Virgin Atlantic to restart flights to 17 destinations in August June 22, 2020 Virgin Atlantic has laid out plans to restart passenger flights to 17 more destinations from August onwards, following its initial return next month. The new tranche of destinations include Barbados, Tel Aviv, San Francisco and Miami, though the restart does depend on travel restrictions being lifted around the world. The announcement comes after the embattled [...]
Saga refunds £44m to tourists due to coronavirus disruption June 22, 2020 Saga, the cruise operator and insurance firm for over-50s, today announced it had refunded £44m of advance payments to customers whose travel plans were disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. The firm, which has cancelled all of its voyages until the end of August, said that it was expecting some travel to begin by the end [...]
Aston Martin appoints new finance chief as board shake-up continues June 22, 2020 Aston Martin today announced that Kenneth Gregor would join the iconic carmaker as its new finance chief as the firm continues its business reset after a tumultuous two years. Gregor, who joins the firm with immediate effect, previously spent 11 years as finance chief at fellow luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover. His appointment comes amidst [...]
Lufthansa shares slump as bailout battle approaches showdown June 22, 2020 Shares in German flag carrier Lufthansa slumped 6.7 per cent this morning as the saga of its mammoth €9bn (£8.1bn) state bailout continued. Last week, the airline’s largest shareholder, billionaire Heinz Hermann Thiele, announced his objections to the plan, which would see Germany take a 20 per cent stake in the carrier. A source told [...]
Gavin Williamson: All pupils will be back in school in September June 19, 2020 Education secretary Gavin Williamson today confirmed that all UK schoolchildren would return to the classroom in September. Speaking at today’s Downing Street press conference, Williamson said schools were vital to the UK’s plans to “rebuild and recover” after the coronavirus. He said: “We want to bring every child back, in every year group, in every [...]
Katie Hopkins permanently banned from Twitter June 19, 2020 Right-wing commentator and media personality has been permanently banned from Twitter, the social media platform confirmed today. The micro-blogging site had suspended her account, but a spokesperson told the Huffington Post that this time the ban was for good. “In this case, the account has been permanently suspended for violations of our hateful conduct policy”, [...]
Apple says government had not told it about coronavirus app plans June 19, 2020 Apple has said that it was not aware that the UK was developing an NHS contact tracing app using technology the firm built with Google. Yesterday the government announced that it was dropping its own app in favour of using the Apple/Google technology, which is already in use in countries such as Germany. However, speaking [...]
Boris Johnson says time for national lockdowns is over June 19, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the time for using national lockdowns to control the coronavirus pandemic had passed, adding that local measures could now be used instead. “We are now moving into a different phase”, he said, “”rather than going back to the national lockdown”. However, he warned that the economic cost of [...]
UK to relax quarantine rules for some countries in July June 19, 2020 The government is planning on relaxing its quarantine rules for travellers coming to the UK from some countries in early July. The BBC reported that the government is hoping to make an announcement on 29 June that it has secured “travel corridors” with a number of countries. Discussions are currently still continuing between UK officials [...]
Coronavirus present in Italy in December, sewage study confirms June 19, 2020 A study has found traces of the new coronavirus disease in sewage in Italy from December, suggesting the virus was already spreading in Italy before China declared its first cases. Scientists studying wastewater found that samples taken from Milan and Turin on 18 December already contained the virus. The findings add to a growing body [...]
