Paul

Spain – 24 Hour General Strike.

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Spain’s largest trades unions have called a 24 hour general strike for Wednesday 14 November 2012.

Public transport within Spain and services at Spanish airports are likely to be significantly disrupted and public demonstrations in city centres may also affect local services. Check for transport delays before arriving in Spain and allow extra time for journeys.

Furthermore, a number of demonstrations and industrial actions are expected in Madrid and other city centres during the winter. These may affect local services. In particular, visitors are advised to check for possible transport delays before arriving in Spain,
and to allow extra time for transfers to and from airports. You are advised to stay clear of demonstrations.

Paul

Amazing Finnair Prices to Asia!

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Book air fares to China & Japan from just £62!

For a limited period only Finnair are selling flights from London & Manchester to various destinations in China & Japan, however, the selling period ends on 12th November 2012. The headline fare of £62 applies to Chongqing in China. The highest fare to any of the following destinations is only £123 (prices exclude airport taxes and fuel surcharge) : Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Osaka & Nagoya.

Whilst the sales period ends on 12 November, travel can take place right through to 31st March 2013.

NB. Finnair flights connect via Helsinki, which is widely regarded as an efficent airport to transfer in, with minimal time spent on the ground.

 

Paul

BA To Move SIN & SYD Services To T5.

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British Airways is to move its London Heathrow-Singapore-Sydney services to Terminal 5 from the end of March 2013.

The airline will also roster its new B777-300ER aircraft onto the route from this date. BA says the changes ”confirm British Airways’ commitment to Australia”, following the
news that Qantas will end its joint business agreement with BA and strike up a new partnership with Emirates.

BA’s Sydney flights currently depart from Terminal 3 using B747-400 aircraft, but will move to Terminal 5 from 31st March, from where the majority of the carrier’s flights
already operate. The airline’s new B777-300ER aircraft feature a four-class World Traveller, World Traveller Plus, Club World and First layout.

Paul

CityJet To Launch London City Nuremberg Services!

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Cityjet is to launch twice-daily weekday flights between London City (LCY) and Nuremberg from January 2013.

The Air France subsidiary will commence services on the route on 27th January, with a lunchtime and early evening service from LCY, and a morning and late
afternoon service from Nuremberg. The carrier will also operate one Nuremberg-bound flight on Sunday evening, and a London-bound service on Saturday morning.

The LCY-Nuremberg route will be the carrier’s second service to Germany, following the announcement of flights to Munster-Osnabruck on October 29.
Air Berlin currently serves Nuremberg from London Gatwick airport, with BA codesharing it’s services.

Paul

Easyjet To Begin Services To Moscow.

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Easyjet is to be allowed to operate flights from London to Moscow, in preference to Virgin Atlantic, thanks to a ruling by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The CAA has announced that Easyjet will join British Airways in being entitled to fly on the London-Moscow route under the bilateral agreement between the UK and Russian
governments. Easyjet plans to operate its Moscow service from London Gatwick, while BA will continue offering flights from London Heathrow. Bmi had been the second UK carrier
flying between London and Moscow under the bilateral deal but it has now stopped operating on the route following its takeover by BA.

Virgin had wanted to fly from Heathrow using the former Bmi slots which are being relinquished by BA, as part of its deal with European regulators to allow the purchase
to go ahead.

Easyjet is set to start its Moscow service in spring 2013 and said it would offer two daily flights on the Gatwick-Moscow Domodedovo route and expected to carry 230,000 passengers in its first year of operation.

Paul

Adverse Weather Conditions At London’s Airports.

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The European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation is reporting significant inbound flight delays at London Heathrow and London City airports in the U.K., and at Vienna airport due to fog.

Tuesday’s delays mark the second day that adverse weather has affected flights at U.K. airports.

Please remember to check in online for the most up to date information. Alternatively, please call us and we will check your flight’s schedule.

Paul

France – General Strikes 24th October.

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It has been reported on various news channels that there will be nationwide strikes in France starting tomorrow, Wednesday 24th October, over proposed government reform to the national pension system.

