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France: Air Traffic Controllers To Strike From July 20 To July 22 [July 2010]
The Anvil Group 18 July 2010

Travellers planning to fly to or from France are facing delays and cancellations because of a strike by air traffic controllers from July 20 to July 22. Five unions representing civil aviation workers have given formal notice of a walkout from Tuesday evening (July 20) to Thursday morning (July 22). The Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile will publish an update on Monday evening detailing what percentage of flights are cancelled.

ctms clients affected by the strike will be contacted and alternative arrangements made.

New Strike Treat at UK Airports [July 2010]
www.travelmole.com 16 July 2010

Workers at six UK airports arebeing balloted for strike action by the Unite union.

Unite is to ballot more than 6,000 members based at BAA airports, including Heathrow, in a dispute over pay. It has accused BAA of offering a "paltry" pay offer for 2010 after a pay freeze in 2009.

BAA issued a statement today saying: “We are disappointed that Unite is to ballot members across its UK airports for strike action. During recent discussions with Unite, we proposed a conditional 1.5% pay increase. We believe this to be a reasonable offer at a time when BAA and its airline customers are seeing a decline in passengers due to the impacts of recession and volcanic ash. We regret Unite's decision, which will cause unnecessary concern for millions of our passengers and damage Britain's reputation around the world.”

AA Launches Mobile Boarding At Heathrow [July 2010]

American Airlines has become one of the first airlines to offer mobile boarding passes for customers departing London Heathrow.

Heathrow joins 41 US cities where AA and its subsidiary American Eagle already offer the mobile boarding pass option. The airline says it also plans to launch the service across its international network.

As with mobile boarding passes offered by other airlines, AA passengers can opt to receive a 2-D barcode to their mobile phone, which can then be scanned at security and American Airlines gates. Those wishing to check in luggage can also scan the barcode at AA’s self-service machines at the airport.

Passengers should note that at present those wishing to use the mobile boarding pass option can only list one person in their reservation.

German carrier Lufthansa and subsidiary Bmi both offer similar mobile boarding pass options from London Heathrow.

New "Men Only" Washroom Service [July 2010]

ANA, a Star Alliance member, has recently quietly introduced a new service feature on board their Boeing 777-300 fleet - the world’s first “Men Only” washroom, according to the airlines seat map for this aircraft type, in addition to the heavily publicized “Women only” washroom. Both specific gender-only washrooms are also being rolled out on other long-haul aircraft in the fleet.

• TAM Airlines To Introduce Non-stop Flights Between London And Rio de Janeiro [July 2010]
  
  

  TAM, South America’s largest airline and a Star Alliance member, will introduce a new direct non-stop service between London and Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, 10 August. The thrice-weekly service will use Airbus A330-200s that compliment the existing daily Boeing 777 service between London and Sao Paulo.
  
  The new Airbus A330-200 will offer 223 seats that, as on the São Paulo service, include a First Class cabin with just four flat sleeper seat units; a further 36 seats in business and 183 in economy. Flight times in both directions between London and Rio de Janeiro are designed to maximise convenience, and the connecting services at both ends of the route with other TAM flights or those of its Star Alliance partners.
  
  The new Rio flight will depart from London on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 21.15 and land in Rio de Janeiro early the following morning at 05.15. Flights from Rio will leave for London just after midnight on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings and arrive at Heathrow at 16.05.
  
  Rio de Janeiro is already considered one of the world’s great leisure destinations, but TAM has also seen a considerable growth in the amount of business traffic between London and Rio de Janeiro, lead by the oil and gas industries as well as finance and banking. Rio is the centre of Brazil’s rapidly developing oil and gas industries that involve many UK companies.
  
  TAM’s first and business class passengers living or working within 65 miles of London Heathrow can also book a complimentary, luxury chauffeur drive transfer to-and-from Terminal 1, and at any destination airport outside of Brazil.
  

• UK Government's APD Decision [July 2010]
• The UK government's announcement on 22June postponing any decision to change Britain's air passenger duty, which taxes each passenger once per journey, to an aircraft based tax, which risks penalising the many millions of British passengers who need to make a connection between flights, has been welcomed by the airline industry.
  
  The previous UK government's preferred option was for an aircraft tax which would be applied for each departure from a UK airport. This would have led to three taxes for a passenger making a return trip Aberdeen-London-Dallas, and an amazing 6 taxes for a passenger making a return trip from Southampton to Wick, travelling on the same aircraft but with two intermediate stops each way.
  
  As European Union rules require the same tax to be applied for any flight within the European Union, including domestic journeys within the UK, this would have led to the Southampton-Wick passenger paying 6 times the tax paid by a passenger travelling from London to Cyprus and back, who would pay only one tax on departure from London.
  
  Andy Clarke, ERA’s Adviser Air Transport Policy said: "The clear winners of a per plane tax using this model would be airlines that do not offer their passengers connections within the UK. The losers would be the millions of passengers who need to travel from UK regions which do not have non-stop flights to their chosen destinations. The economic effect on those regions would be significant as some inbound customers would undoubtedly choose cheaper flights to different destinations. I welcome the government's announcement of a public consultation before pressing ahead with this initiative which could so easily become another government disaster."
  
  BA Flies Down Mexico Way [July 2010]
  
  British Airways is to start flights to Mexico’s most important tourist destination with two direct flights a week from London Gatwick to Cancun from November 2010.
  
  A Boeing 777 will serve the route, offering a choice of three cabins, including BA’s Club World business class with fully flat beds.
  
  The first flight will leave Gatwick on November 3, 2010 at 12.45pm UK time and arrive in Cancun at 5.45pm local time.
  
• Continental To Sell "Speciality Cocktails" In Flight [July 2010]
  

• Continental Airlines (CAL) said it will begin selling "specialty cocktails" on its flights, the latest option to pay for in-flight goods or services as the airline industry looks to eke out revenue from its customers.

  Continental said it has partnered with Stirrings, a cocktail-mixer brand, to offer its mojito and pomegranate martini, and the carrier also teamed with Red Bull to offer the energy drink. All three are offered with alcohol for $9 apiece or without for $3.

  Airline companies, which struggled mightily during the recession, have looked for ways to squeeze additional revenue out of travelers--from implementing fees for checked baggage to having passengers pay for the use of pillows and blankets. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Transportation said U.S. airlines' first-quarter ancillary revenue dropped 1% from a year earlier on reduced reservation-change fees and a decline in miscellaneous revenue.

  In April, Continental--which is planning a merger with UAL Corp.'s (UAUA) United Airlines--said in April that its first-quarter loss widened by more than analysts had expected despite revenue gains as bad weather, higher fuel costs and slower-than-hoped economic improvement all hit its bottom line.

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