News
Low fares airline adds new flights.
Low cost airline Ryanair is launching five new flights from the UK this winter, from Glasgow and Bournemouth airports.
Glasgow airport gets new flights to three of the major holiday hotspots in Europe. Flights to Malaga, Faro and Tenerife from Glasgow start on 27th October.
The other new flights from the UK are from the rapidly expanding Bournemouth airport. The new flights to Milan and Paris are likely to appeal to people seeking a city break as well as to business travellers.
Ryanair is also launching new flights in Europe. From Bremen airport there will be new flights to Fuerteventura, Gothenburg, Marrakesh and Tenerife.
Marseille airport in France gets new flights to the French cities of Brest and Lille, as well as to Agadir, Nador and Tangier in Morocco.
Healthy demand for holidays.
Despite the credit crunch and rising fuel prices, a new CBI survey shows people are still booking holidays.
The survey of consumer-facing and business services firms over the last three months generally makes depressing reading. “Consumer services firms, such as hotels, bars & restaurants, cinemas and gyms endured an even worse quarter than they had feared. Business volumes and values fell at rates not seen since the end of 2001,” says the report.
However, one sector bucked the trend. “The only consumer services sector to report growth in business volumes over the past 3 months was travel services,” the CBI reports.
BA raises fuel surcharge.
British Airways has followed rival airline Virgin Atlantic by increasing fuel surcharges on all its flights from Tuesday.
As a result of the latest increases, passengers on BA long haul flights lasting more than nine hours will have to pay £218 in fuel surcharges for a return flight. This is an increase of £30 per flight each way.
For long haul flights of less than nine hours the fuel surcharge is increased by £15 per flight to £78 each way. On short haul flights passengers face an increase of £3 per flight, adding £32 in fuel surcharges to the cost of a return flight.
This is the second time in a month that BA has announced an increase in fuel surcharges as the price of oil continues to rocket. The airline says it will increase fuel surcharges by a similar level in markets outside the UK.
Rival airline Virgin Atlantic is also increasing fuel surcharges on its flights from today. But it is the first airline where economy class passengers will pay lower fuel surcharges than those travelling in first or business class.
Carbon emissions trading for airlines.
MEPs have voted to include airlines in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme from 2011 and for a lower ceiling on emissions.
The European Commission had recommended that airlines should not be included in the carbon emissions trading scheme until 2012, but MEPs in the European Parliament Environment Committee disagree. If their vote is upheld it will affect all flights within, leaving or landing in EU territory.
The ministers have also said that flights carrying monarchy, presidents and government ministers on official visits should be included because they should play their part in paying the cost of climate change. If adopted the scheme could add around £8 to the cost of flights in Europe and up to £32 on long haul flights.