Three former G4S executives charged with multiple counts of fraud September 8, 2020 Three former executives of a division of outsourcing firm G4S have been charged with multiple offences in relation to a multi-year scheme to defraud the Ministry of Justice. Richard Morris, former managing director of G4S Care and Justice Services and two ex-directors of its electric monitoring – Mark Preston and James Jardine – appeared at [...]
Easyjet to reduce flying capacity amid quarantine chaos September 8, 2020 Budget carrier Easyjet today said that it would reduce flying capacity for the fourth quarter due to changes to the UK’s quarantine regime. In a statement, the airline said that the “constantly evolving” restrictions, including yesterday’s decision to add seven Greek islands to the “red list”, was “negatively affecting” customer confidence. As a result, Easyjet [...]
TfL commissioner Andy Byford: Getting the capital moving again September 8, 2020 Andy Byford, London’s transport commissioner, outlines what he has been doing to make TfL services ready for people to use them again. I started my career at London Underground in 1989, and through the last few decades I’ve worked for transport organisations all over the world – America, Australia, Canada. All different, but in each [...]
‘No time for a show of virility’: Sadiq Khan on getting London moving again September 7, 2020 One of the largest criticisms of Sadiq Khan over his first mayoral term has been that he is more concerned about his personal PR and with making political gestures than with his job of running the nation’s capital. The mayor of London has been beset by attacks that he has increased spending on City Hall [...]
Aviation support package ‘cannot come soon enough’, MPs warn September 7, 2020 A group of MPs has warned that the government’s aviation recovery plan “cannot come quick enough” as the stricken industry heads into the winter season weighed down with uncertainty over its future. This morning, the government revealed that it would unveil its plan to get the UK aviation industry back onto its feet over the [...]
Thomas Cook tipped for relaunch as online-only travel agent September 7, 2020 Iconic travel agent Thomas Cook could be relaunched as early as this month, a year after the firm went bust in dramatic circumstances. Sky News reported that Chinese conglomerate Fosun, which bought the company’s name and intellectual property assets for just £11m, is drawing up plans to reinvent the 178-year-old firm as an online travel [...]
UK working on reducing quarantine restrictions, says Matt Hancock September 7, 2020 Health secretary Matt Hancock today said that the government was working on ways to reduce the 14-day quarantine period for travellers from countries with heavy incidences of coronavirus, in a rare glimmer of light for the struggling travel industry. Speaking on LBC radio this morning, Hancock confirmed that ministers were looking at ways to test [...]
First Group shares jump as buyers circle US bus operations September 7, 2020 Shares in transport operator First Group popped this morning after reports that a number of buyers were circling its US operations, which were put up for sale in March. By the mid morning, shares in First Group, which runs bus and rail businesses in the UK and US, were up over 15 per cent at [...]
British Airways and Heathrow in row over £500m charge for failed expansion plans September 6, 2020 Heathrow and British Airways (BA) have become embroiled in a row over a proposal to charge airlines £500m for the airport’s failed expansion plans. A consultation recommends allowing the airport the bill airlines for costs related to the third runway incurred until February this year. The plans to build a third runway at Heathrow were [...]
Rail firms cut services by 10 per cent due to coronavirus September 6, 2020 Rail services will reportedly face a 10 per cent cut this autumn due to the coronavirus pandemic, with evening and weekend trains to be the hardest hit. Some services will be reduced from every hour to every two hours, some direct routes to London will be paused, as well as high-speed trains for airports and [...]