Staff strikes and volcanic ash cost British Airways £250 million in the three months to June 30, the airline has announced.

While passengers travelling from London to Stansted and Luton airports were also affected by Iceland’s volcanic eruption, BA’s troubles were exacerbated by 22 days of industrial action by cabin crew. 

Its ongoing dispute with the Unite union, combined with almost a week of grounded planes due to closed European airspace in April, sent the airline £164 million into the red. 

Staff strikes and volcanic ash cost British Airways £250 million in the three months to June 30, the airline has announced.

This meant its overall first-quarter revenue dropped 2.3% to hit £1.94 billion, while an 11.2% fall in passenger capacity meant that ticket sales were down 3.4%. 

Chief executive Willie Walsh said that, despite the unresolved cabin crew issues which could see more walkouts in September, BA still expected to break even in 2010 following two years of successive losses. 

In July BA received US regulatory clearance for a transatlantic flight alliance with American Airlines and Iberia and agreed a pension scheme recovery plan with regulators. 

Meanwhile, Sir Richard Branson’s airline Virgin Atlantic announced that it made a big operating loss last year but that revenues and passenger numbers rose in the first part of this year. 

Virgin’s group pre-tax operating loss for the period March 2009 to February 2010 was £132 million, compared with a profit of £60 million for March 2008 to February 2009. 

Revenues for 2009/10 decreased 8.6% to £2.35 billion but operating costs reduced 8%. 

Virgin Atlantic chief executive Steve Ridgway said: “The start of the year has been encouraging despite difficult trading conditions. Demand is picking up across the majority of our routes and forward bookings for the summer have been very positive. 

“From all of the major operational challenges that we have faced this year – including snow and volcanic ash – the response from everyone at Virgin Atlantic has been outstanding.” 

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British holidaymakers ignored reputation and dumped two of the world’s most famous beach destinations into the bottom two slots of the top-20 sand-and-sun getaways list, it has been revealed.

Sydney in Australia came last and Rio de Janeiro was second bottom in a survey based on a series of criteria including security and value for money.

In a beach index which was commissioned by Kelkoo, Britons declared the best beaches were offered by Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast.

In a beach index which was commissioned by Kelkoo, Britons declared the best beaches were offered by Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast.

Stansted Airport offers flights to Burgas in Bulgaria. If you would like to get from the centre of London to Stansted Airport, easyBus runs a service from the heart of the capital to the airport, or vice versa, with no stops.

The cost of flights and accommodation in the beach destinations, as well as attractions and exchange rates were also rated.

With a top score of 70.98 out of 100 was Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast, while in second place was North Tunisia with 69.10 points and with 68.72 points was Antalya in Turkey in third place.

With crime a concern for respondents Sydney finished bottom with just 17.79 points. Considered the most expensive of the 20 beach destinations, Rio de Janeiro scored 25.23 points.

Relatively high costs and the unpredictable British climate hit Cornwall, which finished in 14th place in the table with a score of 50.61.

Cornwall scored lowest for climate out of all the 20 beaches. There is expected to be a £1 billion rise in UK travel expenditure in 2010, compared to 2009, as it is likely to hit £41.1 billion or £669 per person.

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Easyjet has brought in three extra planes, including crew, because of a bumper summer flight schedule.

Carolyn McCall, the budget airline’s new chief executive, said costs will increase by 3% over the financial year as a result.

Strikes by air traffic control workers in France also affected the company. Nearly two thirds of all easyJet planes pass through French airspace, from UK airports such as Stansted, but the strike has meant long-haul flights and planes in France were prioritised.

easyJet said today it had been forced to draft in extra aircraft to fill in the gaps in its summer schedule.

The budget airline will nonetheless make an expected pre-tax profit of between £100 million and £150 million for the year, with its revenue up 5.3% to £759.2 million during the previous quarter.

The number of people using easyjet increased by 3.5% to 12.3 million on the same period last year, despite 7,000 cancelled flights because of the volcano eruption in Iceland.

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Passengers at Gatwick Airport are being encouraged to provide feedback about their travel experience via Twitter while still in the building, after airport bosses launched a trial initiative.

