Latest news with #LondonGatwick
Daily Record
21-05-2025
- Daily Record
Airport mistake could see you banned from flying
You could also be hit with a hefty fine, and 'ruin' a holiday Holidays could be "ruined", warns a multi-airport campaign across the UK. Holidaymakers are being urged to "fly responsibly" or face hefty consequences, according to a Government-backed initiative. The One Too Many campaign is in place across more than 20 UK airports, and its posters remind passengers that consuming too much alcohol at the terminal could lead to severe consequences. One Too Many signs read: "One too many is all it takes to ruin a holiday, cause a delay, land YOU in jail, cancel a flight, [and/or] divert a plane". Those who disrupt flights could be refused boarding, receive a lifetime airline ban, or could even incur fines of up to £80,000 if their on-board behaviour means the plane has to be diverted. One Too Many campaign assets are on display at more than 20 UK airports, including London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Manchester, Newcastle International, Liverpool John Lennon, and Bristol. Karen Dee, Chief Executive of the Airport Operators Association, said: "UK airports are committed to providing a safe and enjoyable travel experience for all passengers. We urge travellers to enjoy their journeys responsibly and not ruin their holidays or the holidays of others." "Airports will continue to monitor and act against any disruptive behaviour to ensure everyone's safety." The One Too Many campaign launched in 2018, backed by the government, including nods of approval from the Department for Transport and the Home Office.
Zawya
19-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Uganda Airlines ups the ante against East African peers on London route
London Gatwick is likely to become a new flashpoint for competition among East Africa's airlines in the coming months, as carriers looking for growth in the UK market find it the only option for expanding services. Uganda Airlines is set for its inaugural flight to London and Europe on May 18, with London Gatwick as the destination for the service that will operate four times a week. UR 110, which was scheduled to take off at 9.25am local time, comes just weeks ahead of a new service to London by Kenya Airways that will also be landing at Gatwick starting July 2, 2025. Both carriers join Ethiopian Airlines, which besides its single daily flight to London Heathrow, has been operating additional flights to Gatwick since November 2023, an airport it returned to after a 17-year break. As of May, 2025, Ethiopian flies four times a week to Gatwick bringing its total capacity in the London area to 11 flights a week. Kenya Airways, which has a daily service to London Heathrow, will be operating three flights a week into London Gatwick, taking its weekly flights into the UK to 10. RwandAir has dedicated all its flights into the UK to London Heathrow, after operating from Gatwick in the initial years. Uganda Airlines entry into the UK market complicates the equation for Kenya Airways and Ethiopian, because they have been picking a significant portion of traffic from Uganda. There have been no direct flights between Uganda and the UK since British Airways halted its service to Entebbe in November 2015. The return of Uganda Airlines with a direct flight that slashes hours of transit agony from the journey is expected to eat into KQ's and Ethiopian's pie. Both carriers, operating the largest number of flights within Africa, depend on connecting traffic from within the continent to feed their intercontinental flights. Competitors, including RwandAir, KQ, Ethiopian and Gulf carriers Emirates and Qatar, are however, expected to continue to attract business for passengers who may prefer to enter the UK through Heathrow, or those connecting to the US and other European destinations. Until it completes partnerships with other airlines for onward carriage, Uganda Airlines will be an origin and destination operator whose services terminate in London. On the return journeys, however, it will offer tickets beyond Entebbe across its network of 14 African destinations. According to industry analysts, the growing number of flights by East African carriers into the UK, including landing at Gatwick, reflects two parallel trends - strong growth in demand on Africa-UK sector, and the exhaustion of slots at Heathrow for airlines that may want to want to expand their services into the UK. The scarcity of slots at Heathrow means that any intending entrant would pay through the nose to buy some from an incumbent. Even then, the timings of available slots may not fit well into a new entrants' network feed and de-feed mechanism. In terms of capacity, however, Ethiopian has an edge over the competition. The A350-900 it operates on the London route is configured to 343 seats. Meanwhile, Uganda Airlines has 258 seats on its A330-800neo while Kenya comes in with only 234 seats available on its B787-8 Dreamliner. © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
The Sun
06-05-2025
- The Sun
Holiday warning for Brits with ‘in-date' passports as tourists are being turned away at the border
