Heathrow flight departure boards installed at Canary Wharf
Flight departure boards for Heathrow are being installed at Canary Wharf Elizabeth Line station, marking the launch of the direct connection to the airport. As of 6 November, passengers can travel from Canary Wharf direct to Heathrow airport in 45 minutes. The boards set up at Canary Wharf include real-time information from the airport terminals.
Heathrow workers to strike during FIFA World Cup
Unite has announced that workers at Heathrow airport will go on strike during the FIFA World Cup due to a pay dispute. The strike action involves 700 workers employed by Dnata and Menzies and is set to begin in the early hours of 18 November and last three days, ending in the early hours of 21 November.
The union says that this will particularly affect Qatar Airways, which has scheduled an additional ten flights a week during its hosting of the World Cup, which begins on 20 November. Aside from Qatar Airways, the strike action is likely to heavily hit airlines such as Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and Emirates, as well as passengers returning to the US for the Thanksgiving holiday. The strike action will cause “disruption, cancellations and delays” at Heathrow terminals 2, 3 and 4, according to Unite.
European bosses call for lower airfares and improved airports
Reducing the costs of flights and better airport infrastructure are the top two priorities for European business leaders when it comes to air travel, with decarbonisation only regarded as the fifth most important area of improvement.
A study of 500 bosses from across Europe by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) found that 61% relied on flights for their global connectivity, while the other 39% use short-haul services to travel around the continent.
Around two-fifths (42%) of business leaders said reducing costs was their number one priority, followed by the upgrading of airports (37%), improvement of links between airports and public transport (35%), reducing delays (35 per cent) and decarbonisation (33%).
Travel news as a glance:
- Air Canada launches first non-stop London-Mumbai flights on 7 Nov
- Air France opens Clarins Spa at New York JFK lounge
- Emirates launches codeshare with Bahrain’s Gulf Air
- United opens grab-and-go ‘Club Fly’ lounge at Denver airport
- The Peninsula Istanbul to open in February
- Iberia will move into JFK Terminal 8
- Emirates increases Newcastle service to daily
- Cvent partners with Zoom for hybrid events solution
- Airline traffic continues ‘strong’ recovery despite China restrictions