2007 Articles

Dublin Airport sees 9% passenger boost

Dublin Airport saw a nine per cent year-on-year increase in passenger numbers in August, it has been revealed.

A total of 2.4 million passengers passed through the hub last month, the Dublin Airport Authority revealed.

This means that, on average, over 77,000 passengers used the airport every day in the month of August.
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New hotels 'planned for Heathrow T5'

One of Scotland's richest men has launched a £70 million venture to build two new hotels at Heathrow Airport, reports claim.

Lord Laidlaw has formed a partnership with Rokeby Developments to build new hotels for the passengers that will use Heathrow's Terminal 5, according to Scotland on Sunday.

The new terminal, which cost over £4 billion and is one of Europe's largest construction projects, is expected to handle around 30 million passengers a year once it opens in March 2008.
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Liverpool Airport wins prestigious award

Liverpool Airport has been named 'UK airport of the year' for the first time in its history.

The hub received the accolade at the prestigious Travel Trade Gazette awards in London.

There was strong competition for the award from London Luton Airport and Manchester Airport along with Birmingham, East Midlands and Bristol bases.
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Stansted protests attract celebrity interest

Protests over potential expansions at Stansted Airport have been joined by author and newspaper columnist Will Self.
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Iris recognition systems 'most accurate'

Security systems that scan an airport passenger's iris to check their identity are the most accurate, it has been claimed.
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BAA 'lobbying for long runway at Heathrow'

Airports operator BAA has begun lobbying for another full-length runway to be installed at Heathrow Airport, according to reports.

Another full-size landing strip would allow more services from large long-haul aircraft.

In the past BAA's intentions were to install a shorter runway rather than a 4,000-metre full-size strip but plans have changed ahead of the release of a new consultation document on the airport's expansion, the Times reports.
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Australia for unemployment, Spain for divorce

Taking a trip abroad is an increasingly popular way of marking a major milestone or rite of passage, according to research by travel firm Expedia.

Three in four Brits have commemorated a significant life event, from births to deaths and from marriage to divorce, by going on holiday.

Wedding anniversaries were the biggest spur to breaks overseas, with 65 per cent of the 24,000 people interviewed stating they had taken a holiday after a number of years of marriage.
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Cook's mid-air curry culinary feat

An Indian chef from Norwich will create a wedding feast of curries, onion bhajis, and kebabs at two thousand feet when Indian pop star Alamin Khandaker renews his wedding vows with his wife of 20 years later this month.

The singer of Bangladeshi group Chime will celebrate renewing nuptials with his wife Mun Mun by feasting on dishes prepared by the chef of Norwich's Lucky Tandoori restaurant.

Taking off from Norwich International Airport, the party, to include 80 family members and friends, will fly over St Paul's Cathedral in London before returning home on September 27th, reportedly escorted by Russian fighter jets all the way.
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Edinburgh Airport eyes increased passenger through-flow

Edinburgh Airport is setting itself ambitious development goals for the years to come as it prepares to welcome new passengers, according to the hub's newly-arrived managing director David Johnston.

After five months in the role, Johnston told the Scotsman that he aims to accelerate the pace of change at the travel hub, first focusing on improving the transport links to lock the airport into a regional network.
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The Importance of London Theatre

Families looking for a post-Christmas treat may perk up at the news that Oscar Wilde's classic comedy of romantic intrigue, The Importance of Being Earnest, is coming to the Vaudeville Theatre in London's West End in January 2008.

This delightfully clever comedy of manners rattles out puns and wordplay in an incessant flow of jibes and diatribes, and the structure is equally silly, with more twists in the plot than a tangled iPod cord.

Two men about town, Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthington, weave a web of lovers' deceit, leading their respective sweethearts a merry dance of confusion and crossed identities.
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Heathrow passenger figures 'scarcely touched by protests'

The number of passengers passing through Heathrow Airport in August seemed barely affected by the climate change protests in spite of concerns that Britons would be deterred from travelling, BAA figures suggest.

August saw the number of passengers at Heathrow reach a record 6.4 million, 6.5 per cent higher than during July and more than the number registered at that time of year over the past half-decade.

In the light of powerful passenger demand, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) this week warned that more must be done to ease congestion in Heathrow Airport as the continuing popularity of air travel risks putting pressure on infrastructure.
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