A recent report published by ABTN has noted that Japan Airlines (JAL) has decided to withdraw its Heathrow - Osaka service. The present move is coming into effect next spring. Once this service is withdrawn, there will not be any direct connection to the city. In addition to this, the daily service to Kansai offered by Boeing 777 aircraft is to be stopped on 29th March 2009. Once this is done, it will leave the airline with a single service operated between Heathrow and Tokyo.

Most notably, the Heathrow - Osaka flights are one among the three long-haul routes that are to be cut by the carrier. The cut is necessitated by the high oil prices. Notably, this move is part of the biggest operational review made by the airline since the year 2002. On the whole, the carrier is suspending more than 12 routes in addition to considerably decreasing the frequency on four other routes.

Commenting on the present move contemplated by the airline, a spokeswoman for the airline noted that it would offer good connections departing from Tokyo to both Kansai and Itami Airports of Osaka. She too noted that she did not know what the airline has decided to do with the seven daily slots reserved for the airline's carriers at the Heathrow Airport that are left unused due to the present withdrawal of services. The present moves by the airline are part of the carrier's strategy to combat the challenges faced by the airline amidst the present crisis in the industry.

In a highly welcomed move, Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific have decided to expand their capacity on their Hong Kong services that are departing from Heathrow. The present move by these airlines is in response to the significant demand created by the collapse of the no-frills carrier Oasis Hong Kong Airlines. The above said routes are said to be highly lucrative and the two airlines are now significantly increasing the number of seats on these routes.

Most notably, after the collapse of the Hong Kong airline in the month of April, the number of weekly flights operated between these two cities fell from 80 to 70, thereby significantly increasing the demand for the said route. According to the recent decision made by the airline, it is noted that the airline will add a second daily flight flying three times a week starting from 28th October. Eventually with effect from 4th December, the airline will extend its service to all days of the week. Now Virgin is adding a second daily flight operated three times a week from October 28, before extending the service to all days of the week with effect from 4th December.

Over and above, according to the announcement made by Cathay Pacific, it appears that the airline will replace the two Airbus A340-300s that are being currently deployed on the long-haul route, drafting in Boeing 747s. This move is expected to add 288 seats on the route every week.

A series of factors like slowing economy, capacity cuts, rising fares and a serious credit crunch have been accounting for a significant drop in the number of passengers at several UK airports. Notably, BAA, the operator of seven airports across the UK including Gatwick and Stansted have seen the fall of passenger numbers by 1.7% during July when compared to the figures recorded during last year. Most remarkably, last year around 14.8m passengers passed through the hubs.

Above all, Stansted Airport witnessed the biggest drop in the number of passengers among all the airports operated by BAA, with 5.3% fewer people using the airport when compared to the figures noted last year. All the three BAA airports at Scotland have also seen a notable reduction with the rate of reduction recorded as 3.2% at Glasgow, 1.3% at Edinburgh and 2.6% at Aberdeen.

Possibly as a result of the Open Skies Agreement, Heathrow was virtually unchanged when compared to last year. In fact, the airport has remarkably shown a significant increase of about 6.5% on long haul routes. However, the loss of Gatwick from the same source is said to be on account of the shift of long-haul traffic to Heathrow that has contributed to an overall drop of 1.8% despite an increase of 11.9% in the European Scheduled Traffic. In fact, the Southampton airport witnessed a drop of passengers by about 1.8%. Among the key markets affected the most by the slowdown noted during last month were the European Flights that saw a 1.4% drop and UK domestic, that saw a 4.5 percent drop.

According to a report published in the Guardian, it appears that the EU has serious concerns regarding the development of a third runway at Heathrow, which it strongly feels would give way to a 'significant' breach of permitted air pollution limits. Based on a letter from European Commissioner Stavros Dimas, the newspaper says that he is most likely to contact the Government to express his serious concern over this issue that the plans will certainly lead to the airport missing nitrogen oxide targets imposed by the EU.

The letter from Mr Dimas reads thus, "Technical reports underpinning the Heathrow expansion suggest that nitrogen limit values near the airport will be significantly exceeded in 2010, the year in which those limit values become mandatory, and that this will be the case even after 2015.”

