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Low cost flight search - city breaks & holidays 
United Kingdom And European Air Travel News including airport information on airlines new destinations city breaks - special holiday offers cheap flights promotions
Air Travel & Airline News:
Plane Makes Emergency 'Touchdown' After Excited Passenger Strips Off
Good Afternoon This Is Your Unpaid Captain Speaking
Ryanair Boss Warns UK Government Its Tourist Tax is Damaging Economy
Branson: BA May Collaspe - They Have To Many Liabilties & No Paper Value
Thousands Of Peak Season Holidays Going Begging
Passenger Plane Lands Safely After Pilot Has Heart Attack at 35,000ft
Alitalia Looses Sight Of Sicily
For more general travel news & advice please go to Travel Post
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European City Breaks (4 Days Or Less) ........................ Holidays Over 5 Days
| Airlines To Die By | European Airports Info | United Kingdom Airports |
|---|---|---|
Plane Makes Emergency 'Touchdown' After Passengers Strips Off
A US Airways plane on a domestic flight from Charlotte to Los Angeles opted for an an unscheduled landing in Albuquerque on Wednesday when a passenger took off all his clothes. The pilot decided to make the unscheduled landing after the 50 year old man refused repeatedly request by cabin crew to get dressed or have his jewels covered by a blanket.
The excited passenger had to be subdued and handcuffed by off duty police officers who were travelling on the plane. Some passengers said afterwards they thought he enjoyed being cuffed. When the plane landed at Albuquerque he was arrested by local police and the plane continued on its journey to Los Angelos.
Terminal Five Baggage System Failure Affects 1000's Passengers
Passengers at Heathrow Terminal 5 on Sunday experienced delays and cancellation as the baggage system which afforded the Terminal's disatrous opening last year failed again. Check-in at the British Airways dedicated terminal was suspended by the airport operator the British Airports Authority.
The check-in facilities were withdrawn when the failure which was described as 'mechanical' resulted in over a thousand pieces of luggage becoming log-jammed. Some flights were cancelled and several hundred British Airways passengers were offered refunds on alternative flights during the week.
In a statement BAA apologised to people who had suffered incovenience because of the breakdown and said they working with British Airways to minimse the disruption.
Good Afternoon This Is Your Unpaid Captain Speaking
According to British Airways 6,940 of its employees (approximately 17%) of its staff have volunteered to work without way, take pay cuts, have their hours reduced or agreed to take unpaid leave. 800 staff have volunteered to work for a whole month without pay - a precedent set by BA'S CEO Wilie Walsh who has said he work in July for no salary - though when he made the announcement he did not mention he was to recieve a 6% wage rise.
BA who recently announced a annual loss of financial of £400m for the last financial year are belived to planning cutting around 3,000 jobs over and the 2,500 it has made in the last year. In mid June the company gave its staff one week to voulunteer for the reduced hours or unpaid work or a permament paycut but denied that those who did not volunteer for the scheme would be the first to be made redundant. Over half of those who have volunteered for the cost cutting excercise have accepted a unpaid break with another 20% permanent or temporary reduction in hours.
A spokesperson for the union Unite who represent 28,000 of BA's 40,000 staff said that the company had bullied staff into joining the scheme by inferring that those who did not join the scheme would have to explain why they had joined the scheme to a senior manager.
Ryanair Boss Warns UK Government Its Tourist Tax is Damaging Economy
23rd June: Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said in London today: “Ryanair will grow by 15% this year to over 67 million passengers. However, the UK will not share in any of this growth in 2009 as Ryanair (the only major European airline continuing to grow) freezes growth at our nine UK bases. Gordon Brown’s £10 tourist tax will see Britain lose over 10 million passengers, 10,000 airport jobs and more than £2.5 billion in tourism spend in the UK this year alone.
