Travellers hoping to fly on the Dreamliner from London airports such as Stansted are in for a long wait as further delays have hit the delivery of the aircraft to airlines.

The delivery of Boeing’s Dreamliner aircraft has been delayed

US-based Boeing said issues with the availability of a Rolls-Royce engine needed for the final phases of testing the aircraft were behind the delay.

The firm said it was in talks with Rolls-Royce to “expedite engine availability”.

Delivery of the aircraft to Japan’s All Nippon Airways is now expected for February next yea, Boeing said.

The Dreamliner, whose UK customers include British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Thomson Airways, is already more than two years behind schedule.

The Dreamliner has been hailed as a revolutionary plane, emitting less carbon dioxide than other aircraft.

Boeing, which has had to contend with numerous production difficulties from the 787, displayed the Dreamliner at the Farnborough Air Show in Hampshire earlier this summer.

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The bank holiday weekend will see 1.8 million Britons focused on getting to Luton Airport and other departure points across the country on time to catch their flight, according to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).

136,000 holidaymakers are set to use Stansted Airport to get away this weekend, as nearly two million jet off across the country

Some 65,000 people will be flying from London Luton, while a further 136,000 will be leaving from London Stansted Airport. Passengers getting airport transfers from Heathrow and Gatwick, which will handle 420,000 and 250,000 people respectively, will notice they are a comparatively quieter.

Airports in other areas of the country are also braced for the traditional August bank holiday getaway, with 145,000 passengers set to leave the country through Manchester, while Birmingham (65,000), Leeds Bradford (25,000), Newcastle (36,000) and Southampton (12,000) will also be busy.

A total of 116,000 passengers will be using airports in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, while some 60,000 will use the Eurostar for trips to the continent. Half a million people will use Eurotunnel or ferry ports.

The busiest day of the weekend is expected to be Friday, as people look to begin their weekend as soon as possible.

The list of most popular destinations is topped by Mediterranean resorts in mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands, Egypt, Turkey, Cyprus and the Greek islands.

Orlando and New York in the US are also among the top destinations, while European cities including Paris, Venice, Amsterdam and Dublin are favoured by others.

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A £1bn modernisation programme at Gatwick Airport will include redeveloping the South Terminal baggage centre and providing new aircraft pier facilities.

Gatwick Airport has revealed the consultants it will use for its £1bn modernisation programme

The upgrade will improve facilities for all passengers, including those arriving on airport transfers.

A three-year deal puts around 50 projects in the hands of selected civil engineering consultants Arup, Halcrow,  Jacobs, Scott Wilson and TPS.

The North Terminal will also be upgraded as part of the agreement, which is worth up to £10m to the consultants.

Gatwick could spend between £3m – £20m on architects over the next three years, according to industry experts.

Some of the architectural suppliers are Atkins, HOK, Jacobs, Morgan Sindall Professional Services and Pascal & Watson.

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Lisbon has been voted the best city-break holiday but Sydney has not fared so well, which may tempt tourists to find last minute airport transfers and switch their flights from Heathrow in London to Luton Airport.

The charms of Syndey Harbour were not enough to impress tourists

The Portuguese capital, which can be reached from Luton Airport, topped a city index which considered factors such as weather and value for money. However, the Australian city, which tourists cannot reach directly from Luton or Stansted Airport, came 20th and last in the list of 20 cities put together by shopping comparison site Kelkoo.

Lisbon, which scored 66.17 points out of a possible 100, was ranked ahead of Athens in second and Istanbul in third. London (45.62 points) was in eighth place and Dublin (45.24 points) was ranked 10th.

Sydney finished bottom on 21.34 points, while Rio de Janeiro (23.01 points) and Cape Town (30.35 points) performed little better in the survey of 2,300 UK adults.

Athens was found to have the best weather and Hong Kong was praised for the best security, but Rio was considered the most rainy. Amsterdam had the worst crime, while Rio, Sydney and Cape Town were thought to be the least affordable cities for tourists.

London relied on its cultural and tourist attractions to perform well on the survey because it was not highly rated for value for money or weather. Kuala Lumpur was the highest-placed city outside of Europe in ninth, with the top eight cities all located in Europe.

Holidaymakers may be advised to find cheaper ways to airports, such as taking the bus to Luton, after the survey revealed travel expenditure is set to hit £41.1 billion, or £669 per person – some 2.4% higher than last year’s figures.

Affordability was considered to be the most important factor by those surveyed, while security, weather and good food were also vital. 

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A troublesome vulture that caused an alert at an airport after escaping from a public display is back with her owners.

Seven-year-old Gandalf flew away from the event and headed for the airport last Tuesday.

A vulture escaped from a public display and caused an alert at an airport

Unlike other people who were preparing to fly that day, Gandalf wouldn’t have had to worry about airport transfers as she planned her holiday.

The female Ruppell’s Griffon vulture had been taking part at an event at the Cumbernauld-based World of Wings in North Lanarkshire.

Pilots flying into Glasgow Airport were warned about the rogue bird, airport traffic control company Nats said.

Joanna Timson, one of the falconers at World of Wings, said: “She’s back with us safe and sound. We got her back on Saturday night but we wanted a vet to check her.

