On the eve of the introduction of the emissions trading scheme by the European Union, the heads of some of the country’s major airlines have teamed up to once again ask the government to scrap Air Passenger Duty. A joint statement has been issued by Willie Walsh, the chief executive of IAG, owner of British [...]

A new device is being tested by scientists, which airlines hope will deliver the answer to volcanic ash-cloud disruption. The Airborne Volcanic Object Imaging Detector has been designed by Dr Fred Prata from Britain. It combines thermal cameras with data provided by satellites and atmospheric modelling so that pilots know where the ash cloud is [...]

Flag carrier British Airways has said that it will not be able to hire as many staff next year as it had planned to. The airline claims that the decision to hike Air Passenger Duty next year is the reason it will have to reduce the number of new jobs from 800 to just 400. [...]

Airlines in the UK and Ireland are asking the government to do away with Air Passenger Duty. British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Ryanair and easyJet, have all said that the tax is damaging and that it is harmful to tourism. APD was first introduced in 1994, and has since risen sharply. What was between £5 and [...]

Baggage handlers dealing with Ryanair passengers at Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport have been given a new incentive for checking that all hand luggage adheres to the airline’s weight rules. For every bag discovered which is slightly too heavy for the flight deck, a handler will be able to claim a 50p reward.
The handlers are employed [...]

Increased competition appears to be squeezing profits at both Belfast International and Belfast City with some wondering whether the region can maintain two airports. In 2010, pre-tax profits at City were £15,000 which is a drop on 2009 when profits were £433,000. Pre-tax profits at Belfast International were down by 11 per cent in 2010 [...]

Former boss of British Airways, now chief executive of parent company International Airlines Group, Willie Walsh is not sure that a plan to link Gatwick and Heathrow airports with high speed rail would produce significant benefits. He said the problem was that nobody really new how long the project would take to complete, or how [...]

Flybe has issued a profit warning as the airline admits that traffic on domestic services continues to be disappointing. This is the second warning in less than six months. The regional carrier, based in Exeter, launched at the end of last year on the London Stock Exchange confident that demand on routes including Edinburgh to [...]

An ash cloud drifting from Iceland could cause disruption for passengers in the UK as a number of airlines suspend services in Scotland. Among the carriers announcing cancellations are British Airways, Aer Lingus, KLM and easyJet. The Irish Aviation Authority has ordered Ryanair to ground flights this morning to and from Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh [...]

The threat of strikes by airport workers in Spain could mean misery for millions hoping to get away for the Easter holidays. If the industrial action were to go ahead, nearly every airport in the country would be affected over the extremely busy holiday period. The problems for travellers could be made worse if air [...]