Economy Class & Beyond

Those Air Passenger Duty Numbers in Full.

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Well here it is - the ugly numbers that Chancellor George Osborn and his flunky Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander will be asking you to pay if you choose to depart the United Kingdom on a flight out of the country:  2011 Economy  2011 Premium 2012 Economy 2012 Premium Band A 0–2,000 miles from … [Read more...]

The UK Autumn Budget Statement and How It Will Impact you the traveller

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Well as the dust from the UK Autumn budget statement there's a few things to take away from the statement. Air Travel Air Passenger Duty rises CONFIRMED. "Air Passenger Duty (APD) rates will increase from 1 April 2012, as set out at Budget 2011. The Government will also proceed with the extension of APD to flights taken aboard business jets, effective from 1 April … [Read more...]

UK Border Agency/Public Sector Strike 30/11 – It’s on

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Well with the Unions and Government itching for a smack-down fight, lets do a quick round of up of the facts thoughts, and damn lies Truths: Most public sector agencies will be down heavily tomorrow (30/11) due to a strike against the changes to the public sector provisions. This includes parts of Local Government, Schools, parts of the NHS, and the UK Border … [Read more...]

A380 Update: Thai Airways International first A380 goes into final assembly

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Lets have some nice pretty looking aviation news, and it's from Airbus who have released a picture of the first Thai Airways International Airbus A380 entering final assembly. Image - (c) Airbus SAS 2011. Now I don't know about you, but that Purple on the tail fin does look very pretty indeed (and I do like the colour scheme they've chosen for the "re-brand"). I'll look … [Read more...]

UK Secretary of State for Transport: More Body Scanners to come

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It seems the political leaders are drinking some sort of drink to believe everything, with the Secretary of State for Transport Justine Greening coming out and saying that more scanners should be deployed, a lack of opt-out (scanning to remain compulsory for those selected), and for scans that are conducted to be reviewed by machine, rather than by humans. It seems the UK … [Read more...]

Thomas Cook in trouble…

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It seems the tour operator and airline Thomas Cook is in a bit of a fiscal trouble zone, with it postponing its disclosure of the groups its full-year results to allow it time to talk to the banks over easing the money burden. Thomas Cook blames a "deterioration of trading" in parts of the business that has hit its cash and liquidity. In particular, the holiday sector in … [Read more...]

Astraeus Airlines ceases operations

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Who you might be asking? Astraeus Airlines was an airline that did a lot of wet-leasing and chartering of it's aircraft to companies that needed extra capacity (BMI Veterans would recognise this when they were flying Boeing 757's for BMI on routes). Additionally, they've flown for British Airways, Iceland Express, Thomson Airways, Thomas Cook and Iron Maiden where they flew … [Read more...]

Travelling out of Heathrow/London City today? Fog inbound – expect delays

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It seems the winter season has finally arrived, with the first major fogging of the season. 132 flights have been cancelled due to the fog today out of London Heathrow, and 44 delayed or diverted away from London City due to the fog The BBC Weather Centre as well as the Met Office predicts the fog will lift around 10:00 on Monday Morning (21st November), however with fog, … [Read more...]

SkyTeam to expand again – Xiamen Airlines to join

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News from China and SkyTeam that Xiamen Airlines is set to join the alliance, and will become a full member towards the end of 2012. In some ways this isn't surprising at all as Xiamen Airlines is  60% owned by China Southern Airlines - who also happens to be sponsoring their entry into the alliance. Xiamen Airlines currently operates a mostly China domestic programme … [Read more...]

Europe Bans Airport Body Scanners For “Health and Safety” Concerns

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Here's a big news breaking from the European Union, Forbes and The Economist. And it's to do with Nude-o-scopes - or Backscatter/Millimetre Wave Scanners. And to be blunt - the European Union is not happy about them in the least. The big line from the release it is this: In order not to risk jeopardising citizens' health and safety, only security scanners which do not … [Read more...]