Archive for the ‘airport news’ CategoryAirport Coordination Limited (ACL) today launched its new slot trading web portal (slottrade.aero) at the 126th IATA Schedules Conference in Berlin. SlotTrade is aimed at making the previous ‘grey market’ in airport slots more open, efficient and transparent. The slottrade.aero website allows airlines to advertise available and desired slots in a secure and confidential way, and provides a registry of completed slot trades. The market in airport slots, where airlines trade landing and take-off rights, has become increasingly important at airports with limited capacity. Since 2001 there were about 200 slot trades at Heathrow involving over 2,300 weekly slots, equivalent to about 25% of the total number of slots available. Slot trading was essential to the implementation of the EU-US Open Skies agreement in 2008, when US carriers like Continental and US Airways were able to start Heathrow services using slots acquired from incumbent airlines. Airlines like Emirates, Etihad, Jet Airways and Virgin Atlantic at Heathrow, and easyJet, Flybe and Aer Lingus at Gatwick, have relied on the slot market to develop competitive services. In April 2008, the European Commission issued a communication clarifying the EU slot regulations, endorsing the UK model of slot trading for the first time. Chris Bosworth, Managing Director of ACL, said: “This is an exciting time for ACL as we launch our new slot trading service, aimed at making more efficient use of scarce airport slots”. The need to make best use of airport capacity has only increased following the decision to cancel plans to build new runways at London’s Heathrow and Stansted airports. James Cole, Director of ACL International, which is leading the SlotTrade service, added: “ACL has facilitated hundreds of slot trades between airlines over the years, and has helped innovative airlines grow at otherwise full airports. Until now the process could be complicated, but with SlotTrade we can offer a simple and transparent way for airlines to buy, sell, lease and swap slots, and for other interested parties to access slot trade information.” The SlotTrade service allows airlines to post and respond to potential slot trades. ACL offers a range of transaction support services designed to make slot trading as open and efficient as possible, as well as access to slot and market intelligence reports and schedule data downloads. SlotTrade is available for airlines wishing to trade slots at airports worldwide (where slot trading is not prohibited by local laws). As if we haven’t got enough problems with the snow affecting flights, the French Air Traffic Controllers are on strike between 00:01 hrs to 23:59 hrs (French local time) today, Wednesday 13th January. Delays and cancellations may affect flights operating to or from France and flying over France. What a nightmare for travellers, road, rail and air, this snow has been. It has to have been the worst snow for around 15 years in England and about 30 years in Scotland and it appears it’s not over yet. Apologies to anyone checking this website over the last couple of weeks for airport updates but I have been on an extended break and have been unable to blog. Normal service will resume today, but firstly, I would like to thank Flybe for the calm and efficient way they handled my snowbound problem yesterday. The heavy snow meant that although the airport was operational it was unreachable by road and flights I had booked could not be taken. A quick call to their call centre (change or amend a booking) meant that I was able to change the flights to a later one that day free of charge and wait for the roads to be cleared. For those of you affected by blocked roads who need to take a Flybe flight check with the airline about changing your booking. I was informed yesterday that due to the snow passengers could change their flights, rebooking flights up to the end of January free of charge, but the rebooking must take place prior to the departure of the original flight booked. Information from Flybe’s website:
For anyone flying today who is concerned about the status of their flight, check with your airline, they will have the most up-to-date information about what is happening. The past five days have been horrendous for airline passengers. Snow and ice has caused absolute misery and cast doubts over travel plans. While it is impossible for this blog to stay completely up-to-date with every diversion, cancellation and operations at all the UK airports, the following tips will hopefully prove helpful and guide you to finding out information vital to your transport plans. Passengers should be reminded that ultimately, your airline is responsible for your flight, and any questions you may have should be directed to your airline. The airport you are flying to, or from, is not the place to turn for information about your flight. Although the airport is not the place to give you information about the status of your flight, a good place to check is the airport’s live flight arrivals and departure pages. This information is updated by airlines and, although cannot be guaranteed as completely accurate, will give you a good idea of what is happening. You should also be able to find out whether the airport runway is operating or not from their site. Tip which may help you: Passengers travelling to the airport in bad weather, or when bad weather is expected, should allow plenty of extra time for their journey. The bad weather is causing disruptions at many of the UK’s airports. Currently the runways at Gatwick airport, London City Airport and Luton are temporarily closed. Luton Airport has suspended flights until 20:30 and is advising passengers to contact their airlines for information about their flights. For up-to-date information about Luton Airport flights check here http://www.london-luton.co.uk/emergency/ Gatwick Airport’s runway has been closed since 15:20 this afternoon – passengers should contact their airline for more information. London City Airport is working to clear heavy snow from their runway – passengers should contact their airline for details of their flights. The closure of these runways has had a knock-on effect to many of the other UK airports. Again, any passengers should check the status of their flights with their airline. Passengers flying with easyJet can check the following page for information on cancelled flights http://easyjet.