The extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to international carriers flying from airports in Britain is to be challenged in the European Court of Justice.
EU Flag
Lawyers acting for the US Air Transport Association and three major American carriers had claimed the directive, first introduced to the EU in 2008, was “contrary to international law” and imposed “an improper tax or charge”.
The case relates specifically to 2009 regulations introduced by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, giving effect to the scheme at UK airports.
The new law widened the existing ETS to cover airlines from around the world engaged in international aviation activities.
Mr Justice Ouseley said all sides were agreed that a referral to the court was necessary, explaining that one would be put in motion as soon as all preparatory work was completed.
“In reality, this case is wholly or very largely about the lawfulness of the directive,” the judge explained.
The answers to the questions in the reference “are very likely to solve the whole of the issues underlying this challenge”, he added.
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Proposed legislation on airports will see changes aimed at benefiting passengers.
The Airports Economic Regulation Bill would replace the system of limiting the amount of money an airport can charge airlines with “a more flexible framework” designed to help travellers.
Tory-Lib Dem coalition in Westminster determined to improve existing airports
The Government said the Bill intends to improve the incentive for airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, to provide better deals for passengers; encourage firms to invest more in airport facilities, remove “unnecessary regulation” and cut bureaucracy and “political involvement” in the regulatory process.
The Civil Aviation Authority, which sets price caps, has recently been criticised by airlines because of its regulatory processes, particularly from budget firm Ryanair.
The new Tory-Lib Dem coalition in Westminster said it is determined to improve existing airports after scrapping plans to build extra runways at Heathrow and Stansted, although airlines and airport operator BAA claim more runways are needed in south-east England.
Local residents, councils and environmental activists welcomed scrapping proposals to expand Heathrow and Stansted.
The Government has said it will improve the flying experience for travellers using current capacity, which could include the system of transfer between airports and destinations by bus and coach.
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Scottish tourism chiefs have launched a range of initiatives to improve transport services across Glasgow ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, with airport transfers services being a particular focus.
Jubilent Glasgow airport passenger
The Glasgow: Service with Style project aims to enhance the experience of visiting tourists by investing in transport and offering relevant industries the chance to attend master classes, networking events and web-based resources on careers, skills, leadership, education and training.
It has already drawn significant interest from coach companies.
Organisers hope the drive will play a “crucial role” in achieving plans to boost tourism revenue by 60% in the next six years.
Graeme Gibson, chair of the project and general manager of the city’s Radisson Blu hotel, said: “Glasgow: Service with Style is the first innovative project of its kind that brings together the city’s tourism businesses for the same goal – making sure those coming here have a fantastic experience, spread the word and return.”
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Airport operator BAA has scrapped its application for the expansion of both Stansted and Heathrow airports in reaction to the arrival of the new coalition Government.
The decision to axe the plans, which would have seen new runways at both airports, had been largely anticipated following the arrival of the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government as both parties had previously announced in their manifestos that they would scrap the scheme.
Taking off at Heathrow
Stansted’s managing director David Johnston confirmed that the application for a second runway at the Essex airport had been withdrawn but reiterated the need for future expansion in order to maintain and improve UK trade links.
“We have reflected carefully on the new Government’s clear intention to change airports policy and have moved quickly to withdraw this application,” he said.
“Stansted is a key driver of economic growth in this part of England, and we will continue to work hard to bring new business here and to work with our neighbours and the wider community, to provide jobs and strong business and travel opportunities in the months and years ahead.
“We continue to believe that new airport capacity is needed in the south east of England, to strengthen the UK’s international trading links.”
Despite receiving support for the second runway from the Labour government in a 2003 White Paper, the application has been dogged by problems throughout the planning stage and initial hopes that it would be operational by 2013 soon vanished.
Sunset at Heathrow
The introduction of the coalition Government proved to be a step too far for the runway as well as the plans for a third runway and sixth terminal at Heathrow.
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Gatwick, Luton and Stansted airports look set to escape the chaos engulfing troubled carrier British Airways (BA), with Heathrow to be hit hardest by a series of crippling strikes.
British Airways
Airline officials said they expected to operate around 60% of longhaul services from the airport and more than half of all short flights.
The news comes after talks aimed at averting industrial action collapsed on Sunday.
Unite joint leader Tony Woodley had offered to suspend the strikes if BA gave back staff travel rights, but the war of words between the two sides continued, with the carrier saying it was disappointed he had taken to negotiation via the media rather than through Acas.
“We had agreed to a request from Acas to meet this afternoon and are surprised that Unite did not take advantage of this,” BA said in a statement.
“We have already offered to reinstate travel concessions to cabin crew once all elements of our offer have been implemented.”
“We call on him to call off the strike action and return to the table with Acas to finish the discussions that started yesterday.”
BA claimed it would now focus on helping customers caught up in the dispute.
“All flights at London Gatwick and London City will operate as normal. At Heathrow we expect to operate more than 60% of longhaul services and more than 50% of shorthaul flights and we will add to that schedule where we can,” a spokesman said.
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Britons flying from Stansted and Luton helped buck the overall downward trend in holiday transactions last year, statistics have revealed.
A survey of UK Visa cardholders’ purchasing figures showed that spending in foreign supermarkets rose 18% on 2008.
Overall spending abroad, however, slipped by 4% to £564 million in 2009, Visa Europe said.
Some of the worst hit sectors included car rental, department stores and accommodation, which fell by 25%, 20% and 14% respectively.