The trial is part of a plan to integrate customer service operations at the airport with the use of social media.

As part of the scheme, messages will be displayed on information screens at check-in.

Passengers at Gatwick Airport will being encouraged to provide feedback about their travel experience via Twitter while still in the building, after airport bosses launched a trial initiative.

Passengers will then be encouraged to provide feedback about their experience of the airport, and of airport transfers.

If the trial is successful, Twitter will be used as a feedback tool by the airport.

People travelling to and from the airport will be able to post messages 24-hours a day and leave immediate feedback with the customer service team.

Head of airport communications Samantha Holgate said: “A large part of our £1 billion rebranding and investment programme involves us providing our passengers with a more human and personal experience than they might expect from an airport that sees 33 million passengers flying out to over 200 destinations every year.

“We do already respond to comments via our Twitter feed, however over the next few months we aim to use social media as 24-hour response tool. 

“No matter what time of the day or night, if a passenger is at check-in and has a comment to make, we will be able to capture that comment and where appropriate action it there and then.”

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The new head of Edinburgh airport has started work as calls are made for its controversial £1 “kiss and fly” charge to be abandoned. 

Kevin Brown is to spend the week shadowing his predecessor Gordon Dewar before formally taking the reins next Monday. 

Outgoing managing director Mr Dewar has been a key player in the plans for the proposed drop-off fee.

Mr Brown’s new role will see him overseeing the busiest airport in Scotland – where busy airport transfers services see waves of passengers flooding in every day.

The new head of Scotland's busiest airport arrives at the Edinburgh terminal today amid mounting pressure for its plans for a controversial £1 "kiss and fly" charge to be abandoned.

He takes up the role after dealing with unrest in his previous position as head of Aberdeen Airport, where a planned £1 charge for taxis to drop off passengers was binned two years ago amid a wave of protest. 

Politicians hope the move to bring in Mr Brown will lead to a similar u-turn over its £1 fee, which would see all drivers dropping off passengers beside the terminal from October having to pay up. 

The scheme has already met all-party opposition, with Scottish ministers refusing to support the plans.  

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have launched petitions for its withdrawal to which thousands of people have added their signature.

Labour transport spokesman Charlie Gordon said the arrival of Mr Brown offered an ideal opportunity for the plan to be reconsidered.

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UK airline Flybe could increase the number flights it operates from Luton Airport after announcing a £3.3 billion deal for up to 140 new planes.

The first planes of the carrier’s order will be delivered in September 2011, with the 88-seater jets worth approximately £870 million. Deliveries will continue until March 2017 and Flybe hopes its new fleet could tempt passengers from other airports in London.

It has placed firm orders for 35 Embraer 175 and E-family aircraft and holds the option of 65 more with purchase options on another 40.

Flybe has placed firm orders for 35 new Embraer 175 planes

Flybe chairman and chief executive Jim French said: “Flybe is delighted to announce this significant order. In doing so, we are securing an aircraft that fits with our stated aim of furthering our position as the leading regional airline in Europe.

“The 175 will allow us to preserve our two-fleet strategy and the economic and environmental performance of the aircraft is in line with Flybe’s policy of only buying A and B-rated eco-label aircraft as part of its commitment to invest in lower-emission, new-technology aircraft.”

The carrier’s new planes will be manufactured at Embraer’s base in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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Department of Transport officials have announced that airports in the UK will be encouraged to treat each other as competitors under new regulatory proposals that aim to promote investment in the sector.

The Civil Aviation Authority would be able to take action against airports that are not up to scratch under the plan, the Government said. It added that the changes would try to make airports “better, not bigger”.

Transport Minister Philip Hammond said: “These changes will help drive passenger-focussed investment in airports, such as in new baggage handling equipment or building new modern facilities. They will also allow economic regulation to be used in a more targeted way and remove unnecessary bureaucracy.”

Transport Minister Philip Hammond has announced proposals aimed at making airports more competitive

Any new licensing scheme would allow regulation to be suited to meet individual airports’ requirements instead of uniform rules being applied, allowing hubs like Stansted and Luton airport to be treated differently according to their growth and facilities. A previous plan, which would have allowed watchdog Passenger Focus to represent air passengers, has been dropped.

