Gatwick celebrates strong Chinese route growth on 1st anniversary of Tianjin route

Photo Gatwick

Gatwick Airport recorded a 6.1% year-on-year rise in passengers travelling to China in July marking the first anniversary of the airport’s routes to Chinese destinations Tianjin and Chongqing. The growth comes as Gatwick continues to focus on developing the airport’s connectivity with Asia, with flights to Taipei and Singapore also set to launch later this year.

Overall passenger numbers rose for a 53rd consecutive month in July as 4.7 million passengers travelled through the airport – up 2.4% – making it the busiest July in Gatwick’s history. Gatwick’s growth has also been recognised by the Airports Council International Europe, who today announced Gatwick as a top five airport in Europe for passenger growth, with passenger numbers +9.4% in the first half of 2017.

Easyjet Passenger's Woes After Being Sent 200km To Collect Lost Bag That Wasn't There

The super low cost budget airline EasyJet is facing a media and passenger backlash this week after it emerged they sent a passenger on a 200 kilometer wild goose chase to find a missing bag.

Many see this as indicative of the worsening customer service as the budget airline slowly moves away from being a UK based airline. 

“The worst customer service I have ever experienced” exclaims Fi Taylor, an Easyjet passenger who had to endure the wasted journey. The whole incident started when Easyjet left her bag behind in the UK on the first day of her vacation in Essaouira, Morocco. Then the airline told her they had sent her case to Marrakech, nearly 200km away – but guess what?  Easyjet were not going to pay any courier to get the bag to her,  she'd have to go and get it herself. 

New Routes For Loganair

The Scottish local airline Loganair has announced new services linking Aberdeen with Durham Tees Valley Airport and Norwich. 

The Scottish airline believes the flights, from 15th October, will attract passengers working in the offshore energy industries. Aberdeen is a key departure point for numerous helicopter departures to the North Sea oil and gas platforms.

The routes will be operated by 33-seat Saab 340 aircraft painted in the new tartan livery, now that the airline flies under its own brand and not that of ex-franchise partner Flybe. 

Durham Tees Valley chief executive Steve Gill said it was a "real shot in the arm for the airport" and good news for the business community.

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British Airways Strike Continues.

British Airways staff members that walked out over pay and conditions are all set to continue the industrial action for the rest of August.  

The union Unite has again renewed its call to the airline to get back to the negotiating table after a meeting on Friday. "It would cost British Airways mere pennies compared to its soaring profits to solve this dispute," said Unite national officer Oliver Richardson. 

"Yet still the airline insists on spending millions on wet leasing aircraft and the prospect of mounting legal costs to defend low pay and punishing workers on poverty pay. 

BA to Las Vegas or not

Armed police have been called to Heathrow airport after passengers became angry that a British Airways flight was delayed for two days.

People were left stranded when technical problems grounded the Boeing 747 due to fly from Heathrow to Las Vegas on Sunday. They thought they would be on their way the following day but a problem with their baggage meant the rescheduled flight was also held.

Cabin crew reportedly informed the cockpit that tensions were mounting and, after a lengthy wait, the passengers were taken off and armed Met police officers were called to meet the plane.

Full report  The Guardian 

Jet Airways to end First Class service?

Jet Airways was one of the first airlines to introduce a first class suite on some of its aircraft, but a decade on things have changed. A downturn in popularity has seen the airline to consider a complete cabin reconfiguration without first class on its 777-300ER aircraft.

According to local media, Jet Airways may completely remove the eight first-class seats it has on its 10 Boeing 777 aircraft. Instead it may add more economy and business class seats to the twin engined jet hoping to boost revenues.

Panic over the Pacific

There was panic over the Pacific on Friday night when a Hawaiian Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing at Hilo.

Over 250 passengers were deplaned Friday night in Hilo after their Hawaiian Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing.

Flight 64 departed from Lihue just after 3.30pm Friday afternoon with over 250 passengers and crew onboard, the flight to Los Angeles was scheduled to be about 5 hours.er.

