Category Archives: Airline industry

EasyJet trims June flight schedule in bid to avoid further airport chaos

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Low-cost carrier makes ‘pre-emptive cancellations’ of about 40 flights a day to ensure no repeat of half-term disruption

EasyJet has reduced its flight schedule for the rest of June in a bid to overcome the travel chaos seen in the school holidays when staff shortages meant thousands of people were hit by last-minute cancellations.

Britain’s biggest carrier has come under fire for its handling of the disruption which also saw passengers endure long delays. In a message to staff on Friday, its chief operating officer, Peter Bellew, said the carrier was making pre-emptive cancellations for the “coming days and weeks” to “increase resilience across the network”.

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Pilot shortages, fuel prices and Covid: US braces for travel chaos

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US sees rise in travel after ‘two years of pent-up demand’ – but issues continue to cloud the industry

On a recent Friday night Laura Waring needed to fly from Newark, New Jersey, to San Diego to help set up her healthcare information technology company’s conference, which was scheduled to start the next Monday.

But after her flight was repeatedly delayed and then canceled, Waring slept for about 45 minutes on a cot at Newark airport before she woke up cold and uncertain how she would get to California.

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Ryanair forces South Africans to do Afrikaans test to prove nationality

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Airline accused of discrimination after it introduces test due to ‘high prevalence of fraudulent passports’

Ryanair is facing accusations of racial discrimination after forcing South Africans to take a test in Afrikaans before boarding flights home from the UK and Europe.

The budget airline, which claimed the “simple questionnaire” was part of efforts to tackle fraudulent South African passport holders, is facing criticism for conducting the general knowledge test in a language that is the third most used in the country and had a controversial role in the oppression of black citizens during apartheid.

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Thousands of Britons stuck at airports as easyJet cancels another 80 flights

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More holidaymakers caught up in travel chaos as nearly 200 flights are cancelled and roads clog up

UK holidaymakers have faced yet more travel chaos as easyJet cancelled another 80 flights on Sunday and roads began to clog up with drivers returning from half-term and jubilee weekend breaks.

Tens of thousands of British travellers are estimated to be stranded at airports across Europe after close to 200 flight cancellations over the weekend.

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UK holidaymakers told to fly with hand luggage only to reduce airport queues

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GMB union says passengers should consider not checking bags into hold amid shortages of ground and air staff

Holidaymakers facing long queues at UK airports amid shortages of ground and air staff have been told they should travel with only hand luggage to minimise the disruption.

GMB, one of the unions that represents aviation workers, said passengers should consider taking a small bag and not checking anything into the hold, as the country’s travel hubs battle delays and cancellations amid a surge in half-term demand.

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Holidaymakers face queues, cancellations and delays

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Rebounding demand and a string of last-minute flight cancellations have compounded half-term travel woes

Holidaymakers are facing flight cancellations and the prospect of delays on the road as half-term starts and the UK gears up for an extended bank holiday weekend.

The June half-term traditionally heralds the start of the summer tourist season, and this year comes amid rebounding consumer demand for leisure breaks following the relaxation of UK Covid travel restrictions.

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UK airports, ports and roads under pressure as half-term getaway begins

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EasyJet cancelled 14 flights, while ferry passengers at Dover face queues, and jams await drivers

Half-term holidaymakers are navigating the busiest day at British airports since the start of the pandemic with some hit by further flight cancellations, while cross-Channel ferry passengers face long queues at Dover and drivers are warned to expect jams.

EasyJet cancelled 14 more flights at London Gatwick in the early morning peak, in the aftermath of IT problems on Thursday that took out 200 of its flights around Europe.

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IT glitch creates turmoil for easyJet passengers across Europe

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Airline forced to scrap 200 flights due for early afternoon takeoff and delay many others as a result

Airline passengers faced fresh disruption on Thursday after an IT glitch forced easyJet to cancel about 200 flights around Europe.

The airline scrapped a stream of flights due to take off between 1pm and 3pm, affecting dozens to and from UK airports, including its biggest base at Gatwick.

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China air crash that killed 132 may have been deliberate, says US report

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WSJ sources suggest black box recorders from Boeing 737-800 indicate intentional input from cockpit

A China Eastern Airlines plane that crashed in March, killing 132 people, appears to have been intentionally flown into the mountainside below by someone at the controls, according to reports.

Analysis by US officials of the black box flight recorders found amid the wreckage suggests deliberate input from the cockpit forced the Boeing 737-800 plane into its catastrophic dive.

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Just one of 50 aviation industry climate targets met, study finds

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Charity’s report says nearly all targets set since 2000 have been missed, revised or quietly ignored

The international aviation industry has failed to meet all but one of 50 of its own climate targets in the past two decades, environment campaigners say.

