Economy Class & Beyond

UK Border/Public Sector Strike – Update II

by

Well for those who are going through UK Border, this is turning into a damp squib of an action. Reports indicated that 2/3rds of immigration desks are open at London Heathrow and Gatwick, with other ports of entry suffering only minor delays. Or to quote The Telegraph's Neil Tweedie: Here in terminal 3 at Heathrow and the passport hall is a picture of tranquillity. 21 … [Read more...]

UK Border/Public Service Strike update

by

Well the picket lines are manned and the public sector strike action day is under way. So lets see if this is a damp squib, or if HM Government have been overstating the matter. Again. According to the BBC, Take-offs and landings have been mainly unaffected at London Heathrow and London Gatwick with a few minor cancellations. Staffing at the border appears to operating at … [Read more...]

Those Air Passenger Duty Numbers in Full.

by

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

by

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

by

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

by

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

by

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…

by

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

by

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

by

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...]