Oct 23rd, 2009 at 8:30AM: This week's announcement by the British Airports Authority that it will sell London's Gatwick Airport has everyone wondering about the future of the city's second busiest hub.
The BAA, owned by the Spanish group Ferrovial, sold Gatwick for £1.5 billion ($2.49 billion) to Global Infrastructure Partners, owned by Credit Suisse and General Electric. The deal comes after the UK government ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Gatwick posts
Gatwick Airport to be sold, modernized
Oct 23rd, 2009 at 8:30AM: This week's announcement by the British Airports Authority that it will sell London's Gatwick Airport has everyone wondering about the future of the city's second busiest hub.
The BAA, owned by the Spanish group Ferrovial, sold Gatwick for £1.5 billion ($2.49 billion) to Global Infrastructure Partners, owned by Credit Suisse and General Electric. The deal comes after the UK government ...Heathrow up, other UK airports see traffic fall
Sep 11th, 2009 at 1:00PM:
Vacationers compensated for business travelers at Heathrow last month, helping the airport realize its busiest August in history. Airport operator BAA Ltd. noted that its total traffic, though, had fallen 3.1 percent for the month. Heathrow is Europe's busiest airport, and 6.4 million passengers passed through, a slight increase of 0.3 percent compared to August 2008.
The other London airports ...Flight attendant pleads guilty to bomb hoax
May 23rd, 2009 at 2:00PM: It was a bad week for Australians, it seems. A naval officer was physically restrained on a flight to London. Not too long after, Matt Carney, a flight attendant from Melbourne, was sentenced to 18 months in jail in England. It was his own fault: he left not one but two(!) notes on a plane to London, "warning" of a bomb. Of course, he was working the flight.
The 23-year-old soon-to-be-former ...Drunk mailman threatens mayhem, grounded for half decade
May 4th, 2009 at 7:30PM: Why is it always the postmen?
Robert Russell had added "former" to his "mail carrier" title after being laid off by Royal Mail. So, he took a trip to Malaga, Spain. This isn't unusual; plenty of people do something nice for themselves after losing their jobs. It's great for morale.
It didn't work.
Russell got wasted on lager and vodka in the Gatwick departure lounge. By the time he was ...Did a 23 year old flight attendant orchestrate Sunday's bomb scare?
Mar 27th, 2009 at 10:00AM: So, we told you about the Gatwick Bomb Scare that shut down London Gatwick completely for fifteen minutes on Sunday. We have more information. Firstly, the note was found by a passenger in the restroom, and it said "Explosive material can be found in the FWD [forward cargo department]. We have the Taliban to thank for this and it will activate." Secondly, they never found anything explosive on ...Gatwick Bomb Scare
Mar 23rd, 2009 at 12:00PM: If you happened to be at London Gatwick international airport at 6:45 AM on Sunday, you're probably still mad. United Arab Emirates flight EK 011 from Dubai was ten minutes from landing at London Gatwick when they found a note "implying there may be a suspicious device on board." Craptastic. All 164 passengers and the crew were escorted from the plane (which is fine for them, they were probably ...400 strip for Aer Lingus tickets, some of them hotties
Mar 17th, 2009 at 4:00PM:
Remember that stunt we covered last week ... where an anonymous airline was giving away free flights to people who would flash as a flash mob? Well, it was Aer Lingus, and there were only 400 winners. Fortunately, they all seem to be attractive. I'm guessing we didn't want to see the other 600 anyway.
The strip site, which was kept secret until the last minute, was Jubilee Gardens in London. ...Drunk flight attendant escorted off plane and arrested
Feb 27th, 2009 at 9:00AM: When Anthony Shlyshen showed up for work at Gatwick Airport he had had a few--actually several. According to this article, Shlyshen was more than three sheets to the wind when he thought he might be able to manage his easy Jet Airbus shift. Maybe he envisioned the plane's narrow aisle would keep him from weaving too much, and holding onto the seats from time to time would keep him steady. The ...Planeload of drunk Irish passengers creates havoc on Cuba bound flight
Jan 4th, 2009 at 1:00PM: In what can only be described as Déjà vu, 40 Irish passengers bound for Cuba created a riot on their Thomas Cook flight. The group filled up on booze, harassing and punching fellow passengers, and one of them even went so far as to attempt opening the emergency exit mid-flight. One terrified passenger ended up sitting with the flight attendants in the galley for 5 hours just to get ...Gatwick airport gets some snow - shuts down for the morning
Dec 12th, 2008 at 1:00PM: Gatwick airport was taken by surprise yesterday morning when an unexpected flurry passed over the area. Even though just a fraction of an inch of snow actually landed on the tarmac, the airport decided it would be best to shut down all flight operations. Of course, when over 100 flights are either heading towards Gatwick or getting ready to depart, you can understand that the mess was quite ...British Airports May Lift Liquid Ban Soon
Sep 11th, 2008 at 10:30AM: Passengers on both sides of the Atlantic are barred from bringing liquids through airport security checkpoints. That might be changing soon. British airports hope to have scanning devices that can sense explosive liquids in place soon. Security services are already in the final stages of testing the machines. Once the testers give the go ahead, airports can put the scanners to work. Four ...Blonde moments in travel: Boarding the correct train helps, but don't underestimate good luck
Jun 18th, 2008 at 4:00PM: I was in London this weekend and experienced a definite "travel blonde moment," or using Urban Dictionary's lingo "a flash of momentary stupidity" while traveling. I am sure everyone has embarrassing--or plain stupid--things they have done while traveling. But not everyone has hair color to blame it on. It's a good crutch, really. Back to my story. My friend--also a blonde and much blonder than ...London Airports Still Slow
Sep 18th, 2006 at 8:03PM: Beware that London airport security is still very tight.
I was flying back from a weekend trip in London today and waited in line--or should I say "queue"--for almost 2 hours. (In a situation like this, one really appreciates the ability of the British to form lines and wait patiently). Flying into London was fine, but any flights from London are closely monitored.
In terms of the current ...
