Archive for the ‘Prestwick airport’ CategoryRyanair has announced that it will add four new routes to its summer schedule from Prestwick Airport. The new destinations will operate to Barcelona, Bydgoszcz, Chania (Crete) and Corfu bringing the total number of summer services operated by Ryanair from Prestwick to 25. Glasgow Prestwick’s Chief Commercial Officer Graeme Sweenie said, “We’re delighted to be part of Ryanair’s growth and success in Scotland. This is great news for the airport and our summer flight season. It’s especially exciting that for the first time we can offer low-cost scheduled services from Prestwick to Corfu and Crete, top sunshine destinations that are extremely popular with Scots.”
The war of words over border control strike action continues in the press and it is unknown how badly affected airport passengers are going to be by the action – reports vary from minor disruption to significant. Border control will be affected from the evening of Tuesday 29 November until midnight on Wednesday 30 November – strike action start times will depend on shift patterns. Any delays will affect passengers arriving into the UK that need to pass through passport control – outgoing flights should not be affected. Tips to help avoid delays:
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has said that it has robust arrangements in place to maintain the security of the border and that it has
Rob Whiteman, chief executive of the UK Border Agency, said: ‘Securing the border is our priority and over the last weeks and months we have considered all options to ensure we are prepared for union action. ‘We always aim to minimise any disruption caused by the decision of unions to strike, but travellers could see longer waiting times at some ports and airports.’ For up-to-date UKBA information visit http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/
Wizz Air had today introduced a brand new service called ‘Wizz Reserved Seat’. By purchasing this service, passengers can get a guaranteed seat located in the first 2 rows of the aircraft and are also entitled to use the priority boarding option ‘Wizz Xpress’. “We are proud to provide these enhanced services on our entire network of 205 routes across 23 countries, offering greater choice, flexibility and comfort to our passengers,” said John Stephenson, Executive Vice President of Wizz Air. Both services can be purchased on wizzair.com during the booking process or via the Call Center for EUR 8, or at the airport for EUR 16 from today.
Wizz Air has teamed up with Dublin-based CarTrawler to offer passengers car hire when booking flights. “CarTrawler is pleased to now include Wizz Air, as one of its valued international airline customers. Wizz Air passengers will have access to a choice of hundreds of car rental suppliers at many locations in all European countries when booking their flights, giving them even more reason to choose Wizz Air. We look forward to a long and prosperous partnership with Wizz Air” – said Joe Farinella, Marketing Manager of CarTrawler. “Wizz Air is excited to be partnering with CarTrawler as it offers quality and affordable car rental options on a large scale, covering all of Wizz Air’s destinations, in a truly innovative and intuitive way through wizzair.com” – said György Abrán, Chief Commercial Officer of Wizz Air.
Regional airports and airlines have renewed their call on the Chancellor to reduce Air Passenger Duty (APD) on flights from all UK airports outside of London. The move follows the Chancellor’s decision to reduce APD on long haul flights from Northern Ireland, in recognition of the harmful effect the tax was having on air services. In a joint letter to the Chancellor, twelve airports and airlines called for urgent action to support the economic growth and development of the UK regions. The letter states: “Regional airports and airlines have a lower percentage of business travellers or inbound tourists than the London airports, and have been hit hard by economic downturn. That’s not just bad news for our businesses. It’s bad for jobs, bad for inward investment and bad for wealth creation in the UK regions. If the Government is serious about truly rebalancing the economy, then decisive action is needed on behalf of the 86 million passengers that fly from our airports.” Andrew Strong, Managing Director, Flybe UK said, “Flybe welcomes the Chancellor’s acknowledgement that air services from the UK’s regions are impacted by the high price of Air Passenger Duty (APD) and we look forward to the Treasury expanding these plans so that other lifeline regional routes, including domestic lifeline routes, may receive a differential rate of APD. It is nothing short of scandalous that domestic passengers should be hit not once but twice by this tax unlike overseas-bound travellers who only pay once.” Air Passenger Duty was introduced in 1994 and doubled in 2007. Manchester Airport’s passenger traffic peaked in that year at 22 million passengers but since then the fall in the regions has been almost double the fall in London. London airports are down 9% on the 2007 peak (127m in 2010, down from 139m in 2007) while regional airports have felt a bigger impact, down 17% on the 2007 peak (86m in 2010, down from 103m in 2007). Jonathan Bailey, External Affairs Director for the Manchester Airports Group (MAG), said: “We are delighted that the Chancellor has recognised the detrimental effect air passenger duty (APD) is having on UK aviation but disappointed that only Belfast’s plight has been noted. Action must be taken to address the disproportionate impact of APD in the regions outside London and the South East, as well as Northern Ireland. Every European country that has removed its equivalent of APD has duly felt the benefits and we are all aware of the difficult economic situation and how our economies need a boost. Aviation could provide it and we hope that the government will have the same foresight for other regions.” Dave Laws, Chief Executive at Newcastle Airport, said: “If the Government can pull out all the stops to protect an air link serving Northern Ireland, then it can do the same for the North East. We have said before that APD should be abolished or reduced significantly across the whole country. “Any differentiation based upon geographical criteria, which appears to be the case with the Northern Ireland proposal, would be unfair and possibly illegal under EU State Aid Regulations. Also, where would it end? Would Scotland and Wales also be successful in arguing special circumstances? A much fairer, and probably legal, approach would be to give all regional airports a stimulus by varying the rate of APD between congested and non-congested airports, thereby protecting the interests of all disadvantaged regions.” Earlier this year, MAG, Newcastle Airport and Flybe were involved in the ‘Fair Tax on Flying’ campaign and joined an alliance of more than 