2008 Articles

Heathrow Airport profits up

Heathrow Airport's profits were up by more than ten per cent last year despite facing criticism for long security queues and poor infrastructure quality.

The airport's operating profit rose by £40 million to £438 million in 2007, while profits at Stansted airport, also operated by BAA, rose 68 per cent to £86 million after the company doubled charges for passengers using the airport, according to the Times.

The criticism surrounding Heathrow's profits comes just after the recent chaos with the opening of the new Terminal 5 (T5).
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Dublin Airport Authority reports strong growth

Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and travel retailer Aer Rianta International (ARI) have seen record profits this year, with a 56 per cent increase in 2007 according to new figures released.

The DAA said that profits rose from €69.5 million in 2006 to €109 million for 2007. ARI, which manages the group's airport investments and airport retailing activities overseas, said it grew its profit contribution to the group by 73 per cent over the last year €29.1 million.

Chairman of the DAA, Gary McCann, said that construction of Dublin Airport's new passenger terminal is on schedule for completion by the end of 2009 and passengers would be able to use the new facility in two years' time.
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Work nears completion on City Airport check-in

London City Airport's new self-service check-in kiosks are set to be ready for use in May by all passengers to check themselves in for flights.

The kiosks will be for passengers with airlines including VLM and KLM as well as British Airways, Lufthansa, SAS and Austrian Airlines.

The £30 million project is the airport's largest and is being completed because of the increased demand seen in the airport in the past few years.
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Kate Moss designs lost at London Heathrow

Supermodel Kate Moss has had to deal with the delays in baggage at British Airway's (BA) Terminal 5 (T5) as several pieces of luggage containing samples from her new autumnwear for Topshop have been misplaced.

A total of eight of her bags were reportedly missing after she arrived at BA's new T5, with the bags having been lost somewhere between Los Angeles and London, reports the Sunday Mirror.

Worth £3,000 a piece just for the luggage, the top-secret items in the luggage could potentially be used by other designers to make knock-off pieces, according to a source.
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Newcastle offers flights to Norway

A daily direct flight between Newcastle and Stavanger in Norway will be offered that will help business travellers and trade between the two regions, it has been claimed.

Eastern Airways currently runs flights between the two airports via Aberdeen and will begin using the new route on May 12th.

Flight times will be cut in half to about an hour between the two destinations and will help the north-east's oil and gas supply sector, which has seen an increase in demand from Norwegian clients.
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Cheap flights to Iceland offered at Gatwick

Iceland Express will be flying from Reykjavik to London Gatwick on a daily basis at the beginning of the winter flight schedule this year, according to IceNews.

The low-fare airline service is also celebrating its fifth anniversary this year and reported a 20 per cent increase in its passengers in 2007.

The airline flies to nearly 20 destinations around Europe including Stansted, Stockholm, Alicante, Warsaw, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Berln and Eindhoven.
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BA delays transfer of long-haul flights at Heathrow

British Airways (BA) has announced that it will delay until June the planned transfer of its long-haul flights from Terminal 4 to Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport.

Terminal 5 has been operating a full schedule of flights for the past three days but BA claimed that it wants to ensure a high standard of service before any new developments are introduced.

There are still problems affecting operations at Terminal 5 that BA said it wants to "iron out", including issues with the baggage system.
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Business travel 'still popular despite economic issues'

Business travellers are still planning on making use of flight routes out of the UK this year, despite the economic problems that many industries appear to be facing.

A Barclaycard Business travel survey found that, despite recent fears about an economic slowdown, 44 per cent of corporate customers travelled more in 2007 than in the previous year.

Some 33 per cent of the 3,000 people polled by Barclaycard said they plan to travel more this year than they did in 2007.
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New air routes boost tourism in Israel

The Israeli Tourist Office has announced rising tourism figures in the first two months of 2008 and partially attributed the success to new air routes into the country.

Some 380,760 people visited Israel in January and February, which represented an increase of more than 50 per cent on the same period of last year.

British travellers in particular have shown a rising interest in Israel, with 23,936 visitors in the first two months of the year, 18 per cent more than in the same period in 2007.
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Many travellers 'not interested in exploring'

The majority of British people on package holidays are more interested in relaxing in their resort than exploring the area that they are visiting, according to a new survey.

Research by Halifax found that all-inclusive package trips are still popular in the UK, with one in ten Britons taking a holiday of this type to an exotic location every year.

However, these travellers reportedly spend an average of just seven hours outside their hotel complex during their holiday, meaning that three-quarters of holidaymakers never make any effort to speak the local language.
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Munich to celebrate 850th birthday

Many travellers from the UK will be heading to the German city of Munich this year to take part in its 850th birthday celebrations.

A broad spectrum of events will be included in the festivities, all of which will be themed under the topic of building bridges between different eras and sections of society.

The Town Foundation festival will get the celebrations underway on June 14th and 15th, with exhibitions and other activities taking place in Marienplatz, Stachus and Odeonsplatz.
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