Central line tube strike expected on polling day April 30, 2021 A 24-hour long Central line tube strike is expected to go ahead on 6 May, a date that coincides with polling day for London’s mayor elections. Central line train operators, Night Tube train operators and instructor operators at Leytonstone, Loughton, West Ruislip & White City Traincrew Depots will take strike action by not booking on [...]
Paper documents for international trade could be scrapped under new proposals April 30, 2021 The Law Commission has started consulting on proposals that could see paper documents in some areas of international trade scrapped in favour of electronic documents, a move that could save billions of pounds. International trade still relies on the use of paper documents, which is both costly and inefficient, and recently became an additional risk [...]
Heathrow plunges to another loss as airport tells Border Force to ‘get a grip’ April 29, 2021 Heathrow Airport reported yet another loss this morning as the UK’s largest air travel hub continued its long wait for aviation to restart. The firm said that it had suffered a £329m loss in a quarter in which it saw just 1.7m passengers, down 91 per cent from last year. In total, that means that [...]
Ryanair to power 12.5 per cent of flights with sustainable fuels by 2030 April 29, 2021 Ryanair plans to power 12.5 per cent of its flights with sustainable aviation fuels by 2030, the airline said this morning. The announcement comes days after its rival British Airways committed to using the fuels to power 10 per cent of its flights. Group Chief Executive Michael O’Leary had said earlier this month that the [...]
Airbus profits up but crisis ‘not yet over’ for planemaker April 29, 2021 Planemaker Airbus saw its earnings rise in the first quarter but warned that the crisis engulfing aviation due to the pandemic “was not yet over”. The world’s largest commercial jetmaker said adjusted operating profit rose 147 per cent to €694m (£603m) led by its commercial jet and helicopter activities, as revenue slipped 2 per cent [...]
Car production rise for first time since 2019 after Covid collapse April 29, 2021 UK car production rose dramatically in March, a year after the coronavirus pandemic forced factories across the country to shut. Output rose 46.6 per cent against 12 months ago, with a total of 115,498 cars built, up from 78,767 in March 2020, new data from auto trade body the SMMT showed. However, the figure is [...]
Driverless cars set for UK roads by the end of the year April 28, 2021 Britain’s roads could see their first driverless cars by the end of the year after the Department for Transport gave an autonomous driving system the green light today. Officials said that the technology could improve road safety by reducing human error, which contributes to over 85 per cent of accidents. In a statement this morning, [...]
Lotus to invest £2bn in switch to electric and revamp of UK plant April 28, 2021 Sports car maker Lotus will build electric vehicles in the UK as part of a £2bn investment push aimed at massively increasing its production capacity. The Hethel-based firm yesterday announced that it would switch to selling only electric cars by 2028. Its last combustion engine car, the Emira, will launch this summer. As part of [...]
Vaccine passports: Key to normalisation but many obstacles remain April 27, 2021 Following the UK’s roadmap for the lifting of restrictions, those living in England could be allowed to embark on a foreign holiday as early as 17 May. Europe plans to launch a digital health pass scheme in June to save this summer’s holiday season from the pandemic, but technical and political obstacles are showing just [...]
Space race: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos go head to head April 27, 2021 The space race between the world’s two richest men catapulted into hyperdrive today.