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/easyjet.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=3708 As bonfire night approaches the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has issued a firework safety warning. The warning covers the setting off of fireworks in close proximity to airports, which can hit aircraft or dazzle and distract pilots – at least eight aircraft have been struck by fireworks since 2000. Endangering an aircraft with fireworks is a criminal offence which could result in prosecution. Matt Lee, of the CAA’s Directorate of Airspace Policy, said: “Increasingly powerful fireworks are now readily available. We urge members of the public living near to busy airports to attend authorised and organised public displays on 5 November rather than setting off their own rockets. Aircraft are particularly vulnerable during take-off and landing manoeuvres and exploding fireworks can seriously disorientate and disconcert pilots.” Skyscanner has compiled a list of strange airport names from the funniest to the rudest and the downright ridiculous! Here’s just a selection of the dodgiest sounding airports. Would you want to fly from any of these? 1. Mafia Airport (MFA), Tanzania For a full list check out the Skyscanner website. After last week’s decision by the Dutch government to abolish Air Passenger duty, Flybe is calling on Alastair Darling to postpone the planned increase in APD due in November. Mike Rutter, Flybe’s Chief Commercial Officer said: “Flybe is not innocent enough to think that the UK government will follow the Dutch lead and abolish APD but we certainly think there is a case for them to put on ice the planned November rise in APD. Such a move would be a tangible stimulus to the British economy and send out a very clear message that the government cares about industries other than just the banking sector”. While Flybe is proposing a delay in the increase, the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) is calling on the Government to follow Holland’s lead and scrap the tax altogether. Andy Cooper ABTA Head of Development said “The UK Government must finally see sense and scrap or reduce Air Passenger Duty if we are to avoid significant damage to the UK’s aviation and tourist industries. The Dutch Government’s proposal to bin their own aviation tax will greatly benefit their own economy with the added effect of yet more airlines giving up on over-taxed Britain and rerouting to the continent.” The increase in APD including restructuring of the APD bands is due to be introduced on 1 November 2009. Last year saw the number of passengers handled by UK airports fall for the first time in 17 years. Figures released by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) show that UK airports handled 235 million passengers during 2008, a fall of 1.9 percent (4.6 million passengers) on 2007. The largest fall in passenger numbers was seen in the last quarter of the year with November passenger numbers falling by 8.9 percent and December falling by 7.9 percent. While most UK airports saw a reduction in passenger numbers, Luton airport passenger numbers rose by 2.6 percent (255,000 extra passengers), London City airport saw a 12 percent increase and Birmingham airport handled an extra 4.8 percent. If the downturn in passenger numbers continues throughout 2009, it will be the first time since the Second World War that UK airport passenger numbers have fallen for two consecutive years.
The CAA is yet again highlighting the risks posed to aircraft from dangerous goods being taken on to aircraft. The warning comes after an electric wheelchair caught fire at Manchester airport on 7 September. Baggage staff spotted blue sparks from the wheelchair when unloading the plane. The chair was removed from the aircraft and burst into flames. Geoff Leach, Manager of the Dangerous Goods Office at the CAA, said: “Thankfully no-one was injured as a result of the Manchester incident. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation, but it does highlight the need for passengers to be extremely vigilant when taking items on board aircraft. Passengers need to be aware that some items, which are relatively innocuous in everyday use, are capable of posing a serious risk to the occupants of an aircraft, no matter where they are carried onboard and therefore need to be carefully checked.” Battery powered wheelchairs may be carried by passengers subject to certain safety conditions, including: • ensuring the battery is securely attached to the wheelchair; Spillable batteries are subject to additional requirements. In all cases, passengers should contact their airline in advance to check what special conditions apply. Geoff Leach added: “Passengers frequently travel with electronic gadgets or other battery powered items and, although the batteries in these rarely pose a safety problem, if they are loose or the equipment is inadvertently activated there is a danger of fire.” For more information on the carriage of batteries check out at www.caa.co.uk/docs/1219/srg_dgo_CarriageOfBatteries_20080501.pdf |
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