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Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airways have made it abundantly clear that they are interested in purchasing a stake in London’s Gatwick airport as part of a scheme to encourage an extensive restructuring of both conventional airports and the aviation industry as a whole. The news comes after the Competition Commission ruled that the British Aviation Authority (BAA) held a monopoly over British aviation and must relinquish up to three of its airports to the highest bidder.

Virgin Atlantic is one of the largest and most profitable aviation companies in the United Kingdom, earning an average of around £47 million a year. The company was founded in 1984 and has vied for supremacy over aerospace colossus, British Airways, ever since its inauguration. Richard Branson and Virgin Atlantic spokesperson Paul Charles have long petitioned for a complete re-think of the way airports are run, with the latter hopeful of a system that would allow airlines to operate airports independently. “It would make the experience for passengers so much better than it is today” Mr. Charles said.

The airline has expressed that it would only be interested in purchasing the airport as part of a consortium of other airlines but some groups fear that repackaging airports as a corporate plaything may jeopardise passenger safety. While the number of companies involved in the deal is still a matter of conjecture, some reports indicate that groups as diverse as the Dubai royal family may be persuaded to part with their cash for a slice of Britain’s second largest airport.

The proposed deal is still in an embryonic state but the total cost is expected to reach £3 billion.

The XL Leisure Group, which not only runs its own airline but also various tour companies, went into liquidation on Saturday, leaving 85,000 holidaymakers stranded abroad, some 200,000 facing the loss of their holiday and 1,700 staff without jobs. XL was the third largest travel company in the UK and is the biggest to go bust in twenty years.

It flew to 50 different countries, mainly in the Mediterranean, from 12 UK airports, although most of its flights operated out of Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow. The company blames its demise on the rising cost of fuel, the general economic gloom and the inability to raise capital.

Although the CAA has been working hard to repatriate stranded Brits, many on specially chartered planes, those who had not booked a package holiday were less fortunate. With the ATOL protection not applying to separately booked flights and hotels, holidaymakers were very much on their own and many were facing hefty bills to fly back to the UK. Rival operators were accused of exploiting the situation, with huge hikes in prices for those trying to book alternative flights.

The demise of XL comes in the wake of trans-Atlantic carrier Zoom going into administration last month and the business-class carriers, Silverjet, Eos and Maxjet going out of business earlier this year. Meanwhile, Willie Walsh of BA warned that up to a further 30 airlines may go bust before the end of the year.

The Telegraph newspaper offered advice to holiday makers on how to safeguard their money, and gave details of the type of help that travellers could expect, depending on how they had paid and the insurance cover that they had taken out.

The Travel Insurance Guide has recommended a list of travel insurance providers who will cover you for the financial failure of your airline or accommodation provider. With the current economic climate, this is vital, so make sure you check it out before booking your essential travel insurance.

Strike action always comes at the wrong place and the wrong time but then that’s half the point. Last month the aviation industry here in the UK was saved from what could have been another total disaster, one they could have certainly done without, given their current rocky period.

Back at the beginning of August, baggage handlers and check-in staff at Gatwick and Stansted threatened to go on strike over the August bank holiday, which would potentially have caused major disruption for over 400,000 passengers. The staff of Swiss based firm Swissport were in dispute over pay and rejected a 3% pay rise. Although the airlines claimed they would have an adequate contingency plan in place to cope with the loss, nothing would be quite sufficient and, after the debacle at Heathrow this year things might have gone from bad to worse.

But talks were held and finally deals were done and the staff, who would have affected flights on some of the busiest airlines such as Ryanair, Virgin and easyjet, finally accepted a 4% offer that would be back-dated to April 1st. Unite, the union representing the workers, has announced that workers of Swissport will be pleased that this has been resolved with their demands being heard without the need for major hold-ups. There were fears that the strike would seep into Manchester and Glasgow too, but this too was fortunately avoided.

BAA is to airports what Coca-Cola is to the soft drinks industry: it pretty much owns the lot. All the big airports such as Gatwick, Heathrow, Stansted, Manchester, Glasgow, Aberdeen and more, are owned by the giant firm. However, things might all be about to change and the disastrous year that the aviation industry has had in the UK might be about to knock the school bully off his perch.

The muscle that BAA yields promoted an investigation from the Competition Commission, which concluded that such a monopoly on the industry was not healthy and that it might be forced to sell off some of its airports. This immediately set the business world alight and none more so than in the camp of that national treasure, Sir Richard Branson.

Branson is the ultimate risk-taker in terms of new business deals and has always been the same, irrespective of the millions in the bank. He pricked his ears up when Northern Rock were in trouble and now he’s pricking them up again with BAA. It’s not a bad idea to have one of the privately owned airlines in control of the airport; after all, they know the most about what passengers want and don’t want on a day to day basis.

