Author: Shawon Hannan

During 2012 the UK economy benefited from a £2.5 billion boost, thanks to the cruise industry. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), which is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, and which is a major association for the cruise industry, dedicated to its promotion and growth, revealed the £2.5 billion bonanza from figures that it compiles on the world’s cruise companies. In addition to the financial contribution made by the industry in the UK, it has been revealed that it also supports 66,000 British jobs. The impressive figure was not entirely made up of passenger revenue however, as the association…

DFDS, a ferry line with its headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, has had to suspend sailings between the port of Harwich in the UK and Esbjerg in Denmark after one of its ferries collided with the quay in Harwich. The DFDS vessel, Sirena Seaways, collided with Parkeston Quay on arrival in Harwich around midday on Saturday during its docking procedure. 489 passengers were on board at the time, but no injuries were reported and there was no resultant pollution. However, the vessel does require essential maintenance and as a result all of the company’s sailings between Harwich and Esbjerg have been…

apanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) has left the Paris Airshow with two SKYTRAX World Airline awards. The airline received the awards for World’s Best Airport Services and Best Cabin Cleanliness following what is claimed to be the world’s largest annual airline passenger satisfaction survey, which is carried out by research organisation, SKYTRAX. The survey covered 200 airlines and questioned travellers from over 160 countries on 38 frontline key performance indicators for the airline industry. These included the arrangements for check-in, boarding, on-board seat comfort, cabin cleanliness, food, beverages, in-flight entertainment and staff service. ANA has added these latest awards…

Virgin Atlantic, a trans-Atlantic air carrier and part of the Virgin group of companies, is the biggest selling travel company for 2012 on the Sunday Times Top Track 100 list. The Sunday Times league table ranks Britain’s top 100 private companies with the fastest growing sales over the last three years. Along with its sister company, Virgin Holidays, Virgin Atlantic increased its sales by five percent to a total of £2.9 billion in 2012, and while these sales figures could not prevent the company from registering a £35 million loss for the period, they were good enough to achieve 12th…

Flybe, a low-cost regional airline group headquartered in Exeter, UK, has today reported disappointing financial figures for the financial year 2012/13. The company has reported a pre-tax loss of £40.7 million for the year, compared with the previous year’s loss of £6.2 million. The loss was despite the company claiming to have exceeded a cost-saving target of £25 million, including a reduction to its UK staff of 20 percent, and a five percent pay cut that was agreed with its pilots. The cost-saving effort is continuing in the current financial year, with the company having sold its takeoff and landing…

The Brussels-based European Commission has accused Eurotunnel of overcharging. Groupe Eurotunnel SA, a company with its headquarters in Paris, France, manages and operates the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France, including the vehicle shuttle services. The European Commission has said that the company is overcharging passengers using the Channel Tunnel, and that the overcharging extends to both passenger and freight traffic. Further to its assertion, the Commission has urged the British and French governments to investigate the cost structure for using the tunnel and ensure that European Union rules that legislate against excessive track charges are being complied with. The…

Easyjet, a low-cost air carrier with headquarters in Luton, UK, has said that it will not now turn away passengers travelling to Cyprus if their passports are valid for less than three months, according to a report in the Daily Mail newspaper. The airline had said that passengers flying to the destinations of Larnaca and Paphos on the Mediterranean holiday island risked being turned away if their passports did not have at least three months validity remaining. The airline took this stance despite the fact that the border authorities of both the UK and Cyprus insisted that such passports are…

Stansted airport in Essex, UK, has today unveiled a £80 million development project. Mike Davies, the chairman of the airport’s owner, Manchester Airports Group (MAG), was joined by the UK’s transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, and the airport’s managing director, Andrew Harrison, when details of the plan were revealed, which is intended to ‘transform Stansted’s iconic terminal building and meet the demands of modern air travel’. The upgrade, which has been designed with the help of psychologists in order to minimise passenger stress and maximise relaxation, will involve better use of existing space, new security facilities and a larger departure lounge.…

A major new tourism strategy has been announced this week by the Welsh government. The new strategy is intended to develop the Welsh tourism sector by 10 percent between now and 2020. Manon Williams, the new chief executive of tourism and marketing for Visit Wales, the body responsible for developing Welsh tourism, has been the guiding force behind the creation of the strategy, which is intended to maximise the country’s high quality and iconic products and events while at the same time building on its reputation. The views of 1,000 individuals, operators and businesses involved in the Welsh tourism industry…

Thomson Airways, a British charter airline that is part of the Tui travel group, has been recognised in the World Airline Awards. Travellers from more than 160 countries around the globe vote for the awards, making it the world’s biggest airline passenger survey, and Thomson Airways achieved the Best Leisure Airline award. Other major winners were Dubai-based Emirates, which was awarded airline of the year, while the World’s Best Cabin Staff award went to Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific. The best low-cost airline award was taken by Malaysia-based Air Asia. To compile the survey, 18.2 million passengers were asked for their…