A strong performance by Heathrow Airport helped boost BAA’s passenger haul in January.

Some 7.5 million passengers travelled through its six airports across the UK during the month – up 3.8% on January last year. 

Heathrow saw the number of passengers travelling through its airport increase by 4.6% to 5.05 million – its highest monthly figure for four years. It also enjoyed its strongest long-haul performance ever.

However this year’s overall figures were boosted by the fact that heavy snowfall affected passenger numbers travelling out of the UK in January last year.

Stansted Airport passenger numbers fell 5.8% last month, but Edinburgh was up 13.6%, Aberdeen rose 9.1%, Glasgow increased 8.0% and Southampton had a 4.8% rise.

European scheduled traffic rose 2.7% while North Atlantic numbers increased 3.2%.

Other long-haul routes rose 4.5%, including increases of 30% on routes to China and rises of 10% on Indian services.

The January 2011 figures follow the troubled month endured by BAA in December 2010 when the company faced widespread criticism for the long delays for Heathrow Airport passengers trying to get away for Christmas during the early-winter bad weather.

BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said: “Passengers want quality service at our airports, from the beginning to the end of their journeys. The better we collaborate with airlines and ground handlers, the better the experience will be for customers both in normal operations and during disruption.”

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British Airways has unveiled plans to change its departure schedule for flights to Mauritius to ensure passengers have more time to spend on the island. 

BA unveils Mauritius schedule change

From November 1, return journeys from the idyllic tourist hub in the Indian Ocean will depart 12 hours later than at present.

The airline believes that evening departures for both outbound and inbound services will make it easier for its customers to make the most of their holiday time.

The change in flight schedule coincides with the transference of route to London Gatwick from Heathrow – a move that BA hopes will strengthen its leisure programme at the West Sussex-based airport.

Silla Maizey, the airline’s director of Gatwick operations, said: “We have a strong premium leisure strategy for Gatwick – we want it to be a hub for great high-end holiday destinations.

“Moving the Mauritius flight here helps us to strengthen this position as it will now sit alongside destinations such as the Maldives and the Caribbean.”

Ms Maizey revealed that that the future for BA customers using the airport is “very bright” because Gatwick’s owners are “ploughing significant investment” into the airport.

In addition, BA also plans to launch regular scheduled flights from Gatwick to Tampa in the US and Cancun in Mexico from October 1.

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Air Asia has introduced a service on selected routes which allows customers to seamlessly connect between two flights under one booking. 

Air Asia introduces Fly-Thru service

Its Fly-Thru service will allow passengers travelling on the airline to check their baggage from London through to transit airport Kuala Lumpur and then on to various locations in Asia and Oceania. 

Passengers can now book all flights under a single itinerary, and are guaranteed to be put on the next available flight if they miss a connecting service as a result of cancellation or rescheduling.

Air passengers can use Air Asia’s Fly-Thru service on scheduled flights from London Stansted to Perth, Melbourne and Christchurch, while it is also available on its short-haul network on London flights connecting in Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok, Bali and Singapore. 

Air Asia confirmed that it intends to expand the service so that it is available on more routes later this year, but added that its Kuala Lumpur transfer hall can only be used if the connection time is between 90 minutes and six hours.

Spanish low-cost airline Vueling began facilitating connections for passengers through its base at Barcelona El Prat Airport last year.

Traditionally, budget airlines have been successful because they have simplified operations by not offering transfer products at base airports and instead flying passengers from one short-haul location to another.

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The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has applied to extend its existing five-year price control plan for London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports by one year.

The five-year plan was implemented on April 1, 2008, when the CAA set the maximum charge for Heathrow at £12.80 per passenger, with an increased levy for each of the following four years capped at a maximum of 7.5% plus the rate of inflation.

At Gatwick, the maximum charge was set at £6.79 per passenger, with the annual maximum charge for the subsequent four years rising by 2% plus inflation.

