The Government has urged airlines to become “greener”, warning them that it supports aviation growth but not “at any price”.

Transport secretary Philip Hammond has called on the aviation industry to cut emissions and noise, while the Government has ruled out adding a third runway at Heathrow and is opposed to additional runways at Gatwick and Stansted. 

Mr Hammond made the comments as he launched a document designed to seek views on a new aviation policy. It will replace the Labour’s 2003 aviation White Paper which supported runway expansions at Stansted and Heathrow.

He said: “We are not anti-aviation – we are anti-carbon.

“We are firmly focused on the benefits aviation can bring, particularly in terms of economic growth. But we are not prepared to support growth at any price.

“The aviation industry needs to do more, not just on emissions but also in terms of its other environmental impacts, particularly noise.”

Mr Hammond said that while the industry should be able to grow, it had to “play its part in delivering our environmental goals and protecting the quality of life of local communities”.

He also wants to move beyond the “increasingly polarised” debate on aviation towards “a broader consensus which honestly recognises both the value of air transport and its negative impacts and is prepared to agree the framework within which aviation can develop”.

Of course, holidaymakers can do their bit for the environment by taking the bus to the airport rather than drive. Not only does this help to reduce carbon emission, it also saves money in parking fees.

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Pilgrims might be forgiven for thinking they would need a miracle to find an affordable room in Rome on the weekend of Pope John Paul II’s beatification ceremony, but the Vatican has revealed that this
might not be the case.

The St Peter's Square ceremony marks the last formal step before possible sainthood for the pontiff

Those who are not discouraged from visiting the city while the religious event is taking place might be turned off by reports suggesting that hotels are charging six times the normal price for a room, while the Vatican has warned about unscrupulous agents hawking services on the internet to procure “tickets” for the beatification.

The Vatican is reminding everyone that the St Peter’s Square ceremony, which marks the last formal step before possible sainthood for the pontiff, is free to attend, but is a first come, first served affair.

Meanwhile, the rector of Santa Susanna church, home to many expatriate Catholics, said he has received emails and phone calls from as far away as Australia since January, when Pope Benedict approved the miracle needed for his predecessor’s beatification. 

Britons who are interested in flying to Rome can do so from a number of airports, including Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick.

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Luton Airport switched off lights for one hour from 8.30pm last Saturday in support of this year’s Earth Hour.

Even the airport’s illuminated logo on the front of the terminal building was turned off for the hour in support of action against climate change.

Earth Hour began four years ago in Sydney, Australia, as 2.2 million people and more than 2,000 businesses switched their lights off to highlight the impact of global warming and other such environmental issues. A year later, Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries taking part. 

Saturday’s event was the biggest yet with 128 countries involved in the mass stand against climate change. Global landmarks across the world took part in this year’s event, including Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House, Edinburgh Castle and Buckingham Palace, to name but a few.

Other airports like Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick could learn from Luton Airport’s example, while passengers could opt to take a bus to the airport to reduce their carbon footprint.

Luton Airport has taken a proactive approach towards managing energy use for years and has committed to an environmental policy that sets out to continuously review and improve its performance. 

The airport is committed to helping local people as well as the environment. It has announced that it will support the New Opportunities And Horizon (NOAH) Enterprise. The charity, which helps homeless people, will be the beneficiary of fundraising endeavours organised by the airport’s staff throughout the year.

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Two in five men have opted to propose to their partners while on holiday abroad, a survey reveals.

According to holiday price comparison website travelmatch, 40% of men had opted to fly their partners overseas from airports like Gatwick, Stansted and Luton to pop the question, with America being the most popular destination, followed by France, Italy and Spain.

More than 70% of women polled said they had an inkling that their partner was about to propose, while 27% were certain that their other half was going to pop the question.

Considering that 40% of men admitted that the proposal did not go according to plan, thanks largely to nerves and the inability to find the perfect moment.

The poll, which questioned 1,000 adults who have married or got engaged in the last three years, also revealed that couples who get engaged abroad spend an average of £4,687 on the occasion, including more than £2,000 for an engagement ring and around £1,000 on flights and accommodation.

The most likely proposal venue was a restaurant, with a well-known monument or landmark and the beach among other popular choices.

Men spend an average of 10 weeks planning the perfect engagement holiday while a fifth spend up to four months in preparation. Around a third proposed on the first day of the holiday, while 54% waited until mid-holiday, with 10% doing it on the last day.

Unsurprisingly, two in three men said that asking their girlfriends to marry them was the most nerve-wracking thing they had ever done.

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A Dutch university is giving British students the chance to fly out and study in Holland at a much cheaper cost than in England and Wales.

Fees of £1,472 per year offered by Maastricht University for courses taught in English combined with the ease of getting from the UK to the Netherlands via airports such as Stansted and Luton could tempt students to get their degree abroad. Most British students currently pay £3,375 a year in tuition fees.

The move has sparked fears of a brain drain in England and Wales brought on by tuition fees that could reach as much as £9,000 from 2012.

An open day will be held on Saturday in an attempt to encourage prospective students to take advantage of the lower fees.

Jeanine Gregersen, Maastricht University’s director of marketing and communications, said: ”Maastricht is opening its doors to prospective UK students because we are very confident they will be impressed with what they find here.

“Already we have doubled the number of Bachelor’s UK students and quadrupled the number on Master’s programmes in the past year. The word is getting around that Maastricht is the place to come for a high quality university education that prepares students well for exciting careers and does not leave them struggling to pay off huge debts.”

