Gatwick Airport has announced that Air Nigeria is launching its first international route outside of Africa with a daily London-Lagos service from September 1. 

Air Nigeria launches London-Lagos service

Air Nigeria flights will leave Gatwick at 10.30pm, arriving in Lagos at 4.30am the next day. The return leg will leave Nigeria at 2.10pm, landing in the English capital at 8.10pm. 

The A340-300 service, which flies 295 passengers in a typical two-class cabin layout, will depart from Gatwick’s South Terminal. 

This new daily service has been tipped to strengthen the links between the financial and economic centres of the UK and Nigeria.

While the route is expected to be popular among business travellers – with Britain being one of the largest investors in Nigeria – it will also boost the large Nigerian community based in the UK who will be able to visit friends and family. 

Guy Stephenson, Gatwick Airport’s commercial director, said: “It is great to welcome Air Nigeria and reconnect London Gatwick with Lagos. The UK has a large Nigerian community and there are strong trade and investment ties between the two countries so it is important that we maintain good air transport connections.

 ”Around 600,000 passengers travel to Nigeria from London and the South East each year so we expect a good take up on this route from Gatwick, especially given the airport has the quickest and most direct link into central London and we are investing £1 billion to improve our passenger services and airport facilities.”

Copyright © Press Association 2011

The Spanish island of Majorca was the preferred destination for Britons travelling abroad for some sunshine during the winter season, statistics compiled by a car rental website have shown.

Majorca tops winter holiday poll

Carhiremarket revealed that Palma de Majorca was the most popular destination for vehicle rental in December 2010 and January 2011, while Malaga and Alicante were second and third most popular respectively.

According to the price comparison website, a quarter of all Britons heading abroad for a fly-drive holiday during the winter months chose to visit Spain, flying from airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton. 

Winter breaks in America were also a popular option with holidaymakers, with Orlando listed among the top 10 destinations for car hire. Paphos in Cyprus and Porto in Portugal also featured on the Carhiremarket list, along with the Caribbean island of Martinique, which made the top 10 list for the first time.

Those Britons who did escape the extreme winter weather that hit the UK at the end of 2010 and the start of 2011 might have opted to leave their cars at home and instead use bus transfer services to reach the airport.

Anel Brun, product manager for carhiremarket, said: “As the Met Office warned late last year that December was almost certainly the coldest since records began, many Brits took to the skies and flew off to sunnier climes.”

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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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Aer Lingus has announced that it will start a new daily service between Shannon Airport and London Gatwick in March, in a move that will improve air transport links between the west of Ireland and England’s capital. 

New routes to Shannon

Declan Kearney, Aer Lingus director of communications, believes the new service will give air passengers greater choice when flying to and from the town.

He said: “This new daily service will provide Aer Lingus customers with the first early morning flight from London to the Shannon region.

“It will complement the existing London Heathrow service, which operates three times daily, broadening the choice for business and leisure travellers in and out of the Mid-West region.”

Aer Lingus will fly to nine destinations out of Shannon when the service begins on March 29, including Paris, New York and Boston and regional services to Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow and Manchester.

The daily service could help boost tourist numbers in Shannon, which has plenty of attractions to keep even the most hard-to-please holidaymakers entertained, including river walks, hiking, cycling and horse-riding trails, shops, restaurants and bars.

Furthermore, business owners with trading links in Shannon will find it easier to travel directly to the town for meetings when the new service begins as they will have a greater choice of airlines to fly with.

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Many Britons headed to major airports like Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton this autumn, taking more trips during the season than they did the previous year, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS). 

ONS research indicates that UK residents made 5.13 million trips overseas in October 2010, compared with five million a year earlier.

Their holiday spending also increased from just under £2.57 billion in October 2009 to £2.73 billion in October 2010.

The number of Britons visiting America, where the US dollar has weakened against the pound recently, rose from 342,000 in October 2009 to 390,000 in October 2010.

However, UK residents have made 48.73 million trips overseas this year – 6% down on the January-October 2009 figure.

Spending by UK residents on trips abroad for the first 10 months of this year dipped by 2% to £27.67 billion, compared with the same period last year.

