Increase in BAA Traffic throughout April

BAA has recently published figures which highlights an increase in passenger traffic through its airports in April compared to the same period last year, which saw the UK market devastated by the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud crisis. The group announced that 9.1 million passengers travelled from its UK airports in April, an increase of 31.1% from the same period in 2010. Colin Matthews, BAA chief executive, explained that "the underlying trend is obscured by the severe disruption in air travel in April 2010 caused by the volcanic ash cloud, by the Easter holidays falling entirely in April this year and by the extra... holiday for the Royal Wedding."

Europe’s busiest airport, London Heathrow, saw a vast surge in passenger numbers compared to the previous year, rising 31.5 % to 5.8 million whilst Stansted Airport and BAA’s Scottish airports have also seen a sharp rise in passenger numbers.

Iberia announces connection between Madrid and Moroccan capital

One of Spain’s leading airlines has recently announced plans to link Madrid to the Moroccan capital of Rabat. Iberia plans to launch the route from 1st July and will offer 2 flights per week, consequently making it the only airline that connects the 2 capital cities. Flights will operate on Mondays and Fridays using an Airbus A320 and will consist of economy and business cabins. According to Iberia, the convenient departure times facilitate easy connections via Madrid for short haul cities such as London

Iberia currently serves 3 other destinations in Morocco (Casablanca, Marrakesh and Tangier) and carried 220,000 passengers there last year alone. The news will be welcomed by UK holidaymakers as the announcement suggests that tourists will have a wider variety of travel options to the resort, allowing airlines to enter into a price battle to win custom. 

Stansted gains approval

Stansted Airport has taken a leap in prominence after being awarded Code F status by the Civil Aviation Authority. This change in status now gives Stansted the approval to handle the larger aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-87. This will definitely attract different carriers to the airport such as Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Air France and Emirates who are currently using the Airbus A380. Emirates have already expressed an interest by naming Stansted as their alternative airport.    

The Civil Aviation Authority has recently awarded Stansted Airport the authority to land Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-87.

Air Berlin to join Oneworld

Air Berlin are officially set to Join the Oneworld airline alliance. They will start flying as a member of Oneworld in early 2012, just in time for the opening of the airline’s new hub “Berlin Brandenburg International”.

Air Berlin will now be able to offer many more destinations by code sharing with other members of Oneworld. It has been suggested that code sharing will be carried out with American Airlines/Finnair and agreements with BA and Iberia will hopefully follow.

Thai Airways joint venture low cost carrier

Thai Airways and Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd will join forces in order to launch a new budget airline named “Thai Tiger Airways”. This new airline is expected to begin flying within the first quarter of 2011. Thai Tiger Airways will be based in Bangkok and offer both domestic and international flights, travelling up to five hours away from their hub.

The Far East has seen a rapid expansion in the low cost carrier market with airlines such as Air Asia and Jetstar already offering low cost fares. The competition in this market is always expanding,  Japan’s All Nippon Airways have also expressed an interest in setting up a budget airline within a similar time frame.

BA expands network from London City

The 12th September will see BA launch a new service from London City Airport to the Danish capital Copenhagen, going into direct competition with the Danish carrier Cimber Sterling. Copenhagen is a popular destination for both leisure/business travellers alike and has seen an increase in demand.

The service will be operated by BA’s CityFlyer service and will run twice daily on weekdays with one flight from London city on Saturdays and one from Copenhagen on Sundays. BA claim that this will offer a quicker service (due to the aircraft used) at double the capacity than the current competitor.

This announcement comes just one week after the news that BA will begin operating a twice daily route to Gothenburg from the central London airport.

British Airways' Biofuel Plans

British Airways has announced plans to power part of its fleet with biofuel from 2014. The carrier is working in partnership with the Solena Group, “a next-generation, zero-emission, bioenergy company based in Washington DC”, to open a factory in East London that will convert organic waste into biofuel.

BA claims that the volume of biofuel it will produce annually would be more that twice the amount required to make all of its flights from London City airport carbon neutral – the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road per year.

New Manchester service to Athens and onwards to Iraq

Greek carrier Viking Hellas has started scheduled flights from Manchester to Athens, as well as several services to destinations in Iraq.

The new airline – a subsidiary of charter carrier Viking Airlines – commenced three times-weekly flights (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) from Manchester to the Greek capital on February 1, and plans to increase this to four times per week from the start of March.

The carrier has also launched weekly scheduled services to Erbil, Sulaymanyiah and Baghdad in Iraq, and says that timings have been designed to provide onward connection opportunities for UK passengers looking to reach Iraq.

SAS offers free City Cards

Scandinavian Airlines is offering all its guests free city cards for Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen entitling them to free city transportation, free entrance to over 100 museums, discounts in restaurants and shops in addition to city guide books. The cards are available from 1st March-30th April for Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen and 1st-30th November for Stockholm and Copenhagen. Ask your travel consultant for further information on how to obtain your free City Card

Increased Capacity and Japan's Nagoya for Etihad

Etihad Airways has announced further expansion of it's network with increased capacity on its Manchester service with the introduction of a B777 on this route. This follows on from the recent introduction of flights to the Japanese city of Nagoya and additional service to the Australian cities of Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.