News: September Newsletter
Flights > News > # 941 (07/09/2006)
Travel news in August was dominated by the latest terror alerts, causing a fourth consecutive summer of disruption at Heathrow, and chaos at numerous other airports across the country. Meanwhile, the government faced perhaps their most serious opposition yet - Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary. The controversial Irishman has been the most vocal critic of the revised security measures and his airline are now in the process of launching legal action against the British government for losses it has incurred during the crisis. O’Leary is not one to mince his words – we hope this case makes it to court, if not for the potential entertainment alone!
In the light of the recent reports that US security officials now consider home-grown terrorism in the UK to be a greater threat than Iraq or Afghanistan, this month's poll looks at whether or not these latest security developments will put people off flying.
Tories on tax
Following on from last month's declaration by the Bishop of London that he felt flying was “sinful”, a government committee has now proposed a double whammy of additional taxes on flights, suggesting that air passenger duty should increase, and that aviation fuel should be subject to tax. Following months of wishy-washy statements of values and other such ephemera since David Cameron took over leadership of the Conservatives, Steven Norris has offered us one of the opposition’s first concrete policy proposals. The former Transport Minister and two-time Mayoral candidate declared that air passenger duty should be quadrupled to £20 per one-way European flight and up to £100 each way on long-haul flights. Our analysis of this proposal, and of Norris' further responses shows the Conservatives will really have to think their strategy through a lot harder if they want to tackle issue of global warming in a credible manner without ruining the economy in the process.
More in-flight fun?
Qatar Airways will be the first major international airline to launch on board live television services, and Ryanair passengers will be able to make on-board phone calls and surf the net from next year. Are these developments going to make flights more enjoyable, or lead to even more bouts of air rage? Tell us what you think.
New flight routes
Despite all the ongoing fuss over security concerns, many of the significant route developments this month have again been on flights between the UK and the USA. Following on from July's announcement about flights from Liverpool to New York, Flyglobespan will now also be offering daily flights from Glasgow to Boston. We are sure there is demand for this service, but it will be interesting to see whether this can be sustained on a daily basis. Those seeking to escape from the drudge of daily bad news which the media like to send us will be pleased to see that there are now two more options for reaching good times capital Las Vegas - with twice weekly flights announced by Flyglobespan from Glasgow International, and also by the business class only airline Maxjet from London Stansted. Globespan will additionally be routing one of their weekly Orlando flights via Belfast.
Meanwhile, across the Irish Sea we've seen the long awaited and much criticised new terminal open at Cork airport. It is certainly an attractive building, but time will tell whether it justified the reported €100 million (£68 million) cost. Meanwhile, Ryanair have chosen to announce further expansion at Dublin airport and launched a number of seasonal ski routes. They are also the first airline to take advantage of the Maltese government’s call for more budget airlines to offer flights to the Mediterranean hot spot.
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