Tourists arriving at Heathrow are encountering life-size sculptures of UK athletes Tom Daley and Jason Gardener as the airport gets into the mood for the London 2012 Olympics.

The creations, part of the Sculpture and Sport: A Celebration For 2012 exhibition running until the end of next month to mark the Games, will be on show in terminal 5 departures at the hub.

Paul Day, John Buckley, Hamish Black, Judy Boyt, Steve Dilworth, Jilly Sutton, Alan Dun and Suzie Zamit are among the artists who have conjured up eight bronze maquette models of athletes.

A total of 30 life-size pieces will be produced for the entire Sculpture and Sport collection, which will be on display across the country at a number of venues including Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and as a city-wide sculpture trail in Bath in 2012.

The Oxo Tower Gallery on London’s Southbank will be the venue for the collection of bronzes during the Games.

According to Sarah Lewis, the sponsorship and experience manager at Heathrow, the sculptures “truly celebrate British sporting talent and artistic prowess”. She added that the airport, which was recently named as the 42nd domestic sponsor of the London 2012 Games, wanted to give people the first cultural taste of what Britain has to offer.

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Heathrow Airport has been named the official host airport of the London 2012 Games.

The London transport hub is gearing up for a huge influx of spectators, officials, sponsors and media for the Olympics, with about 80% of all the people who will travel to the Games going through the airport.

Gatwick Airport, Stansted Airport and Luton Airport are also expecting increased passenger numbers for the world’s greatest sporting event.

London 2012’s commercial director Chris Townsend said: “The first impression will reflect London 2012 in terms of branding but crucially by providing the warmest of welcomes to the city.”

Heathrow officials are expecting to deal with some 218,000 bags the day after the Olympics closing ceremony on August 13, which is set to be the airport’s busiest day ever.

A whole range of sporting equipment will pass through the airport, including canoes, vaulting poles and bikes.

Heathrow is recruiting 1,000 volunteers to ensure it can cope with the extra demand, with plans also being formed to build a temporary Olympic terminal, which would be taken down after the Games.

BAA chief executive Colin Matthews described London 2012 as “Heathrow’s greatest challenge”.

He said: “Every part of the airport is working together so we can give the world’s greatest athletes the world’s greatest welcome.”

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Heathrow handled a record number of passengers last month, according to new figures.

Some 6.9 million passengers passed through the UK’s biggest airport last month, a rise of 2.5% on July last year, airport operator BAA said. The London airport had its busiest ever day on Sunday July 31.

Increases in passenger numbers were seen at the five other BAA-run airports, apart from Stansted which had 7.2% fewer passengers last month compared with 12 months previously.

The figures showed Southampton was up 2.4% while across the border all three airports enjoyed an increase – Glasgow rose 0.5%, Edinburgh increased 3.3% and Aberdeen had a 8.7% rise.

A total of 11 million passengers passed through BAA’s airports in July 2011 – an increase of 0.8% on the same month last year.

Foreign routes were the main reason for the increase, with passengers travelling to and from Brazil up 80% in July 2011 and traffic on North American flights rising 5.6%.

By contrast, there was a 7.2% dip in passengers on domestic routes.

BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said: “The growth in passenger traffic at Heathrow in July is good news for UK jobs, tourism and growth. Heathrow’s unique role in linking the UK to the world’s emerging markets is vital to Britain’s economic recovery.”

Gatwick Airport, which used to run by BAA but now has American owners, handled 3.63 million passengers last month – a 5.9% rise on its July 2010 figure.

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A British Airways flight will set off from Stansted to take supplies to crisis hit East Africans on Friday.

The plane, a Boeing 747, will be carrying aid heading for Ethiopia.

It will be capable of taking more than 100 tonnes of cargo, and the aid will be provided by Oxfam and Unicef.

The mercy mission will be transporting the aid to those suffering from the effects of disease, drought and famine in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

Oxfam will be sending 5,000 metres of pipe on the flight from Stansted Airport to Addis Ababa, which will be used to get water to the Ethiopian refugee camp Dolo Ado. 

Unicef will be loading the plane with vital emergency food and medication.

As well as supplying the plane for this mercy mission, British Airways will pass on all donations from its flights since August 1 to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal for East Africa.

BA chief executive Keith Williams said: “The worst drought in 50 years means the lives of millions of people hang in the balance. 

“The generosity of our customers will make a real and tangible difference to those in desperate need.”

The DEC has said more than 10 million people have been hit by the worst droughts in 60 years and that hundreds of thousands of people are in desperate need of of food, water and emergency healthcare.

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A consumer group has claimed that some passengers are losing out when it comes to refunds for Air Passenger Duty (APD) departure tax.

The Air Travel Advisory Bureau (ATAB) has claimed that “tens of millions of pounds” in refunded APD for unused tickets has been withheld from passengers by a number of airlines.

The bureau has brought in London law firm Barket Gillette LLP to help fight for the rights of affected passengers, some of whom will have flown from the major UK airports such as Heathrow and Stansted.

ATAB chairman Tony White said that the tax is collected on behalf of the Government and never belonged to the airlines concerned. 

He added: “With a couple of exceptions, most of the UK airlines make it as difficult as possible to get your money back. If you don’t actually fly, for whatever reason, you are entitled to get the APD refunded.”

Barker Gillette LLP partner Steven Barker said: “Our primary aim will be to ensure that all claims are valid and properly made out. We hope and expect that airlines will co-operate with us in agreeing and refunding valid claims and that claimants need only seek the assistance of the courts in respect of legal issues that might not be agreed.”

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Research has revealed that many Britons like to be considerate to hotel staff when on holiday by cleaning their rooms.