Notably, the above said news is a further blow to the proposed plans that have been put forward for constructing a third runway at the sixth terminal at the busiest international airport across the globe. Over and above, it also appears that a final decision on the said plans is likely to be taken before the end of this year following the review of more than 70,000 responses received by the government in response to its recent public consultation.

With the strong possibilities of the break up of BAA remaining on the horizon, the rumours centred on the creation of a second runway at the Gatwick Airport are significantly growing. Later during this week, it is expected that the Competition Commission is most likely to publish a report to the airport operator, which is expected to feature a suggestion regarding the breakup of the firm in a move to remove the relative monopoly of BAA over UK airports.

According to a statement made by The Observer, it appears that the commission is most likely to make a criticism of the government for favouring an idea related to the expansion of Heathrow and Stansted over Gatwick. It is also expected that the said report will also include a recommendation to sell away Gatwick Airport. In this connection, BAA has stated that already several parties have expressed their interest in buying it, though officially it is not yet ready for sale.

As per the note made in the newspaper, it is most likely that a new owner of Gatwick will be genuinely interested in a second runway at least in a bid to boost the competition with other airports that are based in the south-east.

Recently, International infrastructure groups have held talks with BAA offering to sell London's Gatwick Airport. The deal as initiated by the groups is fixed at around GBP3 billion pounds (USD$5.62 billion). This information has been reported in the Sunday Times. However, the newspaper has not cited any sources. When asked about this, a BAA spokeswoman did not come forward to comment anything in this connection.

The paper has also stated that several other firms like Germany's Hochtief, Global Infrastructure Partners, Australia's Macquarie, the GE-Credit Suisse investment fund, and Britain's Manchester Airport Group have all voiced out their sincere interest to Ferrovial-owned BAA. Their interest has been conveyed even ahead of the Competition Commission's report that is expected to be published during this week.

Most notably, the report has also added further that the competition watchdog is expected to declare a serious concern that the group's ownership of London's three largest airports namely Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted is against the public interest. In fact experts strongly believe that it could be asked to sell two of the London hubs in addition to one of its largest airports in Scotland.

Once the key structural works are accomplished at the Heathrow Terminal4 next week, the refurbishment works that are in progress are said to have reached a significant milestone. Notably, it is reported that the first phase of steel works is due to be completed in a matter of a few days. Once this particular work is completed, it will pave way for the further works in connection to beginning the construction of the new check-in hall and lounges in the terminal.

The new works taken up by the airport aims at nearly doubling the check-in capacity of the terminal. Notably, this is just one of the several schemes that are in progress. Yet another significant work includes the replacing of terminals 1 and 2 to Heathrow East. In addition, the re-designing work planned at the airport will also include a fully transparent ETFE canopy besides a full-height frameless glazed façade. The work will also feature a three-story airside building that will partly cantilever over the existing airfield grounds. Once all the works are accomplished, the refurbishment project is expected to bestow a new facelift to the terminal in addition to significantly enhancing the facilities.

While commenting on the scheme, Julian Sheppard of Buro Happold told The New Civil Engineer, "The existing physical site-specific constraints and 'live' environment have made the project extremely challenging. However, we believe that once the project is complete, Heathrow's Terminal 4 will offer a far more pleasant experience and environment for passengers, as well as being more spacious and secure.”

Boris Johnson, The Lord Mayor of London has invited a study to explore the possibilities of constructing a sixth airport at London to considerably ease the congestion of London air traffic. Notably, the Mayor was elected to the post during the month of May this year. In a statement made by to the newspaper, the mayor said that a serious though must be given to construct a new airport to the east of London city that would significantly reduce the burden of the airports across the city in addition to enhancing the air traffic at the city to a considerable extent.

Writing for a column in Daily Telegraph, the mayor wrote, "It is … ever more urgent that we investigate the possibility of a long-term solution, in the form of a new and more eco-friendly international airport.”

In addition to feeling that it is very unlikely to see the construction of a third runway at the Heathrow airport, he too added that Gatwick, the second largest airport of London was actually full to bursting. Notably, Heathrow Airport is the busiest on the globe, which handles more than 68 million passengers in an average year.

Achieving a significant milestone in its growth, Emirates has become the first airline on the globe to offer the facility to use mobile phones aboard a flight in the routes to and from London. When the facility was launched last Thursday, the passengers aboard a service into Heathrow made not less than 30 calls as the Emirates Boeing 777 was flying into the London City from Dubai.

