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NEWS ARCHIVE

17 December 2009

flyglobespan collapse

The Edinburgh based flyglobespan low cost carrier has collapsed into administration leaving thousands of passengers stranded and many more with lost holidays.

This has no direct effect on travel to Crete since flyglobespan ceased operations to Heraklion a couple of years ago. However, the collapse is indicative of the difficult times being experienced by all airlines. Almost inevitably there will be other failures in the months ahead and we hope they will not include carriers to Crete.

30 November 2009

easyJet Extend On-line Check-in

Easyjet have announced an extension of their on line check-in facility which, until now has been restricted to passengers with hand baggage only.

With immediate effect, passengers with hold baggage will be able to check in on line for both outbound and return flights. Print your boarding cards at home and take them with your luggage to the bag drop point at the airport.

Standard check-in desks will continue to operate and, unlike some other airlines, there is no charge [see flight extras] whether you check-in from home or at the airport.

Full details are available on the easyJet web site

 

21 October 2009

GATWICK SOLD

BAA has sold Gatwick Airport, Britain's second-biggest, to Global Infrastructure Partners, who are owners of London City airport.

GIP, is an infrastructure fund backed by Credit Suisse and General Electric. They outbid a rival group which included Manchester Airport and Borealis, a Canadian fund.

More in this report from the Daily Telegraph.

 

13 October 2009

Aegean Airlines has teamed up with BMI to offer flights from Athens to six destinations in the UK and Ireland - Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Belfast and Dublin.

All flights are via London Heathrow.

Flights are available  from 25 October 2009 to 27 March 2010 and must be booked by 26 October 2009 to obtain the special offer fares.

The following dates are excluded:- 18 Dec 2009 to 07 Jan 2010 and 12 Feb 2010 to 16 Feb 2010

Flights are priced from €129 one way.
For more information or to book go to the AEGEAN WEBSITE

Aegean will operate the Athens/Heathrow leg with BMI flying the UK domestic routes.

28 May 2009

AEGEAN TO JOIN STAR ALLIANCE

ATHENS, Greece - May 26th, 2009 – The Chief Executive Board of Star Alliance has accepted the membership application of Aegean Airlines of Greece. This was announced today at an official press conference held in Athens.

Teams from Aegean Airlines and Star Alliance will begin the integration work shortly.  Once this process is complete, the Star Alliance network will encompass a total of 26 carriers (current 21 and confirmed future members Aegean Airlines, Air India, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines and TAM) and three regional member carriers (Adria Airways, Blue1 and Croatia Airlines), offer a choice of more than 1,000 destinations in 176 countries being served by 21,000 daily flights.

Jaan Albrecht, CEO Star Alliance said: “Aegean Airlines is a welcome addition to the Star Alliance network.  Its home market Greece is of strategic importance due to its geographic position in the Eastern Mediterranean, acting as the main south-eastern access point into the European Union.  Through the Aegean Airlines’ network, our customers will in future gain access to numerous destinations in Greece as well as have more choice on routes within Europe.”

Theodore Vassilakis, Chairman of Aegean Airlines said: “Becoming a member of Star Alliance represents both an honour and a great opportunity for our company.  In the near future our customers will be able to enjoy the network, privileges and loyalty rewards of the largest and most recognised airline alliance in the world.  As we continue to grow in our network and further develop our services, we are committed to become valuable contributors to this great alliance.”

Through its future membership in Star Alliance, Aegean Airlines will gain access to the many markets across the globe .............

02 April 2009

Aegean Airlines are offering some competitive fares between Athens and London Stansted commencing 15 May.

Careful selection of dates finds return flights for under €200 including all taxes and charges.For more details click here

29 February 2008

Aer Lingus have announced the introduction of a new service between Dublin and Athens, Greece.

Commencing on 30 March 2008 the airline will operate three flights weekly, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Final flight on this route during 2008 will be 25 October.

Flight times are: Depart Dublin 14:30  Arrive Athens 20:30

Depart Athens 21:30  Arrive Dublin 23:55

Sample fares: Search on 29 February 2008

Dep. 14 May  Ret. 28 May   €144.10 p.p. plus a "handling fee" of €6.00 Total: €150.10 return.

Flights on 13/27 August are currently priced at €296.10 return.

Note that prices may change, particularly as you approach departure date.

12 February  2008

NEW ATHENS - LONDON STANSTED SERVICE

AEGEAN AIRLINES have announced that they will be adding a twice-daily service between Athens and London Stansted, commencing on 15 May 2008, the start of their summer schedule.

Brand new Airbus A321 aircraft with 195 seats in two classes will be used on the route and Aegean say that the aircraft have state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment systems.

A flight search on their web site for flights in May and June shows three fare levels - Saver, Semi-Flexible and Flexible. So far we have only looked at the Saver fares and they look quite competitive at approximately €177* return, including taxes.

