Airlines hit by £1.1bn losses in shutdown April 21, 2010 THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated the airline industry had been hit by $1.7bn (£1.1bn) in total losses due to the Icelandic volcano disruption. IATA director general and chief executive Giovanni Bisignani estimated that at worst, the six-day flight ban hit 29 per cent of global aviation and affected up to 1.2m passengers a [...]
LISTED PRODUCT NEWS April 21, 2010 FIRST LISTING FOR RBS’S ETC PLATFORM Standard Commodities, the Royal Bank of Scotland’s exchange-traded commodities (ETC) platform, launched its first product on the Frankfurt Xetra stock exchange this week. Its physical gold ETC gives investors exposure to the performance of the London gold market fix price and the ETC is denominated in euros. The ETC [...]
UK fly ban criticised as an over-reaction April 20, 2010 LAST night’s decision by the authorities to re-open Britain’s airspace was yesterday criticised by the aviation industry and London Mayor Boris Johnson for being “too little, too late.” The six day suspension has left hundreds of thousands stranded and caused severe damage to the economy. British Airways chief executive, Willie Walsh, said he was pleased [...]
New cloud casts doubt on flights April 19, 2010 A NEW ash cloud erupting from the Icelandic volcano has endangered plans to reopen British airspace. Major carriers had planned to operate long haul departures and short haul flights scheduled to fly after 7pm in a bid to help stranded passengers. But last night hopes faded as a ferocious new blast of volcanic ash drifted [...]
Navy could rescue travellers April 18, 2010 DRASTIC plans were hastily drawn up yesterday to help return at least 150,000 Britons stranded by the Icelandic volcano to the UK. Government ministers say the Navy could be recruited to ferry thousands of Britons who have been grounded by the fine cloud of ash belched over vast swathes of Europe. Some estimates place the [...]
Arriva close to receiving German bid April 18, 2010 DEUTSCHE BAHN, the German rail and bus operator, is one step closer to acquiring Arriva as the group puts the finishing touches on a takeover package that could see the British based transport company valued at £1.6bn. It is understood that the Deutsche Bahn board will meet this week to finalise a bid, which could [...]
He’s seen off his own PM, but now the chancellor must beat the Tories April 14, 2010 WHEN all politicians around him are losing their heads, Alistair Darling is intent on keeping his. Having seen off an attempt to replace him with Gordon Brown’s favourite apparatchik Ed Balls – who wanted to use Labour’s final Budget to make vote-winning spending promises – the famously low-key chancellor says the new enemies of prudence [...]
Say hello to the new lifestyle SUV April 13, 2010 ITS predecessor was undoubtedly ugly even for a 4×4, but there is no doubt about it: the first, most obvious element of the new Kia Sorento is how attractive it is. It’s one of the first Kia cars to be have been styled German design boss Peter Schreyer – the man who penned the Audi [...]
Lib Dems unveil plans to pump £3bn of new investment into Britain’s railways April 5, 2010 THE Liberal Democrats yesterday set out audacious plans to overhaul the UK’s rail network, unveiling plans for the biggest expansion of the railways since the Victorian era. The party said it would fund the revamp via swingeing cuts to spending on major roads, ploughing almost £3bn into a new Rail Expansion Fund from which councils [...]
Wave of strikes set to cause transport chaos March 30, 2010 BRITONS are facing a spring of strikes with a raft of airline, rail and tube walkouts hitting travellers. Major disruptions are likely as British Airways (BA), Network Rail and London Underground staff threaten to launch further walkouts. The news comes as Network Rail has taken legal action against rail union RMT over threats of a [...]