News Archive

Battle for Southend airport hots up.

As the London Olympics approaches seven companies are believed to be interested in buying the strategically well located Southend airport in Essex.

London City airport expressed its interest in buying Southend airport last month, but now the Essex Echo reports that a total of seven companies are in the mix.

The current owner of Southend airport, Regional Airports, is looking to dispose of the airport as it concentrates its resources on its private jet facility at Biggin Hill airport in Kent. More than 40 companies are thought to have been sent information packs about the airport when the sale was announced in January.

Southend used to be the third busiest London airport, handling nearly 700,000 passengers in 1967. Now with increasing pressure on London airports and the forthcoming London Olympics in 2012, Southend could once again become a major London airport.

BA delays long haul flights from T5.

British Airways is delaying the transfer of long haul flights from Heathrow Terminal 4 to Terminal 5 until June as a result of the chaotic opening of the new terminal.

Since it opened on 27 March, T5 has been beset with operating problems caused primarily by issues with the baggage handling system leading to hundreds of flights being cancelled. It was not until this Tuesday, 8 April, that BA was able to operate a normal flight schedule.

Originally BA planned to transfer most of its long haul services from Terminal 4 to Terminal 5 on 30 April. This involved around 60 departures and arrivals a day, including flights to Houston and Dallas which were switched from Gatwick airport to Terminal 4 on 30 March.

600 flights cancelled at Heathrow in March.

Passenger numbers at Heathrow airport were down by 50,000 in March compared to the previous year as problems at Terminal 5 contributed to 600 flight cancellations.

Airport operator BAA maintains that around half of the 600 cancellations were caused by severe crosswinds at the airport on the 10th and 12th of March, with the remainder due to the baggage handling problems that led to chaos at T5.

However, the majority of flight cancellations at Terminal 5 have been in April so it will be interesting to see how these affect the passenger figures for Heathrow this month.

Winter sun flights from Monarch Airlines.

Low cost airline Monarch has announced its new winter holiday schedules from Luton airport and Birmingham airport.

More flights are being introduced to the popular winter sunshine hotspots of Tenerife and Lanzarote in the Canary Islands from both airports. There are also additional flights from Birmingham airport to Alicante in the Costa Blanca and Malaga in the Costa del Sol.

Seville's April Festival.

Spanish city Seville has exploded in a riot of colour, sound and scent for this year's April Fair, a week-long fiesta running from 8th to 13th April 2008.

One of Seville's most famous and popular events, the Feria de Abril was created in 1847 as a cattle fair but over the years has evolved into the social celebration it is today.

Over a thousand 'casetas' or tents are installed in the city's fairground area for a week of music, tapas, manzanilla wine, singing and dancing. Most of the stalls are privately owned and the hosts invite friends and family to join them for the party. There are also some public tents open to all.

The carnival atmosphere spills out onto the city streets where revellers sing and dance and wear traditional Andalusian dress. 'Sevillanas'- the local flamenco dance, a horse and carriage parade, a bullfight and a spectacular firework display are all annual features of the April Fair which will climax at midnight on Sunday.

The fair takes place on a huge open site just out of the city centre, to the south of the Los Remedios quarter and opposite the Maria Luisa park.

There may still be time to fly to Seville for this uniquely Spanish celebration. Iberia and Ryanair both serve Seville from UK airports.