Category Archives: Air transport

UK Border Force strike: armed forces cannot detain people, emails reveal

Posted on by

Exclusive: those covering for staff have no power to stop suspected criminals if they have valid travel documents

Soldiers and sailors covering for striking Border Force staff at passport control do not have the power to detain people they suspect of criminal activity, leaked documents show.

Emails reveal that people suspected of crimes such as carrying a false passport, drug smuggling, people trafficking and victims of modern slavery cannot be stopped by members of the armed forces if they hold valid travel documents.

Continue reading...

Army of stand-in workers quashes fears of Heathrow chaos

Posted on by

Passengers report shorter queues than usual despite Border Force strike as military brought in to help

Passengers entered Heathrow braced for the sight of queues snaking their way around the airport and departure boards coldly telling them that their festive season was ruined.

With concerns that travel problems could run into the new year as 1,000 Border Force staff began the first of eight days of strikes, those travelling through Europe’s busiest airport on the Friday before Christmas were apprehensive.

Continue reading...

British Airways apologises after flights delayed in US and Caribbean

Posted on by

Airline blames technical issue for disruption at airports including Denver, New York and Miami

British Airways has apologised after a technical issue triggered a wave of flight delays across the US and the Caribbean.

The airline said problems with its third-party flight planning supplier were behind the delays, as customers reported disruption in departing cities including Denver, New York and Miami.

Continue reading...

Hawaii flight turbulence injures 20 passengers, 11 seriously

Posted on by

One passenger lost consciousness while others suffered cuts, bumps and bruises after severe turbulence on flight from Arizona to Hawaii

Eleven people were seriously injured when a flight to Hawaii was rocked by severe turbulence about 30 minutes outside Honolulu, emergency services have said.

Nine others were transported in a stable condition, the Honolulu Emergency Medical Services said in a statement.

Continue reading...

Rules on liquids and laptops to be eased at UK airports from June 2024

Posted on by

Passengers at most airports to be allowed two-litre containers of liquid, in major relaxation of 2006 rules

Rules around taking liquids and laptops through airport security will be eased from June 2024, the government has said.

The announcement of the biggest relaxation of aviation security regulations in decades confirms reports last month that the change would come in the year after next.

Continue reading...

UK cold weather: National Grid puts contingency coal units on standby as travel is disrupted by snow – live

Posted on by

Snowfall causes issues across parts of UK as cold snap intensifies

Daniel Duffield, a 22-year-old off-duty paramedic, was stuck on the M25 for more than two-and-a-half hours this morning, while attempting to travel home to Birmingham from London.

He told PA Media that vehicles have been “stationary with very small movement”.

I expected some traffic due to weather but nothing this bad. Traffic appeared to be at a standstill for miles and miles. Other drivers were turning their engines off presumably to save fuel due to the uncertainty. A few people were stretching their legs due to delays too.

Continue reading...

Consumer watchdog puts Australian airlines on notice over high domestic air fares

Posted on by

ACCC says they will closely monitor companies to ensure they do not keep prices high through artificial scarcity

The consumer watchdog has put airlines on notice, warning carriers they will be “closely” monitored to ensure they aren’t deliberately slowing their return to full service capacity so they can “keep air fares high”.

In its quarterly airline competition report, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found a 27% increase in all air fare types between October 2019 and October 2022. It noted the price of discounted economy fares had increased the most because “with fewer flights but strong demand, the airlines don’t currently need to offer special fares to fill their planes”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

X-ray discovers cat trapped inside checked bag at New York’s JFK airport

Posted on by

Security agent spotted cat inside bag last week and saved it from being transported on to aircraft luggage hold

A cat that sneaked into an air traveller’s luggage was trapped there until it was discovered by an X-ray machine at JFK airport in New York, possibly saving it from a grim fate in an aircraft luggage hold, travel authorities said.

NBC News reported that the cat’s brush with potential tragedy was detected on 16 November when a bag was checked from JFK to Atlanta for a connecting flight to Florida.

Continue reading...

Heathrow ‘ready for Christmas rush’ after making plans to avoid disruption

Posted on by

Airport vows passengers will not face daily cap during biggest festive getaway in three years

Heathrow airport has said it is prepared for the biggest Christmas getaway in three years and promised that passengers will not have to face a return of the daily cap that was introduced as summer holiday travel descended into chaos.

Europe’s busiest airport, which said last month that on the busiest travel days over the festive period travellers may have to fly outside peak times to manage the festive rush, said it was working on contingency plans for potential strike action over the period.

Continue reading...

Climate activists storm Amsterdam airport and block private jets

Posted on by

Sitdown protests are part of a day of demonstrations in and around Schiphol airport

Dutch border police arrested hundreds of climate activists who stormed Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and sat in front of the wheels of aircraft to prevent them from leaving.

More than 100 protesters, wearing white suits, entered an area where private jets are kept on Saturday as part of a day of demonstrations in and around the airport organised by environmental groups.

Continue reading...

Heathrow passengers may have to fly outside peak times in run-up to Christmas

Posted on by

Airport still has shortage of 25,000 staff and is keen to avoid disruption of summer

Heathrow has said passengers may have to fly outside peak times on some days in the run-up to Christmas to avoid further travel chaos, as Europe’s busiest airport admitted it is still short of 25,000 staff to meet high demand.

