BA and Virgin to restart flights to China after three years as Beijing welcomes back visitors February 2, 2023 Virgin Atlantic and British Airways have announced they will return to China for the first time in three years following Beijing’s reopening. Richard Branson’s airline – which stopped operating flights into China in December 2020 – announced today it will resume daily flights between Heathrow and Shanghai from 1 May. Meanwhile British Airways (BA) will [...]
End of an era: Heathrow’s ‘extraordinary’ boss John Holland-Kaye to step down February 2, 2023 John Holland-Kaye is stepping down as Heathrow chief executive later this year, it has been announced. Holland-Kaye, who has been at the London airport’s helm since 2014, will stay in place until a replacement is found. The reasons behind his decision have not been revealed and the airport has declined to elaborate further on his [...]
Flying start to 2023: Shares up after 16m passengers take to skies on Ryanair and Wizz Air February 2, 2023 Shares for low-cost carriers Ryanair and Wizz Air have gone up this morning after both reported a strong start to 2023, with passenger numbers well above 2022 levels. Ryanair’s passenger numbers soared to 11.8 million in the last month, 69 per cent up on January last year, while Wizz Air’s levels soared 73 per cent [...]
‘No plans to do this at the moment’: Superdry boss plays down bid to go private February 2, 2023 Superdry’s chief executive Julian Dunkerton has reassured investors he has “no plans to do this at the moment”. The CEO said he was reserving the right to participate in an offer, were it to materialise within the next six months. The comments come after reports emerged in early December that Dunkerton was mulling a potential buyout, [...]
Canary Wharf buzz almost back as Elizabeth line sees passenger demand near pre-pandemic levels February 2, 2023 Passenger demand at Canary Wharf is now at 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels on weekdays, according to new data. Transport for London (TfL) figures shared exclusively today with CityAM show that travel demand on Thursdays has returned to 90 per cent of 2019 levels, while passenger numbers are exceeding pre-pandemic levels on most [...]
Network Rail makes new offer to RMT in bid to avert more strikes: Pay increase stays but hours reduced February 1, 2023 Network Rail has tweaked the offer it made last month to the union RMT in a bid to avert more strike action. Chief negotiator Tim Shoveller sent yesterday an email to staff, saying the new offer “added some fresh proposals.” These include cutting down the hours of maintenance staff from 40 to 35 per week, [...]
Elizabeth line hits the 100 million milestone with Tottenham Court Road the most popular destination February 1, 2023 Over 100 million trips have been made using the Elizabeth line since it opened last May, Transport for London (TfL) has revealed. Figures from TfL show that passenger numbers have been above expected levels, with around 600,000 trips made each day. “I’m so proud that we’ve now seen more than 100 million journeys since the [...]
Rail strikes: End is now ‘further away’ than when walkouts started, Aslef says February 1, 2023 A resolution to the dispute between train drivers and operators is “further away than when we started,” according to rail union Aslef. Around 12,500 Aslef members at 15 companies are on strike today as part of a ongoing dispute over pay and jobs, joining hundreds of thousands of workers in what is considered the biggest [...]
Virgin Atlantic and British Airways-owner slam Heathrow price cap hike January 31, 2023 Virgin Airlines and British Airways’ owner IAG have slammed the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) decision today to hike Heathrow’s price cap. The regulator announced the hike this morning, raising the cap for 2023 to £31.57 per passenger, up from £30.19. The aviation watchdog said the decision will “protect consumers and give certainty to the airport [...]
Rail strikes: TSSA considers revised pay offer from train companies January 31, 2023 Rail union TSSA has announced it has received two new offers from train operators in a bid to avert further industrial action. TSSA bosses said they will consider the deal – which is now extended to management as well as platform and station staff and is worth nine per cent over two years – and [...]
