Flights Direct

The British Airways has announced it will delay the full move to Terminal 5 until June. The airline was supposed to move all its long-haul flights and remaining short-haul flights to T5 on April 30.

The spaces BA was supposed to vacate on April 30 were to go to 54 other airlines, which are now facing major problems due to BA’s delay. Some airlines may seek compensation for costs they expect to have.

The ripple-effect from the BA delay has angered the airlines which have already been running campaign informing their passengers of the changes they were expecting to have. Many airlines have been planning to move to spaces vacated by BA for years.

Nigel Turner, bmi chief executive officer said: “The programme and timescale of changes was agreed in joint consultation with all airlines that are now geared up to undertake the moves as agreed.

“BAA and BA have shown a total disregard for all other airlines and their passengers at Heathrow in coming to this decision because of their own shortcomings and their inability to implement an agreed plan.”

The BA/BAA statement said: “BAA regrets this postponement, and we recognize the impact it has on other airlines, but we believe it is a wise precaution to ensure that passengers can have the maximum confidence once the move does take place.

Virgin Atlantic has called a meeting with its 280 beauty therapists – but says no decisions have been made about its future.

For the past 18 years Virgin has offered manicures, massages and other beauty services for the Upper Class passengers. The meeting has caused suspicion that the whole service might be scrapped.

With 38 aircrafts Virgin Atlantic has a considerably smaller fleet than its main competitors, and special services such as the beauty therapists is one of the ways it tries to attract passengers.

“We are calling our in-flight beauty therapists in to get their input into the product and service review of our Upper Class cabin,” a spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic said.

“We constantly look to review our Upper Class service to make sure that our investment is where it should be and that it is meeting the expectations of our customers,” the spokeswoman added.

The opening day of Heathrow’s Terminal 5 was a complete disaster – the state-of-the-art baggage handling system didn’t allow staff to login, and the staff was unable to find their car park spaces, among other problems.

BA has had to cancel hundreds of flights, and a week after opening says there are 20,000 bags without owners. The airport authority BAA says the number of misplaced bags is closer to 28,000.

The BA spokeswoman said: “We are throwing resources at this. But as soon as you have bags without their owners there are security issues and it becomes time-consuming.”

BA announced earlier this week that it’s sending thousands of bags to Milan to be sorted out, and the rest to Gatwick, Manchester and Scotland.

Today BA promised that 90% of flights departing from Terminal 5 will be running, and is aiming to get higher during the weekend and early next week.

Flight cancellations are focused on routes with high frequency, so people can be offered alternative flights. There is also the option to re-book a flight or get a refund.

An apology issued by BA said: “Problems developed that were not encountered during the extensive trials. There were problems in car parks, airport areas, computer glitches and the baggage system.”

Ofcom has given its approval for using mobile phones during flights, on condition that European aviation authorities also give permission.

The decision came soon after the first phone call was made from a mobile phone on an Emirates flights, and Australian airline Qantas announced it’s installing mobile technology on all planes on domestic routes.

Mobile phones could be used once the plane reaches the altitude of 3,000 metres. Mobile phones would be connected to a base unit, which will be switched on and off by cabin crew in the correct altitude.
 
Airlines can decide whether or not to use the technology, which still has to be approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency.

The Australian airline Qantas is currently installing the latest technology within all of its domestic planes. This technology will mean that all passengers will be able to send and receive emails and SMS messages via a mobile phone or other electronic devices.

This news has been released shortly after the first mobile phone call was made on an Emirates flight last week. Qantas will be using the same technology as Emirates, which has been developed by AeroMobile.

Qantas first trialed this new mobile technology in Boeing 767-300 plane, between April 2007 and January 2008. “The evaluation of this new technology was a great success. An overwhelming majority of passengers involved in the evaluation indicated they wanted access to inflight connectivity on an ongoing basis,” states the Qantas executive general manager, John Borghetti.

AeroMobile has been able to develop this new technology, which means that passengers can use mobile phones and other electronic devices can be used safely during flight without interfering with the aircraft systems or with the communication network on the ground.