A report commissioned by the climate charity Possible assessed every target set by the industry since 2000 and found that nearly all had been missed, revised or quietly ignored. The charity says the findings undermine a UK government plan to leave airlines to reduce their emissions through self-regulation.

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Ohio man who groped flight attendants gets 60 days in prison

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Maxwell Berry, 23, who was restrained in his seat with tape, also was sentenced to a year of supervised release after his jail time

An Ohio man who had to be restrained in his seat with tape after groping and assaulting flight attendants during a flight from Philadelphia to Miami last year has been sentenced by a federal judge to 60 days in prison.

Maxwell Berry, 23, also was sentenced by US district judge Robert Scola Jr to a year of supervised release after his jail time.

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Lifting of Covid mask mandate on US transportation horrifies health experts

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Warning that ‘This is not the time to be pulling back on mitigation measures’ as CDC appeals judge’s overturning of face-covering rule

When the US federal government’s mandate requiring masks on transportation was lifted this week, reports of celebration ensued.

Videos were shared of people removing their masks and cheering, music was blasted over plane speakers, pilots shared the news from the cockpit and flight attendants jumped with joy.

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Easter bag hunt: travellers left without luggage as airport staff shortages bite

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Qantas apologises as passengers told they could be without bags for days

Travellers visiting friends and family for the Easter long weekend could be left without their luggage for days as airlines and airports continue to struggle with staff shortages.

The busy holiday travel period combined with Covid isolation orders and a workforce cut and outsourced during the pandemic has resulted in chaotic scenes at airports across Australia, and many passengers arriving at their destinations without their luggage.

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UK rail passengers face ‘disastrous weekend’ of Easter travel disruption

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Dozens of services to and from London cancelled, and strike action hits TransPennine Express routes

Rail passengers face a “disastrous weekend” of disruption as engineering works and strikes hamper one of the busiest Easter getaways in years.

Dozens of services to and from London have been cancelled as Network Rail carries out 530 engineering projects across the bank holiday weekend.

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Short-staffed Australian airports in chaos as flights depart without any luggage

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Unions say aviation industry cannot cope with Easter travel crush after effects of Covid leave workforce depleted

Baggage handlers have been so short-staffed that entire flights have departed without luggage as the Easter travel crush peaked at Australian airports, with unions warning the pandemic-depleted aviation industry is now structurally incapable of coping with pre-Covid-like levels of travel demand.

While unloaded baggage and long queues affected travellers across the country on Thursday, unions have claimed that in Brisbane, so few service workers were available that female cleaners were sent in to clean male toilets while travellers were using them, and male cleaners into bathrooms with female patrons.

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EasyJet cancels more than 200 flights over Covid staff sickness

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Some passengers stranded amid travel chaos at some of UK’s biggest airports

EasyJet cancelled more than 200 flights over the weekend with disruption expected to last into this week, leaving some passengers stranded amid travel chaos at some of Britain’s biggest airports.

The airline blamed the problems on high levels of sickness among employees caused by Covid, with at least 222 trips axed since Friday.

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John Menzies accepts takeover bid from Kuwaiti aviation services rival Agility

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Edinburgh-based firm agrees to £571m offer that will create world’s largest airport services firm

Executives at the British aviation services company John Menzies have accepted a £571m takeover deal from a Kuwaiti rival, after rebuffing three previous offers.

A subsidiary of Agility Public Warehousing had made the bid more than a month ago, which was conditional at the time, although the John Menzies board said it would accept the offer.

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Cathay Pacific plans world’s longest passenger flight, avoiding Russia

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Airline could set distance record by rerouting its New York to Hong Kong service over the Atlantic instead of the Pacific, covering more than 16,600km

Cathay Pacific is planning the world’s longest passenger flight by rerouting its New York to Hong Kong service over the Atlantic instead of the Pacific, the airline has said, in a new path that steers clear of Russia.

The flight path will cover “just under 9,000 nautical miles” (16,668km, or 10,357 miles) in 16 to 17 hours, Cathay said in a statement to Agence France-Presse.

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Lloyd’s moves to cancel insurance cover of Russian firms hit by sanctions

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Action comes as Lloyd’s of London returns to profit but warns Ukraine war will present ‘major claim’

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

Lloyd’s of London has said it is working with the UK government to implement sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine as fast as possible, including cancelling Russian firms’ insurance cover.

Announcing a swing back to an annual profit as it recovers from the pandemic, the world’s biggest insurance market warned that the war will present a “major claim” for the insurance market this year, but said it was “manageable”.

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Turbulent times: Australian air fares predicted to soar as bans on Russian oil lift jet fuel prices

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Qantas chief says airlines have no choice but to increase prices and believes travel will be impacted

Travellers are facing steep air fare hikes as bans on Russian oil cause jet fuel prices to surge, Australian aviation experts warn.

Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, has said the average fare would increase by 7% as a result of the increased crude oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but others predict the price rises could be higher.

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