Author: Shawon Hannan

Vivienne Westwood, the fashion designer whose imaginative and sometimes controversial creations have been raising eyebrows for the last four decades, is teaming up with UK-based Virgin Atlantic airline to redesign the company’s air stewardess uniform. Even at 71 years of age, the fashion designer’s creative flair continues to attract the rich and famous to her studio, and now Virgin Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson has entrusted her with the image that his cabin crew will portray for the next few years. The airline’s stewardesses will still be adorned in the distinctive shade of red that has become part of the…

UK-based no-frills airline, easyjet, has launched its trial of mobile boarding passes. The new system, which is available at six airports, including Manchester, Southend, Stansted and Edinburgh in the UK, allows passengers to download a boarding pass to their iPhone or Android device via the existing easyjet app. Passengers transiting through easyjet’s bag drop desks, security checkpoints and departure gates can then use their devices to progress through scanners. During the trial, passengers will also be able to use the app to check in for their flight. Two easyjet locations outside the UK are also offering the service during the…

Britain’s biggest visitor attraction, the British Museum, is involved in a £135 million expansion. The museum’s attractions, which are already laid out on a grand scale, are set to become even larger with the extension that is being added to London’s iconic institution. An additional 18,000 square metres of exhibition space will be available at the Museum’s northwest corner with the opening of the World Conservation and Exhibition Centre. The development will see the creation of nine new floors, some above and some below street level. The ground floor area alone will cover 1,100 square metres, substantially improving the museum’s…

The ‘Just You’ tour operator brand aimed at single travellers is to be re-launched by All Leisure Group, a holiday company based in West Sussex, UK. All Leisure Group, which has also been the owner of Page and Moy Travel Group since May last year, is re-launching ‘Just You’ in order to capitalise on the growing market for single travellers. Promoting the company will be part of the remit of three recently appointed sales executives who will also be on the road promoting All Leisure’s cruises and escorted tours. Colin Wilson, All Leisure’s group sales director, says, ‘Singles travellers are…

VisitBritain, the operational name of the British Tourism Authority, has launched a new tourism partnership strategy, which has been heralded by Maria Miller, the government’s culture secretary. The new initiative is intended to pool the resources of the travel industry, the government and major organisations in the public and private sectors, with the intention of achieving long-term growth in tourism. The project is targeting the arrival of 40 million overseas visitors by 2020, with the expectation that they will spend in the region of £31.5 billion and, as a consequence, create 200,000 new jobs. These new jobs will build on…

The London Assembly, an elected watchdog that oversees the mayor’s policies and decisions, has snubbed demands from a number of the UK aviation industry’s biggest players for expansion of Heathrow airport in order to boost capacity. In its submission to the government’s independent inquiry into airport capacity, the Assembly substantiated its opinion by suggesting that Heathrow, which currently operates at around 99 percent of its runway capacity, could still process 20 million more passengers per year just by receiving larger aircraft. It also suggests that there is spare capacity at London’s other airports, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton, which should be…

A survey has revealed that Manchester is the UK’s favourite airport. The study, which was carried out by Skyscanner, a web-based travel search site, polled 1,600 UK travellers on their airport preferences and Manchester proved to be the most popular. The airports at Gatwick, Newcastle and Birmingham closely followed the northern airport in the rankings. Manchester proved to be the winner based on a number of factors, including the quality of its customer service, its on-site facilities, the quality of its bars and restaurants and the range and quality of its shopping options. It was also claimed to be well…

Richard Tams, head of sales at UK-based airline, British Airways, has spoken out against the British government’s aviation policy while addressing the Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC) in Barcelona. Warning that the policy was damaging British business by threatening the pre-eminence of the UK as a global trading centre, Tams launched a three-pronged attack on the UK’s strict visa controls, high rates of Air Passenger Duty (APD) and the threat of a ban on night flights at Heathrow. Speaking on the night flight ban, Tams told the assembly, ‘The government has an appetite to reduce night flights into Heathrow.…

Sir Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group, which includes Virgin Atlantic airline, has spoken out against what he sees as heavy-handed advice to travellers from Western governments regarding destinations that have suffered acts of terrorism. According to Branson, advising travellers to stay away from such destinations hands victory to the terrorists, and he wants to see such advice banned. Bali is among the tourist destinations that he believes has suffered an undue decline in its tourism following advice that was issued by Western governments in the wake of a terrorist bombing there in 2002 that caused the death of…

Travellers to Europe after July 1 can look forward to the lowest ever data roaming charges when carrying their smartphone. Legislation passed by the European Parliament means that the cheaper phone usage prices from July are set to become cheaper still during 2014. From July 1, the most that a mobile operator can charge a customer to access mobile data in Europe is £0.56 per megabyte, a substantial reduction on charges that are currently being imposed. From 2014, overseas smartphone users will also have the right to use a different provider to the one that they use at home, in…