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Gatwick airport news - March, 2008 |
Following a stint of 50 days at her majesty’s pleasure, Anthony Delaney has Judge Richard Hayward to thank for his new found freedom from Wandsworth Prison.
For the past four years, the 43 year old, unemployed chef has used the south terminal at London’s Gatwick Airport as his home, despite court orders banning him from doing so.
He admitted breaching the court order three times at Lewes Crown Court, telling the court he liked to stay there as it meant he could be clean, dry and warm. The only reason he ever left the terminal was in order to pick up his jobseeker’s allowance.
Judge Hayward told Mr Delaney he found it somewhat difficult to comprehend why he cannot find a job in his trained field, with so many food establishments in the area and encouraged him to return to work and find somewhere new to live.
However, the homeless Mr Delaney did not seem convinced when, upon leaving the court room, he told reporters he was tempted to return to the airport, saying
‘I've no money for food or even bed and breakfast. I'm on the streets. I'm back to the same position that put me in the airport in the first place. It's Friday afternoon, the job centre will be closed, it's raining and I have nowhere to stay.'
Sentencing in the case has been postponed until August.
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A government proposal to use 540 miles of motorway hard shoulder as a toll lane is currently under review.
The proposed new tolls could lead to motorists facing a £5 charge to travel to Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Congestion hotspots, including London-bound sections of the M3, M4, M23 and M20 and perhaps even the M25, are being targeted within the plans unveiled by the Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly.
The scheme has been slammed by motorist groups as a possible opportunity to introduce a road pricing scheme that will charge up to £1.34 a mile but, warning of gridlock if the Government fails to act on growing traffic jams, Ms Kelly added: "There is a compelling argument for car-share or charged lanes, which have been used for some time in the US.”
Plans for each of the motorways are being drawn up over the next nine months.
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Ferry travel is getting a welcome boost in its numbers as a result of the recent turmoil being experienced at Britain’s airports. Latest figures provided by the Passenger Shipping Association show a climb of some 419,000 journeys over 2006, with nearly 43 million passenger ferry journeys being taken between British ports and the continent, Ireland and British islands last year.
The ongoing chaos at airports, continued strike threats, missing luggage and increasing airline charges are considered to be some of the reasons contributing to travellers switching to ferries as their proposed mode of transport.
Bill Gibbons, PSA Director comments ‘Travellers who vote with their feet and switch to ferry travel are finding a radically different experience. They can take their own car, as much luggage as they like, enjoy shorter check-in times and can stroll around ferry ships that have seen multi-million pound investments that are equal to modern cruise ships.’
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In April 2008 compulsory fingerprinting will be in place at London Gatwick Airport. The ruling will also be in place in Manchester Airport and Heathrow’s Terminal 1 and recently opened, Terminal 5.
At check-in, before passing through security, all passengers will be photographed, plus they will have to give four fingerprints, on a pad, at a dedicated fingerprint station. In addition, the same process will be repeated before boarding the aircraft to ensure the same passenger who has checked in is boarding the plane. For extra precautions Airport staff will also be checking passenger photographs against the actual passenger.
Such rules have been in place on domestic flights at Gatwick Airport since the beginning of February this year. Both Manchester Airport and Heathrow’s Terminal 1 will also follow suit later this year. Airport authorities say that such biometric checks are essential as International and domestic passengers are not separated in these terminals.
It is anticipated that approximately 4 million domestic passengers will pass through Heathrow Terminal 5 each year and as such, to ensure the tightest of security measures are in place, such qualifying of checking in and boarding passengers is necessary.
Nevertheless, civil liberty campaigners have issued concerns regarding the possibility of security agencies accessing personal data. Dr Gus Hosein, from the London School of Economics, who is an expert on the effects of technologies on civil liberties, says, “The UK is the only Country in the World that requires internal passengers to be fingerprinted. BAA states the fingerprint data will be destroyed, but the records of passengers within the Country will not be.”
However, says BAA, “the move is necessary to stop terrorist, immigrants and criminals travelling over border controls”. The scheme which means criminals, terrorist and immigrants arriving on International flights cannot swap boarding passes with domestic passengers, approved by the Home Office, was therefore confirmed. Data will be destroyed after 24 hours of a passenger travelling, and that no data would be passed onto the Police.
