Ebola Screening Starts At Heathrow.

Ebola screening will start at Heathrow Airport today, with Gatwick Airport and Eurostar terminals following next week.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said passengers from at-risk countries will have their temperature taken, complete a risk questionnaire and have contact details recorded.

The Chief Medical Officer said the risk to the UK is low, but expects a ‘handful’ of cases. However, the screening is expected to cause disruption to all passengers. Dr Ron Behrens, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the benefit of airport screening would be “very small”, while there would be disruption to “large numbers of people”.

“It appears not to be a scientific decision but a political one,” he said to the Telegraph.
Screening at Heathrow Terminal 1 will begin today before being extended to other terminals. The Department of Health estimates that 85% of all arrivals to the UK from affected countries will come through Heathrow.

Border Force officers will identify passengers to be screened. Nurses and consultants from Public Health England will carry out the testing. Passengers deemed at high-risk due to contact with Ebola patients, but with no symptoms, will be contacted daily by Public Health England.

‘Highly visible information’ will be in place at all entry points to the UK, Mr Hunt insisted.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “The welfare of our passengers and colleagues is always our main priority and we are working with Government to support the implementation of the screening measures as announced by the Health Secretary today.

“We would like to reassure passengers that the Government assesses the risk of a traveller contracting Ebola to be low. We would encourage anybody with individual questions or concerns to refer to guidance from Public Health England and the Foreign Office.”

Disruption at London Heathrow Today

A number of our flights have been delayed or cancelled this morning due to operational difficulties.
A combination of high winds, thunderstorms and lightening across the south east of England on Thursday 9 October has led to some knock-on delays as a result of short-haul crews and aircraft being out of position around Europe.
The disruption to our services may continue throughout the day as more thunderstorms have been forecast for this afternoon.

Please contact your airline to confirm your flight details before departing for the airport, or contact us for more information.

Office14 – come and see us!

We are once again extremely excited to be exhibiting at Office* (at Olympia) for a second year running.

This year’s show is on the 7th & 8th October next week. For Office14 we have a number of exciting new services which we would love to talk to you about, the main one being though, our brand new app which will soon be available from the App Store.

So, why not come along and see us at stand 5031? You can also speak to us about our PA Dashboard service and enter a competition to win £100 worth of beauty products.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Chicago Air Traffic Control Centre Update.

The Federal Aviation Administration in America hopes to have Chicago’s fire-damaged air traffic control centre repaired and returned to full service by Monday 13th October.

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled since a fire broke out early last Friday morning in the centre in Aurora, Illinois. Other control centres have handled many of Chicago’s flights while repairs are being made.

At midday yesterday more than 550 flights were cancelled at O’Hare and another 50 at Midway Airport. The FAA has stated that it is steadily increasing the number of flights arriving and departing at both airports.

The FAA said that air traffic controllers managed about 60 per cent of normal traffic at O’Hare yesterday and more 75 per cent at Midway.

One strike ends, another begins…again!

First the good news: Air France’s main pilots’ union has announced the end of a crippling two-week strike, held over the airline’s plans for a low-cost subsidiary.

The SNPL’s spokesman told AFP that pilots were ending their protest – which has cost Air France more than 200 million euros ($A270.49 million) – so that negotiations over its low-cost subsidiary, Transavia, can go ahead “in a calmer climate”.

The pilots are fighting for a “single contract” across Air France-KLM, and its subsidiaries, to avoid being forced to accept less attractive working conditions at Transavia, which serves holiday destinations across Europe and the Mediterranean.

Now the less good news: pilots with Germany’s flag carrier, Lufthansa, will stage yet another strike, this time affecting long-haul flights tomorrow, Tuesday 30th September; their latest walkout in the ongoing dispute with the company’s management over early retirement provisions.

The pilots’ union, Vereinigung Cockpit, called on its members to strike on long-haul flights departing from Frankfurt between 0600 and 2100 tomorrow. The strike would affect services on Airbus A380, A330 and A340 and Boeing 747 aircraft, the union said.

This is the fourth time that Lufthansa’s pilots have ‘downed tools’ in recent weeks. The first strike at the end of August hit Lufthansa’s low-cost subsidiary Germanwings. The second walkout a week later affected domestic and regional services, landing at or taking off from Frankfurt, and the third stoppage targeted Munich airport, Germany’s second-busiest air hub.

Lufthansa pilots can currently take paid early retirement from the age of 55. They are fighting a plan by the airline to raise the minimum age and to involve pilots in the financing of their pensions.

Air France Pilot’s Strike Continues.

Air France’s pilots have voted to continue their industrial action yet again, the strike will now run until 30 September.

A commercial policy is in place to assist passengers whose flight’s have been affected and does permit re-booking and refunds.

We (GTM) will monitor all of our customer’s flights and advise them the moment we receive an update from Air France.

Air France Pilots’ Strike Continues…

The union representing Air France’s pilots has said that they may now continue their strike into a second week. The head of the SNPL union said today that the result of the latest ballot will be known this Saturday.

In light of the continued uncertainty surrounding the strike, and if you are flying with Air France, please remember to check in online; if there are any updates we (GTM) will also notify you of any changes immediately.

Lufthansa Pilot’s Strike Called Off.

Lufthansa’s pilots have now called off their planned strike of today, Tuesday 16th September, that would have affected long-haul flights out of Frankfurt. Normal service resumed!

Air France & Lufthansa Strikes.

Unfortunately there are two planned strikes taking place this week, please see the details below.

Firstly, Air France has said that it has been forced to scrap more than half of its scheduled flights starting today, Monday 15th September, for one week. Its pilots are striking over the French flag carrier’s plans to develop its own low-cost subsidiary airline.

Lufthansa’s pilots are also out on strike again tomorrow (Tuesday 16th September), this time the dispute is over their pension and an early retirements scheme.

We (Global Travel Management) are constantly checking all of our bookings for affected flights, and will be in contact if you are on a cancelled service, however, please also feel free to contact us if you have any immediate concerns. Please also remember to check in for your flight online so that the airline can also contact you in the event of any last minute delays/cancellations.

Singapore Airlines – moving into T2 very soon…

On Wednesday 17th of this week Singapore Airlines will begin operating to and from Heathrow Airport’s new Terminal 2, the Queen’s Terminal. The first flight departing from T2 will be the SQ317 departing at 1130.

Passengers who are travelling in Suites, First or Business Class, or who hold Star Alliance GOLD status can proceed to a Singapore Airlines First & Business Class check-in desk, located in Zone A to check-in for their flight.

Upon arrival at the airport Economy Class passengers can use any of  the 66 self-service kiosks to check-in and print their individual boarding pass and bag tags. After tagging their own bags, they may then proceed to any Singapore Airlines bag drop desk in Zone A to complete the check-in process.