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Gatwick airport news - December, 2008 |
Monarch announces that it is to increase the number of scheduled flights it operates for 2009. The new flights, departing from Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham airports will fly to the Canary and Balearic Islands. It is the first phase in its increased flights, which will expand again in May to Menorca, Tenerife and Lanzarote.
Liz Savage, Managing Director of Monarch Airlines says: “With the withdrawal and closure of many airlines during 2008 we have seen strong demand for our summer 2009 routes, in particular the Spanish Islands.”
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Which? Holiday Magazine has revealed that passengers of budget airlines pay almost half as much for their food and drink as they do for the cost of their flight.
Which? took the cost of the refreshments an adult might purchase onboard a Ryanair flight, which is reported to charge the most for food and drink; which consisted of a sandwich, a small packet of Pringles, sparkling mineral water, a cup of coffee and a small bottle of red wine, which added up to £16.05 - the price of an average single ticket.
Flybe came second in the table for the most expensive in-flight food - the same food bill totaling £11.95. bmibaby were the cheapest with the same bill coming in at £10.50.
Which? Holiday Magazine Editor, Lorna Cowan says: “It’s hard to believe that with the cost of flights often being so low, that they can charge so much for their food and drink. Our advice is that passengers buy the refreshments they require when they are in the Departure Lounge.”
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Gatwick Airport was forced to close its runway for several hours on 11th December due to severe ice and snow. Disrupting several thousand passengers, flights were transferred to Heathrow, Stansted and Luton.
As a result, it is reported that Virgin Atlantic will be deferring Gatwick’s next payment, in which it is said to have cost the airline £100,000.
Sir Richard Branson, President of Virgin Atlantic, said: “It is highly incompetent for an airport operator to fail to predict such cold weather, with no de-icing fluid on standby. Thousands of our passengers have been disrupted and, whilst our teams looked after our customers, offering refunds and hotel rooms, our costs increased sharply. BAA will have to pick up these costs as it created the problem in the first place.”
It is also thought that other airlines will take similar action to that of Virgin Atlantic.
The closure meant that the incoming easyJet and BA flights were forced to land at other airports across the South East; including Heathrow, Stansted, Luton, Bournemouth, and also Manston Airport in Kent. Such diversions also lead to additional delays as a result of repositioning aircraft.
An easyJet spokesman, Andrew McConnell, spoke to The Times, saying: “BAA were the only organisation in the South East that didn’t know about the bad weather last night. It’s disgraceful.”
A spokesperson for BA said: “With sophisticated weather forecasting at an airport like Gatwick, it still took them four hours to clear the runway. There are established procedures for bad weather circumstances like this.”
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The rapid rail service that runs between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria, the Gatwick Express, extends to the South coast’s Brighton station from 15th December.
This new route will operate 6 times a day Monday - Friday during peak hours of the morning and evening, replacing 3 of the existing Southern services from Brighton to Victoria. This new service is to run as a complementary service to the current South coast services that run to the capital.
The extension to Brighton relieves congestion on the busy South coastline, providing many additional seats to the capital in just one hour and ten minutes.
“Linking the UK’s second largest airport to one of our most cosmopolitan seaside towns will provide an enhanced rail service to and from the airport for both local residents and tourists.” Managing Director of South and the Gatwick Express, Chris Burchell says.
Express trains will continue to run non-stop between Gatwick and Victoria, which takes just 30 minutes.
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BAA, owner of Gatwick Airport, officially begins the auction of Gatwick Airport, following the Competition Commission’s decision to enforce the sale of two London airports and one Scottish airport. The Sales Prospectus will be issued to potential bidders, The Guardian newspaper reports.
Several consortium groups are said to be interested in the purchase of Gatwick Airport, including a British based group led by Virgin Atlantic and 3 by Canadian based groups; one reportedly the Vancouver Airports Authority, 3i and the Canadian Pension Funds. Other groups are said to include Middle Eastern Sovereign Wealth Funds.
By the end of 2008 the Competition Commission will have released its proposals that call an end to what it calls ‘BAA’s monopoly in the South East and Scotland’.
Whilst BAA have set the ball in motion to sell its Gatwick operation, it is said to be prepared to strongly contest the sale of Stansted and a Scottish operation.
It is expected that the first stage bidding will commence in January 2009.
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Ryanair have this week announced the launch of their new route to Dusseldorf, Weeze, from Gatwick Airport from 7th January 2009. This route brings the Ryanair schedule from Gatwick to 6 following the budget airline’s recent launch of its new Gatwick to Barcelona (Girona) and Alicante routes.
The expansion of routes comes as a result of many airlines ceasing operation from Gatwick, which frees up air space for Ryanair. The Dusseldorf route has been transferred from Stansted, where it originally operated from, as a result of high costs from the airport, in which Ryanair plans to reduce its offering by 20%.
“Thanks to the collapse of a number of higher fare airlines, we have been able to guarantee lowest airfare, and now fuel surcharges, to even more Gatwick passengers.” Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara says. “Our new European routes challenge traditional, high cost airlines that operate from Gatwick. Ryanair offers passengers a real choice, combined with low fares.”
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It is reported that Manchester Airports Group (MAG) are to join Virgin Atlantic’s £2.5bn consortium bid for Gatwick Airport.
MAG made known their interest in the bidding of BAA’s airports following the Competition Commission’s decision that forces BAA into selling two London airports and one Scottish airport. MAG currently own Manchester, East Midlands, Humberside and Bournemouth airports.
Virgin’s consortium is currently in discussions with Goldman Sachs’ over its finance bid, which is also said to include budget airline easyJet.
BAA, which in an attempt to pre-empt the Competition Commission’s decision, have put Gatwick up for sale, which it hopes to sell by the middle of 2009.
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