“She was back in public displays today and she slept most of yesterday. She has been exhausted but she was wonderful today. She is back on form today, eating normally.

“I’m so relieved and so happy with the response from everyone that helped. It was phenomenal the amount of people who called in and those who cared.”

The conditions for flying on the day that the vulture disappeared were described as “absolutely perfect”.

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International air authorities have given the green light to expansion work at Manchester Airport which will see the world’s biggest airliner becoming a regular visitor to the city.

International air authorities have approved expansion work at Manchester Airport which will see the world's biggest airliner become a regular feature over North-West airspace.

After spending £10 million improving facilities and infrastructure, the North West’s main airport is now ready for the arrival of the Airbus A380 super-jumbo – set to touch down for the first time in September.

Manchester is one of just 17 airports across the world able to accommodate both the A380 and other ‘Code F’ aircraft such as freight transports.

Civil Aviation Authority’s Aerodrome Standards Division have approved plans for widened taxi-ways, reinforced tarmac and a revamped terminal.

This puts Manchester in the same league as other international hubs such as Heathrow – linked with the North West by airport transfer – as well as Sydney Airport and California’s LAX.

Manchester Airport managing director Andrew Cornish said that a lot of effort had gone into making Manchester a ‘Category 10′ airport.

He explained: “A lot of hard work and planning has gone into the arrival from many people across the business and we’re pleased that as an aerodrome we can accept the newest type of aircraft flying today and that Emirates has recognised Manchester as a world class airport.”

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Cheap-flights airline easyJet has announced three new weekly flights from Basel, Switzerland, to Tel Aviv, Israel.

EasyJet check-in desks at Luton Airport, from where passengers will soon be able to fly to Israel on a Friday

The route will operate on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, with a one-way ticket starting at 47.5 Swiss francs (around £29.50).

The firm said its service from Luton Airport to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport will be extended to include a flight on Fridays, making a total of seven weekly flights on the route.

From the end of August, easyJet will run four flights a week from Geneva, Switzerland, to Tel Aviv.

The low-cost carrier is the largest airline company in the UK and the fourth largest in Europe. It says it flew 46 million people in 2009.

Its flights to Israel began in November last year.

People wishing to use easyJet must buy tickets from its website, although the cheap fares are extremely limited, and passengers need to pay extra if they want their luggage checked in.

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Travel agents could be forced to make huge price reductions – good news for last-minute holidaymakers.

Travel operators could be forced to reduce the price of holidays

Tour operators Tui Travel and Thomas Cook announced that bookings for this summer have plunged, with around 650,000 flights and holidays still left to sell.

Travellers wanting to hop on a plane as soon as possible could jump on the Stansted express and take advantage of holiday bargains.

The admission by Tui Travel, which owns Thompson Holidays and Europe’s largest travel company, saw £230 million drop off its stock market value.

Manny Fontenla-Novoa, Thomas Cook chief executive, also admitted that the company had seen bookings slide this year as families remained cautious ahead of a possible “double-dip” recession.

Bargain-hunting travellers looking to book at the last minute will be able to take advantage of some of the best deals around.

The Eastern Mediterranean, which includes Cyprus, Crete, Zante and Turkey, is tipped to be one of the cut-price destinations that holidaymakers can jet off to from Stansted or Luton airport.

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Cheap-flights firm Ryanair has announced it will now fly from Gatwick Airport to Faro in Portugal.

It also said it will operate routes to Bergamo, Bologna and Porto from Gatwick for the first time.

Ryanair has unveiled a range of new routes from Gatwick Airport

The four new routes will come into play from October  31.

Ryanair did not disclose how frequent any of the flights will be.

The second-largest UK airport is the usual home for charter airlines although easyJet, which also features heavily at Stansted Airport, is now the biggest company working out of Gatwick. Travellers from the capital wishing to get to the outlying airports can take advantage of easyJet’s bus service, including its London to Stansted route.

Ryanair meanwhile is ever-expanding into the territory of the tour operators. It has moved into busy holiday airports such as Gatwick and Malaga in Spain. It also now runs flights which take longer than its one-time two-hour limit to places such as north Africa and the Canary Islands.

The budget Irish firm does flights to Faro from Stansted and other UK airports. Its Gatwick departures, before the four new routes were announced, were limited to just Alicante and Girona.

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AirAsia X, Asia’s leading long-haul and low-fare airline, has launched a low-fare campaign for flights arriving into a range of destinations, including London Stansted.

A leading Asian airline is offering low-flare flights to destinations including Stansted

Other destinations include Taipei, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, Mumbai and New Delhi.

The offer covers travel from April 1 to Aug 11, 2011, according to the budget airline, which will also offer one-way free seats to Mumbai and New Delhi, excluding airport tax.

The firm confirmed that the long-haul flights would also feature redesigned new interior and flat bed premium seats.

Travellers may also be eager to take advantage of airport transfers to destinations such as Heathrow.

AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani said the promotion gave customers the opportunity to fly a greater range of destinations.

He said: “Would-be travellers can start to plan now and book their flights for next year’s travel plans. They should take advantage of Kuala Lumpur’s status as a gateway to Asia, Australia and Europe.” 

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