After a long and highly public battle to find a way to stay afloat, the unthinkable has happened: the world’s oldest travel company, Thomas Cook, has ceased trading at 2am today (Monday 23 September). The 178-year old company, which served 22 million customers in 2018, had debts of around £1.25bn and a plea to the…
Crunch time for Thomas Cook after being told to find another £200m – UPDATE
Update Sunday 22nd: Thomas Cook holding last-bid crisis talks to secure a rescue deal. The meeting with its biggest shareholder and creditors is understood to be scheduled for Sunday morning at City law firm Slaughter & May. Update Saturday 21st: Thomas Cook has approached the government for assistance in helping to plug £200 million hole to avoid…
BA pilots call off strike planned for September 27 to reflect
Following a 48 hour strike British Airways pilots were due to strike again on September 27. This strike has been postponed so that the pilots could have a ‘period of reflection’. The pilot’s union BALPA (British Airline Pilots Association), who were due to walk out for 24 hours in a bitter dispute over pay, explained that…
Virgin Atlantic takes on British Airways with 80 new routes at Heathrow
Virgin Atlantic is planning to go full throttle with ambitious plans to grow a worldwide flight network by 400% effectively taking British Airways head on. The airline is set on acquiring new slots on the new Heathrow airport runway when its is ready in 2020. The new routes will include those that are as yet…
Gatwick Airport plans make its second standby runway take off
Gatwick Airport is preparing a planning application to remodel its emergency runway so that it can be used on a regular basis. If granted, the alterations to the standby runway will be completed and fully operational by 2026. At the same time the airport’s north and south terminals will be extended and three new hotels…
Fascinating Fairs and Festivals in India You Should Not Miss
India is well known for its rich cultural diversity which is what attracts thousands of travellers every year to visit here. It’s also known for the many fairs and festivals in India. Compared to many European countries, it is a really vast region with each region having a distinct set of traditions, rituals, and festivals.…
Hotel booking sites ditch pressure selling and misleading discounts
Hotel booking sites have been notoriously adept at using marketing tactics that hint at scarcity or use misleading headline discounts to encourage bookings. But this practice has come to an end as the big six make formal commitments to change their ways. A government authority has stepped in after having “serious concerns”, to put a…
Thomas Cook risks collapse as stock dives but there may still be wind beneath its wings
Thomas Cook travel company, has come a long way since its formation in England’s rural Leicestershire during the early Victorian era. The iconic brand started some 178 years ago as a fledgling company and became a huge global travel group, with annual sales of £9bn, 19 million customers a year and 22,000 staff operating in…
BA cancels flights on 27 September two weeks ahead of pilot strike
As the BA pilots’ strike looms the airline has taken the step of cancelling around 1,700 flights on 27 September. The strike is likely to affect tens of thousands of passengers. Passengers have begun to receive emails about the cancellation with offers of refunds or rebookings for trips around 27 September. Earlier in September almost…
Heathrow Airport: Climate change protesters to disrupt flights with drones UPDATE
Update 13 September: There are no disruptions at Heathrow Airport due to drones The climate change activists have experienced a “technical glitch” and claim their drones’ signals were jammed by authorities, preventing the aerial devices from taking flight. Update 4pm: Today at least five activists have been pre-emptively arrested in advance of tomorrow’s drone disruption. Robert Hallam,…