21 MAY 2018
YOUR WORDS
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- COMMENT: Airport safety - a bridge too far?
- Airport merry go round
- BALPA hails easyJet training move
- Cathay Dragon on the up
- CityJet recruitment drive
- Flybe fleet decision
- Gatwick high-tech bag drop
- Heathrow ‘Connects’ to western London
- Highways in the sky
- Jet Airways heads North
- Ken Cook
- Loganair Inverness boost
- Manchester – Addis Ababa
- MH370 ‘a criminal event’
- More flights for St Helena
- New record for Heathrow
- RAF Museum on show
- Raffles heads for Boston
- Shake-up on the trains
- Tryp Fort Lauderdale
- Vegas switch for Virgin
- ON TOUR: Indonesia by cruise ship
- AND FINALLY: LNER returns
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Flybe fleet decision
With CEO Christine Ourmières-Widener set to address the Aviation Club on 7 June (BTN 14 May), Flybe last week laid out its future fleet plans, with the Bombardier Q400 destined for a central role.
Ken Cook
Ken Cook, a doyen of the PR department from the time British Airways led the way in communicating with the media, has passed away.
Loganair Inverness boost
Lobbying by Scotland’s business community led to a decision by Loganair to inaugurate its new year-round three-times-weekly service between Inverness and Bergen, the carrier said last week.
Please note that Monday 28 May is a Bank Holiday in the UK. BTN will of course be be published as normal.
COMMENT: Airport safety - a bridge too far?
The Airport Operators Association (AOA) has just concluded its third annual UK Airports Safety Week, an initiative supported by the Civil Aviation Authority, designed to make everyone working at airports aware of the hazards posed by moving aircraft and passengers around.
Airport merry go round
Neil Garwood was confirmed last week as the new managing director of Southampton Airport.
BALPA hails easyJet training move
A call for airlines and the government to do more to help to ease the pilot shortage was made last week by the pilots’ union, BALPA, as it welcomed an easyJet initiative to help with training costs.
Cathay Dragon on the up
New services are being introduced by regional airline Cathay Dragon to Davao City on 28 October and Medan the following day as the Cathay Pacific Group continues to grow its network.
Gatwick high-tech bag drop
The UK’s first trial of end-to-end biometrics – where personal data collected at an airport’s self-service bag drops will be recognised by new automated self-boarding gates – is under way at Gatwick.
Highways in the sky
The world’s 20 busiest international routes each have an average of more than 35 daily scheduled airline frequencies, and on the busiest, between Kuala Lumpur – Singapore, as many as 84 each day, according to the latest OAG survey.
Jet Airways heads North
Hard on the heels of its new African connection (see this issue), Manchester Airport is gaining the first non-stop service linking it with Mumbai. Flights will be operated by Jet Airways and are scheduled to start on 5 November.
Manchester – Addis Ababa
A landmark route into the heart of Africa with Ethiopian Airlines operating four times a week to Addis Ababa has been secured by Manchester Airport, in a move airport CEO Andrew Cowan said underlined its pivotal role in connecting the North to world markets.
More flights for St Helena
As forecast last week (BTN 14 May), air services between South Africa and St Helena are to be increased with a further 19 flights being made available during the island’s peak summer season from December this year to April 2019.
New record for Heathrow
A record 78m passengers, 3.1% more than the previous year, helped Heathrow to grow at its fastest rate in five years in 2017, assisting Britain’s economy while retaining its position as Europe’s top-rated major airport for the third year running.
Shake-up on the trains
Although overshadowed by the temporary renationalisation of the East Coast Mainline, to be rebranded as London North Eastern Railway (LNER), last week's major rail story for most travellers was the UK’s biggest shake-up of train services to date elsewhere. This began yesterday, Sunday, as Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) brought in a major boost to services as part of its RailPlan 20/20 programme.
ON TOUR: Indonesia by cruise ship
Readers will be aware editor-in-chief Malcolm Ginsberg (and wife) spent late February cruising on NCL's Jewel from Sydney to Singapore via Newcastle, Brisbane, the Great Barrier Reef and Darwin. The final leg of the journey featured the Indonesian destinations of Komodo, Bali and Semarang. A review of Sydney will follow at the start of the IATA conference on Monday 4 June.
AND FINALLY: LNER returns
It matters not that LNER disappeared on 31 December 1947 under nationalisation. The acronym has always been around, at least for the train-spotting community.
CityJet recruitment drive
Another ten trainee pilots are being sought by Irish regional carrier CityJet for entry into its “Climb High” mentored training programme managed by the CAE Oxford Aviation Academy.
Heathrow ‘Connects’ to western London
The little publicised Heathrow Connect services have gained a new lease of life by becoming part of Transport for London (TfL) from today (21 May) onward. The line runs from the mainline area at London’s Paddington Station via Ealing Broadway, West Ealing, Hanwell, Southall and Hayes & Harlington into Heathrow.
MH370 ‘a criminal event’
The captain of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which went missing with 239 passengers en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014 and has never been found was accused last week of “a deliberate criminal act”.
RAF Museum on show
With 2018 marking the centenary of the Royal Air Force, more than 1,000 veterans and current serving personnel have had an exclusive preview of the newly-transformed RAF Museum in Hendon, London.
Raffles heads for Boston
Made famous by the original in Singapore and now beginning to branch out round the world, the Raffles Hotel brand is set to make its first landfall in North America with a 147-room property opening in Boston in three years’ time.
Tryp Fort Lauderdale
Florida has welcomed its third member of the Wyndham Hotel Group’s urban lifestyle brand Tryp by Wyndham as the anchor property for the 4-star Marina Bay luxury yacht marina.
Vegas switch for Virgin
Increased demand from corporate travellers for Las Vegas, one of the world’s largest conference centres, is one of the reasons Virgin Atlantic is moving its London service to the city to Heathrow next spring.