The Government should follow the example of their Belgian, Dutch, Greek and Spanish counterparts by immediately scrapping this stupid and regressive tourist tax to avoid any further devastation to British tourism and jobs. “Tourism is one of the UK’s most important industries and employers. It responds quickly to price changes. The Government’s £10 tourist tax is making the UK an uncompetitive destination and they must scrap this tax now to prevent a further collapse of UK passenger, tourism and job numbers. While the UK keeps taxing tourists Ryanair will switch its growth to other EU countries where low cost airports are growing and where Governments are welcoming tourists not taxing them”.
Branson: BA May Collaspe - They Have To Many Liabilties & No Paper Value
June 22 Richard Branson owner of Virgin Atlantic Airways said today that he thought British Airways Plc might not survive the presnt recession and that if it collasped the British Government should not go to its aid. He also said that if BA failed Virgin Atlantic would not be interested in taking it over as it had too many liabilties and no value on paper.
Richard Branson also thought that comments made recently by BA boss Willie Walsh about the length of the recession and that business travel was unlikely to recover to previous levels was likely to take British Airways to an early grave. He also said that Willie Walsh's plans to reduce staff and his appeal for staff to work without pay (see below) underlined how desperate the company's finance here.
Following Branson's comments BA shares which are around 30% lower than this time last year fell 8% on the London Stock market.
Thousands Of Peak Season Holidays Going Begging
22nd June Inspite of cutting back the number of holidays available this year major travel companies still have thousands of peak season holidays available. Advantage Travel report that at only 65% of their hoildays have been booked at present - compared to a normal figure of 80% at this time of year. Particularly badly hit are Thomas Cook who are offering accommodation-only deals in the autumn to places like Turkey for as low as £2 per person per night.
2010 Holidays To Be The Same As 2009
21st June The forecast for holiday prices for 2010 vary with TUI UK who own Thomson and First Choice confident that they will be able to freeze prices at this year levels provided UK exchange rates continue their recent inprovement. Thomas Cook estimate their prices may increase 2-3% but anticipate that this may not be necesscary if negotiations with hoteliers for lower room are succesful.
Plane Lands Safely After Pilot Has Heart Attack at 35,000ft
19th June The pilot of a Continental Airlines Boeing 777 enroute from Brussels to New York with over 240 passengers on boardl, suffered a heart attack and died whilst flying the plane at 35,000 on Thursday afternoon. The co-pilot with 11 year experience, assisted by a relief pilot with 22 years experience, took over the control and the plane later landed safely at New York at 16.00 GMT on schedule.
Passengers on aboard the plane were not aware of the death of the Captain but knew that someone was unwell after the co-pilot made an announcement asking if there was a doctor on board. Dr Julien Struyven a cardiologist and radiologist from Brussels responded to the request and went to the flight deck to examine the pilot. He confirmed that he had died, possibly from a cardiac arrest after trying unsuccesfully to revive him with a a defibrillator.The pilot was moved to a crew rest area for the remainder of the flight. Later a spokesperson for Continental Airlines confirmed that the 60 year old pilot has died of natural causes. He had worked for them for 60 years.
Passengers, who only became aware of the Captain's death when the plane was surrounded by a flotilla of emergency vechile when it had landed, praised the crew for not showing any signs of panic or worrying them about an possible safety issues due to the pilots death.
Alitalia Looses Sight Of Sicily
19th June Italy's recently revamped national carrier Alitalia has ommited the Italian island of Sicily from a map of the Mediterranean printed in its iin-flight magazine even though all other Italian islands including the Sardinia found favour with publisher.
Apologising for the error, Aldo Canale magazine editor said "We have run lots of editions on the beauty of Sicily and we would never dream of eliminating it from maps of Italy." saying it was a printing mistake which would not hapen again.
29th June After retrieving 49 bodies from the 288 people on board the Air France plane which was lost over Atlantic on June 1st search teams have called of their search for any more bodies. During the search a large section of the planes tail wing was also found. The plane is believed to have crashed into the Atlantic Ocean - 800km north-east of the islands of Fernando de Noronha , north east of the Brazil's coastline.
