Heathrow Airport has launched a “winter resilience programme” in anticipation of harsh weather, under which more than 1,400 staff and nearly 200 snow clearance vehicles will be on hand.
The strategy, put in place by Heathrow operator BAA, aims to ensure the airport is better prepared for a potential repeat of last year’s snow, which left thousands of Christmas travellers stranded.
Last year the airport ground to a halt after snow fell in thick, enduring sheets in the run-up to Christmas. Many passengers trying to get home to their families were stuck for several days, sparking vehement criticism towards the operator.
Under its new plans, 468 staff per shift will be available for snow clearance – up from 117 last year. The number of vehicles ready to clear snow have been tripled – a fleet of 185 will be available.
Up to 950 non-operational staff will be positioned in terminals to help passengers during disruption, as part of BAA’s new “reservist” role.
Unlike last year, when breakdowns in communication meant many passengers were unsure of the status of their flight, a new process for managing flight cancellations during disruption will provide passengers with more up-to-date information.
This will require collaboration between airlines, air traffic control company Nats and ACL, the body which allocates take-off and landing slots at Heathrow.
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Small groups of passengers are now able to travel with their luggage between terminals in Heathrow Airport on small battery-powered pods.
There are 21 low-energy, zero emission pods available to use on demand at the airport, which can carry up to four passengers and their luggage along a dedicated 3.8km guide way.
It is predicted that 500,000 travellers will use the pods each year for the smooth and silent five-minute journey between the Terminal 5 Business Car Park and the main terminal. Passengers can order one of the vehicles by using one of the computer screens located around the airport.
The pods were developed with comfort and privacy in mind and enable passengers to choose their own direct place to travel to. There is no waiting around for pods to arrive because there are no timetables and a central computer ensures that pods are distributed at each station according to passenger demand.
Pods charge themselves up at battery points around the travel hub, meaning that they are always ready to go at any time.
The scheme, which was initially a project developed at Bristol University, is on top of Heathrow Airport’s existing commitment to improve passenger experience and cut the overall environmental impact of its operation by investing £4.8 billion.
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A large proportion of holidaymakers try to compete with their friends’ travel plans by booking trips to more exotic and exciting locations, a recent survey has revealed.
Up to two in five British travellers admit they have purposefully sought a holiday that they considered to be more impressive than one a friend, family member or work colleague had recently been on, according to a survey by travel agent Sunshine.
Around 9% of these holidaymakers said they booked these trips because they felt jealous about a holiday recently taken by one of their peers.
Competition among London-based holidaymakers is likely to be particularly intense with airports such as Stansted, Luton and Heathrow all offering cheap flights to some of the most beautiful and exotic destinations across the world.
Some 44% of the 1,208 adults who were questioned said they felt happy for a friend who says they had a “lovely holiday abroad” but 12% admitted they had feelings of envy and 6% said they were “annoyed”.
A total of 79% said they had boasted to their contemporaries about how good their holiday was after they got back and 26% said they thought their friends had often gone on a good holiday just to “get one up on them”.
The survey even revealed that 8% of those who had been away had lied to people about their holiday destination to make their trip sound more exotic than it was.
Sunshine co-founder Chris Brown said: “While it’s nice to hear that someone close to you or someone you get on well with at work has had a lovely holiday, it’s hard not to feel a pang of jealousy.
“However, when booking a holiday, it’s important people choose their location or resort based on what they like, not on what they think will look most impressive to others.”
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UK airlines have been laying on extra flights to help Britons stranded in New York.
A number of flights had to be cancelled over the weekend as Hurricane Irene struck the east coast of America, leaving some passengers waiting for flights out of the New York area.
British Airways, which flies to New York from London airports including Heathrow, put on extra services from Newark in New Jersey to help its passengers get home.
The airline also offered an extra flight back to London from JF Kennedy airport in New York.
Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic laid on two extra flights from New York to London in a bid to help its stranded passengers.
Passengers at major UK airports such as Gatwick and Stansted were left facing the possibility of disruption over the weekend as operators anticipated the effects of Hurricane Irene.
A BA spokesman said: “Quite a few people have been on to us, or gone online, to rebook. We are allowing people affected by the cancellations to rebook to a later date.”
Virgin and BA were both able to resume their normal New York and Newark flight schedules by Monday.
BA normally offers seven return flights a day from London to New York, and three returns a day between London and Newark.
Virgin runs five return flights a day to both airports.
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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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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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A man has praised airline staff after being stung by a scorpion on board a flight to Alaska.
Jeff Ellis and his girlfriend Suzanne Foster were travelling from Seattle to Anchorage when he felt something crawl into his sleeve.
The animal stung him on the elbow when he grabbed it with a napkin to show his girlfriend, who alerted a flight attendant.
Ms Foster said: “At first I didn’t believe him but then I saw it. He held the napkin up for me to see, and I saw the tail wiggling. I pretty much jumped out of my seat.”
Mr Ellis, from Oregon, said the burn felt like a bee sting.
Doctors on board looked at the sting before Mr Ellis was met by medics when the flight landed at Anchorage Airport.
Alaska Airlines believes the animal got on to the flight in Austin, Texas, where the flight originated - problem not often encountered by passengers flying out from UK airports such as Heathrow and Stansted.
A spokeswoman said it was the first poisonous creature to be found on one of its flights.
Based on photos he took of the scorpion, Mr Ellis believes he was stung by a striped bark scorpion common in Texas.
Alaska Airlines has since given Mr Ellis 4,000 air miles and two round-trip tickets.
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Heathrow Airport can now cater for an extra three million British Airways customers after a £340 million expansion, it has been revealed.
The new terminal, known as T5 C, will become fully operational from mid-June with 12 boarding gates, of which eight are triple bridges designed to cater for the new 12-strong fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft being used by BA from 2013.
T5 C will allow passengers to walk directly on and off planes via an ‘air’ bridge linked to the terminal building instead of using a bus service.
An existing underground transit system, which includes a number of shops for last-minute purchases, links the new terminal with the rest of T5.
There are also further improvements planned at Heathrow with a new dedicated baggage transfer tunnel set to link T5 C and Terminal 3 to increase the speed of transferring luggage.
BA director of operations Andy Lord said: “Terminal 5 has transformed our ability to offer the very highest standards of customer service which our passengers rightly expect for punctuality, baggage handling and relaxing before their flight. We hope T5 C will improve our overall performance even further.”
More than 70 million customers have used T5 since it opened in March 2008.
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