BA Orders Aircraft For New London City - New York Route

Airbus has confirmed that BA has placed a firm order for two A318 aircraft, which will be used to launch the forthcoming all business service between London City and New York.

The A318 is the smallest aircraft within the A320 family, but is the largest aircraft allowed to use the London City Airport, due to the steep approach to the airport and noise restrictions.

The A318 is usually a 107 seat aircraft, but will be operating with just 32 business class seats. The aircraft will also have to make a fuel stop on the outbound flight, as the aircraft is unable to hold sufficient fuel for the journey. This is not necessary for the return journey.

The new route is hoped to be an attractive proposition for city workers commuting between Wall Street and The City, who will be willing to pay for the convenience of travelling directly from the city, and avoiding Heathrow Airport.

Belfast City Airport For Sale

Belfast City Airport has been put up for sale by its Spanish owners, Grupo Ferrovial. The airport carries a price tag of over £100 million. The airport was bought in 2003 for £35 million.

KPMG are overseeing the sale, and have reported that there is considerable interest, which should result in a completion before the end of the year.

Ferrovial have said that the decision to sell does not affect the day to day running of the airport or employment levels.

Silverjet Shares Suspended

Silverjet, the all business luton based airline, has suspended trading of its shares on the AIM market, amid difficulties regarding ongoing funding.

It seems that there has been a problem with one of its investors being unable to provide a scheduled loan of $5 million.

Silverjet have announced that the business carries on as usual, and they are in talks with investors to win further funding.

Recent fuel price increases will be doing nothing to ease the difficulties, which are being felt throughout the airline industry.

Film & TV Stars Join Heathrow Protest

Film & TV Stars including Gillian Anderson from the X files, Joanna Lumley, Anna Chancellor, Fay Ripley, Rula Lenska and Rebecca Frayn joined a peaceful protest outside the House of Commons yesterday against the expansion of Heathrow Airport.

The protest was organised by the lobby group Climate Action Now, also known as weCAN. The group consists of concerned mothers and young people calling for a halt to airport expansion. The group formed a big 'NO' and handed a letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Ryanair Extends Charges For Priority Boarding

Ryanair has announced that passengers checking-in online will no longer qualify for free priority boarding.

Currently, passengers checking-in at the airport are charged a £4 fee for priority boarding. Ryanair offered the service free of charge to passengers checking in online, to encourage them to use the online checking-in facility. However, it was only a temporary measure, and the change will come into effect for all bookings from June 3.

On the same date, Ryanair will also be launching an online name change facility, which will allow passengers to make name changes up to 24 hours before travel. Passengers previously were only able to change names by calling the Ryanair call centre.

Suffolk Council To Oppose Stansted Flightpath Changes

Suffolk Council is opposing plans to change aircraft routes and holding areas over Suffolk, for flights landing at Stansted Airport. It is also opposing the plans for a second runway at the north essex airport.

Current proposals by the National Air Travel Services (NATS) would see flights as low as 3000 feet over parts of West Suffolk. The council would like instead to see flights held over the North Sea, to preserve the tranquility of the Suffolk countryside.

Bristol to Edinburgh Flight With Pets

Question: "I will be requiring transport for two cats and two rabbits from Bristol airport to Edinburgh airport next year can you tell me an airline that will do this?"

Dear Wilma,

Thank you for your email. It seems that the only airline to operate on this direct route is Easyjet. Easyjet has a policy which prohibits the carriage of live animals, with the exception of service dogs for blind and/or deaf passengers and helping dogs for the disabled.

The only airline that operates domestic flights within the UK and offers a service to carry pets is British Airways, so it may be worth your while trying to find an alternative route.

Good luck,

Regards,

Fay

Virgin Upper Class Sale

Virgin Atlantic have announced the sale of Upper Class seats on a range of flights out of London Heathrow and Gatwick, with prices starting as low as £1,099 return to New York.

The promotion also includes flights to Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Delhi, Mumbai, Shanghai, Dubai, Lagos and Nairobi, for tickets purchased before June 24, for travel until December 31.

The Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Experience starts with a complimentary chauffeur driven car service to and from the airport. Your seat is more like a suite, with a table and extra seat for a guest / business meeting, and the seat reclines into a fully flat position, converting into a wide and very confortable bed. The 'snooze pack' includes all kinds of goodies to help you relax and enjoy the flight, including Cowshed beauty products and essentials such as toothbrush, eyeshades, socks and earplugs.

New Ryanair Route Between Manchester & Frankfurt

Ryanair has announced a new flight route between Manchester Airport and Frankfurt Hahn, starting October 26.

Flights will operate four times per week, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Ryanair expects to carry 60,000 passengers per year on the route.