The search for the main carriage of the plane which may contain the planes to black box flight recorders is to continue for another 10 -14 days. The boxes, which transport electronic signals to help recovery teams to locate them are theoretically powered with batteries that last for four weeks and may expire at anytime now.
The search for the main carriage of the plane and its two flight recorders now involves air and naval craft from 17 countries, find wreckage from the plane it is thought the main wreckage may be resting 4,300 metres below on the sea bed. Specialist search and retrieve robotic equipment capable of operating up to a depth of 6,000 metres is being aided by a th a French Nuclear submarine.
What caused the plane, which had 216 passengers 9 cabin crew & three pilots on board, to plunge into is continuing to baffle investigators. Initial speculation that plane was struck by lighting and suffered a catostrophic has been disputed by aviation experts who believe it e would have been able to survive a lightening strike. However electronic data transmitted by the plane indicates that plane did enter a storm and 14 minutes expierence severe air turbulence. The reliability of the electronic data is however being questioned as one states it indicates that the plane could have flying too and at another point it was travelling at a low speed which may have caused it to stall.
Other data suggests there were cabin pressure problems and electrical problems.edfast did experience electrical problems and possibly cabin pressure problems. Most puzzling of all is that as these is that these incidents occured over at least a 15 minute time span why no mayday or distress messages, human or electronic were transmitted from the plane which is fitted with beacons designed to transmit the same automatically. The plane was been flown by three competent and experienced pilots.
On Sunday 28th June The Wall Street Journal, quoting sources involved in the investigation suggested that investigators who have examined some of the wreckage from the plane that has been retrieved are minded to think that the planes on board computers suffered a series of cascading failures. These computer failures would not have enabled the pilots to either be aware of or reduce the excessive speed at which the plane may have flying when it hit suspected turbuleance generated from the thunderstorms.
Investigators are now studying two previous incidents on other Airbus A330's where computer malfunctions have occurred. In the incdents airspeed and altitude reading on the flight deck are thought to have been inaccurate.
However without the flight recorders it will be impossible to be certain as to what happened on Flight AF 447. French officials have said that there is no indication that the plane had been hijacked but the French Defence Minister Herve Morin said his government could not rule out a terrorist attack though there was no evidence to suggest this.
further updates will follow when available
Richard Branson Ran Off With War Hero's False Legs
British World War Two Hero Sir Douglas Bader who, after loosing both his legs in a flying accident in 1931, despite being an amputee continued to pilot RAF planes during the Battle of Britain has been blue plaque by English Heritage blue plaque. The plaque was unveiled by Sir Richard Branson on Sunday at Sir Douglas Bader's former home in Petersham Mews, Kensington, London. During the Battle of Britain Sir Douglas shor down 23 enemy aircraft before being captured by the Nazis in 1941 and imprisoned in various camps including Colditz.
The ceremony was to commerate the life of Sir Douglas much of which after the war he dedicated to changing the social attitudes and prejudices towards amputees and raising money for disabled people generally.
Post-war, Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson when he was growing up met Douglas Bader several times who was a personal friend of his aunt until he died aged 72 in 1982. In a BBC interview after the unveiling ceremony Mr Branson said "I was very fortunate to have known Douglas Bader as a child since my Aunt Clare was perhaps his best friend. - He used to sit on the lawn and tell us stories of how he'd escaped on so many occasions from prisoner of war camps in Germany until the Nazis finally confiscated his legs."
In the interview Mr Branson said that as a "nasty little boy" he would run off with Sir Douglas's false legs, requiring the airman to come "on his hands, screaming after me". He added that he could not think of anyone he knew who was more deserving of a having a blue plaque erected. "His whole story was real Boy's Own hero stuff, and I think Britain needs more heroes," he said. "I was very privileged to get to know him, and always had enormous admiration for what he'd achieved, and was very fortunate to be able to know him as a friend."