HOLIDAYMAKERS are being turned away from their flights at the airport even if their passport is said to be "in date". New rules introduced after Brexit continue to cause problems for tourists heading to Europe. 2 Previously allowing passports to be up to 10 years and nine months old, the current rules no longer allow the extra nine months that could be rolled over. And with Europe requiring at least three months left on a passport from Brits, the two rules have caused confusion by border staff. A UK tourist was banned from boarding her Norwegian flight from London Gatwick to Copenhagen after the airline said her passport had expired. After trying to board her flight back in March, her passport start date was June 2015, with the expiry in August. But the airline said this was not acceptable. She told The Guardian: "The staff member consulted a colleague, who stated my passport was invalid because it was issued more than nine years and nine months ago. "But there is no such rule. This decision demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the actual entry requirements.' Not only did she have to fly to Glasgow for a last-minute passport appointment, but she said she was left out of pocket £700 after missing two days of work in Copenhagen. A Norwegian spokesperson said they were enforcing the rules as they had to "comply with local border control directives which are currently unclear". Earlier this year, a Norwegian staff member told The Independent that they were turning up to "six people a day" away from London Gatwick Airport due to the confusing passport rules. What do you need to do to ensure your passport is OK for travel? The confusion is due to the two new rules - being less than 10 years old and having three months left on it - with some airlines following them both. However, the rules can run separately to each other. This means you can travel on a passport up to the day of it being 10 years old, as long as there are three months on the expiry. For example, a tourist arriving in Europe on July 1, 2025 for a two week holiday can do so if their passport starts on July 2, 2015, with an expiry of December 2015. Despite this, holidaymakers are urged to renew their passports if in doubt ahead of a holiday to avoid being banned from flying. And Brits needing new passports will have to fork out even more after the cost of a new one increased last month. The standard price for a passport is now £94.50 - up £6. Make sure it doesn't have any damage either after a couple were banned from their Ryanair flight because of a page tear. Earlier this year, two pensioners were stopped from boarding their flight because of passport "damage" - despite travelling 10,000 miles. 2
ITV News
26-04-2025
- Business
- ITV News
Gatwick accepts changes on aircraft noise and public transport in expansion bid
Gatwick Airport has said it is ready to accept tougher limits on aircraft noise and public transport needs in an effort to get the green light for its expansion plans. It comes after Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander in February announced she is prepared to support expansion of Gatwick airport if the project is adjusted. An improved noise insulation scheme for local residents was proposed by Gatwick in its response on Friday, along with accepting a call to have 54% of passengers using public transport prior to bringing the northern runway into operation. Stewart Wingate, London Gatwick's chief executive, said: 'This project represents a £2.2 billion investment, fully funded by our shareholders and it is essential that any planning conditions enable us to make full use of the northern runway." Ms Alexander had said the Planning Inspectorate recommended she approves an alternative development consent order (DCO) application for the West Sussex airport's plan to bring its emergency runway into routine use. The modifications related to 'controls on the operation of the scheme', such as the proportion of passengers who travel to and from the airport by public transport, and noise mitigation. Ms Alexander is expected to make a final decision by October 27. Gatwick also called for backing to help reach the 54% target, including support from organisations such as the Department for Transport and the full reinstatement of the Gatwick Express train service. Fears over potential road congestion could be tackled by an alternative cars-on-the-road limit to be met before first use of the northern runway, Gatwick also proposed. It said that if neither the 54% transport mode share or the cars-on-the-road limit are met, then use of the northern runway would be delayed until £350m of road improvements have been completed. The aim would be to ensure any additional road traffic flows can be handled and to avoid congestion. The proposals are in response to Ms Alexander's February 27 letter stating she is 'minded to grant consent' for the northern runway planning application which asked for feedback on additional conditions recommended by the Planning Inspectorate. Mr Wingate said: 'We are confident that our amended proposals will allow us to grow sustainably and meet passenger demand, while addressing the matters raised by the Secretary of State in her letter, including noise and environmental impacts. 'Growth is at the heart of the Government's agenda and we are fully supportive of the drive to work with businesses to create good quality jobs, reignite the economy and drive innovation around the country.' He added: 'By increasing resilience and capacity we can also support the UK's position as a leader in global connectivity and deliver substantial trade and economic growth in the South East and beyond. 'We look forward to receiving the Secretary of State's final decision later this year.' Gatwick's privately financed project would see it move the emergency runway 12 metres north, enabling it to be used for departures of narrow-bodied planes such as Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s. This would enable it to be used for around 100,000 more flights a year. Gatwick's plan also involves remodelling and replacing existing taxiways – which connect runways to terminals, hangars and other facilities – extending both terminals, and installing new aircraft gates. The airport says its scheme is 'shovel ready'. It hopes the upgraded runway will be operational by the end of the decade. Gatwick says its plans would create £1 billion per year in economic benefits, and generate an additional 14,000 jobs.
