Train services have been facing continuous disruptions since the outbreak of a devastating fire in the channel tunnel that saw the evacuation of 32 people from the site. The recent statement made by the Euro Tunnel Operator has estimated that the repair works undertaken to set right the damages caused to the north tunnel by the fire would be somewhere around £46.8 million. On account of the disruption in rail services, Eurostar has been implementing a revised timetable. In addition, journeys at present are taking 20 minutes longer than usual.

Due to the delays in service, the operator has lost the time gained while opening the high-speed link in November 2007 to connect London"s St Pancras station and Channel tunnel in November 2007. On its launch, the new high-speed link significantly reduced the journey time between London and Paris to about two hours and 13 minutes thereby causing a considerable surge in passenger demand. The launch of this service affected airlines serving the same route.

In related news, there was a short strike by port control officers on the French side leading to disruption in ferry service between Dover and Calais. The walkout by the port officer was expected to last for 24 hours. However, it ended within 8 hours of its start after which both SeaFrance and P&O could resume their ferry operations. Though a short one, the strike resulted in lorries found queued on the M20. The Kent Police had to implement Operation Stack, their standard response to cross-channel service disruptions.

In a significant recent move, both Morrisons and ASDA have reduced the price of unleaded petrol to 99.9p at the 457 outlets operated by them. Over the next few days, it is very likely that other UK retailers would follow this lead. Therefore, motorists are set to experience great relief as the price of oil has hit US$70 per barrel, which is about 50 percent less than what was recorded in July when the prices peaked.

BP made an announcement recently that it would reduce the price of petrol by about 5 pence per litre thereby enabling about 100 of its 350 petrol stations sell the fuel at 99.9p. So far, Tesco has not responded to the drop in oil prices. As per the information given by the spokesperson of the firm, it appears that the unleaded petrol sold by the firm at its outlets would be over £1 per litre.
 
Despite ASDA charging less than one pound per litre in January this year, most of the retailers have been selling it at more than a pound since 5th November 2007. These reductions in prices are the latest developments that have come to benefit the travelling public of the UK. The announcement of these price reductions came within a few hours of Virgin Atlantic and BA lowering their fuel surcharges on flights. The lowering cost of petrol is also likely to witness the cost of deliveries thereby significantly reducing the prices of products sold by supermarkets.

On Wednesday, American Airlines ordered 42 Boeing 787 Dreamliners. As per list prices, the deal is worth around USD$8 billion. The deal has given a crucially required boost for the plane maker amidst a five-week strike by assembly workers and an uncertain economy. This is the first order made by American Airlines since 2001 for the wide body aircraft. The move by the airline follows the need to overhaul its existing fleet in addition to the airline being optimistic about the future of air travel.

The carbon-composite and titanium of the 787 is built to carry between 200 to 300 passengers on long-haul routes. The aircraft is known to be 20% more fuel efficient than its predecessors. American Airlines is at present purchasing the larger version of 787-9 planes, which according to the company would help in expanding the network of its international routes under its proposed agreement with Spanish Carrier Iberia and British Airways.

American is the biggest airline across the globe in terms of traffic. The airline has confirmed that between 2012 and 2018, it would take delivery of 42 787-9s. In addition, the carrier also took purchase rights for 58 more 787s to be delivered between 2015 and 2020. Following its rivals Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines, American is just the third major carrier based in the US to order for 787s.

While confirming a newspaper report, a spokesman of the company said Airbus has suspended its plans to increase the production of its passenger jets. The move by the plane maker follows the global financial crisis.

The firm usually manufactures about 36 single-aisle aircraft in addition to 10 wide-body A330/A340 aircraft a month. By 2010, the company wanted to boost this up to 40 and 11 respectively to keep pace with record order backlogs. Amidst the widespread credit squeeze and high fuel prices, increasing number of its airline customers are cancelling orders. This scenario has created a serious doubt whether the production rate must be maintained as per the present. Addressing the Wall Street journal, John Leahy, the Airbus sales chief, said the company had been forced to re-examine its production plans under deteriorating financial situation across the globe.