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Chancellor George Osborne has revealed that an inflation-rate rise in the controversial air passenger duty (APD) planned for next month has been shelved until April 2012.

Private jets will now also have the tax imposed on them, although the Government has decided to drop plans to replace APD with a per-plane tax for the time being. Mr Osborne said that all the options being considered had turned out to be illegal under international law.

The level of APD has risen on a regular basis since its introduction in 1994, with last November’s increase meaning airport passengers going on the longest flights were paying as much as £170 in APD fees before extras like airport transfers were taken into account.

According to Mr Osborne, the Government is examining potential reform of APD.

Mike Carrivick, chief executive of the Board of Airline Representatives in the UK, which represents 86 airlines, said: “The Chancellor’s decision on APD is a welcome development but does not go far enough.

“The UK travel industry already pays the highest aviation taxes in Europe and the existing APD levels do not take into account the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) which airlines will pay into from January 2012. Other EU countries have reduced or are removing existing taxes prior to the introduction of EU ETS.”

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London Luton Airport has been boosted by rising passenger numbers in February, making it the second consecutive month of growth for 2011. 

The airport has managed to carry forward the rising traffic it enjoyed during a strong performance last year, when it processed almost nine million travellers. 

Glyn Jones, Luton’s managing director, said the airport is now looking to add a number of new flights and increase its capacity to meet the growing demand from the public.

He said: “We believe that continued growth in passenger numbers demonstrates our route network and excellent transport links remain attractive to leisure and business travellers alike.

“New routes on sale and extra capacity from our airlines ensure we are meeting extra demand.”

Several major carriers, including Flybe and Aer Arann, fly to more than 90 destinations in Europe, Asia and Africa. 

Tourists who do not live near Luton can still join the growing numbers of tourists flying from the increasingly popular airport by using transfer services to catch their flights.

Monarch Airlines has also recently announced that it will make more seats available this summer on flights leaving Luton for popular destinations such as Turkey, Spain, Cyprus and Portugal. 

And Wizz Air has revealed that it will start a new route to London-Luton from Skopje in FYR Macedonia, starting on June 20. These flights will be operated three times a week at first. 

József Váradi, chief executive officer of Wizz Air, said: “As the first low cost carrier in the country, Wizz Air is delighted to offer its services to the FYR Macedonian passengers, who can now enjoy our truly affordable fares coupled with great travel experience all along their journey. 

“Our market entry will boost the passenger traffic and will have an accelerator effect on the local businesses and employment as well. ” 

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Chancellor George Osborne is expected to deliver a boost to holidaymakers by freezing air passenger duty in the Budget.

The duty normally rises in line with inflation each November, but it is understood there will be no rise this year. 

This could save a family of four around £4 on a European holiday or as much a £36 on a long-haul flight to Australia. 

And it could be timely a boost for airports as summer approaches on the horizon and people begin to plan their breaks abroad.

Currently the duty adds £12 to the cost of an economy within Europe, £60 to the USA and £85 to Australia. There are higher charges applied to business and first-class tickets. 

Mr Osborne has vowed that there will be no more tax rises or spending cuts in the Budget, which will introduce a number of measures to stimulate growth and create jobs.

He also left no doubt that he will resist calls from Labour to scale back the pace of deficit reduction: “That’s not going to happen,” he said. 

And he gave a strong hint that he will postpone the 1p rise in fuel duty scheduled for April 1 in order to relieve pressure on motorists struggling with prices at the pump of £1.30 or more.

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Award-winning airline Monarch is increasing its services to the Eastern Mediterranean this summer by introducing flights to Bodrum in Turkey and the Greek island of Corfu from May. 

These flights will also be joined by a number of additional services to Monarch’s top European hotspots including the Balearic and Canary Islands as well as Cyprus. 

This influx of new services will mainly depart from Gatwick, although there will be three flights a week to Corfu from Luton Airport starting on May 23. 

Monarch will fly out of Gatwick to Bodrum for the first time from May 23, while there will be extra flights to Palma, Tenerife and Paphos from the airport.

Managing director of Monarch Airlines, Kevin George, said the company is expecting the new flights to be a big success. 

He said: “Customer response to the 135,000 additional seats that were added into Monarch’s summer flying schedule last month has been fantastic and we have continued to see demand for our services grow. 

“It’s great therefore that we have been able to respond to this demand further by boosting our Eastern Med programme with the introduction of new flights to Corfu and Bodrum, as well as strengthen schedules on a number of our core sunshine routes. Particularly pleasing is the addition of extra flights to Paphos from Gatwick and Manchester, which are not scheduled to start operating until May, but are already selling strongly.”

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Passengers and workers alike have been raising a glass to the terminal building at Stansted Airport 20 years after it was opened by the Queen.

The 500,000 sq ft glass-clad structure received the royal seal of approval 20 years ago when Her Majesty the Queen visited the terminal on March 15, 1991.

Four days later the first passenger flight took off for Glasgow and 250 million travellers have since passed through the Lord Foster-designed terminal.

Managing director Nick Barton said the building, which has influenced the design of a number of airports over the last 20 years, had created “a new era of innovative airport construction”.

He said: “The terminal is the centrepiece of the modern Stansted, and we are all extremely proud that the Lord Foster building is still as good today as it was when Her Majesty the Queen opened it 20 years ago.”

Before the building opened the airport operated on a much smaller scale.

Spencer de Grey, joint head of design at Foster + Partners, said the building represented an important milestone in the company’s history.

“It was a great moment in my life. A lot of hard work went into the design of the building and to see it all finished with the Queen there was a wonderful occasion,” he said.

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