The concern though is that such a deal from Virgin would mean we go from one monopoly to another. If Virgin owned Gatwick, then many of their rival airlines might worry that Virgin Atlantic would dominate the runways. However, Gatwick is big enough to be divided up and split amongst the airlines and this might end up being the best solution to the problem.

Airport staff working for Swissport are planning to strike at two London airports over the busy August bank holiday weekend, potentially leading to cancelled flights, long delays and stranded holidaymakers. Workers involved include baggage screeners, baggage handlers and check-in staff.

The strike is due to disputes over pay after workers rejected a 3% pay rise offer from Unite, the UK’s biggest manufacturing, technical and skilled persons’ union. The strike will also involve Stansted airport staff from other unions, including GMB, whose workers rejected a 1.5% payrise.

Airport staff claim they are struggling with the increasing price of living and are demanding a 5% rise, in line with the current increase in the retail price index. There are also calls for sick pay to be reintroduced for the first three days of absence resulting from illness.

The strike will affect Stansted and Gatwick with around 300 staff walking out for 24 hours on Monday, 25th August and possibly continuing on Friday, 29th August in other airports. Staff at airports in Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle will vote on industrial action in the coming weeks.

The strike could affect up to 1.3 million passengers on Virgin Atlantic, First Choice, North West and Monarch flights as well as those from several smaller airlines and charter flights. However, Swissport say they are working with the airports and airlines to limit disruption to the general public.

Earlier this year, airport staff threatened to walk out at seven British airports but these strikes were cancelled after BAA changed plans regarding pension rights.

Never one to mince his words, London Mayor Boris Johnson has lashed out at Gatwick airport officials, calling the managers there "chimpanzees". Mr Johnson was furious after he and his family arrived back to chaos at Gatwick following a holiday in Italy.

A chronic lack of passport officers coupled with delayed luggage was the cause of his wrath, and the "snivelling" and "insincere" apology that he received in a standard letter which was handed out to passengers for the sixth night running did nothing to pacify him. In his usual humourous fashion he likened the hundreds of passengers “shuffling round the ox-pens” to “inmates of some Victorian penitentiary”. He then described the passengers’ offer to liberate their luggage which they knew was on the tarmac in an “Entebbe style raid”. Many of them had been waiting for two and a half hours but needless to say this offer was turned down on health and safety grounds.

Officials from BAA and Servisair were conspicuous by their absence but, in the letter, the delay in luggage arriving on the carousel was put down to staff shortages.

Mr Johnson has been outspoken in his concerns that with the London Olympics only four years away, Gatwick is going to have to get its act together. Spanish owned BAA may well be compelled to sell Gatwick if the Competition Commission rules that the stranglehold over the UK’s biggest seven airports should be loosened. It has been accused of ill-serving airlines and travellers alike and of putting shopping over the needs of passengers.

Mr Johnson was not the only politician to be put out by his Gatwick experience last week. John Prescott was reportedly seen as looking most perturbed when trying to check in at the Easyjet desk for a flight to Edinburgh. Given that his tickets were for the BA flight perhaps it is not surprising that he was not on the passenger list!

The British Airport Authority (BAA) is set to sell off a number of its airports after the Competition Commission published its preliminary report on 20th August 2008. BAA, which is owned by Spanish company Ferrovial, has a near monopoly on airports in Southeast England and Scotland. The company is responsible for over 60% of all flights to and from the UK (BBC News, August 2008).

The Competition Commission have recommended that BAA sells three of its seven airports, including two of its London airports and either Glasgow or Edinburgh Airport, after claims that BAA is unable to run all of its airports efficiently and is failing passengers with poor levels of customer service and long delays.

The findings come as no surprise to Sir Nigel Rudd, Chairman of BAA, the company which owns three major London airports as well as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Southampton and Aberdeen airports. However, Rudd also claims that selling Gatwick or Stansted will make little difference as neither airport poses a real threat to business at Heathrow Airport.

The move is welcomed by many major airlines operating in and around London. Virgin Atlantic and Ryanair have both expressed their support and Virgin is currently in talks with other airlines regarding joint ownership of Gatwick Airport. Ryanair are also reviewing their financial situation to see if it would be viable to purchase Stansted airport, the Irish company’s biggest hub.
Several international companies, including Manchester Airport Group and Global Infrastructure, have expressed interest in buying BAA’s airports as well, with Hochtief, a German construction company, and Australian bank Macquarie topping the list of potential buyers for Gatwick. Macquarie already owns Bristol and Birmingham airports.

The Competition Commission’s final report regarding the company’s future will be issued in April 2009.