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Of all UK airports, London Gatwick has had the largest increase in passengers according to a report issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Passenger numbers at Gatwick rose to 35.2 million – almost double of that of Europe’s busiest airport, Heathrow, which saw passenger increases of 513,000.
However, overall the number of passengers travelling from UK airports in 2007 increased by just 2.4%, to 241 million, the slowest rise seen over the last decade.
Gatwick, Heathrow and London’s three other main airports (Luton, Stansted and London City) handled 58% of all UK flights. An increase in passengers travelling through London’s terminals rose by 2.8 million throughout the year.
Regional airport travel increased by 2.9%, handling 101 million passengers. However, Manchester Airport saw the largest fall in passengers, handling just 21.9 million, over 232,000 less than the previous year. Such regional airports are offering and developing a better range of facilities and services. Currently, nine regional airports fly more than five million passengers each year, equating to nearly one third of all of the UK’s air travellers. Another nine regional airports carry another one million passengers between them each year.
Airport landings and take-offs saw a rise by 1.8% to 2.5 million – London City Airport seeing the largest growth rate, up by 15.9%. Whilst Docklands Airport now handles over 2% of all London air travellers, it’s fourth consecutive increase.
Poland saw the largest increase of passengers travelling to and from the Country, up by over 30%, followed by Italy at 6% and Spain at 1.8%. Whilst Ireland saw the largest fall of travellers, which fell by 0.8%.
Europe remains the most popular continent in 2007 with over 139 million passengers travelling there. Following a decline in 2006, North American saw 22.4 million passengers travel there in 2007. In addition, Australasia and the Middle East saw the largest growth in passenger numbers.
Over 25 million passengers travelled domestically within the UK, which is a 1.9% decline against travellers in 2006. Charter airlines also see a decrease in passenger numbers over recent years, a 4.6% fall in 2007 against 2006 statistics.
121.3 million passengers travelled on UK scheduled flights, just over half of all passengers at UK airports in 2007, with 57.7 million passengers travelling on EU airlines and 29.5 million travelling on non-EU airlines.
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Gatwick Airport customs officers discovered three women, travelling from Cardiff, smuggling approximately £300,000 of cocaine in their suitcases, into the UK from Africa.
The three women were stopped by customs officers after arousing suspicion in the ‘nothing to declare’ channel who thought their cases seemed unusually heavy. A field test then revealed hints of cocaine in all three cases. A more intensive search revealed six kilos of said drugs at 100% purity, hidden in false compartments.
The three women pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court and as a result Rebecca Thomas, 25, was jailed for ten years; Narzel Georges, 23, five years and her sister Delisha Georges, 20, four years.
Prosecutor Alexander Mills commented that the three women, who all live in the Grangetown area of Cardiff, travelled back into the UK on 7th September following ten days in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Mr Mills said, “When interviewed, Miss Thomas said she and the sisters had been asked by a man named Rowlands to collect diamonds in the Country and that each would receive £3,000. After being taken to a hotel, and staying for ten days, a man called Alpha brought them three new suitcases. They then left the hotel on their own.”.
Judge Recorder Richard Merz said to the women, “This situation is tragic for both you and your families. However, if the drugs had found their way into the market there would have also been tragic consequences for the consumers.”.
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Europe’s leading low-cost airline, easyJet, has launched its ‘Speedy Boarding’ membership card scheme, easyJet Plus.
The scheme allows members unlimited Speedy Boarding on all flights without the need to make a reservation.
Members of the easyJet Plus scheme will receive a credit card sized membership card which they simply present at check-in and the boarding gate. At selected airports members can also take advantage of the priority check-in service Speedy Boarding Plus.
Membership is priced at £75 per year and is available to buy at easyJetplus.com. Frequent flyers will reap the benefits and it is estimated that savings will be made after just five return flights.
Other such membership schemes are being considered by the airline, including deals on travel insurance, discounted car hire and special rate hotels.
easyJet Product Development Manager, Peter Gerstle, says of the new service, “easyJet Plus is the very latest in our exciting product offering from easyJet with the aim to make life easier for our passengers. easyJet Plus means that passengers will receive discounted Speedy Boarding each and every time they fly, saving time and money.”.
For further information on easyJet Plus, or to buy online visit www.easyJetplus.com |
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