Mens Portal

 The Civil Aviation Authority has released the results of a recent survey of ten airports in the UK, showing that the overall punctuality of scheduled flights improved in the third quarter of 2008.

According to the statistics, 70 per cent of scheduled flights were early to 15 minutes late between July and September, which is an improvement of four per cent on the same period in 2007.

The biggest improvement was recorded at Edinburgh Airport, where punctuality improved by ten per cent to reach 77 per cent, while at Glasgow Airport on-time performance rose six per cent to 76 per cent.

At the London airports monitored, there was a five per cent increase in scheduled flight punctuality to 68 per cent, with both Heathrow Airport and Gatwick Airport achieving a six per cent improvement in on-time performance.

The proportion of on-time flights at both Stansted Airport and London City Airport rose by five per cent in the third quarter of the year, but at Luton Airport there was a decline of four per cent in punctuality.

There was a fall of two minutes in average delays across all of the scheduled flights monitored by the CAA to 17 minutes between July and September.

Of the scheduled and charter flights handling the most passengers from the UK, services to Rotterdam were found to have the highest on-time flight performance of 85 per cent and the lowest average delay of eight minutes.

Cheap Flights and Travel News - © 2008 - Just The Flight

 The first flights in more than a week landed at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok today after a blockade of the hub by anti-government protesters came to an end.

Demonstrators ended their siege of the airport after a court disbanded the governing party of Thailand, allowing a flight from the resort island of Phuket to land in Bangkok.

Hundreds of thousands of travellers were stranded in Thailand as a result of the protest and it is expected to be some time before services return to normal and the build-up of passengers can be cleared.

A number of major airlines have been offering alternative services out of the country from destinations such as Chiang Mai and U-Tapao Airport.

Air Berlin announced that it would be operating replacement flights from U-Tapao to Germany on December 3rd, 4th and 5th to help travellers get back to Europe.

Swiss has also been flying passengers from Chiang Mai to Zurich, while Etihad Airways has been providing relief flights from U-Tapao to Abu Dhabi.

Cheap Flights and Travel News - © 2008 - Just The Flight

 Flybe has announced a number of new destinations that it will be serving in summer 2009, with extra flights set to be launched from regional hubs including Exeter Airport, Southampton Airport and Birmingham Airport.

Flights to France will be among the key routes launched by Flybe next summer, including new services from Exeter Airport to Nice, from Southampton Airport to Perpignan and from Birmingham Airport to Toulouse and La Rochelle.

The airline will also continue to operate flights to popular holiday destinations such as Malaga and Alicante in Spain.

Flybe's expansion at regional airports across the UK will see the airline operate a total of 181 routes between March 29th and October 24th 2009, 28 of which will be served by its franchise partner Loganair.

Mike Rutter, Flybe's chief commercial officer, said: "Our summer schedule shows us continuing to strengthen our operations across the UK and Europe with many of our summer routes from the 2007-08 schedule returning from March next year as well as increased frequency on many of our services from key bases."

He added: "Over the last 12 months we have continued to grow and develop Flybe to provide the most cost-effective, efficient and flexible service for business and leisure passengers."

Flybe claims to be the largest regional point-to-point airline in the UK, serving more domestic routes than any other carrier.

Cheap Flights and Travel News - © 2008 - Just The Flight

 Tourists in Australia can now embark on a new tour of the country following the opening of a driving route in the Northern Territory and Western Australia states.

Described by the Northern Territory tourist board as "iconic", the driving route is based on the eagerly anticipated Baz Luhrmann film Australia.

The tour may not be suited to those who dislike long drives, however, as it takes a recommended 11 days and covers nearly 1,900km, stretching from the harbour city of Darwin to the pearling town of Broome.

Visitors to Australia who decide to set off on the drive will have opportunities to see locations including Kakadu national park, the outback community of Katherine and El Questro wilderness park.

Adrenaline junkies can take advantage of the many extreme opportunities in the region, such as a canoeing expedition down the Katherine river or a 4x4 drive along the rugged Gibb River bush track.

Australia the movie will open in UK cinemas on Boxing Day.

Cheap Flights and Travel News - © 2008 - Just The Flight

 Star Alliance has opened a new lounge for first and business class passengers in Paris.

Covering 850 square metres, the lounge is the largest facility of its kind in Terminal 1 at Charles de Gaulle Airport and has enough space to accommodate more than 200 customers.

Facilities include business centre workstations, wireless internet access, shower areas, hot and cold food, state-of-the-art television screens and complimentary drinks.

The lounge is currently open to people travelling from Paris with Star Alliance carriers including Lufthansa, TAP Portugal, US Airways, LOT Polish Airlines and others.

Star Alliance chief executive Jaan Albrecht said: "The Star Alliance Lounge at Charles de Gaulle Terminal 1 is one more example of how collaboration in the alliance can lead to improvements for the customer while at the same time allow our member carriers to reduce their costs."

The new lounge is one of four passenger facilities operated by Star Alliance, with the others located at Heathrow Airport Terminal 1, Los Angeles Airport's Tom Bradley terminal and Centrair Airport in Nagoya, Japan.

Cheap Flights and Travel News - © 2008 - Just The Flight

 People catching flights to and from Helsinki-Vantaa Airport can now make use of a free wireless internet network that was recently opened at the hub.

Installed by Finavia, a state-owned provider of airport and aviation services, the web connection is available in customer waiting areas, cafes and restaurants at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.

If a computer is in use in the wireless zone, the availability of the internet connection will appear automatically on the monitor screen.

Airport director Juha-Pekka Pystynen suggested that the wireless network could prove particularly useful for business travellers.

"Many people want to deal with their business matters using their own laptops while waiting for their flight. Now it's easy, because now you don't need separate passwords in order to sign on," he said.

People who do not have laptops can access the web at internet kiosks for a fee or use one of the six computers at the airport's eService bar.

Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is the home hub of Finnair, the national carrier of Finland, and hosts the airline's flights to destinations including Heathrow Airport and Manchester Airport.

Cheap Flights and Travel News - © 2008 - Just The Flight

 Emirates has started using the Airbus A380 to operate flights from Heathrow Airport to Dubai.

On December 1st, the airline launched the superjumbo on flight EK001, which departs Dubai daily at 07:45 and arrives at Heathrow Airport at 11:35, and the return EK002 service, which leaves London at 13:45 and lands in Dubai at 00:30 the following day.

The A380 used on this route is the third of the 58 ordered by Emirates. The carrier is currently the largest customer for the A380.

Tim Clark, president of the airline, said: "We are delighted to bring our customers state-of-the-art comforts which are unmatched anywhere else in the world.

"Despite today's challenging economic environment, they have responded by booking every seat on our inbound and outbound flights."

The Emirates A380 flying from Heathrow Airport to Dubai offers a total of 489 seats on two levels, comprising 14 first class suites, 76 business class seats and 399 spaces in economy.

Emirates is already using two A380s to fly to New York and will deploy the Airbus liner on routes to Sydney and Auckland in February 2009.

Cheap Flights and Travel News - © 2008 - Just The Flight