BA and Virgin to restart flights to China after three years as Beijing welcomes back visitors February 2, 2023 Virgin Atlantic and British Airways have announced they will return to China for the first time in three years following Beijing’s reopening. Richard Branson’s airline – which stopped operating flights into China in December 2020 – announced today it will resume daily flights between Heathrow and Shanghai from 1 May. Meanwhile British Airways (BA) will [...]
End of an era: Heathrow’s ‘extraordinary’ boss John Holland-Kaye to step down February 2, 2023 John Holland-Kaye is stepping down as Heathrow chief executive later this year, it has been announced. Holland-Kaye, who has been at the London airport’s helm since 2014, will stay in place until a replacement is found. The reasons behind his decision have not been revealed and the airport has declined to elaborate further on his [...]
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 [...]
Strikes: Continued disruption warning today with trains starting late and finishing early before Friday’s walk-outs February 2, 2023 Rail passengers have been warned to expect continued disruption to their journeys in the aftermath of Wednesday’s strike action and ahead of Friday’s walkouts. Commuters have been warned by operators to expect “significantly reduced train services” across all three days and advised to check ahead of taking a journey. Train driver members of Aslef and [...]
Canary Wharf buzz almost back as Elizabeth line sees passenger demand near pre-pandemic levels February 2, 2023 Passenger demand at Canary Wharf is now at 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels on weekdays, according to new data. Transport for London (TfL) figures shared exclusively today with City A.M. show that travel demand on Thursdays has returned to 90 per cent of 2019 levels, while passenger numbers are exceeding pre-pandemic levels on most [...]
Network Rail makes new offer to RMT in bid to avert more strikes: Pay increase stays but hours reduced February 1, 2023 Network Rail has tweaked the offer it made last month to the union RMT in a bid to avert more strike action. Chief negotiator Tim Shoveller sent yesterday an email to staff, saying the new offer “added some fresh proposals.” These include cutting down the hours of maintenance staff from 40 to 35 per week, [...]
Elizabeth line hits the 100 million milestone with Tottenham Court Road the most popular destination February 1, 2023 Over 100 million trips have been made using the Elizabeth line since it opened last May, Transport for London (TfL) has revealed. Figures from TfL show that passenger numbers have been above expected levels, with around 600,000 trips made each day. “I’m so proud that we’ve now seen more than 100 million journeys since the [...]
Rail strikes: End is now ‘further away’ than when walkouts started, Aslef says February 1, 2023 A resolution to the dispute between train drivers and operators is “further away than when we started,” according to rail union Aslef. Around 12,500 Aslef members at 15 companies are on strike today as part of a ongoing dispute over pay and jobs, joining hundreds of thousands of workers in what is considered the biggest [...]
Strikes happening TODAY: Hundreds of thousands of school and rail workers walk out as students and commuters left stranded February 1, 2023 Hundreds of thousands of workers – including school teachers – are going on strike for what will be the biggest day of industrial action in more than a decade. Teachers in England and Wales, who are members of the National Education Union (NEU), will embark on their first day of strikes on Wednesday, which threaten to disrupt more [...]
Virgin Atlantic and British Airways-owner slam Heathrow price cap hike January 31, 2023 Virgin Airlines and British Airways’ owner IAG have slammed the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) decision today to hike Heathrow’s price cap. The regulator announced the hike this morning, raising the cap for 2023 to £31.57 per passenger, up from £30.19. The aviation watchdog said the decision will “protect consumers and give certainty to the airport [...]