By country, the total spent in the Republic of Ireland by Britons dropped 13%, while spending in the United States fell 11% to just under £1.46 billion.
Outlay in Europe also fell, with France and Italy experiencing 8% and 6% drops. Transactions in ever-popular Spain tumbled 5% to just under £1.72 billion.
But it wasn’t all bad news. More visitors than ever before to Namibia, Lebanon and Kenya produced spend increases of up to 50%.
Visa Europe head of debit Tony Gibbons said: “Due to the economic climate, in the last 12 months we have seen a slight slowdown in card spending abroad.
“The global downturn hasn’t put us off travelling. Instead we’ve scaled back our spending and are looking to extract as much value from our trips as possible. For example people are shifting spend from eating out to eating in. As people start to travel abroad again, we expect to see spending pick up over the next few years.”
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If Gatwick Airport was not orange enough with the many easyJet flights that already operate out of both terminals, North and South, then Gatwick will be more so now, with the announcement that easyBus the low cost airport transfers service will now operate two services, one from the North and one from the South to London and back.
easyBus now operates from the North and South terminal to London
easyBus has been the only service to operate from Gatwick´s North terminal to London but has this week announced that an additional easyBus service to Earl´s Court in central London will start operating from the South terminal to accommodate increasing demand for low cost bus travel to and from the airport.
Booking cheap flights has given rise to the budget carriers like easyJet and Ryanair, so it makes sense that travellers also seek cheaper ways to get to and from the airport to reduce their overall travel costs. Hotels seem to be different though, as if a holiday stay, most travellers over the age of 24 years generally don´t want to skimp on accommodation.
As London moves towards the 2012 Olympic Games, connectivity to key London airports like Gatwick and its North and South terminals will become important on showing off why London is one of the World´s greatest cities.
Crisis-hit airline British Airways (BA) has pledged to run a full long-haul service from Gatwick and London City and a 60% service from Heathrow, despite losing out in an attempt to ban union strike action.
The carrier made the claim after two out of three judges at the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of a Unite motion to overturn an earlier injunction.
It is not known whether the result will affect people flying from London Stansted and London Luton.
Passengers had welcomed the ban, issued by Mr Justice McCombe in the High Court earlier in the week, hoping it would ease travel chaos at one of the busiest times of the year.
But the decision drew furious criticism from union leaders, who described it as an “absolute disgrace”.
It is expected that Unite will now go ahead with the planned strikes, most probably from next Monday.
The union originally announced four five-day stoppages from May 18-22 inclusive, then from May 24-28, May 30-June 3 and June 5-9, the last strike ending just days before the start of the football World Cup in South Africa.
BA said: “We will implement our contingency plan to keep British Airways flying. We are confident that thousands of cabin crew will ignore Unite’s strike call and help us fly more than 70% of the customers who were booked to fly with us in the period targeted.
“We will run a full programme at Gatwick and London City. At Heathrow, we will operate more than 60% of our longhaul operation and more than 50% of shorthaul.”
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Troubled carrier British Airways (BA) has shaken off concerns about potential strike action to run a full long-haul service from Heathrow.
The firm, which won a contested injunction against the Unite union on Monday, said its global operation started well on Wednesday.
“We are operating a full schedule at Gatwick and London City and a full long-haul schedule at Heathrow,” a BA spokesman said.
Heathrow is now running its full long-haul service after strike action was averted
“We are operating just over two-thirds of our short-haul programme at Heathrow and we will continue to reinstate further flights where we can.”
Of the looming strike, the spokesman added: “Whilst we await the outcome of Unite’s appeal to overturn the High Court injunction against the strike, we are unfortunately unable to return to a full schedule. We would like to apologise to our customers for the inconvenience during this difficult period.
“We will update BA.com with the latest information for our customers. Customers who do not have a confirmed booking should not go to the airport.”
The result of the union’s appeal will be announced on Thursday.
The last round of strikes left many people stranded and abroad, while other holidaymakers were stuck in the UK. Those who acted quickly and could afford the excess cost made arrangements with other airlines flying to and from London Stansted and London Luton.
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Museum of London, EC2
The Museum of London has announced the launch of the 5 new galleries making up a collection named the Galleries of Modern London. The galleries will open to the public on the 28th May just in time for the Spring Bank Holiday in the UK.
Timing the launch perfectly for the British summertime period, the new galleries will tell the story of the rise of London from around 1666 into one of the Worlds greatest cities, to the many thousands of UK and inbound tourists sure to flock there for a thematic take on the past.
Having spent £20 million on the development over the last three years, the Museum of London are no doubt excited about the opening. A new iPhone application has been introduced to celebrate the opening, available free from the iTunes store, allows users to see London past and present via a virtual tour, but nothing can compare to the real thing.
People and iconic objects are central to the theme that will tell the story including 7000 exhibits that include stuffed cats, a golden coach dating back to 1757, a pair of flintlock pistols forged by Huguenot craftsmen, the first Model Y Ford , Admiral Nelson’s sword of honour to Charlie Chaplin’s signature in the guest book of the Café Royal and images of the first early London bus and transport.
The galleries also cover the Great Fire of London and how the city picked itself up, and dusted itself down, to grow at pace into the financial giant and tourist magnet the city is today.
More details and directions can be found on the official Museum of London website at www.MuseumOfLondon. org.uk The museum is located in EC2, easy access for central London.