Flights from the UK to the Canaries have been hitting the headlines recently for all the wrong reasons. First there was the family who was sent to Turkey instead of Lanzarote, followed closely by the case of the woman who managed to fly to Fuerteventura on her husband’s passport. Now a flight from Gatwick to Gran Canaria has been cancelled because the pilot’s licence had expired!

The Easyjet flight headed to Las Palmas last Monday had 200 passengers on board, all of whom were most put out by the cancellation, especially when they were informed by the airline that, due to limited availability, not all of them would be transferred to the flight due to leave the following day. Some holiday makers had to wait until the Saturday for an alternative flight although they could have opted to receive a refund, not always practical if you have accommodation booked at your destination. One family chose to pay over £3,000 to fly with another airline in order to salvage their holiday plans. A spokesperson from Easyjet said that it was the pilot’s responsibility to ensure that his licence was kept up to date.

A pilot’s licence has to be renewed every five years and competency tests taken every year. In addition, a medical examination has to be passed between every one and three years. Unless each of the three elements is fulfilled, the pilot is deemed to be flying illegally and can be prosecuted. Last year it was reported at the time of the Colin McRae helicopter crash that his licence may have expired two years earlier.

If you are a fan of the television show Airline, and enjoy being a fly-on-the-wall for all the little dramas that take place on a daily basis at the airport or onboard the plane, then you are in for an enjoyable autumn.

ITV2 and Monarch Airlines have got together to launch a new celebrity show with a difference. CelebAir will be a real airline with its own colours and uniform, operating out of Gatwick airport and flying real holidaymakers to various destinations. However, it will be staffed by ten celebrities who, although unnamed, are expected to include well known sports personalities and pop stars.

The flying public will be relieved to hear that the pilot’s job is not amongst the roles being assumed by the celebrities. They will, however, be doing everything else from selling tickets, checking travellers in, manning the gates and stewarding the plane.

The series will comprise of eight parts and will be presented by Angelica Bell, whom you may remember from CBBC and Departure Lounge. Each week passengers will judge how the celebs have fared, and the worst performing member of the crew will be voted off.

A six week training course will be provided by Monarch Airlines, and the celebs will be governed by normal airline standards whilst working on the flights. What's more, it's all in a good cause with the winner receiving thousands of pounds for their favourite charity.

Destinations served by CelebAir include Larnaca, Faro, Alicante, Mohon, Malaga, Ibiza and Tenerife, and tickets went on sale to the public on 14 July – see here for more details.

A Bristol man has won a court ruling to force a payment from budget airline EasyJet, after EasyJet refused to refund substantial charges following a missed departure from Sicily to Gatwick last year.

Craig Stevens, aged 40, missed the flight from Palermo in Sicily to Gatwick Airport, after a freak flood meant that he and his family were unable to travel to get their flight. On realising they would miss their flight home, Mr Stevens immediately telephoned EasyJet from the train on the way to the airport and was assured that he would only have to pay £35 to reschedule the flight. However, Mr Stevens was not told that he would have to check in within two hours of his original flight in order to take advantage of the minimal charge. Instead, on arriving at the airport with wife Utako and two year old daughter Lana, Mr Stevens ended up having to pay an additional £300 to get his family home.

On returning to the UK, Mr Stevens lodged a legal claim for a refund of £300 at Bristol County Court, but after EasyJet failed to pay the charges within 28 days of the claim, he sought permission to force a debt judgment on the airline. After winning his request to have bailiffs reclaim the £300 plus the £55 bailiff costs and £40 court charges, Mr Stevens said, “It’s a massive relief to have the whole saga come to an end. The fees were in danger of turning my budget holiday into a really expensive one.” Following the court ruling EasyJet was given a week to pay the charges before the bailiffs would remove £400 of its property from the airline’s Head Office in Luton.

In a post 9/11 world, airport security is a headache for the authorities. Everyone wants to feel safe when they fly but no-one wants to stand in long queues at security. Providing extra staff to speed the process up would cost more and this would inevitably lead to fare increases. No-one would be prepared to accept this, at a time when nipping over to the Continent for a quick break is seen as being almost on an economic par with going out for a curry.

It may therefore come as no surprise to anyone that a security guard at Gatwick has blown the whistle on lapses, which mean that passengers have been able to walk through the security check points carrying knives and guns. Even more alarming is the allegation that even when security staff have been tipped off about a passenger carrying a weapon, they have often been unable to find it.

In a culture where targets have to be met or fines faced, security at airports is no exception and, according to the security guard, passengers have to be processed at a rate of one every 16 seconds to avoid hefty financial penalties being imposed on BAA. Experts in the industry say that a thorough security inspection takes between 15 and 30 seconds.