Many, but not all, flights will be affected so please remember to check in online, or call us for the most up to date information.

We have already carried out a pre-flight check and have alerted any customers who have flights affected by this industrial action.

Paul

easyJet – new allocated seating service.

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Please note that EasyJet is rolling out its new pre-allocated seating service in phases starting next month. The new service will allow passengers to pre-book,
for a fee, the seat number of their choice.

Starting on November 13th, passengers flying from London Gatwick (South Terminal), Luton, Southend, Bristol & Glasgow will be able to pre-assign a specific seat number.
The service is then rolled out for flights departing from London Gatwick (North Terminal), Milan Malpensa, Rome Fiumicino & Paris CDG on November 20th.

Finally, passengers flying from the following airports can pre-assign their preferred seat nos : Belfast, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Basel, Geneva, Lyon,
Nice, Youlouse, Paris Orly, Madrid, Lisbon & Berlin Schonefeld.

It is also worth noting that if when flying with easyJet you normally pay for Speedy Boarding and a bag to go in the aircraft’s hold, you are actually better off buying an
Easyjet Flexifare. Flexifares entitle you to unlimited free date changes within a 4 week period, 1 piece of hold luggage, Speedy Boarding and no admin or credit card fees.

Finally, easyJet also offer easyJet Plus for regular travellers for £149. easyJet Plus entitles the card holder to Speedy Boarding on every flight you take and use of the
dedicated Speedy Boarding checkin desks.

Paul

British Airways News.

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British Airways and Japan Airlines (JAL) have recently announced the start of a joint business agreement which will involve both airlines sharing revenue on certain flights between Europe and Japan. 

The joint business will benefit customers by providing better links between Europe and Japan, greater choice of flights to more destinations, enhanced frequent flyer benefits and the potential to launch new routes as well as improved transfers for customers to destinations in Europe and within Japan, through enhancing and expanding the codeshare network beyond the two airlines’ respective hub cities. 

As a result of the joint business, JAL will offer new codeshare destinations to Belfast, Helsinki, Frankfurt and Gothenburg on British Airways operated flights. British Airways will extend its reach to more destinations in Japan by codesharing on flights to Kansai, Okayama, Izumo, Okinawa, Nagasaki, Hiroshima and Kagoshima. 

Customers participating in JAL and British Airways’ loyalty programmes will continue to enjoy reciprocal benefits as customers of oneworld®, and are expected to further benefit from future opportunities to earn and redeem miles on each airline’s flights more easily as a result of the increased codesharing and joint promotions.

Complimentary Porter Trial – British Airways is currently running trials of a complimentary porter service for all First and Gold card holders flying from London Heathrow Terminal 5. The trial has aleady started and will finish on October 17th, if successful the service will be made permanent.

New Alicante Route – British Airways is launching another new route from London Gatwick, with the start of services to Alicante from 31 March 2013.

The London Gatwick to Alicante services will commence from the beginning of the Summer 2013 season, in addition to the 3 services per week already operating during the Winter 2012 season from London Heathrow.

Services are already on sale.

 

 

Paul

Qatar Airways To Join Oneworld.

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Qatar Airways has officially announced that it will join the Oneworld airline alliance after weeks of speculation.

The Doha-based carrier is the first of the three major airlines based in the Gulf (the others being Emirates and Etihad) to sign for any of the global airline alliances.
The implementation will take 12-18 months to complete and British Airways will serve as Qatar’s sponsor.

Qatar Airways will be Oneworld’s second member airline based in the Middle East, alongside Royal Jordanian, which became the first airline from the region to join any
of the global alliances when it became a member in 2007.

Qatar Airways’ network serves 120 destinations in 70 countries in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, North and South America, Asia and Australasia.
Fifteen of its destinations and three countries – Iran, Rwanda and the Seychelles – will be new to Oneworld.

Once Qatar Airways’ implementation is complete, and of most interest to business travellers, frequent flyer card holders of other Oneworld airlines will be able to earn and
burn when flying with Qatar and access their lounges.