Author: News Team
South West Trains, a train operating company that is owned by Stagecoach Group in the United Kingdom, has had more stations on its routes gain secure station status. An additional 24 of the company’s stations have been reaccredited for the scheme by the British Transport Police, in association with the Department for Transport, taking its total number of accredited stations to 103. To qualify, a station must show that it has taken measures to improve its security, and give reassurance to passengers and employees that it is consistently making efforts to deter crime and antisocial behaviour. The newly accredited stations…
The boost to UK tourism last year from the celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee is set to continue into this coming summer with the staging of the Coronation Festival in London. The festival, which is to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation, is scheduled to take place in the gardens of Buckingham Palace over four days in July. Central to the event will be the coming together of over 200 companies that hold Royal Warrants of Appointment, for the first time on this scale. Royal Warrants are only granted to companies that have supplied goods or services…
London Heathrow Airport in the UK is planning to invest in upgrades to its facilities that could ultimately impact on passengers’ ticket prices. According to a Reuters report, the airport’s operator, Heathrow Ltd, which was known until recently as BAA, announced today that it is seeking permission from the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to increase its charges to airlines to use the airport between the years 2014 and 2019. This is to help fund a £3bn, five-year investment plan that includes next year’s opening of the airport’s new Terminal 2, upgraded check-in and baggage facilities, and the development of…
The best of England’s beaches are the subject of the latest promotion by VisitEngland, the board responsible for boosting English tourism. The opportunity for taking short breaks at some of England’s most scenic beach locations is the focus of the new, multi-channel marketing campaign, which is aimed primarily at domestic tourism. VisitEngland is currently in a run of six promotional campaigns to be launched by March, of which the current beach project is the third. Four themes will be promoted during the programme, which is funded in part by the government’s Regional Growth Fund, and they are countryside, coast, heritage…
Thomson Airways might be forced to introduce contingency plans if the scheduled launch of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner service has to be delayed due to technical issues. The airline had intended to commence its Dreamliner service in May this year, but technical checks that are currently being carried out on the aircraft in Japan and the USA have led to the 50 Dreamliner’s that are currently in service around the globe being grounded because of safety issues. Thomson has yet to be given a delivery date by Boeing for its first Dreamliner, which is just one of 800 orders that…
Once again this winter, US snowstorms have brought chaos to travel plans across large areas of the country’s east coast. UK passengers make up a sizeable proportion of the thousands that are stranded in the US after massive snowstorms forced the grounding of all transatlantic flights scheduled for the area. Heathrow Airport has cancelled 10 inbound flights from the badly affected areas of New York and Boston, along with an outbound flight to Washington. Airlines, including Air Canada, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Delta and United have all been forced to cancel flights over the weekend. Passengers were advised to check…
In the latest disaster to befall the cruise ship industry, five crewmen have died in an accident aboard a luxury Thomson cruise liner. The Thomson Majesty liner was in port at La Palma, the most northwesterly of the Canary Islands, on route from Gran Canaria to Funchal in Madeira. Eight crewmembers were checking a lifeboat when its cables snapped and it dropped 65 feet from the upper deck to the water below. It is believed that the lifeboat overturned on impact and trapped most of the crewmen beneath. Although three were pulled from the water and taken to hospital, five…
Crossrail 2, a new cross-London railway project, has received support from Network Rail, the company that operates the railway network in the UK. The new Crossrail 2 line is intended to reduce traffic congestion by offering extra capacity for passengers travelling on the Underground and national rail networks. The new rail line is expected to offer suburban and regional services between parts of Middlesex and Surrey in the southwest, and Hertfordshire in the northeast of the region, using a new central tunnel between Wimbledon and Tottenham. The new line has been recommended by a recent report submitted by London First’s…
Passengers due to travel with Iberia, the Spain based airline that is owned by International Airlines Group (IAG), may face difficulties in the near future as unions have announced 15 days of strikes. The airline has announced that its management and the six unions representing employee groups have failed to reach an agreement on the issue of a transformation plan. As part of the transformation plan, the airline wants to cut its routes, and focus on its profitable operations. The airline will also be reducing its staff by 3,147 operatives, 30 percent less than an original figure of 4,500, and…
TUI Travel, a UK-based travel company, has announced an upbeat forecast for the UK travel market this year. The company, which has recorded a decrease in its operating loss of £16m, to £93m in its first quarter results for the period ended December 31, 2012, has reported significant continuous growth in the UK. It has achieved a 4 percent increase in its cumulative market share for the summer of 2013, and a 2 percent gain in the January booking period, resulting in a 7 percent increase on the same period last year. Peter Long, the chief executive officer at TUI…