News Archive

Second runway at Stansted airport by 2015.

BAA plans to build the first new runway in the south east of England for over 50 years, which will more than double capacity at Stansted airport.

As well as a second runway at Stansted, BAA also plans to build a new airport terminal. The new runway and terminal would be open by 2015, and Stansted has ambitions to serve 68 million passengers a year by 2030.

In support of its plans, BAA says they would bring economic benefits of £9 billion and create 13,000 new jobs by 2030.

Landing fees will cut security queues.

Higher landing fees for passengers at Heathrow airport and Gatwick airport will help shorten queues at security and contribute towards the cost of the new Heathrow Terminal 5.

This is the claim of the airport regulator, the CAA. Maximum passenger fees at Heathrow airport have been increased by 23.5% to £12.80. At Gatwick airport they have been raised by 21% to £6.79.

The CAA says that higher landing fees will increase service levels at Heathrow and Gatwick, leading to shorter queues at security, cleaner terminals and better information for passengers.

Storm causes flight cancellations at UK airports.

Flights have been cancelled or delayed at UK airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Bristol and Southampton as the worst storms of the winter batter Britain.

There have been more than 40 flight cancellations at Heathrow airport so far today and cancellations at Gatwick have reached double figures. Flights cancelled at Heathrow include departures to Dusseldorf, Madrid, Barcelona, and Paris CDG. From Gatwick flight cancellations include departures to Amsterdam, Pisa, Thessalonika and Houston.

Heathrow airport is advising: “Passengers should check the situation of their flight with their airline before setting out for the airport”. Airline British Airways is recommending that passengers check the status of their flight using its online arrivals and departures system.

Airport group sells duty free shops.

Airport operator BAA has sold its World Duty Free shops at its seven UK airports, which include Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, to Italian company Autogrill.

The sale of the 58 World Duty Free shops at BAA’s airports will raise £546.6 million for the cash strapped group. Spanish company Ferrovial took on £9 billion of debt to buy BAA and is looking to dispose of “non-core assets” to repay its debts.

BA strike threatens Easter travel chaos.

There could be travel chaos at airports this Easter now that talks to avert a strike by BA pilots have broken down.

Talks between the pilots’ union BALPA and British Airways broke down on Friday. Around 86% of BA pilots have voted in favour of a strike. By law the union needs to give seven days notice before a strike can begin, but this still leaves the very real possibility of an airline strike at Easter.

Easter is one of the busiest times of the year at UK airports. Around 400,000 people are expected to use Heathrow and Gatwick airport over the Easter holiday where BA has its main bases. But other airports are sure to be affected as BA flies to and from many other airports in the UK.