Back in the month of March, the airline started fitting a system enabling in-flight mobile usage in its aircrafts. At present, the service is made available on about 10% of the Emirates flights. Over and above, the service can be accessed only above 23,000 feet. It is necessary that the passengers need to keep their phones on silent throughout, while the crew can make the system text only or can turn it off anytime.

According to an Emirates spokesperson, about one in five passengers onboard made use of this facility making about 30 calls and forwarding and receiving about 100 text messages. The system called as AeroMobile system, which is capable of reducing the strength of phone signals to bare minimum so that it does not interfere with the equipments of the aircraft. Most interestingly, the airline has confirmed that it will not be charging the passengers for using a mobile onboard.

Recently, Japan Airlines has announced its decision to cut around five of its international routes. This present move by the airline comes forth as part of the airline's efforts to offset the soaring fuel bills, as per the report published in the business daily Nikkei. Recently, the national carrier suspended certain popular services including its London Heathrow to Kansai service in addition to not less than 12 domestic routes. Over and above, it is expected that the carrier might reduce several other frequencies.

Amidst these moves by Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways, its principal rival too has announced its decision recently confirming that it has decided to scrap not less than ten routes. Most notably, this list also includes two international routes offered by the airline.

Like several other airlines, both the airlines have primarily blamed the rising oil prices for this serious set back in the industry. In fact, a spokesperson for JAL stated in no undeniable terms, "We are reviewing flights due to surging fuel prices."

In a strategic move to combat the challenges haunting the airline industry, Singapore Airlines (SIA) has decided to reduce the frequency of its direct services operated between Manchester and Singapore route. Once implemented, the move will see that the frequency in this route comes down by two flights per week. With effect from 5th November, the national carrier will suspend its outbound services operated on Tuesdays and Thursdays to these destinations, which will eventually see the number of weekly flights coming down to five.

Alternatively, any residents of Manchester wishing to make a flight between these two cities on any one of these days must now make use of a connecting service to Heathrow offered by bmi, the alliance partner of the airline.

Over and above, the airline has also made arrangements to free up the extra seats on the carrier's flagship connection between London and Singapore. In this regard, the airline has deployed its brand new A380 superjumbos.

A recent news published in the Telegraph observes that Emirates Airlines has decided to operate five Airbus A380 superjumbos into London Heathrow Airport on a daily basis.
 
According to a statement made by the Dubai-based carrier, the airline has decided to use the largest passenger airliner on the globe on all its slots into the global hub. The airline has further insisted that it will have little difficulty in filling the extra 550 seats.

Most notably, Emirates took the delivery of its first A380 from Hamburg during this week. The delivery followed a delay of 18 months. There are also outstanding orders for a further 57 numbers of the giant aircraft.

Featuring a multiple-class configuration, the A380 is well capable of transporting not less than 525 passengers. The capacity of the aircraft means that about 2,600 travellers can fly out of Heathrow with the services of the carrier on every single day of the week.

According to a recent report, the obvious solution to the congestion problem at the gateway is said to be developing a third runway at the London Heathrow Airport. The study was earlier commissioned by the City of London Authority, which deemed that significant environmental costs fail to outweigh the benefits bestowed by of extra capacity.

The report also totally dismissed any alternative proposals that are in place for the expansion at London Stansted Airport or even for a new airport at the Thames Estuary. Without a second thought, the report did acknowledge that there are bound to be discernible "local environmental impacts." However, the researchers invariably labelled Heathrow as the "obvious preferred candidate" for any capacity enlargement, when compared to any of the other options available at present.

The researchers cautioned that failing to expand could result in jeopardising the status of the capital as a global financial hub. They pointed out to the fact that already several executives have been voicing their discontent over the issue of delays at the Heathrow terminal.

Most interestingly, the London City Airport is expecting the sanction of planning permission during this weekend for a 50 percent increase in the number of flights handled by the airport. In a highly rare move, it has become nearly evident that the Newham Borough Council is most likely to approve the suggestions made by Sunil Sahadevan, one of its inspectors and grant the permission for the same as stated in a recent report.