European Airlines Fight For Survival As Passengers Stay At Home
nternational passenger fell by just over 3% in April compared with an 11% fall in March. However the seeming improvement may be an unreliable indicator as the April figures include the Easter Break which last year was in March.
The figures released by IATA (The International Air Transport Association) also show that load factors - the percentage of occupied seats on a plane averaged 74.4% in April compared with 72.1% in March but again this increase is thought to be attributable to the Easter Holidays falling in April this year.
Early data for May indicates that the decline in international air travel year on is likely to be between 7 and 10% with some short haul european airlines reporting even higher falls in traffic. However major players such as Ryanair and easyJet are understood to be doing a lot better than most of their rivals.
Demand for flights between Europe and the United States has perked up as airlines have cut prices on major routes. Demand for Virgin Atlantic flights in particular has increased significantly as they continue to promote cut price seats as part of their 25th birthday celebrations.
Airport Information For Scandinavia Eastern The Baltic States, Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Western Europe Russia & China
Each euromost city guide includes an Airport Guide with details of the airlines and airports or airports serving the city. Where possible low cost airlines flying to the airport are listed seperately in the guide please Matrix. Alternatively if the city is not featured amongst the Euromost City Guides see the European Airports page. For information on UK Airports see the UK Airport page.
Euromost Airports Principal Information
Airport Flight Arrivals & Flight Departures Board: Euromost offers direct live & updated flight arrivals and flight departures information boards from the major airports in Central, Eastern Europe and the Baltic States. This information includes details on internal national flights from each airport and information on European & International short haul and long haul flights from these East European airports and cities.
Airport Website: In addition to the arrival and departures board links links there is at the top of each airport guide a link to the airport website. This can be used for general information on the respective airport including: access by road, public transport - serving rail bus and coach services, airport location, airport parking and airport hotels, airport shopping, duty free, facilities and services, airline and tour operators, Please note all plus all relevant airport telephone numbers can be found by through the Airport Home page link.
Airport Code: The airport id (identification) code is given as many airlines and companies use this on their itinary and booking forms as well as for identifying receipted baggage. Airport Facilities: In each city airport guide we have noted the important facts about the airports facilities. Where a service is known to be especially good we will say so. Conversely where there are issues of concern such as the attitude of Ljubljana airport to blind people and those with special needs we will highlight them.
Airport Telephone Number: We have also published the main airport telephone number for visitors wanting information that is not available or unclear on the website. In an emergency this number would be your first option.Local Airport Guide & Travel From The Airport: Each city guide is supported by a guide to its local airport with details of the airlines that fly there with the emphasis on low cost airlines offering cheap flights to the city. This local airport information includes links to the airport website, including the live flight arrivals and flight departures pages boards. We have detailed how to travel from the airport to the centre of the city on public transport. the distance and average journey time this involves. This information should be read by visitors flying to the airport as public transport connection to the city centre may be non existend, sparse or difficult. see Tirana. Equally some airlines will offer flights which suggest that another city is close by. For example Bratislava in Slovenia for Vienna. This is a 50 klm jouney with no direct transport available unless you are on a Ryanair flight. A potential nightmare in the late evening or during bad weather.It also has iInformation on services not to use ie the taxis at St Petersburg.
United Kingdom City & Local Airports Information Departures, Arrivals & Websites Parking Hotels
The UK Airport flight information includes direct links to the current flight arrivals and flight departures for each airport and the airport home page. It also includes airport parking offers & airport hotel deals from compamies & news from the airport. Link
3: European Airports Flight Arrivals & Flight Departures Information
This section features over 60 airports across western Europe & Scandinavia. The guide features all major european airports in Western Europe and Scandinavia. Included is every airport which serves a European capital city. It also includes other airports in other cities in the same country. For example Dusseldorf Hambrg and Munich in Germany.