Oliver Aust, easyJet’s head of communications and public affairs said: “Delivering better airports means ensuring they are built around the needs of passengers. The proposals do not create a framework for this to be achieved. We also question why this proposal has been issued when the South East Airport taskforce has only just been set up and asked to look at delivering better airports.”

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Stansted Airport has taken a step closer to competing with its rival London airports after approval was granted for it to handle the world’s biggest airliners.

The decision sees the Essex base move into the big leagues alongside Gatwick and Heathrow, both of which are able to cope with the Airbus A380 and the new Boeing 747-8, where it hopes to catch the eye of international airline giants such as Emirates, Qantas, Air France and Lufthansa.

The approval has already reaped rewards for the airport, with Emirates choosing the Stansted as its alternative destination in the event of diversion.

Stansted has become the latest airport to be granted permission to accept superjumbos on its tarmac

The Code F status awarded by the Civil Aviation Authority has been an ambition of the airport’s management for some time and places Stansted in a position to establish itself as a genuine contender for Gatwick and Heathrow, as well as Luton Airport which has risen to prominence in recent years.

Stansted’s commercial and development director Nick Barton said the airport can now begin courting airlines from the US and Far East who will be interested in the increased capacity at London’s third airport.

“Our mission is to make sure the world’s aviation decision makers know all about the excellent, modern facilities we have on offer here at Stansted,” he said.

“Gaining Code F status gives us a competitive advantage as we focus our work and energy towards airlines from across the Middle and Far East, and the USA.

“We have the drive, ambition and desire to succeed, and we are very confident we can achieve our aim of making Stansted the London airport of choice in the years ahead.”

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Introducing a “per plane” tax at airports such as London Stansted and Luton airports would “damage competitveness” in the aviation industry, business leaders have said.

Government plans to replace the current air passenger duty (APD) – which is set to rise in the autumn – would be “ineffective” and should use a different method to enforce climate obligations on aviation companies, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

The organisation backed an international “cap and trade” scheme”, which would agree an overall cap on aeroplane emissions and allocate permits to individual airlines. If they go over their allocated targets, airlines would have to buy surplus permits from companies which managed to reduce their emissions instead. 

A tax on planes at airports has been criticised by the Confederation of British Industry

CBI deputy director-general John Cridland said: “The coalition Government should be wary of introducing a domestic, per plane duty to replace APD.

“It would be ineffective, damage competitiveness, and would distract from the important goal of establishing a global cap-and-trade scheme.

He continued: “The best way for the world’s aviation industry to meet its climate obligations is through a global cap-and-trade scheme.

“Such a scheme would include all airlines, removing scope for leakage of emissions from one country to another, and would run with, not against, the grain of this international industry.”

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UK air passengers will finally get a glimpse of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner when it goes on display at the Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire.

The aircraft, which can carry up to 300 passengers, has been snapped up by UK carriers including Thomson Airways, which has bases at Stansted and Luton Airport.

The airline, which flies on behalf of Thomson and First Choice holiday operators, will take delivery of its eight Dreamliners in January 2012, the first UK carrier to take the aircraft.

Its parent company TUI Travel PLC is also taking delivery of five Dreamliners, meaning passengers will only be a Luton bus or Stansted Express journey away from accessing airports where the aircraft will operate from.

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner lands for the first time outside the US, at Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire

The take-off date for the plane with launch customer All Nippon Airways was originally pencilled in for spring 2008, but persistent problems with production have seen the launch delayed several times.

Billed as “leaner and greener” – lighter and more fuel efficient – than rival aircraft, it is powered by Rolls-Royce engines and many of its parts are manufactured in the UK.

Chris Browne, managing director of Thomson Airways, said: “As the UK’s third largest airline, it is a major coup for Thomson Airways to be the UK launch customer for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.”

British Airways will also be taking delivery of the plane, which is on static display at the seven-day Farnborough event, which is held every two years.

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