After the story appeared in the Argus newspaper, many members of the public posted comments online to the effect that the guard may have an axe to grind and that, given the reported lapses, it was surprising that no-one had made use of the offensive weapons. Whatever the truth of the situation, a spokesman for Gatwick has emphasised the airport’s commitment to passenger safety and security.

Last year the Gatwick Express, the dedicated rail service serving the airport, was under threat of closure in order to provide more capacity for commuter services between London and Brighton, one of the busiest services in the country. Thanks to a campaign waged by airlines, staff and members of the public, the threat was lifted and at 3.30am on Sun 22nd June, Southern ran its first train out of London Victoria to Gatwick.

According to Southern’s MD, Chris Burchell, passengers will see little change with the high standards of service being maintained. There are, however, improvements such as new ticket machines at both Victoria and Gatwick, making it easier for travellers to purchase their train tickets.

From December, the service will be extended to Brighton each morning and evening, providing an extra 2000 seats on the hard pressed commuter line. Old coaches have been taken out of storage and reconditioned to provide the extra capacity.

The service takes just 30 minutes from London to Gatwick (35 minutes on a Sunday) and costs £16.90 for a single ticket or £28.80 return. It is not a 24 hour service, however, with the first train from London leaving at 03.30 and the last at 00.30. From Gatwick, the first service runs at 04.30 and the last at 01.35. For much of the day, trains run every 15 mins but for exact times see here.

There is ample space for luggage and if you have bulky items such as skis, bikes or surf boards they can be put in the luggage van. In addition, a free porter service at both Victoria and Gatwick is offered.

Most passengers living in the south east, if given the choice between flying from Heathrow or Gatwick. will opt for Gatwick any day of the week. Avoiding what has been dubbed Heathrow Hell has become a number one priority when booking flights and, last week, Gatwick received the accolade of being voted the best out of the ten most busy airports in Europe, as far as queuing time at security is concerned.

Each quarter, a survey is conducted by the Airports Council International, with passengers from all over the world involved in it. There are thirty five different categories, covering all sorts of services provided by airports, and Gatwick has really pulled out all the stops to get to this position. Twelve months ago it was rated seventh out of ten and, according to Andy Flower, the managing director of BAA at Gatwick, this is a “testament to the dedication and commitment” of the staff at the airport.

Gatwick beat Amsterdam’s Schiphol, Paris’ Charles de Gaulle and Orly, Rome, Madrid, Copenhagen, Manchester, Heathrow and Frankfurt. The rating is no mean feat given that the airport handles in excess of 35 million passengers each year. As anyone who has used Gatwick recently will tell you, the extra 650 staff at security and 7 extra security lanes have certainly paid dividends in reducing queues at what experts agree is the most stressful point of a passenger’s journey.

A survey conducted by the travel and tourism industry in Jan this year discovered that security queues were one of the top three gripes with passengers, along with slow check-in procedures and crowds in airport lounges.

Earlier this week, just as the champagne corks should have been flying, embarrassment was caused at Gatwick airport by the break-down of the monorail service which transports passengers between the North and South terminals.

Gatwick was celebrating its fiftieth anniversary whilst thousands of passengers faced chaos and ran the risk of missing their flights. The monorail broke down late on Sunday evening but luckily no passengers were stuck on it, due to a contingency door release. At one point, travellers had to walk between the terminals – no mean feat given the distance especially when carrying heavy luggage – although a coach service was later put on. The service was able to resume later the next day as Gatwick investigated the cause of the fault.

More potential travel problems had been averted a few days earlier, when a fire broke out in the car park of South Terminal. Fortunately, a motorist unloading his luggage before jetting off on holiday had spotted smoke coming out from under his bonnet and had been able to extinguish the electrical fire before it gained a bigger grip.

Although Gatwick has been in existence for some seventy years, it was not until 9 June 1958 that the newly extended airport was opened by the Queen. A two year building programme, costing £7.8, made Gatwick the first airport in the world which combined transport opportunities by plane, train and car in a single unit. It is now the second busiest UK airport and busiest single runway airport in the world.

Gatwick is now home to the world's biggest passenger bridge. The bridge, which spans a working taxiway, has been built to allow passengers to walk to the aircraft instead of having to use the coach services. The whole development is designed to make passenger journeys through Gatwick more comfortable, and the airport's running more efficient.

With a second terminal planned to be in operation after 2019, it is understandable that local residents are concerned how this will affect them. To try and ensure that the new runway causes as few problems as possible, BAA has launched a "blight assistance scheme" to help those with concerns. The scheme aims to consult with local residents, businesses and the council and take on board suggestions made by them to minimise disruption as the airport expands.