OPTIONS FOR LONDON AIRPORT EXPANSION January 18, 2012 Expansion of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted For: the government’s three main airports will be full by 2030 and Heathrow is already near to capacity. Expansion would provide a significant economic boost, estimated at £7bn a year at Heathrow alone, and help Britain to remain internationally competitive. Against: people living near all three airports say expansion [...]
Struggling to choose a luxury car? Then ask the dealer for a holiday March 29, 2012 BUYERS of luxury cars are faced with more choice than ever before. To differentiate themselves, the car companies have started offering something extra to entice would-be customers. Most of the big luxury car marques offer driving trips to their customers, giving them the chance to tour a variety of stunning locations in their new car. [...]
Tokyo is vast, fast and very interesting May 27, 2012 IT was about 7AM and the sun from my windows was beginning to wake me up. With my room on the 35th floor of a tower in the business district of Tokyo, the view of the endless city was so intense that drawing my curtains – even while I slept – seemed a waste. I [...]
Ryanair traffic dips after fuel cost grounds planes January 5, 2012 RYANAIR suffered a five per cent drop in passenger numbers in December compared to last year, after it grounded up to 80 aircraft to offset higher fuel costs. But the low-cost carrier’s annual traffic has risen 5.1 per cent to 76.4m in spite of the bigger-than-usual stoppages. Ryanair’s load factor, a measure of how many [...]
IAG seals bmi takeover December 22, 2011 British Airways owner IAG announced a deal to buy German rival Lufthansa’s UK unit bmi for £172.5m in cash, and said jobs would go as part of an urgently-needed restructuring of the loss-making carrier. Lufthansa has the option of selling the airline’s ‘bmi regional’ and ‘bmibaby’ units before the deal completes, and IAG will pay [...]
Beaches and barristers in the sunny Bahamas April 22, 2012 An architectural oddity in the middle of Nassau’s Parliament Square screams out for your attention. The octagonal library and city museum is painted pale pink (like all the important buildings in The Bahamas’ capital). I climb up creaky steps to the first floor and admire paintings of Nassau dashed off by ships’ artists in the [...]
Miners fuel FTSE gains as Fed eyes growth January 26, 2012 The FTSE was boosted by the US Federal Reserve’s promise to keep interest rates – and therefore bond yields – ultra-low for the next couple of years while positive results from miners also contributed to gains. Fed chief Ben Bernanke said that it may consider further monetary easing and would keep rates near zero until [...]
Virgin wades back into the fight for BMI December 12, 2011 VIRGIN Atlantic has muscled into the auction for BMI, a month after British Airways parent IAG agreed to buy the airline. Lufthansa, which owns BMI, said yesterday it has also reached an agreement in principle to sell the carrier Virgin, stressing that its deal with IAG had not been exclusive. Virgin, which has shown interest [...]
Virgin wades back into the fight for BMI December 12, 2011 VIRGIN Atlantic has muscled into the auction for BMI, a month after British Airways parent IAG agreed to buy the airline. Lufthansa, which owns BMI, said yesterday it has also reached an agreement in principle to sell the carrier Virgin, stressing that its deal with IAG had not been exclusive. Virgin, which has shown interest [...]
Art, history and pampering in New England’s capital February 12, 2012 Boston: the genteel city of academia, tea parties, clam chowder, Matt Damon, and for me at least, electric eels. I had come to Boston on a long weekend – a bit of sales shopping, sight-seeing and relaxing in this history-steeped city. Yet also to confirm something that had been a bit of a mystery for [...]