Please note that with immediate effect travellers flying to South Africa must be in possession of a machine readable passport. Anyone with a non-machine readable passport will be denied entry.
Should you have any questions or concerns regarding your passport please do not hesitate to contact us.
Following the ongoing situation in Brussels, we (Eurostar) are extending the free exchange period up to and including Monday 30 November 2015. These exchanges need to be processed within 60 days from the original travel date.
In addition to direct Brussels services, we are also exchanging Any Belgian Station and connection tickets, e.g. Brussels to Cologne.
Our (Eurostar’s) no refund policy is maintained.
Please note that passengers may choose to board or disembark at Lille station if they no longer wish to travel into Brussels for a connecting journey.
Our current policy on Paris remains, we are only offering exchanges for those that were due to travel up to and including Sunday 22 November.
The ‘Organisation of Independent Flight Attendants’ union (UFO) has announced that it will take strike action on Lufthansa flights from today, Friday 6 November until Friday 13 November.
The UFO union has called up on its members based in Frankfurt and Dusseldorf to go on strike today between 14.00 and 23.00 hours CET. Further strike actions are to be expected tomorrow, 7 November 2015. Lufthansa flights from and to Munich will operate as scheduled. There will be no strike action on Sunday, 8 November.
Lufthansa is currently creating a special timetable for the strike period. The necessary cancellations for long-haul flights from Frankfurt and Dusseldorf will be published shortly. Updates on all short-haul flights will be available at 11.00 hours CET.
Lufthansa expects at least 8 of their long-haul flights to operate as scheduled. However, the majority of short- and medium-haul flights scheduled for departure from 14.00 hours onwards will have to be cancelled.
Flights operated by Lufthansa City Line, Germanwings, Eurowings, Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and SWISS will not be affected by any possible strike action and will continue to run as normal.
We (Global Travel Management) are currently in the process of contacting our affected customers, however, if you are a client of ours please do not hesitate to call us, on +44 (0) 1483 747 321 to discuss alternative arrangements.
You may also call our emergency out-of-hours (ooh) team over the weekend on +44 (0) 20 3130 9767 for assistance too. Please note though that charges do apply for calls made to our ooh team.
The US government has announced, at this year’s World Travel Market, that its Global Entry programme has been extended to UK citizens.
Global Entry allows for quicker clearance of pre-approved, low-risk travellers. UK citizens can register to be eligible from December 3. To register travellers must apply through the UK Home Office website and pay a £42 processing fee.
Provided UK vetting is successfully passed, the applicant will receive a UK Access Code, which will be entered when applying for Global Entry through the Global Online Enrolment System.
The non-refundable application fee for a five-year membership is $100 and applications can only be made online. Once approved the travellers must then attend an interview with a US customs officer.
Travellers will then be able to use special gates at US airports. The US claims the process cuts down passport control waiting times by around 70 per cent.
Global Entry is currently in use at 46 US airports.
Passengers who are due to fly with German airline Lufthansa are facing possible disruption to their travel plans due to a planned strike by the airline’s cabin crew and the union representing them.
The industrial action is due to start this Friday, 6th November 2015, and will last for a week, unless the union’s demands regarding retirement and pension benefits are agreed to.
Lufthansa has until 1600 this Thursday to respond.
Some 20 European airports, plus all airlines, are warning passengers that poor visibility due to heavy fog in the UK and continental Europe is causing cancellations and delays for the second day in a row, with the disruption expected to continue throughout today (Monday 2nd November).
Heathrow Airport alone saw more than 90 flights cancelled yesterday and another 20 again early this morning, while other UK and European airports are also reporting cancellations and severe delays due to continuing foggy conditions.
The UK Meteorological Office has issued a yellow alert warning, as Air Traffic Controllers at Heathrow Airport in particular have issued requests that airlines reduce today’s schedules to maintain safety.
So far, those airports that have reported disruption include the following: Aberdeen; Amsterdam; Belfast; Bristol; Brussels; Cardiff; Frankfurt; Gatwick; Geneva; Glasgow; Hamburg; Leeds Bradford; London City; London Gatwick; London Heathrow; Madrid; Manchester; Milan; Paris Charles de Gaulle; and Zürich.
These poor visibility conditions are expected to continue until mid-afternoon for some eastern parts of England and southern Scotland.
We (GTM) always recommend that all air travellers check in online for their flight and ensure that either we, or your airline, has your mobile/cell phone number and email address in order to help with alerts and notifications.
British Airways has today announced the start of a new London Gatwick to New York JFK service. This new daily service will commence next year on 1st May 2016, but seats go on sale today.
The flight will be operated by a Boeing 777 offering Club World, World Traveller Plus and World Traveller cabins. The flight times will be, from London Gatwick, an afternoon departure at 1640 landing in NY at 1930 and returning from JFK at 2200 arriving Gatwick the next morning at 1000.
Please note that there is industrial action planned for tomorrow, Thursday 8th October, in France & Italy.
In Italy ground handlers are planning to strike and in France trade unions are also planning nationwide strikes throughout the day.
Please remember to check in online for your flight and ensure that we (GTM) have your most up to date mobile number and email address.
From media reports: Ansa reported that a union representing baggage handler workers has announced a four-hour strike nationwide on 8 October in a dispute about new contracts
The planned strike will take place from 1 pm until 5 pm, local time.
From the 24 September we’re introducing some changes to benefit your customers.
24 Hour Cancellation
Cancel your flight within 24 hours of booking for just £13 per passenger/per flight and receive a refund on your booking (valid up to 2 hours before the standard time of departure).
Name Changes
No longer able to travel? Change the name on your booking for £15 per person/per flight up to 60 days or more before departure, or £45 per sector within 59 days of departure. If done through the contact centre on the telephone, £5 will be added. However, the lead passenger must remain the same; otherwise it’ll be treated as a cancellation.
Flight Changes
Need to change your itinerary with us? You can now change your flight for just £15 per passenger/per flight (plus any fare difference) up to 60 days before departure and £45 per sector (plus any fare difference) within 59 days of departure. If done through the contact centre on the telephone, £5 will be added.