At the outset, Sahadevan filed a report containing his findings and suggestions during last week with a recommendation that the Borough Council can grant the necessary permission for London City Airport to increase the maximum traffic limits of the airport by not less than 50 percent. Notably, this will see the flight number at the airport per year increase from 80,000 to 120,000. The council has planned to meet on Wednesday to approve the suggestion by Sahadevan, however with certain restrictions, like noise level for instance.

London City Airport is on a fast track growth during the recent years. Recently, the airport filed an application seeking permission from the government for expanding further. The move followed the Government's Aviation White Paper, which directs the airport operators to make the optimum use of their present runways.

In a recent significant move, Lords have sanctioned the permission for a £16 billion railway link connecting Canary Wharf and London Heathrow Airport.

Most notably, the connection that has been proposed now will form part of the most welcomed Crossrail project. Notably, this is one of the largest development projects in the transport sector of London during the past 50 years.

On its completion, the present proposal is expected to significantly ease the congestion on the tube network in addition to the dampening calls for more services at the London City Airport, which is situated very close to Canary Wharf.

According to a report recently published by Travel Weekly, it appears that British Airways is preparing to release the details of its new business class-only service connecting London City Airport with New York.

With the service due to be launched in the month of September 2009, the said connection will be notably the first ever long-haul service of the city. Most notably, this particular service primarily targets to serve the corporate travelers based around Canary Wharf.

Under this new launch, the airline will operate its flights twice a day. The most attractive feature of this service is that the airline is to use an exclusively configured Airbus A318s, which has not more than 32 fully-reclinable beds, assuring the best of comforts available at present in the airline industry.

A recent report makes a shocking revelation that shortly after the opening of Terminal 5 at the Heathrow Airport, a considerable number of international passengers could enter the UK without passing through a security check. It is told that either the airport operator BAA or the staff of the British Airways would have been responsible for this mistake during the highly chaotic opening of the new terminal in the month of March 2008.

Notably, three groups of passengers were found misdirected and were let to pass through domestic arrivals. However, later the error was picked up only when the list of arriving passengers was cross checked against the Home Office security lists.

According to a government spokesperson, serious inquiries into the list could find no passengers who posed a security risk. In a response given in writing, the immigration minister Liam Byrne noted, "On no occasion during these checks was there any security alert, and none of the passengers who entered the UK presented a known security risk."

As a public inquiry into the expansion has been instigated, the plans for a second runway at London Stansted Airport have moved forward. Most notably, the present plans of expansion shall see the rise of Stansted's capacity from 25 million to 35 million passengers a year. However, for several reasons, the government has delayed the announcement of a formal decision on this move, in addition to calling in the application.

The process of enhancing the public review of the viability of the said scheme is largely expected to become a precursor to Whitehall's public declaration of support. Though the ministers had been due to announce a final decision before the commencement of their summer holiday, they have instead pushed the deadline back to September, and have cited their serious concerns over noise pollution.

Most notably, once the permission is granted, the extension will mean the first brand new runway in the south-east for about half a century. Over and above, this is also expected to create not less than 13,000 new jobs and £9 billion for the economy.

Under the present scenario, both American and British carriers are struggling hard to gain the upper hand in the highly lucrative and competitive route between London Heathrow and New York City. In this regard, several major US carriers are now striving to reach the winning edge by upgrading the business and first class cabins in their fleets. This has been reported by The Independent.

For instance, United Airlines is spending more than $165 million on upgrading to its premium cabins. Those in first class shall be able to enjoy 15-inch flat screen television sets and brand new lie flat beds. In addition, passengers will also be able to use their ipods on board, by just hooking them up to the airplanes entertainment system.

In an interesting note, a government minister has told about the possibility that Heathrow Airport might get the sanction for the approval for a third runway. The decision in this regard is expected to be finalized by the end of this year that shall further enhance the future expansion of the largest airport in the whole of UK.

Commenting on this aspect during the Farnborough air show, John Hutton, Business Secretary, observed that the government may very well take this most difficult decision difficult decisions on airport expansion. On the other hand, environmental groups have very strongly conveyed their disapproval of plans to further expand the London-area facility, including the progressive plans to get a third runway. However, the role of the government lies on balancing between the environmental concerns and at the same time keeping up the opportunities of people to fly. 