This brings the total of Ryanair destinations available from Manchester to 7.

Early Morning Heathrow Flights Challenged In Court

Wandsworth and Richmond councils will go to court next week in an attempt to reduce the number of early morning flight arrivals at Heathrow Airport. There are currently an average 16 flights arriving at Heathrow between the hours of 04.30 and 06.00.

The move follows the councils' previous 2005 challenge against the government's night flight arrangements, when it was discovered that some flights before 06.00 fell into the wrong noise category. These included the popular Boeing 747-400 RR.

The judicial hearing will be heard for 3 days from May 20, by Mr Justice Sullivan. The challenge is also backed by Hounslow, Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham, and Hillingdon councils.

New £10 million Security Area For Manchester Airport

Manchester Airport has opened its new £10 million security area, in an attempt to speed up the security check process. It was recently voted one of the worst airports in the UK by passengers.

New X ray machines, costing £2.2 million, offer 3D, full-colour images of the contents of hand baggage, and vapour testing machines will test liquids to ensure no unauthorised substances get through the security area.

Additional measures to speed up the security process include additional security lanes, and the creation of a security hall, designed to make the whole process less stressful.

Jet2 Launches New York Flights

Jet2.com has launched a new flight service between Leeds Bradford Airport and New York (Newark).

Jet2holidays.com has also launched a series of 3 night shopping breaks, with prices starting from £699 per person. Prices include flights, 3 nights accommodation and all taxes and flight charges.

This is the first direct New York flight to be launched from Leeds Bradford, so it will be interesting to see how much demand there is.

Eastern Launch New Direct Flight From Newcastle To Norway

Eastern Airways have today launched a new direct daily service between Newcastle Airport and Stavanger, on the south west coast of Norway.

Flights leave Newcastle at 09.50, landing at Stavanger at 12.40. Return flights depart Stavanger at 13.10, arriving in Newcastle at 14.00.

The route is popular with business travellers working within the gas and oil industries, as Stavanger is the energy capital of Norway. However, Stavanger has also been named European Capital of Culture 2008, so the route should also appeal to leisure travellers.

Foreign Visitors Allowed Into UK Unchecked

The Terminal 5 debacle shows no sign of disappearing from the news, as it has been revealed that a number of international flights into Heathrow Airport T5 were wrongly treated as domestic, with passengers subsequently taken through the airport without proper immigration and customs control.

The Telegraph reported yesterday that amid the recent chaos at the new terminal, international passengers were allowed to enter the UK without passing through the correct immigration and customs channels. Passengers arriving on a flight from Libya were even allowed to pass through the airport without showing their passports, which is a disturbing breach of airport security and immigration control.

BA admitted that there had been a very small number of errors of this nature, but said that they were confident that the problem had been addressed and new processes put in place.

Easyjet Losses Treble Following Fuel Price Rises

Easyjet has announced first half pre-tax losses of £57 million, which is a dramatic three-fold increase on last year's figures.

However, the Luton Airport based airline has responded positively, saying that it believes the underlying business model is strong, and senior staff are confident the airline will be able to get through this difficult period. The airline traditionally makes most of its money in the second half of the year, so we will have to wait until the end of the year to see a clearer picture of the position of the company.

Easyjet's chief executive, Andy Harrison, suggested that some of the smaller European low cost carriers would downsize or disappear altogether under the strain of continued fuel price rises.

Holiday Inn Express Hotel Exeter

As we had a very early flight from Exeter to Spain the other day we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Exeter.

We have stayed before and have to say its very comfortable and good value. Its just 6 minutes drive from the airport too. It costs around 60 pounds including breakfast. Exeter City is fantastic and we spent a couple of hours there but now wished we stayed another day there. Its was lovely. A taxi from the hotel to Exeter Shopping was 8pounds. Taxi from hotel to Airport was about 9 pounds.

Monarch Publishes Winter 2008/2009 Flight Schedule

Monarch has published its new 2008/2009 winter flight schedule, with several new flight routes and additional services on existing routes from London Gatwick, London Luton, Birmingham International and Manchester Airports.

London Gatwick and Manchester Airports will see their first winter flights to Larnaca, with up to three flights per week.

The Manchester to Gibraltar route will be re-started, operating three times per week, and the number of flights operating between London Gatwick, Lanzarote and Tenerife, will be doubled.

New Easyjet Flights To Mykonos, Montpellier & Malaga

Easyjet launches four new flight routes this week from London Gatwick airport. New flight destinations include Mykonos, which has a twice weekly flight departing Sundays and Thursdays; Montpellier, with daily flights; and weekly flights to Ajaccio and Bastia.

Manchester Airport sees the launch of a new daily service to Malaga, and a twice weekly service to Crete.