WH Smith revenues boosted by return of rail and air travellers January 18, 2023 WH Smith said revenues had surged in the first few months of its financial year today as its airport and train station-based shops reaped the rewards of a rebound in travel. In a trading update today on the 20 weeks to the 14th January, the book and stationery stalwart said that revenues ramped up 40 [...]
Wealthy nations should pay more for low-emission air travel, Heathrow boss tells Davos elites January 17, 2023 Wealthy nations should pay more for low-emission air travel, Heathrow’s boss John Holland-Kaye told business and political leaders gathered in Davos today. “The wealthy people in this room and the wealthy nations should be funding the energy transition in aviation,” Holland-Kaye said, speaking at an event on the future of travel at the World Economic [...]
Raising fares better than cutting services, says TfL exec as Mayor’s decision on price hike looms January 17, 2023 Increasing bus and tube fares is always better than cutting services, Transport for London’s chief technology officer Shashi Verma said today. Verma told members of London Assembly’s transport committee that “a service cut is much worse than a fare increase” as cuts usually lead to a bigger decrease in passenger demand. “A 1 per cent [...]
More strikes: RMT follows in Aslef’s footsteps with rail walkouts in February January 17, 2023 Rail union the RMT has followed in Aslef’s footsteps from Tuesday morning and announced two days of strikes in early February. Train drivers working at 14 companies – including Govia Thameslink and C2C – said they will down tools on 1 and 3 February after rejecting an eight per cent pay increase over two years. [...]
Plane not train: Cornwall set for further tourist spike as Ryanair launches London-Newquay route January 17, 2023 Newquay residents are set to complain even further about the hordes of Londoners descending into Cornwall after Ryanair announced new services from London Stansted to Newquay. The low-cost carrier said today it will operate three weekly flights to Cornwall as part of its ramped up summer schedule, which also includes additional services to Spain and [...]
TUI open to new majority shareholder following resignation of sanctioned Russian billionaire January 17, 2023 TUI admitted it was looking for a new majority shareholder, 10 months after EU sanctions forced the resignation of Alexei Mordashov. Vladimir Putin ally and Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov became a target of Europe’s sanctions against Moscow following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in March 2022. The sanctions meant TUI was left scrambling for a new [...]
Train drivers will strike AGAIN in February with Thameslink and Gatwick Express to be disrupted January 17, 2023 Train drivers are to stage fresh strikes after the rejection of a pay offer. Members of Aslef will walk out on February 1 and 3, causing more travel disruption across the country. The first strike will coincide with a walkout by 100,000 civil servants in their dispute over pay and jobs, a strike by teachers [...]
Active bystanders: TfL launches anti-sexual harassment campaign in London January 16, 2023 TfL has launched an anti-sexual harassment campaign, calling on Londoners to be “active bystanders” and act when witnessing inappropriate behaviour. Transport for London (TfL) launched the campaign today in partnership with rail trade body the Rail Delivery Group, as well as the British Transport Police, the Met and Canada Police. This comes on [...]
Hiring spree: Jaguar Land Rover recruits 81 per cent of tech jobs in UK January 16, 2023 Jaguar Land Rover has gone on a hiring spree in the UK, recruiting 81 per cent of its global positions in Britain. The luxury marque announced today that 280 out of the 300 vacancies currently available are in the UK. This is in addition to the 371 jobs which have already been filled in Britain. [...]
Stansted’s passenger numbers soar 226 per cent as UK airports continue to rebound January 16, 2023 The number of passengers travelling via Stansted soared 226 per cent in 2022, the airport reported today, in yet another encouraging sign that Britain’s airports are gradually recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Essex hub reported that 23.3 million passengers have passed through its gates over the past 12 months. The numbers for December (1.8 [...]