Cruise ship operator Saga’s profit plunges as travel restrictions continue April 7, 2021 Saga, the over 50s holiday and insurance provider, suffered a sharp drop in profit during the coronavirus pandemic due to the negative impact of restrictions on international travel. Underlying profit before tax plunged 84.4 per cent from £109.9m to £17.1m, it said this morning. However, the cruise ship operator posted a statutory loss before tax [...]
Video: Cargo ship adrift off Norway after dramatic rescue of crew April 7, 2021 Emergency response teams scrambled last night to prevent a Dutch cargo ship adrift in the North Sea from sinking and causing an oil spill off Norway’s coast after the crew had to be evacuated in stormy weather. Footage released by the Norwegian Rescue Coordination Centre showed some of the 12 crew members jumping into the [...]
Mayor of London election: Sadiq Khan pledges to ban gambling ads on the Tube April 6, 2021 Sadiq Khan has pledged to ban gambling advertisements on the Tube if he is re-elected as mayor next month. The mayor’s election manifesto, released today, said his current junk food ad ban on the London Underground would be extended to include “harmful gambling advertisements” if he wins the 6 May election. Khan previously banned all [...]
Boris Johnson aiming for cheap and easy travel testing system April 6, 2021 Boris Johnson has today said that he wants the testing system for international travel to be cheap and easy, after concerns were raised about the current cost of such arrangements. Under current plans, international travel is set to restart again on 17 May, although the government has warned that the date could yet be pushed [...]
Qatar Airways completes world’s first fully vaccinated flight April 6, 2021 Qatar Airways has this morning conducted the world’s first ever flight on which all passengers and air crew had been vaccinated. The trial flight, which was designed to demonstrate the airline’s Covid safety systems, took off from Hamad International Airport this morning and returned three hours later. The Gulf airline, which is also trialling IATA’s [...]
Mayor of London election: Sadiq Khan pledges to name London Overground lines April 6, 2021 Sadiq Khan has pledged to give individual names to London Overground train lines if re-elected as mayor of London next month. Khan’s manifesto, released today, said the “London Overground network has grown considerably over recent years” and that “to reflect this I’ll launch a programme to name individual routes, giving each its own identity”. The [...]
Car sales pick up in March as market shows signs of life April 6, 2021 Car sales rose 11.5 per cent in March as the UK market began to show signs of life after a dire year for the automotive industry. According to data from the Society from Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), sales remain around 37 per cent below the monthly average for March between 2010-2019. The third month [...]
Get US on travel ‘green list’ from 17 May, say aviation bosses April 6, 2021 The bosses of some of the UK’s biggest aviation firms have called for the government to make sure that the US is on the “green list” for international travel from 17 May. Speaking at a press conference this morning, British Airways chief exec Sean Doyle, along with Shai Weiss and John Holland-Kaye, his counterparts at [...]
Ryanair and Wizz Air passenger numbers down again as year of pain continues April 6, 2021 Ryanair flew just 0.5m people last month as travel restrictions continued to batter the airline industry as the worst year in its history came to an end. Since last March, when the coronavirus began to spread through Europe, carriers have seen their schedules decimated, with passenger numbers plunging to a mere fraction of normal levels. [...]
Boris Johnson warns England to not book summer holidays abroad yet as traffic light system confirmed April 5, 2021 Boris Johnson warns England to not book summer holidays abroad yet as traffic light system confirmed