The airports’ current price control plan is set to expire at the end of March 2013, but the CAA wants to extend it for another year to develop the next price control plan “in line with reforms to the framework for economic regulation planned by the Government”.

The new framework under consideration, which would initially apply to Heathrow, Gatwick and London Stansted, would allow “more proactive and responsive regulation tailored to the circumstances of each airport, not just developing a one-off settlement every five years”, the CAA said.

Several UK carriers condemned the charging structure when it was unveiled in March 2008 because it meant that charges at Heathrow and Gatwick increased by 23.5% and 21% respectively in 2008-09 compared with 2007-08.

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German airline airberlin has launched new routes to London Gatwick from Hanover and Nuremberg this week, saying that more services could be added to its schedules in the near future.

The new additions come after the country’s second biggest airline announced that passenger numbers rose for the ninth consecutive month, as demand increased faster than the airline could add capacity.

The carrier confirmed that it registered 2.15 million passengers in January – 5.7% more than a year earlier. Its load factor – a measure to calculate capacity utilisation – increased by 3.5% to 72.3%.

Meanwhile, Gatwick bosses revealed that airberlin’s announcement to add two new Gatwick routes was a clear indicator that the airport’s £1 billion improvement plans were already starting to bear fruit.

Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said: “We are transforming Gatwick with a £1 billion investment programme that will modernise the facilities, improve customer service and bolster the public transport links into London, to make Gatwick London’s airport of choice. 

“Today’s news demonstrates we are making headway in achieving that vision. This is the first step in a long-term relationship with airberlin, which we hope will generate further destinations not currently served by Gatwick and open up more choice for our passengers.”

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The “reduced threat to British nationals” has prompted the Government to amend its travel advice for those travelling to Tunisia after the country’s recent political unrest, the Foreign Office has confirmed.

President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted from power after 23 years as unhappy protesters in the North African country took to the streets. This prompted protesters in Egypt to insist that President Hosni Mubarak also resign from office with immediate effect.

The political unrest in both nations has led to speculation that neighbouring African countries could also experience similar protests.

Meanwhile, a statement on the FCO website said “we no longer advise against all but essential travel to Tunisia” but also warned that “while all major groups have ended their demonstrations, further unrest remains possible.”

A nightly curfew between 10pm and 4am remains in the Greater Tunis area until further notice.

Alistair Burt, minister for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “We have decided to change our travel advice to reflect our assessment of these recent events and the reduced threat to British nationals. Their safety is always our primary concern.

“A tourist industry is vital to Tunisia’s economy and future. We hope this change in the advice enables people to see the country in a new light and we look forward to being engaged in assisting its political, social and economic development.”

An estimated 5,000 Britons, many of whom had flown from airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton on package holidays, were in Tunisia when the situation deteriorated.

The Foreign Office initially altered its travel advice to “all but essential travel” on January 14, with more than 3,000 British citizens then leaving the country on additional flights laid on by tour operators.

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The Government has launched plans to provide holidaymakers with more protection in the event of their tour operator going bust.

MPs want to update the Air Travel Organiser’s Licensing (ATOL) scheme, which compensates package holiday passengers if a firm goes bust before they fly and helps return them home if a company goes into administration.

In a written statement to the Commons, transport minister Theresa Villiers said: “The proportion of holidays with Atol protection has fallen and it can be difficult for consumers and the travel industry to know which holidays are protected and which are not.

“The proposed reforms will make it easier for everyone to understand which holidays are covered and will restore protection to what looks like a package holiday, but now falls outside the legal definition.”

Ms Villiers told MPs that big tour operator collapses in 2008 and 2010 left the Air Travel Trust Fund – the body which funds the scheme – struggling financially, with the Government underwriting it for £42 million.

The new plans include covering “flight plus” holidays, where flights from airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton and hotel bookings are made during a short space of time, but are not defined as package holidays. This would force travel agents to tell tourists if a break is not Atol-protected so they can consider taking out separate insurance.

The Government also hopes to scrap current arrangements to make the ATOL scheme clearer for would-be holidaymakers.

