Archive for the ‘airport news’ CategoryThe UK is experiencing delays across airports all over the country due to the weather, but also because of an unofficial strike by Spanish air traffic controllers. Check out the latest airport closures. However, if you are due to fly out of the UK today, or have family and friends due to fly into the UK today, please call the airport first before travelling to check their procedures. It is also worth double checking with the airline you are travelling with also. Be aware that phone lines will be extremely busy – our advice is to check online. Aberdeen Airport Belfast City Airport Birmingham Airport Bristol Airport Bournemouth Airport Cardiff Airport Dundee Airport Durham Tees Valley Airport East Midlands Airport Gatwick Airport Glasgow Airport Heathrow Airport Humberside Airport Inverness Airport Leeds Bradford Airport London City Airport Liverpool John Lennon Airport Luton Airport Manchester Airport Newcastle Airport Newquay Airport Norwich Airport Robin Hood Airport Southampton Airport Stansted Airport Stornoway Airport A damming comment has been made by BAA’s Head of Security, Ian Hutcheson, as he says that airport security plays into the hands of terrorists as it is far too predictable. Speaking in the run up to a security conference held by the International Civil Avaitation Organisations in Switzerland, he said he favoured more sophisticated techniques such as behavioural detection whereby staff are trained to look for suspicious and unusual behaviour in passengers whilst they are in the airport. Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, he said that airports should be given greater freedom in managing their own security, and that if security is mirrored in every airport across the globe it is far too predictable for terrorists. The comments come as Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, is lobbying for great flexibility in airport security across the country. As the Met Office warns of snow across the UK, what could this mean for air travellers? If the predictions are correct and the UK does indeed have snow, a significant fall could affect flights arrivals and departures. Here are a few tips on what you can do to check the status of your flight: Check with your airline Check your airport Get online: Use Twitter: If you have any other tips or advice on what to do and how to get up-to-date information on flights please feel free to add a comment. Similar to the UK’s own Air Passenger Duty tax, Austria has introduced this month a new Ecological Air Travel Levy. All passengers on European flights from Austria will be charged an €8 levy, whilst long haul flights departing from the country will be charged €40. Germany, as from 1st January 2011, is also to launch a new airline tax. It is anticipated that many other European countries will also launch such tax schemes. Airport 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 slotsâ€. 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.†|
