Queen's Galllantry Award for Glasgow Airport hero

Baggage handler John Smeaton is to be honoured by the Queen for his bravery during the terrorist attack at Glasgow Airport on 30th June when the 31 year old helped to tackle suspects from a burning Jeep which crashed into the airport

Downing Street announced yesterday that Mr Smeaton will receive the Queen's Gallantry Medal which is awarded to civilians for acts of bravery.

Yesterday Mr Smeaton said that receiving the medal was "the ultimate" achievement.

Bournemouth Airport expansion challenged

The New Forest National Park Authority have applied to the High Court in an attempt to halt plans for the expansion of Bournemouth Airport.

Airport and council chiefs have come out with all guns blazing after the authority agreed to push for a judicial review of the decision taken by Christchurch council to grant permission for new airport terminal.

If the judge allows the review to proceed it could lead to planning permission for the new airport terminal, extra car parks and highway improvements being quashed and the council forced to reconsider the application.

Airports busier than ever this Christmas

Most UK airports are forecasting an increase in passenger numbers this Christmas as more people fly off on winter sun and skiing holidays. Luton airport expects an 8.5% increase compared to last Christmas with more than 460,000 people using the airport over the festive period.

The most popular destinations this Christmas are Geneva, Glasgow, Dublin, Warsaw and Budapest. .

New flight service from Cardiff to Cornwall

A new air service from Cardiff Airport to Newquay in Cornwall is being launched from March by Skybus, who are Cornwall’s longest established airline. They will use 15-seater Twin Otter aircraft and fly five days a week from Mondays to Friday.

The 40 minute service is being re-introduced after Air Southwest pulled out of the route earlier this year.

Record numbers of passengers at BAA Airports

About 10.8 million travellers passed through a BAA airport in November, representing a rise of 1.5% compared with the same month in 2006. Statistics released by BAA this week also show that long-haul routes across the North Atlantic saw the highest rates of growth last month.

Gatwick experienced the strongest passenger growth rate during November, followed by Edinburgh and Heathrow.

December could see a bigger increase in passenger traffic as a result of the peak Christmas travel period. Last year BAA airports handled 10.9 million travellers in December, despite foggy conditions in the south-east of England adversely affecting some flights in the run-up to Christmas.

Fabio Capello seen at Heathrow

The Football Association have confirmed discussions have been held with Fabio Capello about the vacant England manager's job. Chief executive Brian Barwick and Sir Trevor Brooking met with the former AC Milan and Real Madrid coach, who flew out of Heathrow this evening.

He was returning to Italy to honour a commitment and further talks are expected with a decision to de made imminently.

Strike at John Lennon Airport

Liverpool John Lennon Airport workers have voted overwhelmingly to strike after refusing a pay offer, and if they go ahead with the walk-out it will shut down the airport because of a lack of fire and safety cover.


The unions want at least a 5% rise and a strike is now on the cards, with more than 80% of staff including firefighters, engineers, airside safety and air traffic control staff have backed a ballot calling for industrial action.

Monarch Flight Vouchers as Christmas Presents

Monarch Airlines are offering flight gift vouchers as potential Christmas presents through its website www.flymonarch.com. The vouchers can be used as full or part payment for flights to any of Monarch's scheduled destinations. They can be purchased for any amount, and any money left over after a flight has been purchased can be used to book other flights until the total credit has been used up.

The gift idea is valid for up to 12 months from the date of purchase, and while both the voucher and any flights booked with them are non-refundable and non-transferable, the airline allows any flight details to be amended free of charge within 24 hours of booking.

Second anniversary of George Best's death

George Best's sister, Barbara McNarry, marked the second anniversary of her brother's death by returning to Manchester which was the city that adopted him as its favourite son.She travelled to Manchester Airport from Belfast with 60 young dancers, who paid tribute to the legendary player by performing a routine in his memory at the Trafford Centre.

Barbara and her husband Norman travelled to Manchester from Belfast's George Best Airport on a Flybe plane that was also named after him.

Edinburgh Airport needs 1500 more hotel rooms over next 5 years to cope with passenger increase

Edinburgh airport will require more than 1500 new hotel rooms over the next five years to cope with rising passenger traffic. It currently handles around 8.9m travellers a year but this is expected to rise to 13m by 2013 and 23m by 2030 when a further 2,100 rooms will be needed.

Edinburgh Airport recently announced that its passengers now have direct access to more than 100 destinations, with 29 extra routes coming into operation in 2007 alone.

Baggage handlers at Manchester Airport face redundancy

More than 180 baggage handlers are likely to be made redundant before Christmas from Manchester Airport.

Bosses say they need to make cuts at Ringway Handling Services because it is making a loss, but union leaders have blamed the "appalling management" of the firm and say the proposal to cut 188 posts is disgraceful. They also say the 139 workers set to remain with the company would have to take up inferior contracts, seeing their wages cut by between £50 and £80 a week.