Author: Shawon Hannan

In a move that could significantly reduce airport revenue, Scotland’s airport duty free shops are banishing cigarettes to the back rooms or to other separate and remote ‘tobacco’ areas. The move to place cigarettes and cigars in remote areas comes as part of the Scottish Government’s crackdown on tobacco displays in a bid to discourage smoking, especially amongst young people. According to the regulation, starting from April, tobacco and smoking-related products are to be displayed in duty free shops in a separate ‘tobacco area’, which is not visible from any other part of the premises. Glasgow airport’s duty free shop,…

The Airports Commission has published a summary of the proposals submitted for the planned expansion of the UK’s airport capacity. Fifty short and medium term proposals have been put forward to the commission to safeguard the UK’s international aviation hub status. About half of the 50 entries call for additional runways, including Heathrow’s three third runway options and Gatwick’s proposal for a second runway to the south of the current site. Commission chairman Sir Howard Davies said: ‘The proposals that we have received and that we have published today demonstrate imaginative and thoughtful responses …[and] show clearly the wide spectrum…

Thomas Cook Airlines, a British charter airline based in Manchester and serving main holiday resorts worldwide, is planning to restructure its operations to handle Manchester and Frankfurt airports as long-haul hubs with passengers feeding in off connecting flights. The restructuring model for Thomas Cook Airlines, the world’s oldest travel group, will be provided by German airlines Condor following the creation of a single airline division earlier this year. In February, the British travel group said that Condor, its German airline brand, Thomas Cook Airlines UK and Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium would become one airline segment within the group effective from…

Manchester Airport is expecting to handle more passengers than ever before within three years under the next phase of expansion plans. Andrew Cowan, the new chief operating officer of the airport, praised Manchester’s efforts in achieving its target of handling 20 million passengers earlier than expected in April. That was the first time the airport has achieved that milestone for five years. On the airport’s expansion plans, Cowan told the Manchester Evening News, ‘Our strategy is to continue to utilise our assets as best we can and that means continuing to grow passenger numbers. Last year, we did 19.6m and…

London Luton Airport, one of the UK’s largest airports, has launched a mobile optimised version of its website, m.london-luton.co.uk, responding to the needs of users wanting to view the site on their smart phones. Designed and developed by a leading UK mobile marketing company, Incentivated, the new website deploys live XML feed of flight data from air traffic control and provides users with real time flight information while on the move. Using Incentivated’s phone detection API, users accessing the main website URL on their phones will be automatically re-directed to the mobile version of the site. ‘We are delighted with…

As part of the Year of Natural Scotland 2013, VisitScotland has launched a new tourism campaign to promote the diverse landscapes of Inner and Outer Hebrides. The new £50,000 campaign coincides with the conclusion of the popular nature documentary on BBC titled Hebrides: Islands on the Edge. The campaign will reach potential tourists through national dailies and radio across Scotland and the North of England, pushing them to visit the archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland. The campaign provides comprehensive information about things to see and do in the region, upcoming events, local attractions and special offers with…

NATS, the UK air traffic control provider, has said that UK air traffic was up almost one percent in July 2013 compared to the same period in 2012. NATS said that that it handled 209,845 flights during the month, up from 207,871 in 2012. Several holiday destinations also reported growth, with flights to and from Spain up by 5.3 percent, the Canary Islands up 9.3 percent and Turkey up 6.9 percent compared to July last year. There were also more flights to Poland, up by 13.7 percent, Norway up by 16.7 percent and the United Arab Emirates at 6.8 percent.…

Failing to take out excess waiver insurance (EWI) can cost holidaymakers that hire cars in Europe up to £1,186. EWI reduces the excess payable for accidents or theft to zero. However, a report by UK Post Office Travel Money Car Rental found that nearly two-thirds, or 63 percent, of holidaymakers who hired a car to drive overseas, paid only the basic rental charge and failed to take out EWI. The Post Office analysed the excess charges in 19 European holiday destinations and found that they were lowest in Turkey at £400 and Bulgaria at £404. However, the cost could rise…

This holiday season, British holidaymakers are showing a preference for ‘staycations’, making the most of the consistently good weather in the UK, rather than travelling to a summer holiday hotspot overseas, according to research reports. Luxury rental specialist, Rural Retreats, has said that following the heat wave last month there has been a dramatic rise in Brits holidaying at home. The number of UK holiday bookings increased by 61 percent in July compared to the same time last year. The report also found that trips abroad could cost double that of a staycation, a key motivation for many families when…

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic is set to launch Little Red Live, a series of live in-flight entertainment slots at 30,000 feet, for some of its passengers travelling on the Virgin Atlantic Little Red domestic service. Passengers on selected Little Red flights from London Heathrow to Edinburgh and Manchester will be treated to exclusive live music and comedy sets from some of the rising stars in entertainment. Little Red Live will be launched with a series of stand-up gigs during the popular Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Virgin Atlantic will also be bringing Little Red to the Fringe, with the sponsorship of…