Additionally there are many smaller regional airports which often serve several towns or holiday resorts for example Brest, Bordeaux Almeria and Malaga. These include airports on the Spanish island such as Ibiza Lanzarote and Majorca. This guide includes live information on flight arrivals and flight departures, the airport location, its airport code, telephone number and basic public transport connections. All these airports can be found in the European Airports Guide.
where ever you are - wherever you are going - euromost.info will help
BA: The Fuel Surcharge & The Blind Pilot |
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Crude cost per barrel |
BA Longhaul Fuel Surcharge
|
|
| May 04 | $34 |
£2.50 |
| Aug 04 | $43 |
£6.00 |
| Oct 04 | $50 |
£10.00 |
| Mar 05 | $53 |
£18.00 |
| Jun 05 | $55 |
£24.00 |
| Sep 05 | $62 |
£30.00 |
| Apr 06 | $74 |
£35.00 |
| Apr 07 | $66 |
£38.00 |
| June07 | $70 |
£43.00 |
| Nov 07 | $93 |
£58.00 |
| Feb 08 | $98 |
£64.00 |
| Apri 08 | $120 |
£79.00 |
| The British Airways fuel surcharge to long haul flights rose in Febuary 2008 to £64. Thisis the leventh increase in three and three quarter a years and means that the surcharge is over 25 times higher than when first applied even though the crude cost of oil is less than three times higher. Short haul flight have had similiar pro rata increases applied The disparity is a disgrace - it is robbery at 36,000 feet and even if the first surcharge was commercially reasonable (?) the subsequent increases by definition may equate with obtaining money by deception. Even the most estute airline operators incurr costs or loss of revune that they may not anticipate. ie 9/11 and its aftermath.
Few passengers would protest at a nominal increase in the airport charge if it was ring-fenced was for security purposes. BA's excessive fuel surcharge cannot be ring fenced to cover what is in relative terms to the fuel surcharge is a small increase in fuel costs. If their accountants feel that the extra $59 fuel cost is warranted why is it not include like other costs in the ticket price. Why is the airline run on 2004 costings? Furthermore If the surcharge is only a temporary measure which will be adjusted if the oil price falls why has the surcharge not been reduced when this happened in April 07? Synics would argue (on balance probably correctly) that these fuel charges are a seemingly legitimate way of justifying extorting money out of passengers. However there is a outside chance that there is, in the British Airways mindset, a commercial reason for continuing this debacle. One doubts whether the amount of compensation they have paid out to customers in the last two years for poor service was provided for in the company's costings. The hotel costs alone would probably frighten even blue chip companies. Even more disturbing must be the cost of this years lost luggage fiasco - flying lost luggage to Italy from London to sort it out and send it back to the UK is neither the finest example of operational competence or cost effectiveness. Perhaps BA in their apathy budgeted for this folly but these indiscretions have been covered by the fuel surcharge. If the latter is true it is not a fuel surcharge and should be shown as an incompetence levy. The Blind Pilot Eiher way the surcharges along with these and other periphal issues (see also BA Coimpany Profile linksed below) beg the question is there a pilot leading the company and if there is he blind to what is happenning below. The last three summers have, from many customers perspective, been a complete and unmitagated disaster in service terms. Long haul flights without food, flights cancelled, holidays cut short, weekend breaks spent on mattresses in tents outside airports and lost luggage ruining peoples holidays. Basil Fawlty would have been put to shame. These well publised incidents are public relation disasters and to continue screw passengers with ever increasing and unwarranted fuel surcharges compounds the widespread low regard the company is held in even further. Put bluntly if the Pilot and the first officers are not blind, they must address the issues, stop fire-fighting and include the increase fuels costs in their ticket prices like their competitors/ The public want a level playing field. Not to have one will show them the arrogance and contempt which BA has for them and incase BA have not noticed we do have other options. Related Articles: Company Profiles BA SAFETY CONCERNS |
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