2007 Articles

Monarch brings self-service to Birmingham

Low-fares airline flyMonarch has announced the introduction of a new self-service check-in option for passengers at Birmingham Airport.

Customers travelling on scheduled Monarch flights will be able to use the new common-use self-service kiosks (CUSS) in the middle of the concourse of Birmingham's first terminal.

Travellers will retrieve their booking by swiping their passport through a CUSS machine, check themselves in and receive a printed boarding card.
Continue reading article »

Passenger boost for Birmingham in October

Birmingham Airport handled a total of 850,034 passengers in October, a 2.8 per cent increase on the previous year.

This number comprised 607,979 travellers on scheduled services and 242,055 charter passengers spread across the West Midlands hub's two terminals.

Marked growth of 10.1 per cent was recorded on long-haul services to Asia while an 8.5 per cent passenger increase was achieved on non-EU routes from Birmingham Airport.
Continue reading article »

One-bag rule 'to go in new year'

Transport secretary Ruth Kelly is expected to confirm today that the 'one-bag rule' governing plane travel will be lifted in the new year.

Ms Kelly will announce in a speech to the Airport Operators Association that plane passengers will be able to take two pieces of baggage on flights in 2008, according to the Financial Times.

A number of security scares in 2006 prompted the introduction of the one-bag restriction on carry-on luggage, which has since proved unpopular with airlines and travellers.
Continue reading article »

BAA hubs handle more passengers in October

Airports operator BAA has released figures showing that its UK hubs handled 13.2 million passengers in October – 3.5 per cent more than in the same month last year.

Edinburgh Airport and Aberdeen Airport were among the top performers, with monthly passenger increases of five per cent and 6.6 per cent respectively continuing both hubs' robust growth trends.

It was not a clean sweep across Scotland, however, as Glasgow was the only of BAA's airports to record a drop in passenger traffic, with a 1.8 per cent fall in numbers.
Continue reading article »

Ambitious skiers warned of medical costs

With poor snow conditions in many European resorts, skiers are jetting off to distant, high-altitude destinations in search of powder, according to American Express Travel Insurance.

However the company warned winter sports enthusiasts that some far-flung skiing hotspots charge high amounts for medical care.

The USA, Canada, Chile, Japan and Russia are expected to be among the top locations in the 2007-08 skiing season but medical costs at these resorts are some of the highest in the world, according to American Express.
Continue reading article »

Heathrow Airport parking boosted by new gadget

A new piece of technology is set to improve Heathrow Airport parking facilities by helping returning travellers to find their cars.

The gadget, developed by Siemens, will scan the numberplates of cars as they enter parking areas and print out a ticket bearing the vehicle's details.

Travellers will then enter their ticket into a machine on their return and be given directions to their car.
Continue reading article »

Adventure holidays 'an increasingly popular family option'

A travel industry expert has dismissed the idea that adventure holidays to exotic, long-haul destinations are the preserve of the young holidaymaker.

Matt Hodgson, manager of Abta-bonded company Travel Nation, admitted that the adventure holiday market predominantly appeals to the younger market, but said that the family sector is a growing part of the industry.

"More and more of the larger adventure companies are featuring family trips in their brochures," he said. "It's still a small percentage, but there is definitely an increasing market there."
Continue reading article »

Outbound travel industry 'bullish for 2008'

Britain's outbound tourism industry is confident that travellers will continue to jet off to international destinations in 2008, according to research.

In a poll carried out by Travelmole and public relations company BGB, 51 per cent of outbound tour operators reported modest growth in turnover in 2007 and 22 per cent said they enjoyed strong increases.

Some 58 per cent of outbound travel companies said they expected further modest growth in 2008 while 27 per cent predicted strong business expansion.
Continue reading article »

London's business travellers 'lose 400 laptops a year'

Business travellers are being warned to keep an eye on their belongings after a new survey revealed 8,500 mobile devices are lost in UK airports annually.

The figures from security firm SafeNet show that those travelling through London airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick were most likely to lose their mobiles or laptops.

Passengers flying out from the capital are misplacing 400 laptops and 2,500 other mobile gadgets each year.
Continue reading article »

Concorde revived in Heathrow runway row

Government officials are turning to Concorde in a bid to gain approval to build a new runway and introduce 500 extra flights a day from Heathrow Airport, it has been reported.

Campaigners are battling against the plans which they say will add to the noise pollution already suffered by those who live within the flight-path.

But the Department for Transport is arguing that the noise levels will not exceed those of when the Concorde fleet was in operation before being withdrawn in 2003, the Times newspaper says.
Continue reading article »

Glasgow Airport keeping Scotland well connected

Improvements to Glasgow airport mean "Scotland is better connected than at any time in its history", it has been reported.

BAA Scotland chairman Stephen Baxter told the Herald newspaper that the transport hub's 40 new international flights on offer this year were just the start of the airport's growth and that access to foreign destinations was now much easier for Scottish passengers.

The newspaper reports that in the last year alone, Scotland's airports had seen a wealth of new services - with flights now running to Boston and Geneva from Glasgow, and Dortmund, Munich, Madrid and Milan from Edinburgh.
Continue reading article »