Mr Hutton noted, "British businesses, and ultimately the British people, would not forgive us if we shirked our responsibility to do what's right because we wanted an easy ride from green lobby groups. Achieving a sustainable balance between economic, social and environmental concerns is essential to the continued success of every business, in this new century."

In a highly significant move, Arik Air, the Nigerian airline has been granted permission to commence operating flights to London Heathrow Airport.

While addressing the press, Adebanjo Ola, the media officer released a press statement in order to confirm the development. While doing so, he too said that the aviation authorities have sanctioned a slot for the airline at the global hub. He observed, "I am happy to announce to you that we have been granted four slots at Heathrow Airport," he said. "But we are still pushing for more so that we can fly to London every day of the week."

In connection with the developments during the recent days, Arik has decided to take delivery of three new Airbus A340-500 aircraft during the month of October and the carrier has already planned to these brand new planes on its new route connecting Lagos and London. This information was confirmed by Mr Ola.

Amidst severe challenges haunting the airline industry, London City Airport expects a significant slowdown in passenger growth during this year. With the global financial crisis taking its toll, the airport still expects a 12 to 15 percent jump to with the expected number of around 3.4 million travellers. Addressing Reuters in an interview, the airport's Chief Executive Richard Gooding observed, "It's slower but it's not going backwards," He added that the 2007 growth was notably 23 percent.

Richard Gooding noted, "The froth has come off it ... but you tell me when the current financial crisis is going to end and I'll tell you when passenger numbers will really start growing again,' noting the airport expected to treble in size to 9 to 10 million passengers a year in 25 years."

Interestingly, London City is highly sensitive to corporate habits with 70 percent of the passengers being business travellers. Mr. Gooding said while addressing Reuters that it was not quite clear whether the consumer spending downturn would have an additional impact. This is because several holidaymakers would have bought their tickets in advance. He too added, "If we see a downturn in leisure travel it will be later in the year."

In a recent strategic move at the London Heathrow Airport, Air New Zealand has switched its base from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1.

The move comes as part of the beginning of a new agreement between all the members of the Star Alliance to bring all their operations under one roof. Notably, the Star Alliance also includes bmi and SWISS.

The present move also follows the opening of a brand new Star Alliance lounge in Terminal 1 earlier this week. The facilities of this lounge are made available to all business and first class passengers travelling with member carriers.

In a highly welcomed move, London Heathrow Airport has launched a brand new lounge for people traveling on Star Alliance Airlines. The lounge will serve the first and business class passengers of member carriers with the list including bmi, Lufthansa and US Airways, in addition to invited guests and select range of cardholders.

The new facility stretches across 1,650 sq. metres with its ideal location near pier three in Terminal 1 at the Heathrow Airport. Some of the notable facilities offered to the guests at this lounge include food service areas, showers, two separate business centers, WiFi internet access. Over and above, there is also a specially-designated children's area.

According to a statement made by Lee Hock Lye, the spokesperson of Star Alliance, the main idea behind this shared lounge is to find a solution for member airlines to cut back on costs at the same time not compromising on the quality of the customer service offered at the lounge.

Iceland Express, the budget airline has recently announced the launch of a brand new Gatwick service to complement the existing Stansted flights. However, the airline has told recently that the launch is scheduled for the spring of 2009. However, as per the earlier arrangements, the new route connecting London Gatwick and Reykjavik was to commence on 16th September 2008. Once the route is served by the airline commencing from the spring of 2009, the airline will operate five services per week.

Marketing manager for Iceland Express, Birna Guomundsdottir noted, "We have decided to move the launch of this exciting new service to the spring as it is the peak travel season for Iceland.  While the number of bookings has never been higher for Iceland Express, we do not want the current increase in fuel costs to impact on the ticket prices for our customers. Iceland Express is remaining cautious in the current uncertain economic climate, while continuing to deliver the best possible service at the best possible price. Iceland Express is a Budget airline and we want to ensure it stays that way."
 
Most notably, the airline is also highly excited to announce that it will introduce two Boeing 737-700s with effect from September. The aircraft employed for this purpose are highly environmental friendly and will show a 25 per cent reduction on fuel costs for the airline.
 
The passengers who had booked flights on the said service have been duly notified of the postponement and given either a full refund or an alternative flight.

