The accidental transport secretary turns his sights on planes and trains June 15, 2010 IT wasn’t meant to be like this. If the Tories had won an outright majority on 7 May, Philip Hammond would have gone to the Treasury as chief secretary and implemented the toughest spending cuts in a generation. As part of the coalition agreement, however, he had to step aside for a Liberal Democrat and [...]
The accidental transport secretary turns his sights on planes and trains June 15, 2010 IT wasn’t meant to be like this. If the Tories had won an outright majority on 7 May, Philip Hammond would have gone to the Treasury as chief secretary and implemented the toughest spending cuts in a generation. As part of the coalition agreement, however, he had to step aside for a Liberal Democrat and [...]
Euro flights grounded by looming ash May 9, 2010 FLIGHTS into and from mainland Europe faced disruptions yesterday after the ash cloud emanating from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano continued to threaten air safety. Airports in Italy, Spain and Portugal faced a slew of weekend closures as authorities continued to report thick ash concentration between the ground and 20,000 feet in the air, grounding hundreds of [...]
BA and Iberia sign merger agreement April 8, 2010 BRITISH Airways and Iberia have signed a merger agreement that will see the two carriers launch a new company called International Airlines. The merger is expected to be complete by November this year and has received approval from local aviation authorities but awaits both European Commission and shareholder approval. BA and Iberia will create a [...]
EasyJet passenger figures hit as ash cloud chaos takes its toll on airlines May 7, 2010 EasyJet today revealed the true cost of the volcanic ash cloud which grounded planes for six days and left the airline industry reeling. The budget carrier had 3.49m passengers last month – down 7.6 per cent on April last year. The figure was also under the 4.3m expected before the eruption in Iceland. The spread [...]
BA faced with triple dose of misfortune May 16, 2010 WILLIE WALSH, British Airways (BA) chief executive, is facing a trio of threats to the airline’s business during the same week it is expected to report over £600m in losses for the 2009 financial year. According to analysts, BA will report before tax losses of £613m when it publishes its 2009 financial results at the [...]
Volcanic ash cost Heathrow and Stansted £28m in losses April 29, 2010 AIRPORTS operator BAA took a £28m one-off hit from the six-day flight disruption caused by the Icelandic volcano. The group, which owns six airports in the UK including Heathrow and Stansted, said despite the impact of the volcanic ash, which forced them to close both London airports, it remained financially resilient. First quarter figures for [...]
BA deal with Iberia misses its deadline March 31, 2010 BRITISH Airways (BA) and Spanish carrier Iberia have missed their merger deadline after the two said they were still ironing out technicalities in the agreement. The merger, which was scheduled to complete by the end of the first quarter, has been delayed by days as both airlines attempt to resolve some minor differences in the [...]
Benitez quit rumours still rife despite fresh agent claims May 4, 2010 RAFAEL BENITEZ’S future as manager of Liverpool remained under scrutiny last night despite the Spaniard’s agent insisting he wants to stay at Anfield. Just weeks after suggesting Benitez was ready to join Juventus, Manuel Garcia Quilon now says the 50-year-old is committed to working with any new owners to revive the club’s fortunes. Those comments [...]
BA execs walk free as cartel case collapses May 10, 2010 CRIMINAL price-fixing and cartel proceedings against three former British Airways (BA) executives and one current one have been dropped. Yesterday morning Justice Owen directed a jury at the Southwark Crown Court to acquit Alan Burnett, Iain Burns, Martin George and Andrew Crawley of BA of price-fixing charges. The decision came after the Office of Fair [...]