The Travellers' Friend

Eurostar to offer wi-fi

Travellers Friend — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:27:34 +0000

Eurostar will offer wifi onboard from early next year, as part of the company’s £700m fleet renewal and refurbishment programme. The refurbishment of Eurostar’s existing fleet will begin in September this year, and there will be a progressive roll out of the new-look trains from early 2013. The cost of wifi access has yet to be announced.

BA announces new flights from Gatwick to Las Vegas

Travellers Friend — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:24:03 +0000

British Airways will start flights from Gatwick to Las Vegas from October 29th alongside the existing Heathrow service. From October BA will operate 10 flights a week to Las Vegas.

New service from Birmingham to knock

Travellers Friend — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:21:00 +0000

Aer Lingus Regional will open a new route from Birmingham to Ireland West Airport in Knock with daily services from 11th June. Flights will be operated by Aer Arann

Uncertain future for Gulf Air

Travellers Friend — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:58:34 +0000

Gulf Air is awaiting the result of deliberations in the upper house of Bahrain’s National Assembly after the lower house rejected a government proposal to recapitalise the beleaguered carrier. The proposed bailout of $1.75 billion came after several years of heavy losses which has gradually shrunk the airline over the past two decades as former partner states Abu Dhabi, Oman and Qatar pulled out to set up their own carriers. A GF spokeswoman said it was uncertain when the upper house would deal with the matter.

Hertz to offer electricvehicles in london

Travellers Friend — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:53:09 +0000

Hertz has announced that through its partnership with Vauxhall Motors, customers hiring a vehicle in London will be able to rent the stylish, electric Ampera. The revolutionary vehicle has a sophisticated propulsion system, including an extended range of up to 360 miles. In the car, a hands-free audio kit connects members to an in-house Member Care Centre representative – available 24/7, 365 days a year – should they have questions, need assistance or need to extend their use of the car. In the UK, Hertz operates 16 Source London funded charging points at six locations across Greater London including London Heathrow and London City Airport.

Lufthansa’s new services to Berlin

Travellers Friend — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:48:47 +0000

Lufthansa confirms that its new UK routes to Berlin from Birmingham and Manchester will go ahead as planned on June 3rd but will now operate to and from Tegel airport and not the new Brandenburg facility whose opening has been postponed and will probably not open until 2013. The long-awaited new airport will replace Tegel and Schoenefeld airports, both dating from the Cold War era. The opening of what will be Germany’s third largest airport after Frankfurt and Munich has been postponed once already.

Wizz to operate from Luton to Ljubljana

Travellers Friend — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:42:32 +0000

Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizzair is to launch a three times-weekly route from Luton to the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana from the end of October. Slovenian carrier Adria Airways already operates on the route and Easyjet also flies to Ljubljana from Stansted.

Virgin to withdraw from Kenya

Travellers Friend — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:39:46 +0000

Virgin Atlantic will withdraw services from Heathrow to Nairobi in September, blaming the rising costs of fuel, Air Passenger Duty (APD) and the “challenging economic environment”. Virgin Atlantic launched to Nairobi in 2007. The last flights will operate from Heathrow on September 23 and from Nairobi on September 24.

Passengers win and airlines lose in European Court ruling

Travellers Friend — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:33:36 +0000

Airlines suffered a blow to their attempts to limit compensation to passengers for lengthy flight delays in a ruling by a senior European Court of Justice official. Advocate-General Yves Bot ruled against British Airways, easyJet, Tui Travel, Lufthansa and IATA and in favour of passengers in a judgment sought by the High Court in London and a court in Cologne. Passengers on flights delayed three hours or more should be treated as though the flight was cancelled and entitled to compensation of up to euro600 (£500), according to Bot. The ruling is not-binding on the UK but national courts frequently decide in line with such decisions from Europe. Airlines’ concerns at the costs of passenger compensation were heightened when they were forced to pay out following the six-day shutdown of European airspace by volcanic ash in April 2010.

Flybe drops route from Bristol

Travellers Friend — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:26:22 +0000

Flybe is dropping its Belfast City Airport to Bristol route from 10 June. The airline said passenger levels were at unsustainable levels on the route. It said those wanting to go from Belfast City to the south west of England still had the option of flights into Exeter or Cardiff. The move comes after BMI Baby announced it was pulling out of Belfast City Airport altogether.