The spokesman said, "We are leaving production where it is for the time being until market conditions improve. But we still have very strong demand, and we are confident that these aircraft are needed."

Industry analysts said on Thursday that the Chinese airline is set to end up with a heavy loss in 2008 amidst the country"s slowing domestic economy and the severe economic recession across the globe. During recent days, Air China, the flagship carrier and Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines have been warning that they are most likely to post losses for three quarters of the year due to high fuel costs and weak economy.

A senior executive with China Eastern said, "Traffic did not pick up after the Olympics as we had previously expected. The situation improved a bit during the weeklong national holiday in October but the outlook is still murky, given the faltering global economy. There is little doubt that the whole industry will make losses now that the flag carrier has also issued a profit warning."

Since mid-July, there has been a sharp decline in the appreciation of the yuan, which is said to be one of the principal reasons for a drop in earnings during second half of the year. During the first half, rise of Chinese currency enabled top three airlines of China to book a combined foreign exchange gain of CNY6.41 billion yuan (USD$938.5 million).

A recent report published by the BBC states that BMI"s chairman is keen to see a significant increase in the number of flights that are operated between Jersey and Heathrow. Recently Sir Michael Bishop was on the island to meet tourism and airport officials. During the meeting, he confirmed the strong commitment of the airline to Jersey. He said in a statement to BBC News that Jersey remained a very valuable part of the bmi network.

During March last year, BMI commenced a new service on the route. With the carrier operating daily services following the launch, it was told that the launch was the result of an undisclosed subsidy and a five-year contract awarded by the States. However, serious concerns were raised when the carrier announced that it had decided to suspend its morning commuter flight from the start of its winter schedule.

Though Sir Michael confirmed to the BBC that the Heathrow link had become highly popular, he too pointed out that it had not still reached its optimum capacity. Furthermore, he warned that people must carry on using it extensively for the link to continue.

Triton Travel Group has recently revealed that during the aftermath of the collapse of XL Leisure Group, there has been an "unprededented" surge in the number of applications to join their Atol protection scheme. The firm stated that during last week alone, the company accepted not less than 300 calls and enrolled 60 additional members to the scheme.

It is said that the surge of this popularity is on account of the fact that people who make their bookings with firms protected by Atol are guaranteed compensation in the event of an airline or travel operator collapsing.

The collapse of XL in September left more than 80,000 British holidaymakers stranded in about 40 destinations across the world. In addition, not less than 200,000 forward bookings became void.

A recent report published in The Evening Times has stated that the largest operator of tours to Canada has declared its plans to offer flights to around 25,000 additional passengers out of Glasgow Airport during next summer alone.

It appears that Canadian Affair is planning this move, with the firm attempting to respond to the recent demise of Zoom Airlines. Zoom was one of the main carriers offering its flights from the Scottish capital to the North American country.

The tour operator"s summer schedule already featured about six flights a week operated between Glasgow and Toronto. However, the airline has stated that it could still increase that number to about nine - well in time to meet the significant demand during the peak season next year.

Recently, the company responsible for scanning luggage at Stansted Airport has withdrawn the contract. The move follows a series of strikes over pay rises during the recent past. In an announcement, Gate Aviation Services has stated its decision to end the baggage-screening contract on 10th October. The firm has however added that the 34 staff of the company would be able to keep their jobs if a new contractor assuming the responsibility.

About thirty-four GMB union members employed with Gate triggered off a strike action during summer after rejecting the 2% increase over the pay offer announced by the company. A spokesman for Gate noted at that time that the strike was called by disappointed staff who wanted "to reject the company"s improved pay offer of 2% and a further 2.2% in January 2009".

A spokesperson for the company stated further that the workers would keep their jobs under the rules of continuation of employment even if Gate Aviation terminated the contract after a given period of notice since it was "untenable". It appears that a new contractor will assume the responsibility of scanning luggage after 10th October when Gate Aviation Services has decided to withdraw. Welcoming this development, the GMB has stated that it looked forward to work with the new contractor to settle the row. The employees feel that the present arrangement would provide a positive way out of the issue.