Author: News Team
Long waiting times at the Heathrow Airport immigration counters are fast becoming one of the UK’s biggest nightmares, with the 2012 Olympic Games being just around the corner. While the situation is already spiralling downwards, with travellers reporting more than two hours wait at the immigration counters manned by the UK Border Agency (UKBA), the UK government’s border control agency and a part of the Home Office, things may reach an impasse if the two unions representing immigration workers go on a strike on May 10, following a recent dispute over pension issues. Anne Godfrey, the chief executive officer of…
British Airways, a UK-based airline company, has announced new services to Seoul, in South Korea, after a gap of 14 years. The airline is offering six times weekly flights from London Heathrow Airport in UK, to Incheon International Airport in South Korea, with the services scheduled to commence from December 2, 2012, operating a Boeing 777 aircraft. The airline is also offering flights to Seoul from Manchester Airport, Glasgow Airport and Newcastle Airport in the UK. The flights will be offering four classes of travel (World Traveller, Traveller Plus, Club World and First Class), with return airfares from Heathrow commencing…
bmibaby, a subsidiary of UK-based British Midland Airways Limited (bmi), is to close its operations. Bmi is an airline previously owned by Lufthansa, a German airline company, and recently sold to British International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of British Airways. IAG will reportedly be closing the bmibaby operation due to it being unable to sell the loss-making airline. Operations are currently being controlled, with flights being reduced from early June 2012. In a statement, the airline said, ‘As part of the review and as a preliminary measure, we have had to make changes to our summer 2012 schedule…
British beaches generally offer safe bathing, says a research study done by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), a UK-based non-profit society for the protection of the seaside environment. In its newest Good Beach Guide, the organisation has rated the water at most beaches in the UK as ‘excellent’, although a number of other beaches have specifically failed to attain the mandatory levels of cleanliness for their waters. Around 516 out of 754 UK beaches were rated ‘excellent’ for water quality, based on tests done last summer, representing more than half of the popular bathing places for British vacationers. The current…
The new luxurious Park Inn by Radisson Glasgow City Centre hotel is set to open in Glasgow, Scotland. The 91-room hotel is owned by Belgium-based hotel company, Rezidor Hotel Group, and will be a member of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. The property is expected to open in early 2013, and will be the newest hotel from the brand, which already owns around 30 more hotels in the United Kingdom. Kurt Ritter, the president and chief executive officer of Rezidor, said, ‘The United Kingdom is a key development region for our young and dynamic mid-market brand Park Inn by Radisson.…
Monarch Airlines, a UK-based airline company, will be operating out of East Midlands Airport, in addition to current operations at Birmingham Airport. The airline will be operating out of its new base at East Midlands Airport from the late summer of 2012, offering flights to destinations including Malaga (Spain), Alicante (Spain), Palma (Majorca) and Faro (Portugal). The airline is also planning an expansion of its operations from Birmingham Airport by offering more flights on existing routes to Malaga, Alicante, Faro, Rome and Palma, as well as a new service to Barcelona (Spain). The airline is presently offering flights to around…
Train companies have urged business travellers to book their trips to London in advance, during the 2012 Olympics Games. Most train tickets for the period covering the Olympic Games go on sale this week, although travellers with valid tickets for Olympics events have been able to book their travel since June 2011. At the Capita Business Travel’s rail forum held in London last week, UK-based train companies informed business travellers that seats were now available to travel to London during the Games, which run from July 27 to August 12, 2012. The train companies are offering expanded services during these…
Easyjet, the UK-based budget airline, is offering a new service from London Gatwick Airport, in the UK, to Kefalonia, an island in Greece. The airline is offering a service to Kefalonia three times weekly, bringing its total number of flights to Greek destinations to eleven. The company is currently flying to Athens, Corfu, Crete Chania and Heraklion, Kefalonia, Kos, Thessaloniki, Satorini, Rhodes, Mykonos and Zante. The new fares, from London Gatwick to Kefalonia, commence at £48.99 one way, with the inaugural flight having taken place on April 28, 2012. With its new service – the airline’s first to western Greece…
If you pay for your excess baggage in flights, would you be willing to pay for your excess body weight? In a survey, nearly half of British travellers indicated that if carrying excess luggage weight is taxed, so should the carrying of excess body weight. Holiday Extras, the UK-based travel company that conducted the survey, has announced that 48 percent of the people asked in a survey were of the opinion that overweight passengers should be charged extra for flights. While 51 percent of the men polled stated that you should pay a price for carrying excess body weight, 43…
Hotel prices are expected to increase substantially for the Jubilee Weekend Bank Holiday, says a new report from Santander banking group. Hotel prices are forecast to go up by as much as 54 percent on average in London, UK, for the four nights in June 2012, compared to an equivalent weekend in May 2012. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations will officially run from June 2 to 5, 2012, and with three working days left in the week, people are expected to make the most of the opportunity to extend their holiday. Reports also indicate that some hotels have upped their…