be lifted saying that (NATS) is over-reacting, stranded travellers are using any means possible to return to the UK as the Euro tunnel and the docks at Calais are packed with frantic travellers trying to get home, some having paid thousands for the privilege and travelling thousands of miles on min-busses. Hopefully the wind will change and the airports can re-open as soon as possible.

Friday 16 April 2010

Flights Grounded Till Saturday


Air Traffic control (Nats) has lengthened its restrictions on UK airspace and has grounded all flights until the early hours of Saturday morning due to the ash cloud covering the UK caused by an Icelandic volcano erupting as reported yesterday initial hopes were to lift the restrictions yesterday at 1800 but that has now been pushed way forward into the early hours of Saturday.

As the volcano continues to plunge ash into the air and the winds keep fetching it over the UK there is every chance the restriction could be extended due to safety fears. Although 5 flights were allowed into Belfast, Prestwick and Glasgow overnight from North America as gaps appeared in the clouds there are a limited number of flights being allowed to operate in the Scottish airports until 1900 today

Airport Hotels are full of travellers waiting to be given the green light to fly as the ash clouds causes havoc for the UK traveller although the effects are being felt in Europe as many EU countries are also on an airspace restriction.

Thursday 15 April 2010

Ash Cloud Grounds All UK Flights

All airspace in the UK has been suspended after a Volcano erupted in Iceland and a volcanic ash cloud has started drifting over the UK. Flights are expected to be grounded until 1800 causing massive delays and headaches for passengers and airline providers alike. Other countries involved in the mass grounding include Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

The ash cloud contains tiny particles of rock and dust, if sucked in by the aircraft's huge jet engines can cause them to clog up and seize to function causing potentially fatal scenarios.

The Scottish airports were first to close this morning as the cloud drifted in from the North with the likes of Glasgow and Edinburgh grounding its flights promptly, other airports quickly followed suit and now all aircraft is on the ground in the UK.

British Airways have first hand experience of volcanic ash as one of their planes has encountered it before, Captain Eric Moody was piloting a BA plane when it ran into an ash cloud all 4 engines broke down at 37000feet the plane had to glide until at 12000feet the engines were re-started, the aircraft was safely landed and two days later volcanic ash was named as the reason for the engine failure.

Monday 12 April 2010

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.

Thursday 8 April 2010

British Airways To Merge With Iberia Airlines


A deal has been struck between British Airways and Iberia Airlines to create the world’s largest airline. The joining of forces of the UK and Spanish airlines was arranged in November 2009 and should be completed by the end of 2010.

Company officials from both airlines have stated it would benefit shareholders, employees and most of all its customers. The two airlines will continue to trade in their own brand names but will be known collectively as International Airlines Group.

The merger is expected to save the company’s 400 million Euros a year, meaning cheaper fares for its customers, though some job losses are expected. The headquarters will be based in London with the BA shareholders retaining 55% ownership.

Both airlines are expected to announce major annual losses and the merger has contributed to this, it is seen as a good merger as they have very few routes that cross paths so there won’t be much change to the routes they provide at present.

The only remaining stumbling block is BA's pension problem with a £3.75bn deficit which it needs to address there is a clause that if Iberia is not happy with BA's plan to combat the problem they can call the merger off.

Ryanair In Online Ticket dispute


Sue Craig a 54 year old woman is to take airline Ryanair to a small claims court after she was refused entry to the aircraft. Staff at Bournemouth airport claimed the ink on her ticket wasn’t dark enough which the woman had bought online and paid extra to print off at home.

The barcode on the ticket which cost an extra £10 failed to scan properly and staff instructed her to go to a service desk to check-inn which she duly did, though by the time it was sorted the gate was closed and she was refused entry.

The 54 year old said she had been treated dreadfully and had lost £70 on her ticket and £50 on her car parking fees, she intends to take Ryanair to a small claims court insisting there was nothing wrong with her pass. Ryanair officials said it couldn’t delay the flight.

Tuesday 6 April 2010

Women try to check-inn dead relative


Two women aged 41 and 66 have been caught trying to check their dead family member on to an Easyjet flight at Liverpool's John Lennon airport. The ladies wheeled the 91 year old man through check-inn by disguising the fact he had died by using sunglasses and propping up the body.

The women were stopped short of boarding the plane after they had pre-booked assistance in advance for the supposedly disabled relative, when challenged by staff about his lethargic appearance they claimed he was simply asleep.

The airline worker was asked by one of the women to move her father from the taxi and into the wheelchair, when the man's face fell sideways it became apparent that the man wasn't asleep but in fact dead.

The worker notified security officials and the women were stopped while officials removed the family from the queue and took the elderly man to a room where his pulse was checked and pronounced dead.

The ladies who were travelling with young children were arrested and released on bail until the 1st June 2010, police think the women were trying to avoid paying for the body to be repatriated but the death is being investigated though not treated as suspicious.