25 airlines, airports, tour operators, destinations and trade associations who were uniting to call on the Government to make the system of aviation tax in the UK fairer. That helped to raise awareness of the current system amongst UK travellers and saw the issue of a regionalised system of tax being mentioned in the Treasury’s subsequent consultation on the current system. To see a copy of the letter click here. The Air Travel Advisory Bureau (ATAB) is teaming up with law firm Barker Gillette to launch a coordinated legal claim against UK airlines that have not refunded Air Passenger Duty (APD) to passengers who have booked flights and not flown. Since the tax was introduced in 1994, ATAB estimates that consumers have lost out on millions of pounds in un-refunded APD. In fact, Which? Estimated that in 2003 alone Ryanair retained more than £5 million in un-refunded taxes. ATAB Chairman, Tony White said, “It is a scandal that some airlines hang on to this money. It never belonged to them. It’s a tax collected on the behalf of the Government. With a couple of exceptions, most of the UK airlines make it as difficult as possible to get your money back. If you don’t actually fly, for whatever reason, you are entitled to get the APD refunded. The airlines already have your credit card details, they should refund your card immediately. They make it difficult or expensive in the hope that you’ll go away – and most people do just that”. “It is truly shocking, we’ve found some airlines that will charge an “administration fee” greater than the value of the refund. This is a complete rip-off and it’s our intention to put an end to it. If you have booked an airline ticket out of the UK anytime since 1994, and not flown, then we want to hear from you” said White. For more information in reclaiming APD on unused flights visit www.atab.org.uk/action-now/reclaim-your-taxes/ A campaign to persuade the Chancellor to drop planned hikes in the tax levied on all flights leaving the UK was launched last Monday at airports across the country as a new poll is released showing 3 out of 4 people think that Air Passenger Duty (APD) should not go up in the next Budget. Of those saying APD should not go up 49 per cent said APD should be reduced. Only 6 per cent said APD should be increased. The Chancellor announced in this year’s Budget that APD will rise by double inflation in 2012. The ‘Hands off our Holiday’ campaign, backed by the Airport Operators Association (AOA), Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR-UK), and the British Air Transport Association (BATA) is urging people to email their MP via the website www.handsoffourholiday.com and to tweet their support for the hikes to be abandoned using the hashtag #handsoffourhols. The poll, carried out by Opinium Research for the Hands off our Holiday campaign also shows that nearly 4 out of 5 people were unaware of the plans to further increase the tax by double inflation. Commenting on the campaign, Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the AOA, said: “Our message to the Chancellor is that enough is enough. Air Passenger Duty has already gone up by 325% on long haul flights and 140% on short haul flights in the last five years. Family finances are under great pressure at the moment and most people save hard all year for their holiday. Working families deserve a break.” Mike Carrivick, Chief Executive of BAR-UK, added: “The UK already has the highest rate of flight tax in the world. Why should families be discriminated against for wanting to fly off on a hard-earned break once a year?” Simon Buck, Chief Executive of BATA said: “The government already takes nearly £3bn in tax from passengers. This is more than the tax on the banking industry. Most people simply aren’t aware how much flight tax they pay. The government should come clean about this stealth tax and drop the hikes planned for next year.”
A planned strike by UK Border Agency staff is likely to affect passengers arriving at some of the UK airports. The 24-hour strike is scheduled to start this evening, Wednesday 29 June 2011 – start times vary at different airports due to shift patterns. The Border Agency has issued the following advice to passengers arriving in the UK: Around 70% of Border Agency staff are members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).
As the Treasury’s consultation on the reform of Air Passenger Duty (APD) enters its final week – ends on 17 June – ABTA is calling on the government to rethink the levels and structure of the tax which is the highest in the world. APD is based on distance travelled and at present a family of four flying to Europe will pay £48 in APD, to the USA the tax increases to £240, to Australia the tax increases to £340 – all based on the economy rate – however, the cost of the tax is set to rise again next April by twice the cost of inflation. Only five European countries impose some form of aviation tax with the UK’s level higher than anywhere else in the world. Denmark, Norway, Malta and Holland have all scrapped similar taxes as the revenue raised was outweighed by the damage caused to their economies. Ireland has pledged to follow suit shortly. ABTA is part of the Fair Tax on Flying www.facebook.com/afairtaxonflying alliance that has united the travel industry to raise awareness of the high levels and illogical structure of APD, which is damaging UK travel and tourism and adding an additional tax burden to holidaymakers and business travellers at a time when fuel prices are reaching record levels. Mark Tanzer, ABTA Chief Executive, said: “It is vital that the Government understands the damaging impact that APD is having on the tourism industry in the UK. We already pay the highest levels of aviation tax in the world, and if the Government goes ahead with its double-inflationary increase and levies an ETS tax on top of this in 2012, we will see another eye-watering increase in the tax burden on the industry and on holidaymakers and business travellers flying in and out of the UK. The industry is willing to pay its way, but this clearly puts us at a competitive disadvantage when compared with our European neighbours and punishes the travelling public unfairly.” ABTA encourages all of its Members and any others who feel strongly to make their own submissions to the treasury at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_airpassenger.htm Related stories: Manchester Airport launches ‘give us a break’ APD campaign UK Airport Consultative Committee: APD and European Emissions’ Trading Scheme = double taxation Double taxation on flights from 2012 Ryanair has announced its winter schedule from Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Using two aircraft, the airline plans to operate 12 routes to popular sun destinations from Prestwick this winter. The 12 winter routes from Prestwick are as follows:
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