Departure times from Athens are 07:30 and 17:10 and from London Stansted at 10:220 and 20:00. These are convenient times for Athens but slightly less so for travellers from Crete. The earliest flights from Xania and Iraklio are too late to catch the morning flight from Athens and anyone travelling from Stansted on the 20:00 flight will have several hours to fill before the first departure to Crete the next morning.

Fares from the two airports in Crete are also considerably higher. At the time of writing no Saver fares are shown and return fares are about €358* from Iraklio and €365* from Xania.

* Please note that these figures are based on only a few sample flights and are indicative only. Prices may increase if bookings are made only a short time before departure or they may be lower if booked well in advance. There are also likely to be differences around national holiday dates.

31 January 2008

easyJet completes acquisition of GB Airways

easyJet today announced that the acquisition by its wholly-owned subsidiary, easyJet Airline Company Limited, of GB Airways Limited (“GB Airways”) from its parent, Bland Group Limited has now been successfully completed following final regulatory clearances on 18th January. The acquisition has been completed in line with the timescales outlined in October when the intention to purchase was first announced. easyJet paid £103.5 million in cash for GB Airways of which £11.5 million is held in escrow.

Andy Harrison, Chief Executive of easyJet said:

“We are delighted to have completed this transaction and we welcome the GB Airways staff transitioning across to become part of the easyJet team. The deal enhances easyJet’s customer offering of low cost with care and convenience and will create value for shareholders.”

The acquisition of GB Airways strengthens easyJet’s position as the leading short haul airline in the UK operating around 18% of available seats. easyJet is now able to offer its customers more routes at convenient times from two major UK airports – London Gatwick and Manchester. easyJet will now carry more passengers from Gatwick than any other airline and the GB Airways acquisition means that easyJet will be offering services from Manchester for the first time.

The integration of GB Airways into easyJet is progressing well - its routes are already on sale via easyJet.com and plans are in place to ensure a smooth transition by GB Airways to the easyJet Air Operators Certificate. As part of the integration process synergy benefits in the areas of overheads, insurance, ground handling, aircraft ownership and ancillary revenues have been identified and over the medium term easyJet will be able to drive further benefit from the acquisition as it optimises its network. In the current financial year, before exceptional costs of around £12 million, the acquisition will be earnings enhancing.

18 January 2008

easyJet takeover of GB Airways

Easyjet has taken over GB Airways, who operated flights to Heraklion as a British Airways franchise. Easyjet has guaranteed to fly the full GBA 2008 summer schedule to Heraklion, honouring any bookings taken by GBA.

Travellers who booked flights with GBA before the takeover was finalised and do not wish to fly with Easyjet  may claim a full refund from British Airways. Details are available from British Airways.

Easyjet has not indicated whether they will be introducing a winter service. [GB Airways operated a summer-only service.]

29 June 2007

TUI AG (Thomson in the UK) and First Choice Holidays PLC publish prospectus for planned merger.

TUI AG and First Choice Holidays PLC have today published the prospectus for the planned merger between the Tourism Division of TUI AG - “TUI Tourism” - and First Choice. In addition to detailed information on First Choice, TUI Tourism and the future TUI Travel PLC, the prospectus contains information on the current bookings position of TUI and First Choice.

Trading for the financial year 2007 is in line with the Board’s expectations. Overall demand in the travel market remains strong, with varying levels of growth in demand across TUI Tourism’s source markets. Overall, bookings for the 2007 summer season have started well, with customer numbers up 7.8 per cent, and booked revenues up 2.8 per cent year-on-year, as at 22nd June 2007. The Central Europe Sector, which includes the large German source market, recorded a good increase in bookings, although the Sector’s results are affected by start-up costs in connection with the restructuring of flight operations under the new brand TUIfly.com. Customer numbers and booked revenues have also increased in the Western Europe Sector, although the Northern Europe Sector has experienced a decline year-on-year due to difficult market conditions in the UK and Ireland.

Trading at First Choice Holidays for the financial year 2007 has been in line with the Board’s expectations. For the 2007 Summer season, the Mainstream Holidays Sector has performed in line with management expectations in what remains a challenging market. As at 24 June 2007, revenues were cumulatively up four per cent on volume growth of one per cent.

The Specialist Holidays Sector has had an excellent start to the 2007 Summer season across all its businesses, with sales and volumes as at 24th June 2007 up 18 per cent and 16 per cent respectively on 2006, as a result of increased demand for lifestyle and destination specialist products.

TUI AG will give the next detailed overview of business development with the publication of the quarterly balance sheet on 9 August 2007.

Timetable for the merger into TUI Travel PLC

   * 25th July: Extraordinary shareholders’ meeting of First Choice Holidays PLC.

   * 31st August: Final court hearing.

   * 3rd September: Expected date of completion of the merger, listing and commencement of trading.

19 June 2007

Completion of merger between MyTravel and Thomas Cook and results date

Thomas Cook Group plc today confirms the successful completion of the merger between MyTravel Group plc and Thomas Cook AG to create a leading international leisure travel group. Accordingly, with effect from 8.00 a.m. today, the listing of MyTravel shares was cancelled and the ordinary shares in the holding company of the combined group, Thomas Cook Group plc, were admitted to the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's market for listed securities.