The poll of 2,000 people by website Hotels found that up to 59% of those surveyed had given their hotel room a clean before heading off.

Some 60% of holidaymakers even made the bed – suggesting that people travelling out of the major UK airports such as Luton and Stansted like to keep things tidy.

Around 59% of people also said that cleaning their room before heading off was merely good manners – even though the majority of people didn’t say they enjoyed it.

For 45% of those polled this cleaning extended to folding towels, while 11% even cleaned the toilet.

When it came to the exact reasoning behind the cleaning, for 43% it was a matter of routine, while 45% wanted to leave a good impression on hotel staff in a bid to avoid being called messy.

Regionally, people from the South East were the most likely to tidy their rooms – with 67% getting involved before heading off to catch their airport transfers.

But only 39% of people in East Anglia said they tidied up, making the region the least likely to clean.

The website’s communications director Alison Couper said: “Going on holiday is all about getting a break from the routine of home life, yet it’s evident many Brits just can’t drop the cleaning when away.”

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Holidaymakers jetting off to the Middle East this summer had better make sure they pack plenty of sunblock as temperatures have been scorching there all week.

Dubai is boasting sweltering temperatures of 45C

The area is becoming increasingly popular as a holiday destination among British travellers, with many UK airports such as Stansted, Luton and Gatwick offering cheap flights out to the sun-drenched tourist trap.

And who can blame them when Dubai is boasting sweltering temperatures of 45C (113F), while Abu Dhabi is even hotter at 48C (118.4F) – around 7C higher than the average for this time of year. 

Temperatures in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, managed to reach a high of 50C (122F) in the picturesque Al Qaysumah, which is 6C above the seasonal average.

While the midday sun might be a little too much for some travellers, temperatures in coastal areas drop to below 36C (100F) during the afternoon as the cool sea breezes kick in.

US soldiers at the Talil military base in Iraq have been baking in temperatures of 52C (125.6F). The heat, combined with the beginning of the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan, led to a public holiday being declared in Baghdad and southern parts of Iraq.

Experts say that the hotter-than-usual temperatures have been caused by a synoptic pattern often seen during the summer. 

High pressure affected eastern Oman up to Iran, with a slack low pressure trough sitting to its east.

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For most people, going on holiday is a chance to get away from the stresses and strains of everyday life.

People with young children are no exception, although the logistics of packing up the family and travelling to a destination may add to their pre-holiday stress.

A survey conducted by Gatwick Airport looked into the experiences of parents when travelling with their children, and found that many are conscientious of the feelings of their fellow passengers.

Out of the 1,000 parents questioned, 30% felt concern over disturbing other holidaymakers on their trip, with 54% feeling guilty if their child misbehaves or cries loudly. 

One in five parents are so aware of disturbing other passengers that they even choose to avoid busy areas at the airport.

The plane journey offers passengers an opportunity for quiet time before they land at their holiday destination, so it is no surprise that 62% of parents feel concern over their child misbehaving or crying while up in the air. 

Some 32% of respondents worry about their offspring acting up at airport check-in and security, while 24% are aware of their child’s behaviour at meal times.

But for families flying from Gatwick, the process of travelling through the airport has been made easier.

Gatwick Airport’s chief executive, Stewart Wingate, said security assistance lanes for families have been launched which allow people to travel through security at their own pace. 

And through providing push chairs and creating “kid zones” in both Gatwick terminals, the airport has helped to ensure that parents set-off on holiday as free from stress as possible. 

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The good folk of Stansted Airport’s Fire and Rescue Service have done their bit for the environment recently by donating their old hoses to Colchester Zoo, which has turned them into balls, ropes and hammocks for the animals.

The 80-strong fire and rescue team have made a real difference to the lives of numerous animals, including African elephants and Amur tigers, with their generous donation.

Colchester Zoo curator Clive Barwick said: “It’s not quite like seeing a domestic cat playing with a ball but the Amur tigers definitely enjoy pawing at and exploring the balls made from the fire hoses, which are also sprayed with different scents and perfumes to give them some interesting smells to sniff out. 

“Primates like our rare lion-tailed macaques like nothing better than swinging around in their hammocks made from the hoses.”

Simon Phillips, who is responsible for hose repairs on the airport’s White Watch, said: “We have been supplying hose to Colchester Zoo for just over a year. As my family and I regularly visit the zoo I offered them the chance to recycle the hoses to avoid them just being disposed of. 

“The hose is used for the supply and movement of water around the fire ground for both internal and external fires and all training scenarios. 

“If it becomes damaged and isn’t repairable, it is good to know it is going to good use rather than just being thrown away.” 

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Writer Tony Parsons has moved into Heathrow Airport to seek inspiration for his latest book.

The novelist has taken up residence at one of the airport’s hotels, where he will stay for seven days to work on his first collection of short stories.

Parsons will spend time chatting to staff and travellers at the airport’s terminals in a bid to glean material for his new book, entitled Departures: Seven Stories from Heathrow. 

The former NME journalist is following in the footsteps of philosopher and previous writer-in-residence Alain de Botton, who based himself at a desk in Terminal 5 to write parts of his book, A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary. 

Parsons, whose most famous works include the best-selling Man and Boy, said he was keen to share the experiences of travellers at Heathrow.

He said: “Airports are places of extreme emotion where people come and go and experiences begin and end.

“Often when we travel we find ourselves in such a hurry to get to our end destination that we fail to appreciate the individual stories and moments happening before us.

“Having grown up reading Arthur Hailey’s novel Airport it feels like an incredible opportunity to live at Heathrow and write about the people whose lives are touched by it.

“I am looking forward to sharing these experiences and to reviving the airport fiction genre with my first short story collection.”

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