Category Archives: Flights

Ryanair ticket sales hit after travel agent websites delist airline

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Carrier says such sites only account for ‘small fraction’ of its bookings but move has affected load factor

Ryanair has said that it has seen a drop in the number of tickets it has been able to sell after a number of major online booking websites stripped the budget carrier’s flights from their listings.

Europe’s largest airline said that in early December “most” of the larger online travel agent sites – including Booking.com, Kiwi and Kayak – “suddenly removed Ryanair’s flights from sale on their websites”.

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Private jet service for rich dog owners condemned by climate campaigners

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UK-based charter firm launches ‘ludicrous’ £8,166 Dubai-London route for clients who want to fly with pets

Environmentalists have condemned a “ludicrous” private jet service that transports wealthy people’s dogs, which this week ran its first flight from Dubai to London.

For £8,166, one way, customers were able to sit with their dogs on their laps and sip champagne as they travelled from Al Maktoum international airport to Farnborough in a Gulfstream IV-SP jet.

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Gatwick restricts flight numbers for week amid air traffic control problems

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Airport will share 164 cancellations between airlines until Sunday as it seeks to avoid diversions

Thousands of passengers flying to and from Gatwick this week will have their flights cancelled after the airport announced a cap on movements because of a shortage of staff in air traffic control.

Gatwick imposed an immediate cap on Monday of 800 flights taking off or landing a day.

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Gatwick passenger numbers soar as strikes hit flight punctuality

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Demand for travel results in 41% rise but air traffic control industrial action across Europe affects timings

Passenger numbers at Gatwick airport soared to 19 million during the first six months of the year, according to its operator, although air traffic control strikes across Europe contributed to an increase in delayed departures and landings.

Demand for travel resulted in 41% more passengers travelling through the airport between January and June compared with 2022 – when Covid restrictions were still in place – Gatwick said as it released half-year results.

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‘More than annoying’: German foreign minister abandons Oceania trip after plane problems

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The Airbus A340 taking Annalena Baerbock to the region twice had to turn back to Abu Dhabi after refuelling

Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has been forced to abandon a trip to Oceania after a problem with her government plane twice forced it to return to Abu Dhabi.

Baerbock set off from Berlin on Sunday, but a mechanical problem with her ageing German air force Airbus A340’s landing flaps meant it had to turn back to Abu Dhabi after a refuelling stop there. The aircraft took off again on Monday night, but the technical problem resurfaced and the plane had to return to the Emirati capital again.

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Three-hour delays at Dover as bad weather and train strikes hit summer getaway

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Saturday expected to be busiest day for travel this year as millions take to UK’s roads, airports and ports

Holidaymakers face delays of up to three hours at the Port of Dover as poor weather and train strikes hit Britain’s summer getaway.

Saturday is predicted to be the year’s busiest day for travel after schools in England and Wales broke up for the six-week summer holiday. Abta, the travel association, said more than 2 million UK holidaymakers will head overseas this weekend.

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Busy roads and airports expected over late-May UK bank holiday weekend

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More than 3,000 planes scheduled to take off on Friday, with road traffic peaking as leisure trips coincide with commuting

The start of the May half-term holiday for many schools will see “hectic” roads and the most flights departing the UK since before the pandemic, according to industry estimates.

About 19m leisure journeys by car are expected on Britain’s roads over the next four days, and more than 3,000 planes are scheduled to take off on Friday.

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Ryanair records third busiest month in April as demand for flights soars

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Passenger numbers rose to 16 million last month amid pent-up demand for air travel

Ryanair has recorded its third busiest month for traffic, having flown 16 million passengers in April as it continued to benefit from pent-up demand for air travel.

The budget airline said the figure marked a 13% increase in passenger numbers compared with the same month a year earlier, when it carried just over 14 million people, as customers sought to jet off on spring getaways including during the Easter holidays.

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Sunak eyes deal to allow UK passport holders to use e-gates at EU airports

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PM may discuss idea with European Commission chief in June, reports say, after diplomats raised it informally

Rishi Sunak is seeking to capitalise on his improved relations with the EU with hopes of an agreement to allow British passport holders to use e-gates when travelling in the bloc.

Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday that British diplomats had raised the issue informally. A potential discussion was foreseen on the sidelines of a meeting in Japan the prime minister and the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, will attend in June.

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

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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.

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Wizz Air named worst airline for UK-departing flight delays

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Flights found to run more than 14 minutes late on average as UK plans to reduce compensation

The budget airline Wizz Air was the worst performer for UK flight delays among its peers last year, according to analysis that has raised fresh concerns about government plans to slash customer compensation schemes.

The Hungarian carrier – which operates short-haul flights from 10 UK airports including Belfast International, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Gatwick and Luton – was found to have flights running an average of 14 minutes and 24 second behind schedule in 2021, months before the latest travel chaos took hold.

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EasyJet to cut more flights over summer holidays

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Airline says it is reducing services after London Gatwick and Amsterdam announced caps on flights

EasyJet is cutting thousands of flights over the summer, after government orders designed to avoid further travel disruption at airports.

The Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority told airlines last week to review their schedules and ensure flights were deliverable, after post-lockdown staff shortages left airlines and airports unable to keep up with an increase in travel as Covid restrictions lifted.

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Tui tells customers it has learned from flight delays and cancellations

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Travel firm apologises for ‘distress’ caused by cancelled services as it seeks to regain holidaymakers’ confidence

The travel firm Tui has written to customers promising that it has learned from the delays and cancellations that ruined the May half-term holiday for many travellers, in an attempt to build confidence ahead of the key summer bookings period.

The company apologised again for the disruption to plans, as it prepared to be questioned alongside other industry representatives on Tuesday by MPs on the Commons business select committee which is looking at flight cancellations and compensation.

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Ryanair cabin crew in Spain vote to hold two three-day strikes

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Move could add to Europe’s travel problems, although airline does not expect widespread disruption

Cabin crew working for Ryanair in Spain have voted to hold six days of strikes at the end of June and early July, potentially adding to the disruption affecting air travel across Europe.

The Spanish-based staff in the USO and SITCPLA unions will walk out for two three-day strikes from 24 June to 26 June and 30 June to 2 July.

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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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Air travel in and out of UK slumps by 71% in 2021 amid pandemic

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Report from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows domestic flights were down by almost 60%

Air travel in and out of the UK slumped by 71% in 2021 as the second year of the Covid-19 crisis took its toll on international flying, according to a report.

Just over 406,000 international flights operated from the UK up to 22 December this year compared with almost 1.4m in 2019 before the pandemic struck and travel restrictions were imposed, the aviation analytics firm Cirium said. UK domestic flights were found to have declined by almost 60%.

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EU fears citizens will be barred from flights to UK due to rules confusion

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Airlines may turn away EU nationals with settled status due to complex residency rules, says Brussels

Concerns have been raised that EU citizens living in the UK may not be allowed to board flights into the country because of confusion created by new government rules over ID cards and passports.

From 1 October, EU citizens who do not have the post-Brexit right to live in the UK will not be able to use EU, EEA or Swiss national ID cards to enter the country.

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Irish people in Britain to get green light to visit friends and family

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Europe’s strictest border controls to be relaxed as Ireland prepares to allow visits for essential reasons

Up to 400,000 Irish people in Britain are to be given the green light to visit family and friends at home for the first time in six months as Ireland prepares to lift the strictest border controls in Europe.

Only those with essential reasons such as haulage, health or funeral attendance have been allowed to enter the country since the border restrictions were imposed in January.

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Ireland to allow international travel again from 19 July

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Common travel area with Britain will not be restored due to concerns over India variant

Ireland will adopt the European Union’s Covid-19 certificate to help citizens move more freely across the bloc and allow the resumption of international travel from mid-July.

The country’s government said it will broadly apply the same approach to arrivals from elsewhere including Britain and the US.

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UK considers Covid traffic light system for international travel

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Countries could be rated red, green and amber based on vaccine passport arrangements

A traffic light system is being considered by ministers for when international travel restarts, which could rate countries green, amber and red depending on the state of vaccine passport agreements.

The Guardian has been told the scheme could come into operation from August, with hotel quarantining continuing until at least 21 June for UK nationals and residents returning to England from countries with high prevalence of coronavirus variants of concern.

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