The already troubled British travel industry, still mired in ongoing airline disputes, has been dealt another body blow after the RMT union advised that national rail network staff had spoken out in support of a proposed walk-out. This means the threat of a rail strike over the Easter period is now a very real possibility.
Members voted by a favourable 77 percent to take action against network rail whose changes made to working conditions and practices has resulted in around 1,500 job losses.
The RMT union claimed that no call to strike would be made before next Friday’s group meeting. Any decision [...]

Some 50 ships, including passenger ferries, have been stranded in the iced-over Baltic Sea according to maritime authorities in Sweden.
Reports detail the plight of the commercial vessels that are awaiting aid from ice-breakers, with up to six passenger ferries carrying thousands of people included in the freeze. Two of the ships have so far been freed. Swedish maritime authority spokesperson Johny Lindvall has called the situation the worst since the 1980’s.
Of the six stranded passenger vessels, five were making the trip between Finland and Sweden, while the sixth – the Regal Star – had been travelling to Estonia when it [...]

Dayton City is now preparing to clear up the fixtures of the recently closed Dayton Airport Hotel prior to its demolition. The hotel, now on its 40th year, will be transformed into a parking space.
Some of the stuffs to be liquidated are the furniture and fixtures bought before by the city to refurbish the hotel. However, they were never been used as the renovation project was deserted prior to its completion. Included on the sale will be some of the kitchen’s appliances and several furnishings of the remodelled rooms.
Iftikhar Ahmad, Dayton’s director of aviation, informed that the local government had [...]

Minister Tony Killeen told that budget airline Ryanair had recently withdrawn its earlier decision to stop its flight services from Shannon to Liverpool and Edinburg. He said that Ryanair summer flights will continue to operate every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Minister Killeen also confirmed Ryanair’s continued services to London Gatwick, Malaga, London Stansfed, Palma, Nantes, Wroclaw, Tenerife and Paris Beauvais until the end of summer 2010.
Killeen said that the growth of Shannon Airport depends on the services currently offered. He emphasized that Ryanair’s recent decision complements the UK’s domestic and transatlantic services currently being provided by Aer Lingus and Continental Airlines.
On [...]

The 4th of March will be a memorable day for hire car customers and the Sixt Rent A Car group alike, with the day marking the occasion of the London launch of the new electric car hire system.
The Fulham-Chelsea branch for Sixt will debut the environmentally friendly C1 Ev’ie vehicles from Citroen, meaning customers at the rental centre can choose between traditional favourites and the more eco-conscious alternate.
The C1 Ev’ie is perfect for inner-city driving, and London is the ideal launch city. The vehicle is identical to a standard Citroen C1, having five doors and plenty of room for four [...]

Leading UK air operator British Airways has won its latest High Court case against the unions after the court ruled that staff contract conditions had not been breached following changes to onboard conditions for employees.
Unite, the union representing the airline staff, has been in constant negotiations with BA over recent months, many of which have become acrimonious to say the least. The latest case stemmed from changes made to staff contracts in an effort by the embattled airline to reduce overheads in the face of ongoing economic instability. BA has defended the move aimed squarely at halting falling profit while [...]

Airflights.co.uk, the discount flight specialists, has warned British holidaymakers against making last minute car rental reservations this summer season.
Many travellers have a tendency to book flights first, then hotel accommodation. Car rental and ground transportation details are often vaguely researched but often never booked until days before required. This results in frequent shortages of not just vehicles but extras such as GPS systems and baby seats.
However, last summer’s unexpected rush on hire cars, which left thousands of travellers stranded in popular destinations line Spain. The late influx also led to substantial price increases as rental companies imposed stricter fleet management [...]

The Dublin based Solaris Mobile Ltd, which operates a number of terrestrial and hybrid satellite wireless networks across the European continent has announced a new partnership with car hire giant Europcar.
The technology group hopes that the Europcar agreement will provide them with the opportunity to highlight the great potential held for delivering broadcast services and next generation broadband to the upwardly mobile community. The new hybrid network from Solaris offers downloadable data and video in addition to voice services usually only available on fixed lines.
The latest move from the Irish company continues their long history of creating partnerships for pan-European [...]

A recent report published by TripAdvisor is causing an alarm on the UK hospitality industry. The TripAdvisor’s Dirtiest Hotels list for the US was talk of the town recently that it made huge comments on the internet.
British Hospitality Association CEO Bob Cotton said that hotels across Europe are urging the EU Commission to alter the present rules governing website reviews. Cotton and other hospitality leaders’ goal is to make sure that reviews are legitimate and not just written by adversaries.
Cotton said that review websites has the duty to make certain that the person conducting the review has actually checked-in at [...]

Emirates Airlines has just recently announced its plans to launch direct services to Tokyo, Japan’s capital city and one of the world’s foremost economic centers. Tokyo will now serve as Emirate Airlines’ 102nd international destination, following the recent launch of operations to Durban and Luanda in October of 2009. Now with the introduction of flights to Tokyo, Emirates will be able to offer two nonstop services between Japan and Dubai, as the airline already operates daily services to Osaka.
Emirates will fly nonstop to Tokyo five times a week on every Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday starting March 28, 210. [...]