Extension plan for Cardiff Airport approved

The multi-million-pound extension to the terminal at Cardiff Airport has been approved with works scheduled to start later this year.

The £5M+ improvement will link the arrivals and departures halls into one large area and add new food and retail premises.

The new building will have a contemporary design and the first floor of the terminal will become “airside” as the security control point to access the departures lounge is relocated to the first floor. The approach area in front of the terminal building will also be redesigned.

Plans for a dedicated airport express bus have also been announced. It will be a limited-stop service between Cardiff Airport and Cardiff city centre. The start date has yet to be announced.

Jet2 Launches New Routes From East Midlands Airport

Jet2.com has welcomed the first of its aircraft to East Midlands Airport has welcomed the first of Jet2’s aircraft as it launches new routes on May 19th with flights to Lanzarote, Corfu, Dalaman, Heraklion, Paphos, Tenerife and Sharm el Sheikh.

The airline will service the routes from Nottingham Airaport using Boeing 757s which offer greater comfort and range than the usual carriers.

Continental Airlines Passengers face charge for extra legroom in economy class

Continental Airlines flies to the United States from seven UK Airports: Bristol Airport, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and London Heathrow.

From the middle of April it is introducing a £130 levy on exit row seats which have an additional seven inches of legroom. This would add 33% to the airline's cheapest return ticket to Newark which is one of the airports serving New York.

In the past passengers have not been expected to pay extra for different seats in the same cabin. But gradually cash-strapped carriers have imposed additional charges. The price will vary according to the length of the flight and also demand on the day so passengers will only be told of the additional cost when they check in at the airport. A charge of £65 for a one-way flight across the Atlantic has been given a 'guide' price by Continental, but they have also said it would be based on 'market demand' and admitted it could go even higher.

Last year British Airways announced fees for passengers who wanted to choose their seat in advance. It put a £50 price tag on exit row seats, and £20 for anyone picking an aisle or window seat. However it does not push the price up when a plane is full. Given that airlines tend to follow one another, similar charges could be introduced by other carriers.

Continental introduce paperless boarding passes at Heathrow Airport

Continental Airlines have launched a mobile boarding pass service to London’s Heathrow Airport, allowing customers to receive boarding passes electronically on their mobile phones or PDAs.

Continental will be the first to offer the service on direct flights from the UK to the USA. The passes work by displaying a bar code encrypting the passenger and flight information which are scanned. Through their mobiles customers can track their flight.

Continental was the first airline to offer paperless passes in the USA and currently offers the service in 42 airports. It is increasing its number of flights from Heathrow to New York and Houston, where the passes will be used.

New charter routes from Norwich Airport

Despite a 30% drop in passengers travelling to and from Norwich Airport last year, Managing Director Elliott Summers predicts that an expansion in the number of charter flights this year will stimulate growth with 475,000 passengers forecast in the 2010/11 financial year.

Eight new charter routes from Norwich Airport have been confirmed: including Tenerife, Bulgaria, Madeira, Portugal, Tunisia and Guernsey. There is also the possibility of new domestic services from Norwich to Newcastle, Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow, Brussels and Dusseldorf.

Summers also said the airport had also seen about 10% growth in helicopter passengers on routes serving the offshore oil and gas industry. The controversial £5 airport development fee (ADF), charged to all departing passengers will remain in force this year but will not be increased.

Norwich Airport has had a difficult few years: in 2008 scheduled flights to three Spanish airports were axed just months after they started when airline LTE collapsed and Flybe cut its Glasgow and Paris routes.

50th Anniversary Celebrations of Elvis Arriving at Prestwick Airport

Elvis Presley landed at Glasgow Prestwick Airport for his plane to refuel on his way home after two years’ military service in Germany fifty years ago on March 3rd 1960.

Prestwick Airport is now keen to celebrate perhaps the most famous stopover in Scottish history and passengers, fans and visitors will be treated to a show starting next Wednesday morning with “Elvis” landing in full sergeant’s uniform at the airport and being met by the paparazzi.

Throughout the day performers which include the MacDonald Brothers and students from Strathclyde University will take to the stage in the main terminal concourse to perform Elvis songs. The UK’s top “young Elvis impersonator”, Lee Jackson, will be flying in from his tour in Germany to perform many of his idol’s hits.

Amongst the highlights of the day will be a Best Dressed Elvis competition, with the winner receiving free flight tickets to a destination of their choice.The Elvis Cleaning Company will also be on hand to ensure the concourse is kept clean and tidy.

The free event is being sponsored by South Ayrshire Council, West FM and local companies. Parking will cost £1 on the day and all profits will go to the children’s charity Clic Sergent.

Gatwick shuttle to start operating again in July

Work on London Gatwick Airport’s new inter-terminal shuttle is coming along with the new carriages now on the track. In an operation which took over two days six new cars, each weighing 14 tonnes, were lifted on to the track that runs between the North and South Terminals.

The cars will now be fully testes to ensure they are ready to carry passengers with the new shuttle service now scheduled to start operating in July which is a month ahead of schedule.

The £44 million project has involved refurbishing the track and the stations and will provide a state-of-the-art service as annual passenger numbers grow to around 40 million over the next few years. It replaces the original system which was installed in 1987 and removed from service last September. It completed more than two and a half million miles over 20 years, which is equivalent to 100 times around the earth or five return trips to the moon.