General News
Below are links to stories of general interest in relation to aviation and airports.
BMI blames Mid East unrest and rising fuel bills for £105m losses
Date added: 9 August, 2011
Uprisings in the Middle East and Egypt and rising fuel prices have been blamed
for £105 million losses at Castle Donington-based airline BMI. BMI, which employs 527 people at Donington Hall, predicts a "return to profitability"
in the medium term. BMI said it could not answer questions on whether the losses, made in the 1st half of this year, could
affect jobs or flights from East Midlands Airport. The £105 million losses were 29% worse than those in 2010.
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New Rolls-Royce engine test plant may go abroad, leaving Derby, company admits
Date added: 8 August, 2011
Rolls-Royce is in a new row over manufacturing jobs leaving the UK after saying
a new facility for new aircraft engine test-beds is likely to be based in Germany
or the US instead of Derby, its biggest site. This comes a month after Bombardier announced the loss of 1,400 jobs after the
government chose Germany's Siemens for a £1.4bn carriage contract. Unite said
this has potentially long-term implications for Derby's manufacturing base.
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BAA Heathrow faces huge freight bill for athletes’ luggage going by courier jets
Date added: 6 August, 2011
Heathrow plans to send Olympic athletes' luggage by courier jets to avoid a meltdown
in its baggage handling systems after the Games. BAA will "probably" have to foot the bill for Olympians' luggage and are in talks
with private freight firms. The cost is likely to reach ££s millions. DHL quotes
£2000 to send one single scull boat from the UK to Athens. Experts fear travel disruption at London's airports and the Eurostar terminal
at the end of the Games.
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European Commission extends probe into state aid at regional airports
Date added: 6 August, 2011
The EC is upping the number of investigations into possible improper state aid
at regional airports in the 27 member states, and has confirmed it launched in-depth
investigations at Marseille and Frankfurt Hahn. The EC currently is investigating
aid to Wizz Air at Timisoara airport in Romania, aid to infrastructure at the
Leipzig-Halle airport in Germany and aid to Dortmund airport and the airlines
using it. Some subsidies may be distorting competition.
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‘Cheap flights era over’ warns IAG boss Willie Walsh – due to oil price
Date added: 6 August, 2011
Willie Walsh has said consumers must get used to higher ticket prices. Arguing
there had been a "structural shift in the price of oil", he said: "The industry
is going to have to price in $120 oil. As a % of our cost base, it's 32%. For
the low-cost guys it's more like 50%. It is such a big part of an airline's costs
that fares will have to go up." IAG is 50% hedged for the next 12 months at about
$93 per barrel against a current spot price of around $117.
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Ireland backtracks on air tax pledge so the €3 air tax remains
Date added: 5 August, 2011
The Irish government is no longer planning to scrap its €3 air tax. It had been planning to stop charging passengers the levy for flying from Ireland
by October, but the Irish government has not seen enough commitment from airlines to make scrapping
the tax viable. The Irish minister for tourism said any move to cancel the levy was “conditional” on airlines
bringing in more passengers. Ryanair hoped for up to an extra 5m passengers/year.
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Michael O’Leary in Northern Ireland air passenger tax scrapping call
Date added: 4 August, 2011
Michael O'Leary has (yet again) called for air passenger duty in NI to be scrapped. Michael O'Leary, who has clashed with the Republic's transport minister over
air passenger tax there, said it should be abolished across Ireland. Politicians have already called for a cut in the NI rate after Continental Airlines,
which operates between Belfast and New Jersey, said it may have to withdraw because
of the duty.
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Holidays 4 UK: Brighton tour operator collapses – 6th since start of June
Date added: 4 August, 2011
A tour operator with more than 12,000 holidaymakers currently abroad has gone
into administration and would cease operating immediately. Most of its 18 staff
had been made redundant. It also traded as Aegean Flights, and sold packages and flights to Turkey. Travel association ABTA said there were currently 12,800 people abroad with the
company. Six travel companies registered with ABTA have ceased trading since
the start of June.
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India protests EU’s carbon tax on aviation news
Date added: 1 August, 2011
Much after China raised a hue and cry over the EU ETS, India has now come out
shrieking and complaining. India's minster for environment lodged a formal complaint
with the EU last week over the proposed tax, dubbing it an ''unfair'' trade practice. It is estimated the tax will cost India a tleast $1 billion a year and along
with Chinese and American airlines will help Europe rake in $10 billion a year.
India said it would approach the WTO if it isn't withdrawn.
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Can ‘no frills’ work for longer flights? It is heppening in south east Asia
Date added: 28 July, 2011
While it's common to pay a cheap fare for a short flight to a holiday destination,
the thought of forgoing leg room, hot meals and other "frills" for more than a
few hours may not sound as appealing. Yet some airlines are trying to bring the successful short-haul budget model
to longer flights, with the latest entrant in South East Asia being Singapore
Airlines. Others in the Asia Pacific region are doing the same, with the no-frills
airlines attracting most passengers.
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