The Independent
25-04-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Gatwick accepts changes on aircraft noise and public transport in expansion bid
London Gatwick has said it is ready to accept tougher limits on aircraft noise and public transport needs in an effort to get the green light for its expansion plans. It comes after Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander in February announced she is prepared to support expansion of Gatwick airport if the project is adjusted. An improved noise insulation scheme for local residents was proposed by Gatwick in its response on Friday, along with accepting a call to have 54% of passengers using public transport prior to bringing the northern runway into operation. Stewart Wingate, London Gatwick's chief executive, said: 'This project represents a £2.2 billion investment, fully funded by our shareholders and it is essential that any planning conditions enable us to make full use of the northern runway.' Ms Alexander had said the Planning Inspectorate recommended she approves an alternative development consent order (DCO) application for the West Sussex airport's plan to bring its emergency runway into routine use. The modifications related to 'controls on the operation of the scheme', such as the proportion of passengers who travel to and from the airport by public transport, and noise mitigation. Ms Alexander is expected to make a final decision by October 27. Gatwick also called for backing to help reach the 54% target, including support from organisations such as the Department for Transport and the full reinstatement of the Gatwick Express train service. Fears over potential road congestion could be tackled by an alternative cars-on-the-road limit to be met before first use of the northern runway, Gatwick also proposed. It said that if neither the 54% transport mode share or the cars-on-the-road limit are met, then use of the northern runway would be delayed until £350m of road improvements have been completed. The aim would be to ensure any additional road traffic flows can be handled and to avoid congestion. The proposals are in response to Ms Alexander's February 27 letter stating she is 'minded to grant consent' for the northern runway planning application which asked for feedback on additional conditions recommended by the Planning Inspectorate. Mr Wingate said: 'We are confident that our amended proposals will allow us to grow sustainably and meet passenger demand, while addressing the matters raised by the Secretary of State in her letter, including noise and environmental impacts. 'Growth is at the heart of the Government's agenda and we are fully supportive of the drive to work with businesses to create good quality jobs, reignite the economy and drive innovation around the country.' He added: 'By increasing resilience and capacity we can also support the UK's position as a leader in global connectivity and deliver substantial trade and economic growth in the South East and beyond. 'We look forward to receiving the Secretary of State's final decision later this year.' Gatwick's privately financed project would see it move the emergency runway 12 metres north, enabling it to be used for departures of narrow-bodied planes such as Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s. This would enable it to be used for around 100,000 more flights a year. Gatwick's plan also involves remodelling and replacing existing taxiways – which connect runways to terminals, hangars and other facilities – extending both terminals, and installing new aircraft gates. The airport says its scheme is 'shovel ready'. It hopes the upgraded runway will be operational by the end of the decade. Gatwick says its plans would create £1 billion per year in economic benefits, and generate an additional 14,000 jobs.
