8 FEBRUARY 2016
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- COMMENT: London City Airport
- AOA dinner
- Average passenger per flight
- BA ladies can wear trousers
- Barcelona and Venice expansion for easyJet
- Black cabs and credit cards
- Cabin crew required
- Cardiff Airport “vital”
- easyFoodstore
- Economy Class food US style
- European airport figures 2015
- Fastjet from Harare and Johannesburg
- Gatwick Pier 5 opens
- Greenwich Heathrow POD
- Hawaii for Virgin America
- Heathrow Renaissance revamped
- In-flight shopping trials
- Mogadishu near disaster
- Passenger loses appeal over flight delays
- Scotland v England
- Vienna House is new hotel brand
- ON TOUR: Motoring and BMW
- MOTORING UPDATE: Kia Sorrento 2.2 CRDI KX-2
- AND FINALLY: Flight attendant lands aircraft
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Cabin crew required
Crewlink, an official training and recruitment partner for Ryanair, is seeking new cabin staff at recruitment days in the UK during February. Successful candidates will have the opportunity to be based at various airports across Europe including UK bases.
Economy Class food US style
The Economy Class snacks on some of Europe’s legacy airlines maybe nothing to write home about, but at least something is served to while away the time and keep the cabin staff busy. That has not been the case with US carriers American and United since 2011 on domestic routes. You got nothing and plenty of chance to complain about leg room and seat backs.
COMMENT: London City Airport
The posturing has started with the proposed sale of London City Airport by its joint owners New York based Global Infrastructure Partners with 75% and Oaktree Capital the balance. The reputed asking price is £2bn, the airport purchased for an estimated £750m in 2006.
AOA dinner
Robert Goodwill (aviation minister) will make the keynote speech at the Airport Operators Association (AOA) dinner on 1 March at London’s Grosvenor House hotel as pressure mounts on the government to confirm a date for a final decision on a new runway for the South East.
BA ladies can wear trousers
British Airways female cabin crew have won a two-year battle for the right to wear trousers, considered by some practical, following a test case ruling.
Barcelona and Venice expansion for easyJet
Last week was a busy one for the UK's largest airline, easyJet, with new bases opening at Venice (number 27) and Barcelona (number 28).
Cardiff Airport “vital”
A leading Welsh think tank says Cardiff and St Athan airports are vital to releasing the economic potential of South Wales and the Cardiff city region.
European airport figures 2015
ACI Europe has published its preliminary airport figures for 2015 which again has Heathrow as the region's busiest airport but also shows most of the continental airports slightly catching up.
Gatwick Pier 5 opens
Caroline Ansell, MP for Eastbourne, has opened Gatwick’s £80m Pier 5, a key part of the North Terminal transformation plan.
Greenwich Heathrow POD
Heathrow Airport Ltd is working in collaboration with Westfield Sportscars, and Oxbotica, to develop new iconic electric automated pods for public trials this summer.
Heathrow Renaissance revamped
Arora Group has completed an impressive £20m refurbishment of the Renaissance Heathrow. It was officially opened by Prince Andrew last Wednesday (3 February).
Scotland v England
The forthcoming AOA annual dinner (see in this issue) may bring to a head a strong disagreement between Scottish airport operators and the major airports in the north of England. At issue is Air Passenger Duty (APD), which all want reduced.
ON TOUR: Motoring and BMW
From time to time BMW/MINI holds a general press day to bring journalists up-to-date on their latest model introductions and enhancements. This is normally the prerogative of our motoring scribe Ted Wilkinson but with him away (on a road test) your editor in chief was pleased to turn out at BMW’s brand new purpose-built UK headquarters near Farnborough Aerodrome. In distant times Malcolm Ginsberg was Press Manager at Lotus Cars and considers himself a motoring buff. Please also see MOTORING UPDATE
AND FINALLY: Flight attendant lands aircraft
The headline might be a little misleading and perhaps it should have said “flight attendant forces aircraft to land”.
Average passenger per flight
Flight data specialist OAG has come up with some fascinating average capacity figures that can be used by any of the five major UK airports to justify arguments.
Black cabs and credit cards
Travelling in one of London's iconic black cabs is about to become easier.
easyFoodstore
A new discount food store, easyFoodstore, has opened on the western side of London’s North Circular Road (A406) in the easy Bus building. This is the latest venture from Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of easyJet.
Fastjet from Harare and Johannesburg
In what is seen as a major step forward Fastjet has expanded its pan-African credentials by launching daily flights linking Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Hawaii for Virgin America
Virgin America is to expand its service to Hawaii with daily nonstop flights from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Honolulu (Oahu) on 5 May and to Kahului on the island of Maui 14 June.
In-flight shopping trials
Thomas Cook Airlines has launched a trial of its own comprehensive pre-order duty-free service for passengers, a pioneering move among UK leisure airlines that means holiday excitement can start up to a month before flying.
Mogadishu near disaster
A wheelchair passenger who boarded a flight in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu may have been a suicide bomber responsible for last Tuesday’s (2 May) explosion that ripped a hole on the side of a Daallo Airlines A321 as it climbed to about 11,000ft when the incident occurred.
Passenger loses appeal over flight delays
Lufthansa has persuaded a US appeals court in Chicago to reject efforts by passengers to hold them liable for delays on multi-leg international flights involving multiple airlines.
Vienna House is new hotel brand
Based in the city of that name Austrian hotel group Vienna International Hotels and Resorts has rebranded as 'Vienna House'.