The airport, which this Sunday is due to lift the current cap of 100,000 passengers a day that was introduced in July as summer holiday travel descended into chaos, said it was in talks with airlines over the selective cap.

Continue reading...

Man shot dead by police in Brisbane – as it happened

Posted on by

Queensland police say officers had been called to Edmonstone Street in South Brisbane around 3pm. This blog is now closed

Treasurer says surging electricity costs will make inflation ‘hang around longer’

We brought you the grim news on the blog yesterday that the head of Alinta energy has predicated a 35% increase to retail electricity bills next year, as energy providers juggle phasing out fossil fuels alongside investment in renewables.

I think one of the reasons this inflation will hang around longer than we want it to is because there are expectations around these electricity price rises being more problematic for longer.

You’ve said the government would put the economy above politics, can you really say that’s what you doing if you leave the stage-three tax cuts in place as they are?

I can say that, and I think what people will see in the budget in two weeks’ time is some difficult decisions in difficult times.

Our job is to make sure that our budgets are perfectly calibrated to the economic conditions as we confront them.

Continue reading...

‘Second-class citizen’: man lifted on to plane as Darwin airport had no ramp for wheelchair users

Posted on by

Being carried across the gap between the air bridge and the plane risked his, his wife’s and airline staffs’ safety, says passenger

An Australian man has said he was made to feel like a “second-class citizen” by being lifted on to a Jetstar flight in Darwin, as disability advocates call for a complete overhaul of the way airlines treat passengers.

Brad Wszola, 50, suffered a spinal cord injury in 2016. He uses a wheelchair, but was not able to navigate the gap between the air bridge and the plane when boarding a Jetstar flight from Darwin to Cairns on 12 August.

Continue reading...

Australian woman deported from US says border agency told her questions about abortion were policy

Posted on by

Madolline Gourley says a special agent in the office of professional responsibility told her the questions she was asked were in line with Customs and Border Protection procedures

An Australian woman says the US border agency told her that asking travellers about terminating a pregnancy is in line with their policies after she was detained at an airport and then deported.

Madolline Gourley says she was asked whether she’d had an abortion while detained at Los Angeles airport in June. It came days after Roe v Wade – the landmark court case that legalised abortion – was overturned in the United States.

Continue reading...

Two aircraft involved in ‘minor collision’ on runway at Heathrow

Posted on by

No injuries have been reported and there is no significant impact on departures or arrivals

Two aircraft have been involved in a “minor collision” on the runway at Heathrow, the airport has said.

Emergency services are at the scene but no injuries have been reported. An Icelandair plane and Korean Air aircraft are understood to have had a collision on the airfield at about 8pm on Wednesday, which is being investigated.

Continue reading...

Australian air travellers waiting more than three months for passports as Covid delays persist

Posted on by

Australia Post offers a priority service for $225 but there are fears it will just push those already waiting further into a backlog

Thousands of Australians are heading into school holidays anxiously waiting for new passports to arrive, with longer wait times for first-time adult and children’s passports amid ongoing delays.

The Australian Passport Office (APO) continues to see unprecedented demand post-Covid, receiving up to 15,000 applications per day and experiencing around six weeks of work in the processing queue.

Continue reading...

Severe weather causes major flight disruptions at Sydney airport ahead of AFL grand final weekend

Posted on by

Approximately 40 flights due to land in or depart Sydney were cancelled on Thursday morning, leading to cancellations in Melbourne

Hundreds of people have had their travel plans thrown into chaos as high winds and heavy rainfall led airlines to cancel dozens of flights in and out of Sydney airport in the lead-up to the AFL grand final.

Approximately 40 flights due to land in or depart from Sydney were cancelled on Thursday morning, leading to knock-on cancellations in Melbourne, as severe weather warnings were issued by the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) for heavy falls and thunderstorms across New South Wales’ east coast.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Vulnerable countries demand global tax to pay for climate-led loss and damage

Posted on by

Poor nations exhort UN to consider ‘climate-related and justice-based’ tax on big fossil fuel users and air travel

The world’s most vulnerable countries are preparing to take on the richest economies with a demand for urgent finance – potentially including new taxes on fossil fuels or flying – for the irrecoverable losses they are suffering from the climate crisis, leaked documents show.

Extreme weather is already hitting many developing countries hard and forecast to wreak further catastrophe. Loss and damage – the issue of how to help poor nations suffering from the most extreme impacts of climate breakdown, which countries cannot be protected against – is one of the most contentious problems in climate negotiations.

Continue reading...

Gatwick scraps capacity restraints amid return to ‘business as usual’

Posted on by

Airport says it will not extend restraints beyond end of month, as it reveals first-half profit of £50.6m

Gatwick airport has said it is back to “business as usual” and will not need to extend its capacity restraints beyond the end of the month.

The company said normal operations have resumed following months of strain on airports and airlines across Europe amid a surge in demand and staff shortages as pandemic restrictions eased.

Continue reading...

Metal object falling from airplane narrowly misses hitting Maine man

Posted on by

The FAA was alerted and said the piece appeared to be a metal sleeve from a wing flap of a large passenger jet; no one was hurt

A metal object believed to have fallen from a trans-Atlantic jet came crashing down outside the Maine state house, landing with a loud bang just feet from a capitol police worker, officials said on Monday.

The Federal Aviation Administration was alerted on Friday and returned to the State House on Monday as it investigated the object, according to the capitol police chief Matthew Clancy.

Continue reading...