Passenger baggage at Luton airport is now safer: after two of the airport’s cleaners were arrested for pilfering luggage. Abul Hussain and Anthony Currant were caught on hidden camera’s taking items from bags during a police sting operation in February. The pair were filmed opening bags before they got to the main carousel in the baggage retrievals hall.
According to Bedfordshire Police, Hussein, a 30-year-old from Claremont Road, Luton and Currant, a 65-year-old cleaner from Bolingbroke Road in the same town, each admitted to six counts of theft. Both have been handed a custodial sentence by Luton Crown Court.
Hidden cameras were [...]

The recent announcement that Flybe has placed a firm order for 35 new aircraft could be good news for Cardiff Airport. Steve Hodgetts, the airport’s business development and commercial director, said that he is very keen to sit down with the airline and discuss ways in which Cardiff and Flybe can work together to offer passengers more frequency to more destinations throughout Europe.
Flybe is currently Europe’s number one regional airline. It already carries passengers from Cardiff to a number of destinations including Belfast, Paris and Edinburgh. The airline is looking to expand its presence in the business market and if [...]

A tie up between British Airways and American Airlines has been given the blessing of the EU Commission. The airlines are now a step closer to being able co-ordinate their transatlantic schedules, work together on ticket pricing and share revenues. The commission has also approved BA’s merger with Iberia.
In order to proceed with the tie-up on transatlantic routes the airlines have had to surrender four pairs of take-off and landing slots between Gatwick and Heathrow in London and Miami, Dallas and Boston. If services are seen to drop below their current levels between London and New York, then a further [...]

Emirates has confirmed that it has completed the sale of its stake in SriLankan Airlines for the sum of $53 million. The airline has given over its share in the flag carrier to the Sri Lankan government at a loss estimated to be in the region of $20 million on the original purchase price and around $100 million on what the airline was valued at just two years ago.
P B Jayasundera, Treasury Secretary for the Sri Lankan government, said that the 44 per cent share in the airline had been acquired through the state owned Bank of Ceylon. Jayasundera confirmed [...]

Online travel agencies are voicing their concerns over the acquisition of airline flight information aggregators ITA Software by Google. ITA is a Massachusetts-based firm which was set up in 1996 by a group of MIT scientists. The firm provides data on airfares, flight times and ticket availability to the travel industry. In short, it is the bridge between the airlines and the customer facing travel agents.
Google said that it has acquired ITA in order to supply users of its search engine with an easier and more convenient tool with which to access information about flights and airfares. The internet giant [...]

A US judge has ruled that Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc will be allowed to pursue a case against two of its former executives who allegedly stole trade secrets. Amar Lalvani and Ross Klein left the hotel group in 2008 to join rivals Hilton Worldwide. United States District Judge, Stephen Robinson, said this week that there was enough evidence to demonstrate that the pair accessed computer files without any authorization, and stole documents containing confidential information.
Hilton Worldwide has been trying to have the case dismissed. In a 19-page opinion, Judge Robinson said that there was evidence that Lalvani and [...]

British Airways boss, Willie Walsh, has turned down his entitlement to a share award of £334,000 for the third year running. The airline’s chief executive has also agreed to have his pay frozen at £735,000, the same figure it has been at for the last two years.
Because Mr Walsh and other members of the BA board agreed that they would not take any pay for the month of July, Mr Walsh’s pay packet for last year amounted to £674,000. The decision to give up a month’s salary was made because the board wished to stress the fact that the airline [...]

British Airways has announced that passenger numbers in May fell by 11.5 per cent compared to a year ago. The airline is mainly blaming strikes by cabin crew for the fall in performance. BA has also reported a drop in business and first-class travel of 6.5 per cent. The premium sector is the most profitable part of the carrier’s passenger business.
Meanwhile, rival airline Air France-KLM has announced that its year-on-year passenger numbers for May were up by 4.3 per cent. The airline also said that traffic was increasing and that an overall improvement in economic conditions was the main reason.
Even [...]

International Air Transport Association chief executive, Giovanni Bisignani, has launched a surprise attack on British Airways’ staff, as a walkout by trade union members enters its fifth day. Bisignani described the current labour dispute as unbelievable at a time when the entire airline industry is struggling to pull itself out of a crippling recession.
The trade body leader said that deciding to strike in the current economic climate showed that Unite members were divorced from reality. He added that airline employees must realise that their paycheques were reliant on the performance of the company that they worked for, and that at [...]

Premier car rental company Avis has received two esteemed awards for outstanding business service in the Middle East.
The company, which has car hire outlets throughout the region, has gained international recognition for its two big wins. At the Business Traveller Awards, Avis was named ‘Best Car Rental Company for the Middle East’, while the World Travel Awards 2010 saw Avis scoop ‘Middle East’s Leading Business Car Rental’ for the second year in a row.
Avis came out on top above its opponents as it was voted as having exceptional business services. Commenting on the awards, E Sriram, Manager of Avis Oman,  [...]