Low cost airline launches new flights.

Budget airline Flybe is starting 34 new flights to UK and European cities and holiday hotspots including flights from Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh airports.

New flights include Exeter airport to Brussels with fares from £29.99 one way including taxes and charges, and Exeter to Dubrovnik with one way fares from £69.99.

There are also two new year round routes from Jersey to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, and from Dublin to Glasgow. As a result of a franchise agreement signed earlier this year, Flybe is also starting to operate two new Loganair routes from Dundee airport to Birmingham and Belfast.

Break up BAA monopoly to stop airport chaos.

Budget airline Ryanair believes that breaking up BAA would prevent the kind of airport chaos seen at the opening of Heathrow Terminal 5 yesterday.

"The security queues, flight delays and baggage chaos endured by passengers at Heathrow’s T5 are symptomatic of widespread failure common at many BAA airports including Stansted and Gatwick where passengers routinely suffer long queues at security and passport control as well as repeated baggage belt breakdowns," Ryanair says in a press statement.

As well as Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, BAA also operates Glasgow airport, Edinburgh airport and Aberdeen airport as well as Southampton airport. BAA is owned by Spanish group Ferrovial, which took on more than £10 billion of debt when it acquired the ailing airport operator.

Ryanair contends that the "abject customer service" at BAA airports continues because the Civil Aviation Authority, which regulates UK airports, has failed to protect airport users because it is too busy rewarding the BAA with price increases.

More Heathrow flights with Open Skies.

Open Skies comes into force on 30 March allowing any EU or US airline to fly between the EU and US and increasing the number of flights from Heathrow and other UK airports to the USA.

Before Open Skies only four airlines - BA, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines and United Airlines - have been able to fly from Heathrow to the US. Now other EU and US airlines will be able to offer flights subject to being able to secure one of the coveted slots at Heathrow.

US airlines Continental, Delta and Northwest, which are all part of the SkyTeam alliance, will all start flights from Heathrow to the US. Continental Airlines will offer a twice-daily flight from Heathrow to Houston. Delta begins twice-daily flights from Heathrow to New York JFK, and Northwest Airlines commences daily flights from Heathrow to Detroit, Minneapolis and Seattle. All these airlines will be based at Terminal 4.

Heathrow Terminal 5 Update.

According to the airline's website, 36 of Friday's flights from T5 and 36 to the terminal have been cancelled.

However, passengers could now check-in both hand and hold luggage.

Long-haul flights operating.

The airline advised customers to check its website, www.ba.com, for service updates.

BA information line - 0800 727800

Airline rebrands from East Midlands airport.

The new Thomas Cook Airlines will begin flights with its re-branded aircraft on 30 March, flying 42 planes from 11 UK airports to 78 destinations.

The first flight operated by the re-branded airline will fly from East Midlands airport to the winter sun destination of Monastir in Tunisia. Thomas Cook Airlines will fly two aircraft from East Midlands airport to 28 summer holiday destinations and 15 winter holiday hotspots.