All those waiting eagerly for quite sometime were thrilled to see the opening of the brand new terminal extension at Stansted Airport, a £50 million project. During the early hours on the 1st of July, phase I of the recently extended terminal let its gates open to the travelers. The refurbishment consists of an additional 6,000 square metre of space for passengers who arrive at the airport. Amazingly, about 1,500 tonne of steel was used to develop this infrastructure. The facility also features a sixth baggage reclaim belt in addition to an ample extra desk space for immigration control.

Stansted's strategy director, Nick Barton, noted, "At peak times we can expect over 3300 arriving passengers an hour through the terminal. With this new extension we are continuing to provide the best possible facilities for passengers. The installation of a state of the art biomass heating boiler will mean the new extension is carbon-neutral, to emphasize the commitment of Stansted to diminish the terminal's environmental impact. We take great pride in introducing biomass technology that will ensure this new development will be carbon-neutral."

The project is still underway and as part of the ongoing developments, more number of new shops and highly equipped and more comfortable waiting areas for accommodating friends and relatives are to open in addition to new and improvised transport facilities. The further developments are expected to be launched by December 2008, assuring to bestow a new and enhanced look to the airport.

Well ahead of the arrival of summer rush, Gatwick Airport has accomplished the redevelopment of its retail, food and beverage operation located in the South Terminal. Recently, the BAA has added 50,000sq ft (4,645sq m) of space, featuring a range of new shops, quality restaurants, a bar and a pub at the South Terminal.

The move has further increased the range of food options offered by the airport in the South Terminal. The new arrivals to the terminal include a relocated and revamped McDonalds, an Apostrophe café and an open-plan Pret. An attractively furnished and brand new £1.2m JD Wetherspoon pub named the Flying Horse and called after the pre-airport racecourse history of this location and the new Bridge Bar have also opened. The new arrivals also include a family-friendly restaurant Frankie & Benny's which has found a highly welcomed entry into the airport in addition to a milkshake bar Shake-a-Hula.

Over and above, a brand new Accessorize store has found its way in the terminal, selling fashion and accessories. The WH Smith news and convenience outlet has found its expansion wonderfully enhancing the selection with the addition of airport-exclusive books. All of these additions and arrivals have greatly enhanced the passenger experience at the terminal.

In a highly significant move, Avanta, the reputed serviced office company has recently inaugurated a brand new business centre opposite to the Heathrow Airport. The property is a 51,000 sq ft office space facility located at the Capital Place building on the A4 Bath Road. Featuring several attractive features, the centre is sure to cater to the increasing demand for such a facility in the region.

Having located directly opposite to the world's busiest international airport between the important junctions of 3 and 4 of the M4, the facility benefits from the fact that Capital Place is adequately served by excellent public transport links that include the Heathrow Express and Piccadilly Line underground services right from Hatton Cross. Those staying in the building will be able to enjoy fresh coffee to give a brisk start to the day by frequenting the cafe located near the building's reception area.

Most notably, the A4 Bath Road houses a good number of familiar names in the aviation sector including BAA's property division, Sita, BAA Lynton, EDS, Boeing, Equant, SAP and Samsonite.

Recently released figures show that not less than 2.5 million passengers fly into Heathrow Airport from several British destinations in an average year. Following the release of these figures, the campaign for developing a high-speed rail network has gained a significant momentum. 

Typically, passengers get transferred to a regional hub for connecting with a longer-haul flight. This group becomes the battleground for the debate going on presently concerning the construction of a third runway at the Heathrow Airport. Those opposing the idea of the third runway claim that the data proves that several Heathrow slots are taken up by flights and that this would be unnecessary is there was a high-speed rail service made available.

A transport spokesman noted, "If the case for domestic flights diminishes then the case for a third runway is also weakened. It's absurd to have large numbers of people taking short-haul flights in this country when there is much more extensive use of high-speed rail in other European countries."

Spain's largest low fare airline, clickair has started its latest route connecting London Gatwick and Vigo in northern Spain.  Most notably, this is the first time there have been direct flights from the UK to Spain's Pontevedra province in South Galicia.  The first flight of the brand new service got off with a good start on 21st June. The airline operates three times weekly services in the route on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, employing Airbus A320 for this purpose.
 