While many Britons were taking advantage of competitive overseas travel deals, more overseas tourists travelled to the UK in October than they did during the same month a year earlier.

According to ONS figures, foreign nationals made 2.71 million trips to the UK in October compared with fewer than 2.52 million in the same month last year.

During October 2010, they spent more than £1.60 billion – a significant increase from the October 2009 figure of £1.38 billion.

Spending by foreign residents during UK trips this year has totalled £14.18 billion – approximately the same amount as in the first 10 months of last year, while the number of trips made to the UK by overseas residents for the first 10 months of this year has reached 25.19 million – which is 1% lower than the January-October 2009 total.

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British Airways and Iberia shareholders have voted in favour of a £5 billion merger of the two airlines.

BA, which operates out of Gatwick, Heathrow and various other UK airports, and the Spanish carrier will fall under their new parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), which has been created by the merger.

The deal, which is expected to be completed by January 21, will signal the end of BA shares being listed on the London Stock Market, with IAG taking its place.

However, both airlines will keep their individual identities, with IAG’s head office situated in London and the company’s annual meetings being held in Madrid.

The merged airline will have 408 aircraft carrying approximately 57 million passengers a year, while the two carriers have more than 57,000 staff and fly to more than 250 destinations.

The merger will allow BA better access to the South American market. At present, BA flies to only three South American destinations – Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil and Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Iberia also flies to these three cities, but also operates flights to eight other South American destinations. Similarly, Iberia will benefit from BA’s extensive North American operations, with the two carriers able to share information on fares, schedules and routes.

 Shortly before Iberia’s shareholders met in Madrid, BA chairman Martin Broughton told his company’s shareholders at a meeting in Westminster that the merger had a “compelling, strategic and financial logic” and would benefit staff, passengers and shareholders.

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Cyprus Airways (CY) is to increase the number of flights to London Stansted as part of a shake-up of its UK scheduling.

Cyprus Airways is to increase the number of flights to London Stansted

From this month, CY will provide two flights a week from Paphos to Stansted. Flights from Larnaca and Paphos to Birmingham will be ended in March next year, as will the service to Heathrow from Paphos.

The airline is increasing its operation across Europe ahead of Cyprus assuming the EU presidency in 2012. CY will operate five flights a week to Brussels, in addition to adding Munich to its schedule.

easyJet already flies to four UK destinations from Paphos: London Gatwick, Manchester, Luton and Bristol.

Natalie Christofidou of AC Inflights Ltd, speaking on behalf of easyJet, said there would be no reduction of flights this winter. Their new service from Paphos to Edinburgh has just got under way.

“easyJet is constantly reviewing its route network, looking for opportunities to expand its services and grow its brand. We are currently increasing our services to and from Paphos, adding Edinburgh to our routes list,” she said.

Ms Christofidou added that easyJet flights operating between Paphos and the UK have always been very popular. During 2009, the airline carried 292,168 passengers between Paphos and the UK, while it estimates that during 2010, a total of 369,741 passengers will be carried.

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With Christmas around the corner, scores of Britons are debating whether to escape to warmer climes before the winter weather takes hold, with Spain and Tenerife proving to be particularly popular holiday destinations.

Spanish winter breaks

A travel price comparison site has revealed that Spanish deals start from £121 per person for seven nights at a three-star hotel on the Costa Brava, departing from London Gatwick.

If the Costa Brava doesn’t float your boat, the Gran Canaria is another viable option, with deals starting from £149 per person for a week-long break departing on December 1 from London Stansted. 

Alternatively, Tenerife is also an attractive prospect at this time of the year, and those wishing to fly from London Luton can grab a seven-night holiday departing on November 23 for just £147 per person.

They believe there are enough deals to beat even the most severe winter blues.

“With the winter months setting in we have seen an increase in travellers looking to enjoy some Mediterranean winter sunshine.”

“The top destinations for November and December are holidays in Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Spain, and we have some great offers available at this time of year as travellers save twice combining off season savings with last minute prices.”

Copyright Press Association 2010