Jet2 raises £422m in fresh cash despite travel restrictions February 12, 2021 British holiday company Jet2 said this morning that it has raised £422m through a new share issue to bolster the company’s finances amid sustained restricted travel. Equal to 20 per cent of its share capital prior to the fundraise, the fundraiser comprised of over 35m placing shares and subscriptions for nearly 600,000 retail shares. “The [...]
Hotel quarantine: What do the new rules mean for arrivals travelling to London? February 11, 2021 Hotel quarantine: What do the new rules mean for arrivals travelling to the UK border?
French government scraps plans for expansion of Charles de Gaulle airport February 11, 2021 The French government has today scrapped plans for a major expansion at Charles de Gaulle airport due to climate change concerns. According to an interview given by a French minister to Le Monde, the €9bn expansion was “no longer aligned with environmental policy”. The development would have increased the capacity of Europe’s biggest airport by [...]
HS2: Next phase of controversial rail link gets green light February 11, 2021 The next phase of the controversial HS2 rail link has today been approved by MPs. Lawmakers gave Royal Assent to phase 2a of the project, which connects Birmingham to Crewe. It will be built simultaneously with phase 1 of the rail line from London to the West Midlands. An additional 5,000 jobs will be supported [...]
European aviation lays out flight path to net zero by 2050 February 11, 2021 A new report from a group of aviation bodies has laid out a programme for eliminating all European airlines emissions by 2050. According to the research, which was conducted by bodies including airports group ACI Europe, emissions from flights within and departing from the European Economic Area, Britain and Switzerland can be cut to et [...]
Heathrow joins calls for plan for reopening travel as passenger numbers plunge February 11, 2021 Heathrow Airport added its voice to calls to see a plan for rolling back the UK’s new border restrictions as passenger numbers dropped 89 per cent in January. The country’s largest airport said that it was vital that Boris Johnson include details of how international travel would restart when he lays out the government’s lockdown-lifting [...]
Uber launches same-day parcel delivery service pilot February 11, 2021 Uber has today launched a new same-day delivery service which will allow users to have their parcels chaffeur-driven to their destination. The service, which is called Uber Connect, will cost the same as ordering a regular Uber X journey. An initial pilot of the programme will begin in Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. Jamie Heywood, regional [...]
Are vaccine passports inevitable to keep the global travel industry afloat? February 10, 2021 Transport secretary Grant Shapps today gave the clearest indication yet that people could soon be required to prove they had been vaccinated in order to travel abroad. Speaking to the BBC, he confirmed talks had been held with his counterparts in the US and Singapore over creation of an international vaccine certification system. Such a [...]
Sadiq Khan seeks permission to appeal ‘unlawful’ Streetspace ruling February 10, 2021 Sadiq Khan has today submitted an application to appeal against a High Court ruling that deemed his “Streetspace” plan illegal. Last month the court ruled that Khan had “taken advantage” of the pandemic to push through “radical changes” to London’s streets. Justice Lang said that the plan, which banned taxis from using bus lanes in [...]
Easyjet boss calls for government to share way out of new quarantine measures February 10, 2021 Easyjet’s chief executive has today called on the government to provide details of how it will relax its current border restrictions in order to give people the confidence to travel again. Yesterday ministers unveiled details of a new hotel quarantine policy, which will see travellers from 33 red-list countries forced to pay £1,750 to spend [...]