A mechanical issue in the cockpit of the Boeing 767 caused smoke cockpit some two hours into their flight and the crew decided to take necessary precautions and return to the islands. The local fire services had been called and were at Hilo International Airport to meet the aircraft upon its arrival at 8.30pm Friday night.

No cause for the smoke has yet been released and an investigation is ongoing, there were no reports of any injuries



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Gatwick - UK's Worst Airport For Delays

Photo J Milstein  Gatwick Airport

THE World's busiest single runway airport and the second busiest in the UK, Gatwick, has been named as the worst for delays in the country. 

Passengers departing from the Sussex/Surrey airport suffered the longest average delays of 27 minutes, during summer getaways, according to a BBC analysis of figures collated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

These figures were collected during the last two summers (June to August) and combined to reveal the typical delays. It is perhaps no surprise that the airline with the longest delay was the budget carrier EasyJet. On average their passengers experience delays of 24 minutes when taking all summer flights into consideration, whether delayed or not. An EasyJet spokeswoman claimed "EasyJet operates the largest number of flights of any UK airline, flying over 78 million passengers per year. In 2017, EasyJet will operate 33% more flights than in 2011, with less than 0.8% delayed by more than three hours."

Airlines And Wheelchairs - They Keep Breaking Them

The stress of air travel has increased this summer, with long queues reported across Europe because of tighter security and immigration checks.

But for one group of passengers - those who use wheelchairs - flying often turns into an upsetting and nerve-wracking experience, whatever the time of year.

Philippine Airlines To Fly 777's To London

Philippine Airlines confirmed this week that it will boost their service into London from Manila with the introduction of between a state-of-the-art Boeing 777-300s on the route. The 370 passenger carrying aircraft will make its debut on the route on 19th September this year and will enhance the customer experience. 

Philippine want to be a 5 star airline....

Lufthansa's A350-900 Heading for Hong Kong

The German airline Lufthansa will be offering flights to Hong Kong on their brand new Airbus A350-900 aircraft from September. “Our passengers can now experience the world’s most advanced long-haul aircraft for the first time on a flight to the Far East. The flight to Hong Kong is one of the longest routes in the Lufthansa flight schedule. Flying on the A350-900 gives passengers an extraordinary experience. An optimized level of cabin pressure ensures that they arrive feeling more rested” says Wilken Bormann, CEO of the Munich hub. 

You Must Cover Up To Fly Saudia

The national carrier of Saudi Arabia has issued a very strict dress code for passengers who want to fly on one of their aircraft.  If passengers deviate from the new demanding  new rules Saudia Airlines will deny them boarding.  

On the new code of conduct for passengers on their website, Saudia tells travellers not to be “clothed in a manner that would cause discomfort or offence to other passengers. Women exposing legs or arms, or wearing too thin or too tight clothes and men wearing shorts exposing legs."

Busy Month For Lufthansa With Record Numbers

Photo Lufthansa

July has proved to be a very busy month for the airlines in the Lufthansa Group figures released this week indicate.  A total of 13.1 million people travelled on a Lufthansa Group flight in July that's up an amazing 16.9% on last years total. 

According to the figures, 2017 was shaping up to be a very good year for the German based group  with an overall load factor of 80.2 percent - a historic high - they've carried 73 million passengers so far this this year (up until end of July) 

Delays Due To Loo

Thousands of passengers were delayed at Orlando International Airport last week, but not because of bad weather, or aircraft technical difficulties, it wasn't even due to a strike. No the reason for the massive delay was a single flush of a toilet that caused a major incident and resulted in a hazard materials team having to come to the airport to clean up raw sewage that flowed into a customs area. Local TV station WFTV reports.

Celebs Feature in British Airways New Safety Video

A team of top celebrities including Gordon Ramsay, Rob Brydon, Sir Ian McKellen and Thandie Newton make appearances in British Airways’ entertaining new pre-flight safety video, which launches in September.

The new film features some of Britain’s best-loved personalities and has been designed to help customers absorb important safety messages, while boosting fund-raising for ‘Flying Start’, the global charity partnership between British Airways and Comic Relief.