Category : Airport News

The United Arab Emirates city of Dubai is famous for its lavish lifestyle and world class engineering feats. Remaining a popular destination for business travellers and tourists, 2008 saw almost 7 million people visit the ‘City of Gold’.

Despite the current world economic down turn, Dubai continues to see growth in its business and tourism markets with major hotel and resort developments such as the Palm Islands, World Islands and the Burj Al Arab Luxury Hotel continuing to fuel visitor demand.

Located in the Garhoud district, 4km (2.5 miles) southeast of Dubai, is Dubai International Airport.  Officially opened in 1960, the original airport runway was made of nothing more than compacted sand, a far cry from the world class airport that stands today. After many years of development and at a cost of billions, Dubai Airport now has a capacity for 60 million passengers a year and is currently ranked as the 20th busiest airport in the world. With further developments underway to accommodate up to 80 million passengers by 2011, Dubai International Airport and indeed the United Arab Emirates are destined to see many more world traveller in the years ahead.

In true form to the country known for its indulgence, facilities at the airport are also world class with the Dubai Airport Lounge being recognised as one of the top 10 airport lounges in the world by a number of travel journalists.

With work underway to complete the Burj Dubai, soon to be the worlds tallest building at 2,684 feet (818 mtrs), Dubai is well set to ride out the economic slow down with world interest in its engineering projects, heavy investment and growing popularity.

Today is the final day for companies interested in purchasing Gatwick Airport to throw their hats in the ring.

BAA is expected to receive three serious offers, which are rumoured to be for less than the £2 billion estimates suggested last year.  The interested parties are understood to be groups including General Electric, Manchester Airport and Vancouver Airport.

The Competition Commission ordered BAA to sell off Gatwick, Stansted and one of their Scottish airports last year, after an inquiry found that travellers were suffering due to a lack of competition between airports.  BAA has until the 19th of May to appeal against the Commission’s decision.

Luton Airport is to introduce a £1 charge for dropping off passengers at its terminal building this summer. The airport introduced a similar fee last year for the use of its trolleys and for the clear plastic bags used to take liquids through security.

To avoid the £1 drop off fee when it comes in to force, passengers could be dropped off at the Mid term parking car park to catch the shuttle bus to the terminal. Nic Horton, the development manager for Luton Airport said: “Making a small charge reminds drivers of the ten-minute time allocation and keeps the traffic flowing. “By offering a choice of options we can provide an airport experience to suit the needs of all our passengers.” A date for the introduction of the drop off fee at Luton Airport has not yet been confirmed.

Word has reached us here at gosimply.com that a customer has inadvertently locked himself in his vehicle whilst parked at the airport.

Mr. Stan Ridgway, former singer for the band Wall of Voodoo (who enjoyed a minor hit in the 1980’s with the song “Mexican Radio”), wrote to us via our website’s contact form this morning, unfortunately he forgot to state which airport he was stuck at!

In his cry for help, he indicated that he had experienced an apparent child-safety lock malfunction, trapping him inside his 1969 Chevrolet Camaro. His attempts to free himself have so far consisted of “yelling”, but no help has been forthcoming.

In our drive to always provide helpful, friendly advice to each of our customers, we have suggested he kick out a window or possibly make his way to the boot and attempt to release the latch from within.  So far, no reply from Mr. Ridgway has been received.

We implore any customers who may be in the area of an airport parking facility to listen out for muffled cries for help, in hopes that Stan may yet be saved and reunite the much-loved Wall of Voodoo for a worldwide tour.

The Kent Green Party have responded to plans for the expansion of Manston Airport in Kent as ‘flights of fancy’. The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has also responded by saying that the plans put forward by Infratil, the current owners of Manston Airport, are unrealistic.

Manston Airport which was taken over by Infratil three years ago currently handles some 16,000 travellers per year. Infratil hopes that passenger numbers will increase dramatically over the next couple of years to reach one million by 2011.

Infratil claims that with the right investment opportunities, Manston Airport could offer a valuable alternative for tourism and freight as London Airports such as Gatwick, Heathrow, Stansted and Luton become more congested.

With improved road networks and passenger facilities such as airport parking, Infratil predict that Manston Airport could potentially handle up to six million passengers a year by 2033. Further claims are that…

• Freight traffic  would increase from 33,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes
• Jobs generated by the airport would reach 3,500 by 2018 and up to 7,500 by 2033

With the final version of the master plan due to be published in early 2009, many opponents to the expansion are claiming that the plan is flawed and does not take into account the rapidly contracting air industry or the severe economic slow down.

Industry Future

Steve Dawe, spokesman for the Kent Green Party said that “Coupled with the current recession which is already beginning to reduce the number of flights being taken, plans for Manston Airport to expand are literally ‘flights of fancy’. The party has called for a “more relistic” use of the site including allotments and other leisure and agricultural  uses to benefit the surrounding area and local communities.

Spokesman for The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Chris Lowe said that the airport plan put forward by Infratil fell far short of the mark. He went on to say that “The master plan is full of aspirations, but is very light on justification”.