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Cuba and Mexico are going to be popular travel destinations with Britons this summer, according to a specialist holiday firm.

Cuba tipped as top summer destination

Travelzest, which offers luxury holidays under brands including The Best of Morocco, Faraway Holidays and The Wow House Company, predicts its summer bookings will match those recorded during the winter, which were up 15%. 

If the company’s predictions are to be believed, airports like Heathrow and Gatwick could experience a rise in the number of passengers wishing to travel to the Caribbean and South America during the summer months.

Travelzest, which owns the UK’s biggest naturist holiday operator, Peng Travel, revealed that its expected growth would be mainly driven by its North American operations, which have been boosted by an improved Canadian economy. It did, however, confirm that its range of holidays in the UK, Cuba, Mexico and Turkey were also proving popular.

Meanwhile, the company announced a pre-tax loss of £9.9 million for the year to October 31, compared to a £42,000 loss the previous year. This was caused by a large-scale restructuring initiative, the company said.

Jack Fraser, Travelzest’s chief financial officer, said: “Winter bookings showed double digit growth in our last trading update, and we’re expecting something similar for the summer.”

The company also confirmed that Peng Travel was doing well and had turned around declining sales in the last 18 months.

Elsewhere, the company said it did not expect the political turmoil in Egypt to have a significant impact on holidays offered by its brand Tapestry. 

Chief executive Jonathan Carroll said the company was “watching the situation” but did not have great exposure to the country.

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Month-long trips to far-flung destinations are becoming the holiday of choice for honeymooners, a survey shows.

Bookings to Thailand are particularly popular among newly married couples

The traditional two-week break on a budget is falling out of favour with newlyweds, with 34% of couples who had just tied the knot jetting away on holidays of four weeks or more last year, the travelmatch poll of 1,000 married adults found.

Twenty years ago, the average honeymoon lasted only 1.5 weeks. But the increase in flights on long-haul routes at Luton Airport, London Stansted, Gatwick and Heathrow over the past few decades has made “trips of a lifetime” more accessible to the masses.

Countries traditionally considered the preserve of budget-conscious backpackers and gap-year students were particularly popular among newly married couples, with bookings to Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam enjoying a 25% rise, according to the holiday comparison site.

The honeymoon sea-change has also seen costs soar, with the average spend totalling £4,113 in 2010 compared with £550 in the 1980s, but booking airport transfers and bus services early could be a way of helping to keep the bills down.

The rise of the “honeymonth” is illustrated by the 65% of couples who said they had saved up most of their annual holiday entitlement to enjoy an extended break for their honeymoon.

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 Airport supercar raffle company Best of the Best has brushed aside the disappointment of losing key contracts at sites such as Heathrow and Stansted by announcing that it is to expand its online business and open new outlets in the not-too-distant future.

The firm seems to be optimistic despite BAA’s October announcement that the aviation giant would be terminating contracts in four of its airports to make room for additional seating and other customer facilities.

Best announced it is to expand its online business, which currently accounts for a third of its sales, and is confident of securing contracts at other airports as it also prepares to offer other such luxury prizes like watches and holidays.

Although Best was able to renegotiate its contract to trade at Edinburgh Airport for an additional two years, it stopped trading at three of its four sites at Heathrow and at Glasgow Airport on January 3. It has also been confirmed that the firm will cease to operate at Stansted and Heathrow’s Terminal 4 from an unspecified date.

Meanwhile, Best has announced that revenues in the six months to October 31 of last year declined by 4.6% to £3.7 million, but pre-tax profits increased by 9.7% to £340,000.

Chief executive William Hindmarch said: “BAA was the landlord at seven of our airport sites, representing a substantial proportion of our airport revenues.

“This has clearly been a difficult time for the company and the board has been focused on restructuring the business to operate effectively from a lower revenue base.

“Despite the unfortunate events of the past few months, the directors are taking the steps necessary to reshape the business, and create a stable platform from which to rebuild and grow new revenues.”

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