“Customers wanting to send or receive an SMS will require only a GSM phone and a global roaming account, while customers wanting to send or receive emails will need a GPRS enabled device like a Blackberry or an appropriately equipped laptop,” Borghetti added.

Qantas will not initially be allowing passengers to make voice calls on their mobiles. “Voice connectivity is a feature of the technology but will not be activated as part of the new service,” the airline said in part of its statement.

The AeroMobile technology will initially be installed on the Boeing 767-300 and Airbus A330-200 aircraft that are operated within Australia.

Flights to the moon may be available privately to everyone ‘by the end of the 2020s’, a NASA official was heard saying in London yesterday.

Peter Worden, the director of the NASA Ames Research Station in California was yesterday speaking to a group of physics students and faculty at the University of Western Ontario, commented that NASA is reaching its targets to return people to the moon by 2020, which would be the first people up there since 1972.

However, it might not be NASA who are the first ones who reach the moon on a visit. There are around 20 wealthy individuals, as well as companies, from all over the worlds who are expressing an interest in taking their own space flights. “I think (private interests) are going to beat us to the lunar surface,” Worden commented.

These private fliers would not just be astronomy buffs, “it’s NASA’s unstated policy that the moon is available for economic activity,” Worden stated, when answering a question about the legal frontier of space.

It looks quite likely that there will be room for regular people, and not just scientists and astronauts, for trips to the moon. As the ideas of these commercial flights move forward, Worden predicted. “We think we’re at the verge of really interesting private efforts to move forward.”

First class passengers flying to or from London Heathrow airport with Lufthansa can expect first rate treatment. A new personal assistant service has been launched by the German airline to operate on London Heathrow and City airports.

After a successful three month trial period, the airline decided to make the service permanent. Personal assistants will escort passengers from the check-in desk, through the security checks –not waiting in any queues – all the way to the Lufthansa waiting lounge.

When arriving at the airport, a personal assistant will greet passengers at the door of the aircraft and take them through passport checks and customs.

The service is available for all first class passengers as well as the Hon Circle members – who have the highest number of air miles.

“The service offers a new and exclusive benefits for our best and most loyal customers flying out of London, and strengthens our position in the premium segment,” says Marianne Sammann, Lufthansa’s general manager in the UK and Ireland.

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has announced its new environmental target to reduce carbon emissions by 20% by 2020.

As the number of air passengers continues to grow every year, the carbon emissions must be cut efficiently to achieve reductions. One way SAS aims to cut the carbon emissions is mixing jet fuels with renewable sources.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has set a target of zero emissions of harmful greenhouse gases by 2050, and SAS is aiming for to achieve this goal.

SAS is taking other steps to show its concern for the environment; for example by making sure employees’ company cars are environmentally friendly.

Austrian Airlines has finished most of its preparations for next summer’s European Football Championship, 100 days before the games begin.

The airline will be operating much larger aircrafts on its routes as well as increasing the number of flights to and from major destinations. There are also many negotiations going on with tour operators for charter flights.

The catering onboard Austrian aircrafts will be themed to football, and some aircrafts carry special banners on the exterior.

Among the increased flights services, there are plenty of connections to the co-host country, Switzerland, with five daily connections to Geneva and three daily flights to Basle. 

Budget airline Ryanair has announced the launch of 17 new routes from Edinburgh airport, adding to the two existing routes to Dublin and Shannon.

Ryanair will invest £70 million to the expansion in Edinburgh, saying it will create 1,200 jobs. About 100 people will be employed by Ryanair directly at the airport, and another 100 at airport-based services.

Two aircrafts will be based at Edinburgh Airport, Ryanair’s 27th European base, and 1.2 million extra passengers are expected every year thanks to the new routes.

New destinations include Alicante, Berlin, Warsaw, Marseille, Bratislava, Pisa, Stockholm, Krakow, Malaga, Palma, Poznan, and Wroclaw.