For more than a year, clickair worked in association with the Foundation Provigo to study the need and desirability of this particular link to London.  It is said that the route will transport not less than 60,000 passengers in its first year alone. This number shall go up to 1.5 million passengers travelling through Vigo's international Peinador Airport in 2008. This was revealed by a statistics by the Spanish Airports and Air Traffic authority AENA. 
 
In the above said connection, a significant investment has been made to improve the infrastructure of Peinador Airport by AENA to prepare it for the start of the service. Vigo, the largest city in Galicia has a population of 300,000, and attracts ever-increasing number of business travelers and tourists year after year. The area is highly popular for its traditional shipbuilding and fisheries activity. Over and above, the destination also boasts of a rich history and culture that dates earlier than the Roman Conquest. The cosmopolitan outlook and the beautiful beaches of the region are highly interesting.

In a highly welcomed move, Holiday Extras, the reputed UK airport parking and hotels operator, has introduced specially-discounted rates to benefit the travellers parking at Airparks Gatwick this summer. Summer holidays are getting underway. On the other hand, consumers have started feeling the effects of the recent credit crunch. At this juncture, the price reduction at the Gatwick Airport is highly welcomed by several quarters.

Notably, at the Gatwick Airport, Midweek stays for the period between 23 June and 17 July is priced from as low as £49.95 for 8 days of parking and to £89.95 for 15 days. At the Gatwick Airport, both the North and South Terminals are easily reachable from the Airparks Gatwick facility. There are shuttle transfers available 24 hours a day that takes only 10 minutes to reach the North Terminal and just 15 minutes to drive to the South Terminal.

Airparks Gatwick is noted for a safe and secure parking service. The facility is closely monitored by CCTV surveillance in addition to regular security staff patrols.

Noted for alrming number of delays and poor customer service, Heathrow Airport drastically needs an impending action to solve these issues, claims a report. According to London First, a business organization representing the leading employers of the capital, per year Heathrow Airport must handle 5000 flights lesser than the present number. This move shall help ease the threat to the prosperity of the city. Suggesting an alternative move, the report has called for an expansion of the airport while maintaining the present number of flights.

The report further observes that since Heathrow is presently functioning to its 99% capacity, one single instance of flight delay leads to worrying delays across different flights. Notably, among 10 instances of Heathrow flight delays, not less than four are due to the fact that both the runways function very close to their maximum capacity. This condition leads to the fact that a simple security scare or a mild disturbance in weather can give way to a big havoc. If the airport can bring down its operations by cutting down the number of flights, it shall mean that the delays can be cut by 15% according to the claims of the group.

Baroness Jo Valentine, London First chief executive noted, "Heathrow has been turned from a silk purse to a sow's ear. For years, government, policy-makers and the regulator have failed to prioritise the interests of airport passengers. Quite simply, if business can't fly easily, reliably and comfortably from London, it will go elsewhere."

Zoom, the transatlantic low-cost carrier, has started a new direct non-stop service on the route between Gatwick and San Diego, the only direct non-stop service from Europe to the US destination. This could prove to be a path-breaking service that could further lead to various flights to different destinations across the Atlantic.

The new scheduled service will be offered two times a week, operating on Monday and Fridays.

Return tickets for the new service are offered at a price starting at just £349. Fares are inclusive of all the taxes and service charges. This is really a great chance for you to visit your favourite places.

Kingfisher, the private Indian carrier, is planning to begin operating services between London Heathrow airport and India from early September. This is great news for passengers who want to travel between India and England, as the number of passengers is increasing almost every day. Now, the passengers would be able to take flights offered by Kingfisher.

The carrier's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Indian tycoon Virjay Mallya, revealed in a BBC interview that the carrier had gained slots at London Heathrow airport, allowing starting operating its services.

The new service, which will be the carrier's first international service, will be introduced to the either Mumbai or Bangalore.

Civair, the South African carrier, has uncovered its intentions to start a service on the route from London Stansted to Cape Town. This is great news for passengers as lots of airlines are decreasing the number of routes served from major airports of England and with the introduction of this route, passengers would find it easy to travel to South African city of Cape Town.

While speaking to Business Day, the carrier's chief executive Andy Cluver predicted that the company would gain regulatory permission to fly three times per week on the route.

The planned connection includes a stop-off at Barcelona, which makes Civair the first South African carrier to offer a direct link to Spain, which could further open some new opportunities.