“It is impossible to see what the impacts of such major growth will be – not only on Thanet, but on Kent and beyond – as the necessary supporting work has not been done.”

“As it stands, the master plan raises more questions than providing answers.”

In a provisional decision announced today, the Competition Commission has advised BAA to sell Gatwick, Stansted and Edinburgh Airports.

BAA, who put Gatwick up for sale after the Commission’s initial report in August, have stated they believe there is no compelling evidence that Stansted should be sold.  They’ve also added that there was no justification for specifying which airport in Scotland should be sold.

There are several international firms who are said to be interested in purchasing Gatwick, and Virgin Atlantic has said it is preparing a bid as part of a consortium.

The Competition Commission is considering responses to today’s provisional decision, and will publish their final report in late February or early March.

A reward of £1000 has been offered for information leading to the conviction of arsonists responsible for a blaze which destroyed 19 travellers cars parked in a car park serving Gatwick Airport.

The fire occurred last Monday night at the Forgewood Industrial Estate near Gatwick Airport. The fire began in the early hours at around 02:30 and quickly spread amongst the tightly parked vehicles. Several cars exploded in the blaze which was attended by four appliances from West Sussex Fire and Rescue service who’d been called by a passer by.

The company responsible for parking the cars on behalf of travellers have issued a statement expressing their disgust with this mindless arson attack and offering their apologies to those whose cars may have been damaged. Gatwick Airport parking customers affected by this attack were assured that they would be provided with free car hire to get them home.

Around 300 people a year, in the UK, are losing their lives as a result of fatigued drivers falling asleep at the wheel.

Being tired adversely affects driver performance as much as being drunk. Several studies, conducted by road safety experts, have confirmed that inadequate rest, driving for too long and driving at times when you would normally be asleep can all result in a degradation of driver performance which is similar to that caused by alcohol in the blood stream.

Those who drive for a living, including truck drivers and delivery drivers, are at the highest risk of being involved in fatigue related accidents. Around 4 in 10 tiredness related accidents involve a commercial vehicle. But people involved in other demanding roles, such as doctors who work long shifts and business people returning from overseas meetings, are also high on the tiredness risk list.

It is recommended that, if you are feeling even slightly fatigued, you should stop for a 15 minute break. Drink an energy drink or a couple of cups of coffee and then take a cat knap for no more than 15 minutes. When you wake the caffeine will have begun to take effect. Don’t snooze for any longer as you will enter a different sleep phase.

If returning from a business trip, maybe flying into Heathrow in the early hours, it is advisable to take a room at a Heathrow Hotel and rest properly before driving.

Always remember that safety is more important than sticking to a schedule.

References:

Driver Tiredness Advice from Brake, the Road Safety Charity

It is estimated that over 100 homeless people are living at Heathrow airport much like the Tom Hanks character in the Spielberg film ‘The Terminal’.

In recent months it has been discovered that over 100 homeless people are permanently residing at the airport and this number is on the increase. As one homeless person has said, Heathrow is like a hotel. It is warm, clean, reasonably safe and has excellent facilities.

Many of these seasoned airport dwellers have developed techniques to avoid detection by airport security staff. They dress like holidaymakers and carry their belongings in suitcases that make them look like travellers using the airport.

Some of the homeless people receive a Giro cheque payment of £60 each week which they must collect from the Samaritans headquarters in central London. This doesn’t go very far being used to buy food and essentials from various airport outlets.

Occasional security sweeps result in many homeless people being ejected, only to return to the warmth and safety of the airport terminals once security is out of the way.

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We have a great selection of heathrow airport hotels with impartial reviews and the best prices.

Thinking of travelling over the Bank holiday?

We have been informed that there could be severe disruption if you are flying from Gatwick or Stansted Airport. Unions have said that baggage handlers and check-in staff at Gatwick and Stansted Airport are going on strike on Bank Holiday Monday 25th 2008 for 24 hours in a row over pay.

At Gatwick Airport, 318 Swissport workers will walk out, halting services at some airlines. A second strike is planned for Friday 29 August 2008 also.

After staff were offered a 3% pay offer it was rejected by Unite Union due to being below inflation – they said it was “an insult”. Workers from two unions at Stansted Airport also have voted to strike as well. Unite have hinted that industrial action could spread to other airports in the forth coming weeks.

Unite members working for Swissport at Stansted Airport will be joined by 30 members of the GMB union when they walk out on Monday 25th August 2008 and possibly Friday 29th August 2008.

If delays are imminent, it does not mean you have to completely cancel your plans, just check that you have a decent level of travel insurance that covers baggage delays and airport disruption.

UPDATE ON BAGGAGE STRIKE…

The strikes planned by airport workers that would have caused Bank Holiday travel misery have finally been called off. The dispute involved airport services business Swissport, and cabin staff and baggage handlers who are members of the Unite and GMB unions.

It would have affected Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester airports.

After hours of talks at conciliation service Acas, both unions suspended the planned strikes.