Mayday: Year from hell in aviation as empty flights crash-land by staggering 71 per cent from pre-pandemic levels December 29, 2021 Covid-related travel restrictions led to a 71 per cent reduction in the number of international flights to and from UK airports this year compared with pre-pandemic levels, new analysis shows. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said around 406,060 international flights served UK airports during 2021 up to December 22, compared with 1,399,170 in the pre-pandemic period [...]
British Airways owner IAG moves to terminate takeover agreement with Air Europa December 15, 2021 IAG, the aviation giant that owns British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus, has moved to back-track on its takeover of Spanish airline Air Europa, bringing down shares by 4.59 per cent to 126.48p. The BA owner this morning said “discussions are at an advanced stage to terminate the agreement signed on 4 November 2019” whereby [...]
BA restarts Gatwick operations, selling tickets for short-haul subsidiary December 14, 2021 British Airways (BA) announced today it will restart flying from Gatwick from March 2022, selling tickets for 35 destinations that will be part of its short-haul subsidiary British Airways*’s operations. Created to compete with the likes of Easyjet and Ryanair, the subsidiary company will begin to operate as a standalone business from August, with BA [...]
British Airways slashes 2,000 flights until end of March December 7, 2021 British Airways (BA) has reportedly slashed around 2,000 flights, removing them from its schedules until the end of March. The flights were cancelled between 26 November and 3 December, but appear to be unrelated to the UK Government’s decision to re-introduce mandatory pre-departure and day 2 PCR tests, aviation news site Simple Flying reported. According [...]
BA first airline to use sustainable fuels from next year December 3, 2021 British Airways (BA) will become the world’s first airline to use sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) produced on a commercial scale in the UK for its flights starting from 2022. The carrier entered yesterday a multi-year supply agreement with US energy company Phillips 66 to use SAFs produced at the Humber refinery, the company’s factory in [...]
Business travel equilibrium unclear to everyone, Virgin Atlantic boss says December 1, 2021 Virgin Atlantic’s chief executive Shai Weiss believes business travel forecasts are still very unclear to all airlines, because of the pandemic’s unpredictable nature and the consequent measures taken by governments to curb the spread of the virus. Speaking on a panel at London’s World Aviation Festival today, Weiss stated that despite seeing a recovery of [...]
Ex British Airways boss slams tougher Omicron travel rules as ‘knee-jerk decision’ as UK firms worry about Christmas November 29, 2021 Former British Airways boss Willie Walsh has dubbed countries’ tighter quarantine and testing rules as a “knee-jerk decision”, after concerns over the new Omicron Covid variant. Walsh, who used to head the airline group International Airlines Group, said the new rules imposed “a massive financial damage to the tourism and airline industry.” “It’s clear that [...]
British Airways suspends flights to Hong Kong after crew members sent to quarantine November 28, 2021 British Airways has suspended flights to Hong Kong as it has been reported more crew members have been forced into government quarantine. The airline said it had temporarily halted flights while it reviewed “operational requirements” for the route. It would be in touch with customers who had planned trips to Hong Kong, “to give them [...]
Watch: Travelers and airline crew ecstatic as first UK to US take off from Heathrow November 25, 2021 The US reopened its borders to international flights on Monday, offering joy for travelers and hope for hard-pressed airlines. Watch the full report.
Aviation recovery on its way, BA’s owner assures November 23, 2021 Luis Gallego, chief executive of British Airways’ (BA) owner IAG, is convinced aviation recovery will get back to pre-pandemic levels by 2023, as a result of the easing of air travel restrictions and the opening of transatlantic travel. Speaking yesterday at the Airlines UK conference in Westminster, Gallego revealed that “transatlantic bookings have reached almost [...]