There has been am outbreak of the Ebola virus reported in the West African States of Gambia, Ghana, Guinea and the Ivory Cost. If you are planning to travel to any of these countries please ensure your travel insurance is not invalidated. General travel advice can be found via the below link
www.nathnac.org/pro/clinical_updates/ebola_africa_170414.htm
Starting 1st May 2014, both of Dubai International Airport’s runways will be closed at alternate times for a project to resurface each of the runways, upgrade the lighting and construct extra taxiways. The work will continue until 20 July 2014.
The airport’s southern runway will be closed from 1 – 31 May and the northern runway from 31 May – 20 July. During the project, services at the airport will be reduced by 26% and more than 300 services per week will be moved to Dubai World Central.
Fourteen airlines that currently fly out of the airport, including budget carrier FlyDubai, will temporarily move at least some flights to Dubai World Central airport during the project. Dubai’s main carrier (Emirates) will not move any flights.
A 24 Hour Strike Is Set To Take Place In Argentina on the 10th April.
Trans- Atlantic Flights Are Expected To Operate As Normal But Domestic And Regional Services May Be Disrupted.
Please Check The Status Of Your Flight Before Departing For The Airport.
Contact Us For Any Information.
The Vereinigung Cockpit union, representing pilots at Lufthansa, have confirmed their intention to hold a further strike again this week.
It has been confirmed, pending any further talks, that the strike will run from Wednesday 2nd April through Friday 4th April inclusive. However, the union has also said that it is ruling out any further strikes over the Easter period. Last week’s action included pilots at Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and German Wings.
As always, we (GTM) will be contacting any customers whose bookings are affected with further information. However, it is equally important that anyone holding a Lufthansa ticket for travel this week, should check in online, particularly as aircraft and crew will be out of position; meaning flights this coming weekend may also be affected.
German trade union, Verdi, would extend strike calls in support of higher public sector pay to ground staff at Cologne/Bonn airport on 27 March, adding to a list of actions likely to disrupt German air traffic.
The strike action is also expected to affect public transport services on 26, 27 March in North Rhine-Westphalia.
We have also had unconfirmed information that the strike has now spread to other German Airports, Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Hanover could also be affected. Please contact your airline if you are due to travel today or tomorrow, or contact us for more information.
Please be aware that if you, or any of your colleagues, are due to fly to Amsterdam, then your journey may be affected due to the increased security measures being put in place because of the Nuclear Security Summit, which is taking place in the Hague on the 24th & 25th March.
Until Friday 28th March the Dutch Authorities are introducing risk based border controls on selected flights into The Netherlands. As a consequence passengers may be asked to show a valid identity document or passport and a valid visa or other residency permit.
Passengers travelling to and from Amsterdam Schiphol airport are also advised to allow extra time for travel, as roads could be congested, especially during peak hours. The approach roads and exits of the A4 motorway to and from the airport will remain accessible, however, do expect to see traffic congestion due to the complete or partial closure of main roads and motorways to and from The Hague.
The (partial) road closures will take effect from the afternoon of Sunday 23rd March and you should expect closures on main roads until the early morning of Wednesday 26th March. Dutch Railways (NS) will be deploying longer trains between Amsterdam and Rotterdam during rush hour on 24th and 25th March.
Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) in France are planning industrial action from 1900hrs (local time) today, Monday 17th March, until 0600hrs on Wednesday 19th March.
We have been advised that numerous French public service providers will take strike action across France tomorrow, Tuesday 18th March, for 24 hours. This will include Air Traffic Controllers (ATC), which will mean flights to and from France, as well as flights that fly over French airspace, will be affected.
The ATC action actually begins this evening (Monday 17th March) at 1900 local time and will last until 0600hrs on Wednesday 19th March.
As a result of the strike action, all airlines have been asked to cancel a number of flights into and out of France. Additionally we would also like to advise you that public transport across France will be affected too and you should consider this in your plans to allow sufficient time to get to/from the airport.
We (GTM) have already checked our systems and are in the process of contacting all affected travellers.
Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines have announced plans to align their services at London Heathrow airport, as their transatlantic joint venture gets ready for take off.
The two airlines have revealed details of their new combined schedule which will start on 30th March 2014. Among the changes, Delta will move flights on its key business routes (New York JFK, Boston and Seattle) to Heathrow’s Terminal 3, in order to co-locate with Virgin Atlantic from 2nd April. All of Delta Air Lines’ flights are currently based at Terminal 4.
Craig Kreeger, Virgin Atlantic’s CEO, said: “We already co-locate together at New York’s JFK airport and moving some of Delta’s key business flights to join Virgin Atlantic at Heathrow’s Terminal 3 will enhance convenience and reduce connection times.
As part of the move, all business class passengers with both carriers will be given access to Virgin’s Clubhouse lounge in Terminal 3.
Delta is to also operate a second daily service between Heathrow and Detroit from 2nd June 2 2014, alongside its recently announced Heathrow-Seattle route, which is due to launch later this month on 30th March.
With just one ticket you can now travel on Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn to twelve cities in Germany. By taking the Eurostar to Brussels you can then connect on to Deutsche Bahn services to: Aachen, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Cologne, Duisburg, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover or Munich.
Fares start from just £49.50 one-way, with the shortest journey time being just 3 hours and 46 mins to Aachen.
Further to our partnership with One Fine Stay (see news item below), we have also recently begun working with a company called Flag in the Sand, who are a firm with a difference!
Flag in the Sand specialise in obtaining tickets for sporting and music events, or film premieres and theatre shows, whether it’s the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix, a theatre show in the West End, or the football World Cup in Brazil this summer; Flag in the Sand will be able to get you those tickets!
Contact Paul Baker at GTM on 01483 227 369, or Adam at Flag in the Sand, on 020 3714 7698 for more information.
