Virgin Atlantic pilots are tired and overworked, union warns as strike threat looms August 7, 2023 Virgin Atlantic pilots are tired and overworked, according to a survey by the UK’s pilots union, with over three quarters of the airline’s pilots saying they had flown with a tired colleague who was “clearly not fit to fly”. Over 88 per cent of the 900 pilots surveyed by British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) had [...]
Virgin Atlantic pilot strike action up in the air amid fatigue row August 6, 2023 Virgin Atlantic is heading into turbulence pilots are revving up for a potential strike later this year, demanding an end to the pandemic changes that aimed to rescue the airline from bankruptcy. British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa), the union representing the pilots, has raised “serious concerns” about pilot fatigue and wellbeing as 96 per cent [...]
New transatlantic airline Global buys first plane May 29, 2023 A new UK-US airline, Global, which is intending to launch flights across the Atlantic by spring 2024, has officially announced the acquisition of its first plane. The company said this morning that it had acquired an Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger plane, according to the PA news agency. It confirms last week’s revelation’s in [...]
Ryanair aims to ‘wipe the floor’ with European airlines in push to double passenger numbers May 21, 2023 Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary says the company will steal market share from European rivals to propel growth, aiming to double passenger numbers to 300m per year within a decade. Speaking to the Financial Times, O’Leary said: “I think the thesis that there’s no more growth in Europe, [and that] Europe is completely tapped out, [...]
Jet2 having a ‘Goldilocks’ moment as travel group hikes its profit expectations April 20, 2023 Leisure travel company Jet2 has raised its profit expectations to between £387m and £392m this morning, for the year ending 31 March 2023. The company has reported sale seat capacity for Summer 2023 as 7.2 per cent higher than the previous year, at 15.26 million. Forward bookings remain encouraging, with package holiday customers representing just [...]
37 per cent of flights delayed last year – but London’s Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton airports not worst offenders March 22, 2023 More than a third of flights to and from UK airports last year were delayed, new figures show. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said an “unacceptable” 37 per cent of flights were at least 15 minutes late in 2022. That is up from 17 per cent in both of the preceding two years and 25 [...]
Half-term holiday bonanza: Britons flock abroad with departures soaring 44 per cent February 9, 2023 Britons are capitalising on the first restriction-free February half-term in two years to flock abroad, according to new data. Figures released today by aviation analytics firm Cirium showed that departures during the coming half term are up 44 per cent on last year’s levels, as 15,455 flights are scheduled to take off from UK airports [...]
Flying start to 2023: Shares up after 16m passengers take to skies on Ryanair and Wizz Air February 2, 2023 Shares for low-cost carriers Ryanair and Wizz Air have gone up this morning after both reported a strong start to 2023, with passenger numbers well above 2022 levels. Ryanair’s passenger numbers soared to 11.8 million in the last month, 69 per cent up on January last year, while Wizz Air’s levels soared 73 per cent [...]
UK reinstates pre-Covid take-off slot rules and tells airlines ‘use it or lose it’ January 31, 2023 The UK government has reinstated its pre-Covid airport slot rules, telling airlines they will need to use their take-off slots 80 per cent of the time, or face losing them. Also known as landing slots, airport slots are the permission needed by an airline to land or depart from a specific airport at a specific [...]
Which? demands boost to aviation regulator’s powers as passengers fume at airlines January 9, 2023 Which? has called on the government to bolster the aviation watchdog’s powers as fresh data reveals that passengers are losing faith in airlines’ ability to provide good customer service. Data published today by the consumer champion found that 39 per cent of adults who flew between January and October 2022 didn’t trust that airlines would [...]