Gatwick airport news - January, 2008

11th January, 2008 -Rock fans - it’s cool to plane spot !

It’s now become ‘pretty damn cool’ to plane spot, according to rock band Iron Maiden. A plane, which has been hired to British Airways, has been painted with the bands name on the site and the tail fin with a very graphic image.

The band’s official website posted the following news item:

“It was always slightly less nerdy than train spotting, but now plane spotting just became pretty damn cool. “Bruce has already flown it to Krakow and Vana, Bulgaria before xmas. It's on the BA European routes, but also flying from Gatwick to Manchester and Birmingham.“The plane still needs it's name, and maybe a little more artwork, but other than that everything's ready to go and Maiden depart the UK on January 30th.”

Fans of Iron Maiden can visit the official website (www.ironmaiden.com) to see pictures of the plane, and can also submit their own plane spotting photos.

11th January, 2008 - New routes from Gatwick and Manchester for Monarch

Monarch is adding 3 new routes to its Gatwick and Manchester networks this summer.

Both Gatwick Airport and Manchester will fly to Larnaca in Cyprus, increasing the airlines scheduled flights to Cyprus to up to 14 a week, when Luton also increase their flights in the summer.

Gatwick Airport’s other new route will be to Menorca. With flights currently operating out of Luton, Birmingham and Manchester, the new route will mean Monarch will offer more than 140,000 seat to the popular holiday destination.

11th January, 2008 - One bag or two?

Despite the Government relaxing the restrictions of hand luggage across 22 airports from 7 January, easyJet, Ryanair and Flybe have announced that they intend to maintain the limit of one item per person.

Airports such as Belfast, Bristol, Luton and easyJet’s largest UK base, Gatwick Airport, have not yet been given permission, as the Department for Transport require proof that they are able to cope with extra bags without comprising security.

However, transport spokesman for the Conservatives in the European Parliament, Tim Kirkhope, said the move was a recipe for confusion, commenting: “Allowing some passengers to carry more than one bag on board and not others has created a ridiculous disparity. The situation is plain daft and very confusing for passengers now facing a hodgepodge of rules and restrictions. We need one consistent policy across the EU.”

At Gatwick Airport, the one bag restriction no longer applies for connecting flights through the South Terminal, but remains until 11 February for connecting flights through the North Terminal while the engineering works are carried out.

It is suggested that you check with the airline you are flying with as to what their policy is on hand luggage.