airline | Common News Update

Oct22017 by adminNo Comments

Monarch flights cancelled as airline ceases trading

Business

Media playback is unsupported on your deviceMonarch Airlines has ceased trading and its 300,000 future bookings for flights and holidays have been cancelled, the Civil Aviation Authority has said.More than 30 planes are being sent to bring back about 110,000 customers who are overseas - described as the UK's "biggest ever peacetime repatriation".Terror attacks in Tunisia and Egypt, increased competition, and the weak pound have been blamed for its demise.Monarch employs about 2,100 people and reported a £291m loss last year.The airline - the UK's fifth biggest and the country's largest ever to collapse - was placed in administration at 04:00 BST - a time when there were no Monarch planes in the air. Passengers were then sent text messages informing them flights had been cancelled - but som...

Oct12017 by adminNo Comments

Monarch airline awaits package holiday licence decision

Business

Monarch is in last-ditch talks with the aviation regulator about renewing its licence to sell package holidays.The travel company has until midnight to reach a deal for its Atol licence or ask for more time from the Civil Aviation Authority.The regulator extended Monarch's licence for 24 hours on Saturday because of uncertainty about the company's future.About 10,000 people on holidays sold by the airline are thought to be abroad.The CAA is understood to have contingency plans in place to bring those passengers home on other airlines if Monarch faces difficulties.If the regulator decides not to renew its package holiday licence, consumer confidence in Monarch's scheduled airline operations could also be undermined. Monarch's Atol licence extended for 24 hoursPackage holidays accounted for ...

Aug12017 by adminNo Comments

Air Force negotiating for Air Force One 747s originally slated for Russian airline

Business

Aug. 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force is in the process of finalizing a deal with Boeing for the purchase of two 747-8 passenger jets once slated for a now defunct Russian airline.Defense One reported Tuesday the contract could be announced as early as this week, though the Air Force and Boeing say the deal is still coming together."We're working through the final stages of coordination to purchase two commercial 747-8 aircraft and expect to award a contract soon," Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told UPI.Boeing spokeswoman Caroline Hutcheson told UPI that the deal is still under final negotiations."We are working towards a deal for the 747-8s that will provide the best value for the Air Force," Hutcheson said.The two 747-8s were originally slated for the now bankrupt Russian airline Trans...

Jul152017 by adminNo Comments

EasyJet's new airline is a clever response to Brexit

Business

The impact of Brexit has landed.There will now be three easyJets, all with a capital letter in the wrong place and all located in different places - one in the UK, one in Switzerland and now one in Austria.This new airline, easyJetEurope, will come with its own fleet of planes and its own staff, but make no mistake - it is part of easyJet's UK operations. The planes won't actually spend their lives in Austria, the big decisions will still be made in Luton.This is a clever, and rather expensive, answer to a new problem.For easyJet, this is a £10m insurance policy against the dreaded prospect of having to curtail - hugely - its timetable of flights around Europe.That might seem an unlikely prospect, but it's one that is now giving sleepless nights to plenty within Britain's airline industry....

Jul142017 by adminNo Comments

New EasyJet airline created for Brexit

Business

EasyJet is creating a new airline so it can continue flying in the European Union after Brexit.It has applied for a new air operator certificate in Austria at a cost of £10m.The budget airline said the application process was "well advanced" and it hoped to receive the accreditation "in the near future".It will allow the low-cost carrier to establish easyJetEurope, which will have its headquarters in the Austrian capital Vienna.Since the 1990s, EU airlines have been free to fly between any two points in Europe.This is planning for a worst case scenario should Britain fail to negotiate the same aviation freedoms it currently enjoys as a member of the EU.The company said the move would enable the airline to operate flights both across Europe and domestically within Europe once Britain exits ...