The UK Border Agency is warning that travellers passing through UK ports could face possible delays and disruption due to strike action by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).

The strike action is taking place on Monday 8 March and Tuesday 9 March.

Lin Homer, the Border Agency’s Chief Executive, said: ‘We are disappointed that PCS members have voted in favour of industrial action. It means that the travelling public are likely to suffer disruption and delays at border control as a result of this two-day action.

‘We have robust plans in place to ensure that the essential work of the UK Border Agency is maintained and the border remains secure. UK border security will not be compromised by this industrial action.

‘We expect that people travelling into the country may experience some delays at border control, but we will work hard to keep these to a minimum and hope that passengers will welcome the commitment of those staff who will be working despite the strike action to ensure they are seen as quickly as possible.

BAA is advising passengers to have their travel documents, including passports, ready and to use automatic e-passport gates where available.

bmi, British Midland International, has announced a new codeshare with sister airline SWISS. Under the agreement, bmi will codeshare with SWISS on all UK to Switzerland routes including Zurich, Geneva and Basel.

The new codeshare with SWISS is effective immediately for travel from 3 March 2010 and will allow bmi to offer fares between Zurich, Geneva and Basel from London Heathrow, London City airport, Manchester, Birmingham International and Edinburgh airport and improve connections between Switzerland and the wider bmi network.

The developing partnership will offer even greater flexibility to customers of both carriers and in particular will connect Scottish and Northern England passengers to SWISS’ network of 76 destinations worldwide (via Switzerland).

South West regional airline Air Southwest has launched the sale of Visitor Oyster cards on all its flights into London, giving customers quick and easy access to the capital’s public transport network.

Air Southwest is the first airline at London City Airport to offer the cards, and is also launching Oyster cards on its four times daily Gatwick Airport service from Plymouth and Newquay.

Following a deal with Transport for London, customers can buy a Visitor Oyster card for just £22, which includes £20 of travel credit.

Oyster is an electronic transport smartcard which enables passengers to pay for journeys on the Tube, Docklands Light Railway, London Buses, Tramlink, London Overground, Thames Clippers river services and on all National Rail services in Greater London.

Mike Coombes, commercial director at Air Southwest, said: “This is all about giving Air Southwest customers from Plymouth and Newquay hassle-free travel in London, whether they are flying to London City Airport or Gatwick, without having to buy tickets.”

Customers arriving at London City Airport can board the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) which puts them within minutes of the City or Canary Wharf.

Thanks to the DLR, more passengers leave London City Airport by public transport than any other airport in the country, and Air Southwest’s Oyster initiative has been applauded for improving access to the transport network.

Giles Bailey, Head of Group Marketing Strategy and Integration for Transport for London, said: “This is our first partnership into London City and we’re delighted to be working with Air Southwest on promoting the Visitor Oyster card as a quick and easy way of accessing London’s public transport network.”

Richard Gooding, Chief Executive of London City Airport said: “This is a great partnership that we hope to see repeated on other scheduled services into London City. The airport is committed to giving passengers the smoothest journey possible and this will add to that.”

London City Airport is advising passengers that it is unaffected by the potential British Airways strike action; Domestic and European destinations from LCY are served by BA regional partner Cityflyer and will operate to their scheduled timetable.

In addition, the French Air Traffic Control strike is not having any material impact on flights to and from London City Airport.

Passengers are requested to check in as normal and allow extra time for security clearance, keeping hand baggage to a minimum, where possible.

To book London City airport parking and London City airport hotels click on the links.

Lufthansa has announced that the four-day strike by pilots is over, however, there will continue to be ‘flight irregularities’ over the coming days.

A regular service will operate as of Friday 26 February.

For more information and details of Lufthansa’s special timetables click here.

To check the status of your Lufthansa flight click here

A four-day strike by Lufthansa pilots has started today.

Lufthansa is advising passengers to check the status of their flights before travelling to the airport.

For more information for passengers booked to fly between Monday 22 February and Thursday 25 February check with Lufthansa on 0800 850 6070 or here

Passengers can also check for updates on Twitter @Lufthansa_DE

London City Airport is advising passengers to allow 45 minutes for security procedures at the airport until it opens its two new security lanes on 27 February.

The airport is blaming the heightened security alert that ‘has had an adverse effect on our customer service levels as passenger screening and searching of bags has increased.’

The new security lanes, which open on 27 February, will enable the airport to increase passengers screening by 50% per hour.

To book London City airport parking and London City airport hotels click on the links.

London City Airport is apologising to passengers for delays experienced when passing through security brought about by the heightened security alert.

The airport is currently installing two new security lanes to help speed up security processing and has extra staff on hand to help deal with the situation.

The new security lanes will open on 27 February 2010.

To book London City airport parking and London City airport hotels click on the links.

British Airways is to increase the frequency of its new services to Majorca and Ibiza, less than a month after announcing the launch of the new routes from London City airport.

The new services to the Balearic Islands direct from the Docklands take off in May 2010.

Due to demand for the new flights, British Airways will increase the schedule from three to five flights a week to Palma and from three to four flights a week to Ibiza during July and August.

Travelling direct from London City on the brand new Embraer 190 aircraft, passengers can be on the beach in the Balearics in less than three hours.

It is the first time British Airways has operated leisure-only flights from London City but there is a growing demand for flights to the sun, particularly with customers looking for short breaks.

The initial three-times-a-week service will operate on Friday, Sunday and Monday, offering an ideal schedule for passengers looking for a weekend or longer break. The extra Majorca flights will operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the extra Ibiza flights on Wednesdays.

To book London City airport parking and London City airport hotels click on the links.

British Airways is to increase the frequency of its flights from Edinburgh to London City airport.

Seven flights a day from will operate between the two cities from 29 March 2010.

For up-to-date Edinburgh airport information and to book Edinburgh airport parking and Edinburgh airport hotels click on the links.