Author: Shawon Hannan

The US has issued a worldwide travel alert over an unspecified al-Qaeda threat, while the UK authorities have specifically advised against all travel to Yemen. In its statement, the US state department said that the potential for an attack was particularly strong in the Middle East and North Africa. The travel alert, which advises US citizens to be vigilant, expires on August 31. The travel alert comes soon after the US said that 19 of its embassies in North Africa and the Middle East, including in Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh, would remain closed until Saturday.…

The decision over a major jobs scheme on green belt around Coventry Airport has been delayed until April 2014. According to The Telegraph, the Warwick District Council’s planning committee ruling on the Coventry and Warwickshire Gateway scheme will be delayed following the commissioning of an independent report. In December last year, the committee was split, with five councillors supporting the controversial 700-acre technology park and logistics/warehouse development, and five voting against. According to the developers, the scheme would create up to 14,000 jobs, though opponents have debated the figure. A decision was made to defer a final ruling while seeking…

Air Zimbabwe (AirZim) is set to restart flights to London in November this year, almost two years after the national carrier stopped flights, citing feasibility issues. The Zimbabwean airline had stopped flights to London in December 2011 after creditors took custody of one of its planes at Gatwick Airport. After grounding its planes for nearly two years due to financial troubles, the carrier is now looking for a turnaround with the proposed recommencement of flights. AirZim has recently resumed domestic and regional flights to Johannesburg, and domestically the carrier flies to Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. Flights leave daily to Johannesburg…

Travel 2, a UK-based long-haul tour operator, is set to launch a new cruise programme on Monday, as it continues to establish stronger partnerships with agents. Cruise Plus, which goes live today, comes as Travel 2 has developed several cruise products with preferred suppliers. Its trade partners include P&O Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Cunard, Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line, Norwegian, Silversea Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises. Travel 2 has trained eight call centre staff in the Glasgow tours team to focus on custom-made cruises. ‘Cruise has always been part of our portfolio. Over the last six…

Luton Airport, the fifth-largest airport in the UK, is set to expand after the rights to run it changed hands in a deal worth £433 million. Spanish owner, Abertis, offloaded its remaining 90 percent holding in Luton to a consortium led by minority shareholder, Aena, a Spain-based airport operator, and AXA Private Equity. State-owned Aena already held 10 percent, and exercised its right of first refusal on Abertis’s stake. The airport, owned by Luton borough council, had been part of Abertis’s portfolio since 2005, when the company and Spanish infrastructure group, Aena, purchased the British operator, TBI. The consortium has…

Over 300 Pakistan-bound passengers were stranded at Manchester airport after Air Blue Flight PA-221 failed to take off for more than 40 hours. Originally scheduled to take off for Islamabad/Lahore at 9:55 BST on Friday night, the Airblue flight was rescheduled for 3pm on Sunday but passengers were still waiting at 4pm. Reportedly, passengers were due to be boarded on another plane scheduled to fly out at around 10pm Sunday – with passengers that were booked to be on that flight delayed by 24 hours. The Pakistan-bound passengers were initially told that following a technical fault the flight was rescheduled…

Members of HotUKDeals, a UK-based online deal hunting community, have discovered a destination that can transport visitors to ‘a galaxy far, far away’ for just £6 a night. The venue in question is the hotel used as Luke Skywalker’s Tatooine House in Star Wars: A New Hope. Now a tourist attraction, the Hotel Sidi Driss in Matamata, Tunisia, is built out of five pit dwellings, and has been likened to an earthy silent tomb. The underground labyrinth of vaults and passageways was used as Luke Skywalker’s home for the first Stars Wars film. These ‘troglodytes’ underground homes are traditional cave…

Luxury department store, Harrods, has opened a mini-store in the South Terminal departure lounge at London Gatwick airport. Offering more than 6,000 square feet of premium shopping, the new store focuses on luxury fashion, accessories and jewellery. The brands on offer include DKNY, M Missoni, Armani Jeans, Michael Kors, Swarovski and Paul Smith. The new space also includes a Harrods’ Food Hall area, as well as the chance to buy own-brand gifts from McQ by Alexander McQueen, Love Moschino, Hackett, Zegna Sport, Gottex, Melissa Odabash, Monica Vinader, Seafolly, Orlebar, Heidi Klein, Carat, Elizabeth Hurley, Pamela Love, John&Pearl, Deepa Gurnani and…

Irish low-cost airline, Ryanair, has announced additional flights between the UK and Ireland for the coming winter. The additional daily return flight to Dublin from Stansted and four other UK airports is aimed at offsetting the concerns of competition authorities’ about Ryanair’s stake in Aer Lingus, the Irish airline said. Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said that competition has intensified in the six-and-a-half years that Ryanair has held its stake, which has led to the introduction of additional flights. He has attempted to take over the rival company on three occasions, but he has been rejected each time by the…

Britain has been voted the best place in Europe to visit for shopping, according to a report by YouGov. The report is based on YouGov’s latest EuroTrack survey, which tracks public opinion in the UK, Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. The findings come after official figures showed that economic growth in Britain has doubled since the start of the year, and a report by YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) found that consumer confidence in Britain is at its highest level since early 2010. Commenting on the results of the EuroTrack survey, YouGov director…