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Gatwick airport news - August, 2008 |
Despite the cut of many flights recently due to high airline fuel costs, easyJet have today announced a new route to commence on 13 December between Gatwick and Salzburg in Austria.
Ready for the start of the Ski season, the flight will operate 3 times a week and is expected to see more than 16,000 passengers use the service. bringing the total number of easyJet flights from Gatwick to 50.
easyJet’s UK General Manager Commercial commented, “Salzburg is another exciting destination to add to easyJet's Gatwick network. We expect the route to be popular with passengers seeking both a city break away or a great ski destination for those looking to hit the slopes this winter.
He went on to say, “easyJet has more flights to the snow from Gatwick this winter than any other airline and Salzburg joins other popular ski destinations such as Geneva, Innsbruck, Lyon and Sofia.”
easyJet now operates 50 routes out of Gatwick airport. |
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Monarch had cause to celebrate recently after a record month in July. On their scheduled flights, they carried nearly 460,000 passengers - the highest in any one month.
Monarch surmised that it was after their recent launch of new routes from Gatwick and Manchester airports to Larnaca, and Gatwick to Menorca that helped increase passenger numbers. However they didn’t show any comparison against last years figures, or make any statement regarding reports of a financial collapse come the winter.
In total, Monarch’s scheduled and chartered services carried 826,815 passengers in July this year. |
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If you’re travelling to Greece, Turkey or Menorca this Autumn, Thomson are offering self catering studio’s and one bedroom apartments from £14 a week. All accommodation is either 2 or 3 star, and offer luxury shared swimming pools and are located close to the beach.
easyJet, Ryanair and other budget airlines have even joined the bandwagon by offering lower price flights to some of the destinations on offer.
A spokesman for Thomson said, “Like all businesses, we occasionally run targeted marketing initiatives to promote small pockets of availability. While this is a genuine offer which some of our customers will benefit from, it is a one-off promotion to promote a few selected hotels and is in no way indicative of current trading for the group or overall market.”
It could be the start of a holiday price war, as it has been reported that other holiday firms are also beginning to lower their prices for an Autumn getaway. |
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British Airways have announced they are to cut flights between London and Glasgow this winter, after a huge drop in profits due to the high fuel prices.
Gatwick Airport will lose 210 of its return services from the winter schedule, that’s almost 25% of flights, and Heathrow will lost 77 return flights, a 6% drop. This means that services between Glasgow and the 2 London airports will fall by an average of about 10 flights a week, with some connection flights also be affected.
As always, the disruption to these services is being planned so that it has as little impact on passengers as possible, but travellers have already hit back with comments that it will cause confusion.
A BA spokesman said that they would be still be offering approximately 5 flights a day to Gatwick and 9 to Heathrow, with the daily services to London City still unaffected.
With landing slots at London airports worth tens of millions of pounds each due to huge demand, BA are spreading the cuts across the winter timetable rather than specific flights in order to keep them, as they must be used at least 80% of the time.
Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: “We have already raised concerns that Scotland's flights to London's airports seem expendable ahead of all others. It's worrying that BA appears to be pulling in its horns with a bit of jiggery pokery. These complex proposals seem to guarantee their landing slots without guaranteeing passengers the present level of service." |
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Despite the lack of proof, it has always been thought that mobile phones can cause interference on planes. But this ban took a step closer to being banished after communications watchdog Ofcom gave the all clear on their use on aircraft.
Passengers will still be required to have their phones turned off at takeoff and landing, but once at 3,000 metres you’ll be able to hear “I’m on the plane!” up and down the aisle. Ofcom did have a few concerns though, one being the hefty cost of making or receiving a call whilst in the air, so they would take steps to make sure “consumers understand the costs of making calls from aircraft”.
They also said that “concerns about passenger welfare and the potential for discomfort, anti-social behaviour and air rage” were up to the airlines to decide how to deal with, and suggested perhaps ‘quiet zones’ should be used or only allowing passengers to use the phones at certain times.
There would need to be a certain amount of security clearance in place, as phones have been used to trigger bombs in the past. The European Commission, Civil Aviation Authority and other safety regulators are yet to give their approval. |
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Gatwick Airport is to be among one of the UK airports considered to be forced to introduce fingerprinting of all passengers, as confirmed by the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA).
In an effort to increase security, this introduction to fingerprinting would only be implemented at airports that have departure lounges accessible to domestic and international passengers, such as Heathrow’s Terminal 1 and 5, Gatwick, and Manchester.
A spokesman for the UK Border Agency (UKBA) told the Times: “If airports mix domestic and international passengers then we will consider requiring fingerprint checks to maintain security. But if airports decide to have joint departure lounges it's up to them, not UKBA, to satisfy the Information Commissioner that the right data protection is in place.”
BIA is concerned that in these ‘common departure lounges’ any incoming international passenger, for instance a terrorist or criminal, could swap their ticket with their partner in crime on a domestic flight. That would then allow the passenger to travel anywhere else in Britain and come into the country without going through immigration.
The plans have always faced intense opposition from Britain’s privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner. Earlier this year, they forced BAA to scrap a similar plan at Heathrow Terminals 1 & 5, arguing that it was illegal under the Data Protection Act. However, BAA wants fingerprinting to come to fruition, as all passengers will then be able to get through to the airside shops, where it receives a percentage of turnover.
At present, airports with common terminals photograph passengers as they go through security, with their identities checked again at departure gates, but the Home Office believes that this is not enough and security needs to be tightened. |
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Gatwick Airport will bear the burden of cutbacks this winter, when British Airways cuts its shorthaul flights by 20% due to the high aviation fuel costs, following in the footsteps of easyJet and Ryanair.
The disruption in these flights is set to cause leisure travellers the most problems, with many of the departures to popular European shorthaul destinations being cancelled. However, the airline insists that business travellers will not be affected.
Martin Broughton, BA’s chairman, said that the airline is “up to its neck in perhaps the biggest crisis the aviation industry has ever known.” A spokesperson for BA also commented, “We’re planning to implement the cuts in a way that will have the least effect on passengers. If, for example, we cut a flight from Heathrow, we will make sure there’s an alternative departure from Gatwick, and we’ll be trying not to cancel the last flight of the day from anywhere.”
BA will release details of the cuts next month, but it is thought that 5% will go on departures. Price increases on BA fares are also expected to rise by about 4%, either through surcharges or fare increases, despite consolidation.
The ski season is more likely to be affected by airlines making cuts (BA 5%, easyJet 12%, and Ryanair 20%), with less flights and higher prices to the snowy climates. |
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