Thomas Cook Group chairman Dr Thomas Middelhoff said: 'I am delighted that we have been able to complete the merger in just over four months. We will now concentrate on delivering our plans to create additional shareholder value.'

The Group will announce its pro forma interim results for the six months to 30 April 2007 on Wednesday 27 June 2007. A presentation will be made to analysts that morning which will include analysis of the Group's pro forma interim results, commentary on current trading and an update on integration plans.

Note: MyTravel Group includes Airtours

4 May 2007

Merger of MyTravel Group plc and Thomas Cook AG cleared by European Commission

The European Commission has today announced its decision to clear the proposed merger of MyTravel Group plc and Thomas Cook AG to form Thomas Cook Group plc.

MyTravel Chief Executive Peter McHugh said: “I am delighted we have received this clearance. This is a significant milestone on the way to completing the merger. The merger is clearly in the best interests of our shareholders and the European Commission Phase I clearance will allow us to accelerate the merger process.”

Manny Fontenla-Novoa, Group CEO of Thomas Cook AG said: “This is a very important development for us in the process of merging these two businesses and we are very pleased that the Commission has decided to clear the transaction. We are now one step closer to being able to deliver the substantial benefits of this merger to all our staff, customers, business partners and shareholders.”

The circular relating to the proposed Scheme of Arrangement of MyTravel (the “Scheme”) by which the merger will be implemented, together with the prospectus for Thomas Cook Group plc (“TCG”) which was published on 30 April, have today been posted to MyTravel shareholders. The circular contains the details of the Scheme and the prospectus contains further information on MyTravel, Thomas Cook and TCG. We have also posted the notice of the MyTravel AGM to be held on 29 May. The merger remains subject to a number of conditions, including the approval of MyTravel shareholders, approval of the Scheme by the court and listing of the TCG shares. If these conditions are satisfied completion of the merger is expected on 19 June 2007.

Timetable

The timetable of principal events is expected to be as follows:
Prospectus and circular posted to MyTravel shareholders 4 May
MyTravel shareholder meetings – Court meeting, EGM and AGM 29 May
Court hearing to sanction the Scheme 18 June
Expected date of de-listing of MyTravel shares and listing of the TCG shares and commencement of dealings in TCG shares 19 June
The circular and the prospectus are available on the MyTravel Group plc website at http://www.mytravelgroup.com.

The following item was originally issued by Monarch but may also affect passengers of other airlines.

Gatwick Terminal Monorail Transit

01 Aug 2009 to 02 Jul 2010 - last updated: 07 October 2009

The Monorail transit system between the North & South Terminals at Gatwick Airport will be out of service from 28 September 2009 until July 2010.

Please note that our ticket desk is based in the SOUTH Terminal - if you need to collect tickets (TOD) you must collect these from the Monarch desk in the South Terminal, even in your flight departs from the NORTH Terminal, so you must allow plenty of time to travel between Terminals.

There will be a replacement shuttle bus service, but you should allow 20 minutes if you need to change terminals at Gatwick during this period.

GATWICK PASSENGER INFORMATION

19 December 2009

easyJet will fly to Chania

It has been reported that Easyjet will be serving Chania airport in 2010 with four flight per week during the summer season. Flights will be from London Gatwick, reportedly starting on 10 May 2010.

So far, no mention of the news has appeared on the company web site nor in the travel trade press. Currently, Chania does not appear in easyJet’s list of routes nor in the list of destinations on the flight search pages.

Watch this space.

18 August 2010

KISS FLIGHTS COLLAPSES

KISS FLIGHTS who sold flights to Greece, Egypt, Turkey and the Canary Islands has ceased trading with immediate effect.  The company sold seats to Crete using Viking Airlines.

 

BBC report here.

Viking Airlines state that they are in a strong financial position and are in no danger of being seriously affected by the collapse of Kiss.

18 December 2009

flyglobespan collapse

The collapse of flyglobespan (see below) illustrates that the companies themselves may be victims of outside influences. It has been reported that fgs was owed more than £30 million by the company operating its online booking service.

The administrators are attempting to establish why e-Clear has failed to pass on £20m paid by passengers who had already travelled and as much as £16m from customers still to travel.

Clearly, had flyglobespan received the money their cashflow difficulties would have been eased and it is possible the collapse could have been avoided.

E-Clear is one of four main card payment processing companies. It also handled card payments for SkyEurope, XL Leisure and Zoom all of whom have gone into liquidation. There is no suggestion that E Clear is implicated as contributing to these failures. Travel Trade Gazette reported in July that E-Clear faced legal action from SkyEurope.

Another E-Clear client is loss-making Allbury Travel Group which includes Libra Holidays. TTG reports that Allbury is owned by Allbury Ltd [based in the British Virgin Islands] which is controlled by .... the Chief Executive of E-Clear.

More about E-Clear here and Allbury here [links to Travel Trade Gazette reports]