RMT suspends next week’s South Western Railway strike action March 3, 2020 Rail workers union RMT has suspended strike action on South Western Railway that was due for next week to allow talks to take place this Friday. The action was due to take place between for 24 hours on 9 March from 10am and the same period on 12 March. Guards and drivers on the service [...]
Chris Packham to challenge HS2 decision on climate change grounds March 3, 2020 Renowned broadcaster and naturalist Chris Packham has launched a legal challenge against Boris Johnson’s decision to green light the controversial HS2 rail project on climate grounds. According to Packham, the climate impact of HS2 is “incompatible” with the UK’s net zero target, and will damage or destroy almost 700 wildlife sites, including over 100 ancient [...]
Airline bosses say worst is yet to come as more flights cancelled on coronavirus fears March 3, 2020 Airline bosses have warned that the worst is yet to come for the industry after coronavirus fears saw passenger demand slump, with carriers cutting flights to locations round the world. Speaking at an industry conference in Brussels, outgoing IAG boss Willie Walsh said that there had been “a very significant fall-off in demand” in Italian [...]
British Steel future secure as Jingye set to complete £50m purchase March 3, 2020 British Steel’s survival has finally been confirmed this morning as Chinese conglomerate Jingye announced that it would complete the acquisition of the troubled steelmaker next week. The deal, which will be signed on 9 March, will preserve 3,200 of the firm’s jobs in Scunthorpe and Teeside, with 100 moving over to Barrett Steel after the [...]
Exclusive: Mystery of HS2 letter deepens as Chinese ambassador calls document ‘fake’ March 3, 2020 The provenance of a letter claiming to be from China’s state-run railway offering to build HS2 has been plunged into mystery after the Chinese ambassador to the UK said that no such letter had ever been written. Speaking at Chatham House, ambassador Liu Xiaoming said “the Chinese railway authority did not write a letter to [...]
Jack ‘Neutron’ Welch, chief executive of General Electric, dies age 84 March 2, 2020 Jack Welch, the architect of General Electric’s (GE) rise to becoming at one time the most valuable company in the US, has died aged 84, the firm has announced. Over the course of his two decades as chief executive of the industrial giant, Welch grew the firm’s market value from $12bn to $410bn, expanding General [...]
Wizz Air agrees to launch spin-off airline out of Abu Dhabi March 2, 2020 Wizz Air has today announced that it has signed an agreement to launch a spin-off airline out of Abu Dhabi, with flights set to begin in the autumn. The Hungarian airline has entered a partnership with Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADDH) to set up Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, a new low-cost airline servicing destinations [...]
Senior warns of turbulent 2020 on 737 Max delays and coronavirus fears March 2, 2020 Boeing supplier Senior could be in for a rough ride in 2020 after the firm warned that continued issues over the production of the 737 Max and potential disruption from the coronavirus outbreak could hit sales. Despite the warning, shares in the FTSE 250 firm rose over two per cent today. The figures Although the [...]
Airline stocks push FTSE 100 back into the red as coronavirus fears mount March 2, 2020 Airline stocks continued to plunge this morning as more flights were suspended on the back of growing fears over the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. British Airways owner IAG was the FTSE 100’s biggest faller, shedding another nine per cent this morning to land at 426.20. The fall means that since 23 February IAG has [...]
Hong Kong retail sales plummet as coronavirus continues to dent economy March 2, 2020 Hong Kong’s retail sales fell 21.4 per cent in January on a year-on-year basis, as fears over the spread of the coronavirus kept tourists away from the city’s shopping centres. Sales dropped to $4.9bn according to government data, the 12th consecutive month of decline. The coronavirus outbreak has compounded an already challenging environment for the [...]
