Archive for the ‘Gatwick airport’ CategoryAurigny has reduced the number of flights it operates between Gatwick and Guernsey due to aircraft maintenance. The airline will be cutting two of its daily services for the next five weeks. The affected services are:
Flights will resume normal operations on 10 February 2012. Gatwick Express has announced its timetable for the Christmas and New Year period. Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
Boxing Day – 26th December 2011 27 – 30 December 2011
New Year’s Eve New Year’s Day Eco Parking has won the Essential Travel Car Park Attendant of the Month award from essentialtravel.co.uk in association with the British Parking Association. The coveted award is voted for by thousands of Essential Travel customers who book their Gatwick Airport meet and greet parking on the price comparison website each month. December’s award was presented to Sean McCarthy of Eco Parking, who showed ‘exemplary performance, professional attitude and dedicated customer service’. Eco Travel, a division of Help-Me-Park, prides themselves on their customer service and attention to detail. Details that include fully uniformed and insured drivers, a courtesy call whilst the customer is en route to the airport to reconfirm details and ETA, safe and secure parking facilities, as well as a 24 hour telephone contact number. Meet and greet parking at Gatwick Airport’s South and North Terminals with Eco Parking and Help-Me-Park gives passengers total peace of mind that their vehicle will be parked safely and securely by driving professionals. The secure parking facility boasts double fencing around the entire perimeter, is floodlit, has CCTV and 24/7 alarm monitoring. Operating 24/7, 365 days a year, it is the ideal choice for families, time-pressed business travellers, elderly and disabled passengers and negates the need for timely waits for courtesy buses to the airport from remote car parks. Prices are from just £53 per week. Speaking about the award, which is through a mixture of outstanding customer service, time keeping, and service ethics, Sean says “It’s really great to get the award. I would like to say that this is an award for the whole team. We all work really hard and this could not have been achieved without the commitment of all the guys here.” Sean wins a month’s supply of his favourite biscuits, which are … Jammy Dodgers! And finds his place on Essential Travel’s ‘Parking Attendant of the Month Hall of Fame’. Essential Travel offers a whole host of reputable companies offering a complete range of holiday extras, including airport parking across the UK, travel insurance and airport lounges. The site offers guaranteed best price, with no hidden extras or charges. Passenger numbers at Gatwick rose slightly last month compared with November 2010 – the eleventh consecutive month of growth. A total of 2,135,300 passengers passed through Gatwick in November – an increase of 0.6% on November 2010. Overall, passenger numbers are on the rise at Gatwick – in a rolling 12-month period (December 2010 – November 2011) passenger numbers increased by 5.4% compared with December 2009 – November 2010. Contributing to the increase was a 13.5% rise in European scheduled passengers. Gatwick Airport is expecting a busy Christmas this year. During the Christmas period, between 16 December and 2 January, the airport is expecting more than one million passengers to pass through its terminals, with 60,000 people expected to depart on the busiest day 23 December. To help make the airport a fun, festive place, the airport has installed a snow slide in the North terminal. Christmas market stalls, a Samba band and performances by local choirs and musical groups will also add to the atmosphere. Gatwick has also launched its Christmas Charity Appeal with all money raised going to St Catherine’s Hospice, and Gatwick’s on-airport charity partner, Travel Care. Air China has announced it is to launch non-stop flights between Gatwick and Beijing. The new Gatwick flights will operate four times per week from 2 May 2012 using an Airbus A330-300 aircraft. Gatwick Express began testing new ticket gates at London Victoria and Gatwick Airport stations today, 12 December 2012. From today, passengers will no longer be able to purchase tickets on board the Gatwick Express trains – tickets can be bought online, from Gatwick Express Customer Service Hosts, who will be manning the gates, or from ticket offices or ticket machines – an extra eight ticket machines have been installed at both stations. The ticket gates will be fully operational by 31 December. A plan to utilize staff from airport-based companies in the fight against terrorism has seen a group of Gatwick parking employees undertake police training. Drivers from Gatwick meet and greet parking company, Help Me Park, recently participated in anti-terrorism training with Gatwick police. The training is just one part of an initiative between Gatwick Police and the Airport Valet Parking Company Association (AVPCA), which has been set up to crackdown on rogue meet and greet parking companies operating at Gatwick airport. Help Me Park is the first of AVPCA’s member companies to undertake the training. Drivers from other member companies are set to follow shortly and next year, all AVPCA staff will attend the full ‘Griffin Project’ – a one-day, anti-terrorism training course run in conjunction with the Police and Armed Forces.
Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline and the UK’s number one domestic airline, has welcomed the Department for Transport’s draft Civil Aviation Bill and, in particular, the requirement that airlines publish information about the environmental impact of their operations. Flybe has long-since blazed a trail on transparency in this area, most notably in the form of its groundbreaking Ecolabel Scheme. Launched in June 2007, the ‘ecolabel’ provides Flybe passengers, at the time of booking, with a detailed but user-friendly breakdown of fuel consumption, carbon and NOx emissions as well as noise levels for the aircraft to be used on their journey. Modelled on the EU white good labelling scheme and therefore more readily recognised by the consumer, the ecolabel is not only emblazoned on the side of every single Flybe aircraft by the passenger door but also clearly displayed online and also published in the Flybe in-flight magazine. The ecolabel was subject to an assurance process by the international consultancy firm Deloitte and Touche and was welcomed by the Treasury Select Committee in February 2008. Its report into the economics of climate change suggested that IATA “… might get involved in promoting the kind of ‘eco-competition’ made possible by the Flybe scheme” and that “… airlines should adopt a system of eco-labelling, so that consumers can compare the environmental footprint of each airline when purchasing their tickets.” Commenting on the draft bill, Jim French CBE, Flybe’s Chairman and Chief Executive said: “Flybe welcomes the government’s move to insist that all airlines publish their environmental data. It will not only give passengers a very clear choice but will incentivise airlines to invest in newer, lower emitting fleet; something Flybe has done over the last 10 years to the tune of $2.5billion, giving us one of the youngest fleets in global aviation. “Flybe’s ecolabel is an off-the-shelf solution to the challenge of environmental transparency and we stand ready to work with the Civil Aviation Authority and the DfT to share our expertise and knowledge in making transparent reporting a reality.”
Flybe has extended its ‘free extras’ travel offer for another two weeks on its services between Guernsey and Jersey and London Gatwick Airport. The ‘free extras’, which include free 20kg bag allowance, free advanced pre-assigned seating and no transaction fees, has proved popular and now the airline has extended the promotion to all online bookings made through to midnight on Friday 16 December 2011 for travel up to and including 31 March 2012. Simon Lilley, Flybe’s Director of Marketing comments: “The uptake by our Channel Island passengers to the recently launched ‘Free Extras’ promotion has clearly shown they appreciate that Flybe is committed to championing the local communities it serves. This is why we have decided to extend our money-saving offer that is an additional bonus to passengers having the peace of mind that they are also flying with the most punctual airline flying between the Channel Islands and London Gatwick Airport.” |
