Author: Lee Fletcher
The UK government has announced the setting up of an independent commission to look at ways to increase airport capacity in the southeast of the country. Patrick McLoughlin, the new transport secretary, has announced that former CBI chief, Sir Howard Davies, will head the new commission. The commission will be investigating ways of adding capacity at airports, in order that the UK may retain its supremacy as the most significant aviation hub in Europe. It will also offer guidelines for implementing additional capacity at UK airports. The commission will be required to publish its report by the summer of 2015…
The Association of Independent Tour Operators, a UK-based travel association, has reported that premium credit cards may turn out to be expensive for travellers. A report published by the association says that some cards attract higher transaction fees than their pre-contracted rates, resulting in a cost increase of around 1 percent when goods are purchased with the cards. Around 30 percent of UK travellers use credit cards to purchase goods and services on holiday. Association members have reported an additional GBP600,000 per annum charges on certain cards over and above costs already charged by credit card merchant companies. These are…
The announcement that Hugh Robertson will be the new tourism minister for the UK, following the resignation of John Penrose in a cabinet reshuffle, has drawn a mixed response from the tourism industry. Robertson will be taking up his new position, overseeing the sport, Olympic legacy and tourism departments, within the department for culture, media and sport in the UK. Welcoming the new appointment, a statement by the British Hospitality Association, said, ‘The BHA is pleased that tourism is now included in the brief of Hugh Robertson, now minister for sport, Olympic legacy and tourism, and we look forward to…
Airbus, a France-based airplane manufacturer that produces approximately half of the world’s jet airliners, has revealed its vision for the future of air travel. While most of the company’s future concepts are motivated by the growing need for efficiency and the reduction of CO2 emissions, that does not make them any less spectacular, with the prospect of numbers of jet aircraft flying in formation in order to deliver greater numbers of passengers to popular destinations at the same time, just one of the developments being considered. The plans, which Airbus say could materialise as soon as 2050, also include the…
The number of people choosing to travel alone is increasing as an entirely new generation of single travellers is happily taking to the road. New research carried out by Solo Holidays, a UK-based travel specialist for single travellers, has reported that around 60 percent of travellers, who are single and in the age group of 35 to 50 years, stated that vacations are extremely important to them. Around 40 percent of these travellers feel that there is no stigma attached to being single these days, as the social perception of being single is no longer negative. Stressing their need to…
Virgin Trains, a UK-based train company, has commenced court proceedings against a decision by the UK’s Department of Transport to award the West Coast Main Line franchise to FirstGroup, a Scotland-based transport company. Virgin Trains has been operating the railway service since 1997, but the Department for Transport has awarded the new franchise contract for December 2012 to 2026 to First Group. Angered by the decision, the company has collected around 150,000 signatures for a campaign to force a parliamentary discussion over the allotting of the contract to First Group. Confirming the legal action, a company statement said, ‘We have…
Ryanair, an Ireland-based low cost airline, is offering new and expanded routes between the UK and destinations in Ireland and Europe. The airline has expanded its service between Kerry, in Ireland, and London Stansted Airport to a daily return flight, an increase on its previous three return flights per week. The new services commence from November 7, 2012, and will complement the airline’s daily return flight service between Kerry and London Luton Airport. The airline is offering a EUR16 Seat Sale for the newly expanded service. The airline sales and marketing manager, Maria Macken, said, ‘Ryanair is pleased to announce…
Wildfires that have been ravaging the Spanish Costa del Sol are now threatening the popular tourist resort of Marbella. The blaze began on Thursday afternoon at Coin, near the tourist destination of Malaga, but soon spread to threaten other towns along the holiday coastline. Evacuations have been widespread, with 3,300 people fleeing the town of Ojen alone. Malaga is the latest town to issue evacuation advice, with holidaymakers prepared to leave villas and hotels at the resort’s busiest time of the year. These mainland wildfires come in the wake of previous fires on the Spanish-owned Canary Islands of La Gomera and…
Glasgow airport is the first airport in the world to install a new cutting edge safety enhancement technology developed by NATS, the UK based company that provides air traffic services and solutions. The system uses NASA satellite data to create a three-dimensional map of the ground around Glasgow Airport, and uses it as a model to test unsafe altitudes. The technology will allow air traffic controllers to test flight paths with perfect accuracy, while maintaining a safe distance from the ground. NATS senior systems engineer, Andrew Wood, said, ‘This is the first system in the UK to use 3D terrain…
The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), a UK government agency that is concerned with the interests of UK citizens overseas, has recently released a new travel app for UK residents going abroad. The ‘Plan.Pack.Explore’ app is a new travel guide that is mainly aimed at gap year travellers planning a trip abroad. The guide includes travel health advice, how the FCO can and cannot help travellers abroad, how to get the right visa and keep money safe, as well as examples, case studies, and reference maps. Explaining the app, Khalida Cox, the spokesperson of the Know Before You Go…