Global Travel Management | Business Travel Specialists

Update Travel Alert/South Africa/Strike Action

18, January 2013/in News /by Dave

Pretoria — Strike action by the National Transport Movement (NTM) has not impacted operations at South African Airways (SAA), the airline said on Friday.
“There has been no impact whatsoever on SAA’s operations as a result of the strike. We emphasise that no flights have been cancelled or delayed as a result of the industrial action,” said SAA spokesperson Tlali.
Previously the NTM had served a notice to the airline for strike action last Friday.
In December, SAA met with NTM at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to conclude the verification process that would allow the union to be recognised by the airline.
However, the CCMA confirmed that the union has 1,111 members and needed to have 1220 to meet 30% of 4065 employees who are part of the bargaining unit. This therefore confirmed that NTM failed to meet the 30% threshold. This was the reason the NTM remains unrecognised at SAA.
Last week, the airline said it was committed to business-continuity and has a contingency plan to avoid any unnecessary inconvenience to customers.

Our Operation Today – 18th January.

18, January 2013/in News /by Paul

Published today at 0835.

We have already made plans to deal with the potential disruption to people’s travel plans today, and over the weekend, and the knock-on effect it will have on our ability to help them.

We have approximately half of our team in the office already and the other half working remotely from home, therefore, it is business as usual for us.

Please also bear in mind that our out-of-hours team will see a big increase in the number of calls they receive tonight and over the weekend. Please contact us by 6pm tonight, if at all possible, in order to help alleviate the pressure.

Friday 18th January – UK Travel Update.

18, January 2013/in News /by Paul

This update published at 0817.

Currently Bristol, Cardiff & Southampton airports are closed. As the snow moves eastwards airports in the London area are making plans to cope with the disruption.

Some airlines, such as British Airways, have made a change to their normal rules and are allowing some passengers to make changes to their flights free-of-charge.

Please also bear in mind that rail services, including Eurostar, will be affected today and over the weekend.

Here we go again!

Travel View (Europe) – delays 17th January 2013 * latest update *

17, January 2013/in News /by Dave

The following additional airports are now experiencing delays due to local situations:

Update as of 11.50am (UK GMT)

City	Note
Nice / NCE (FR)	Weather Issues
Porto / OPO (PT)	n/a
Zurich / ZRH (CH)	Weather Issues
Frankfurt / FRA (DE)	Weather Issues
Bologna / BLQ (IT)	n/a
Stuttgart / STR (DE)	Weather Issues

South Africa: Airlines, rail workers to strike on 18th January 2013

17, January 2013/in News /by Dave

From media reports: Bloomberg Businessweek reported on Thursday that airline and rail workers were planning to strike on 18^th January over unmet union recognition demands.

Some 1,300 South African Airways staff and about 3,3000 workers at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa were planning to strike beginning Friday.

Most of the airline staffers work in technical, cargo, and ground staff capacities, and the strike impact on air traffic is not currently known.
The workers are demanding that state-owned employers recognize the National Transport Movement union as the majority staff representative, the news source indicated.

UK & European Weather & Travel Update.

16, January 2013/in News /by Paul

Please note that low visibility is affecting the flight operations at both London Heathrow & London City airports this morning (Wednesday 16th January).

The following European airports are also affected today by snow and/or weather issues: Basel, Budapest, Frankfurt, Geneva, Gothenburg, Paris, Porto & Lisbon.

Please contact us should you have any concerns, or wish to re-schedule your flights. As always, please remember to check in online for your flight, as this will also enable your airline to communicate with you.

European Travel Update.

14, January 2013/in News /by Paul

Further to our UK weather update below, please note that the following European airports are also being affected by adverse weather: Budapest, Dusseldorf, Gothenburg, Moscow, Stockholm & Vienna.

UK Weather Update.

14, January 2013/in News /by Paul

Due to the light overnight snowfall in some parts of England we have been checking the operations at the UK’s major airports this morning (please find an update below).

However, the Met Office has also warned of a second, heavier, band of snow which will fall across some parts of the country this afternoon. Furthermore, with temperatures set to fall below freezing tonight, tomorrow’s flight schedule maybe worse hit. Therefore, please ensure you check in online for your flight today, or tomorrow, and ensure that either we, or your airline, have your mobile/cell phone number and email address.

1. London Heathrow – moderate delays but with an increasing trend.

2. London Gatwick – low delays, not predicted to worsen.

3. Manchester – low delays, not predicted to worsen.

4. Edinburgh – low delays, not predicted to worsen.

NB. Information correct at 0845.

Northeast USA Weather Alert.

31, December 2012/in News /by Paul

A winter storm with heavy snow has caused disruption to the transport networks across the Northeastern Seaboard of the USA.

Thus far we have received re-booking instructions from American Airlines. These also apply to the codeshare operated services of British Airways & Iberia (where the operating carrier is American Airlines).

The airports currently affected are : Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Harrisburg, Hartford, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Syracuse, Washington DC, Watertown & Westchester County.

Please contact us for further re-booking information if your flight is affected.