Please note that we will be closing our office 30 minutes earlier than usual today (Tuesday 12th Novermber) for a company meeting.
Our phone lines will divert to our usual out-of-hours team at 1730, rather than the normal 1800. There will be no charge for calls made to our out-of-hours team between 1730 and 1800 today.
Travel together in Business Class with Qatar Airways and enjoy a 2 for 1 companion offer!
The joy of flying Qatar Airways Business Class has just doubled, with one fare paying passenger now able to take a colleague, or partner, for nothing other than their airport taxes! You’ll need to book your flights soon though, as this offer expires on 14th November, however, travel can take place until 31st March 2014. Please contact us for further information.
Qatar Airways is the newest member of One World (www.oneworld.com) and, also, now sponsors FC Barcelona.
Rail services across much of southern Britain have been cancelled due to the storm which hit the south coast of England over night, and which has then worked its way inland.
South West Trains has significantly reduced its service today after finding that at least 26 trees are blocking various lines across its network.
Heathrow Airport Ltd (formerly part of British Airport Authority) has asked all airlines to reduce their schedule today in the following manner:
Between 0600 and 1100 a 20 per cent reduction in the schedule has been applied Between 1100 and 1600 a 10 per cent reduction in the schedule has been applied Between 1600 and 2230 a 5 per cent reduction in the schedule has been applied.
London Gatwick and London City plan to operate as normal. Please remember to check in online if you are flying today, alternatively please contact us (01483 747321) should you wish to change your ticket.
Southern and central areas of the UK have had a storm warning issued for Monday 28th October.
Currently the forecast is for strong hurricane strength winds and heavy rain which have the obvious potential to disrupt travel generally. Therefore, if you are due to fly to, or from, the UK on Monday PLEASE ensure that you check-in online; as this will confirm that your email and mobile/cell phone details are logged with your airline, who can then send out further updates if necessary.
At present no airline is permitting voluntary changes (due to the anticipated weather conditions), so should you wish to change your airline ticket this will need to be done in accordance with current fare rules.
Following the recent purchase of Flybe’s slots at London Gatwick, easyJet has strengthened its route network with the addition of new routes to Paris CDG, Jersey & Newcastle.
The new services will start from the beginning of the summer schedule (30 March 2014) and flights are on sale now.
If your company has a British Airways On Business account, you are eligible for private discounted air fares when flying with BA to most long-haul destinations.
Discounts apply in all cabins from First to World Traveller and range from 5 to 35%. These fares are not for sale on BA.com, or via many travel agents, but they are with Global Travel Management!
Furthermore, and with immediate effect, these private discounted fares are now also eligible for an upgrade, to First from Club World. Book prior to 12 November 2013 in bookings classes R, D & C, and get upgraded in one direction to First. This offer is valid for travel until 22 September 2014.
Should your company not have an On Business account, please contact Paul Baker on 01483 227369 for further information.
Eff immediately, passengers flying with Air France & KLM, from London Heathrow airport, will now use the new Positive Boarding technology in Terminal 4.
After check-in, and upon entering security, passengers will be required to scan the barcode on their boarding pass at an automatic gate. The system will then verify your ticket and open to allow you through security.
Please note, however, that there is a minimum clearance time for entering the system, namely 20 minutes for Business Class passengers and 30 minutes for economy class passengers.
Make sure you allow enough time on the M25!
Eurocontrol reported on 8 October that all five French air traffic control unions are expected to strike at some point on 10 October beginning at 4 am GMT.
Conditions will change throughout the day as staffing levels change, and different airports and air routes will be affected in different capacities.
Both arrivals and departures will likely be impacted by the strike, so any flights into or out of airports in France could be impacted.
Travellers should check with their travel providers or airlines for delays and cancellations. Impact is expected.
The planned strike of air traffic controllers across all of Europe was cancelled. As of press time, only those in France are planning industrial action.
Yesterday British Airways began operating a new service to Chengdu in Sichuan province in Southwest China. The city has a population of over 14m inhabitants and is BA’s fourth destination in China after Beijing, Hong Kong & Shanghai.
The service took off from London Heathrow and landed in Chengdu this morning. The nose cone of the aircraft had been painted to look like a panda – how twee!
A baggage system problem has caused delays to British Airways passengers at Heathrow Airport.
Travellers were earlier unable to check in baggage at Terminal five (T5) due to a computer problem. The airport says the problem has been resolved, but some passengers face long queues and delays. BBC reporter Keith Doyle said there was a queue of about “500 people waiting to rebook flights”.
Simon Frusher, who was flying to New York, said: “There are now thousands of people with missed flights, as planes went on time.
“Huge queues now for rebooking… unsure as yet what flight we can get.”
An airport spokesperson said: “Our teams have now restored all check-in services and we have additional staff in the terminal to help passengers.”
Passengers were unable to check in baggage. The airport said passengers who wished to take hand luggage on board were unaffected, but others were prevented from checking in and unable to travel.
Mr Doyle said a separate area had been set aside for rebooking flights at T5, which operates British Airways flights.
A BA spokesman apologised for the inconvenience and said “all of our flights continue to operate as normal”.
The problems started at around 09:00 BST and were resolved by 11:30.
