There’s lots in the news today relating to holidays and travel so take a look at what is making the headlines in the UK on the 31st January 2022.
EU 261 flight compensation scheme set to be replaced
More passengers will receive compensation for delayed domestic flights under plans announced by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. The Times and Daily Mirror newspapers are reporting that the government plans to ditch the EU scheme which currently means passengers on flights shorter than 1,500km can claim £220 for delays of more than three hours, but nothing for shorter hold-ups. The new plan passengers would be entitled to:
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Delays more than one hour but less than two hours - 25% of the ticket price
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Delays of more than two hours but less than three hours - 50% of the ticket price
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Delays of more than three hours - 100% of the ticket price
The plan is in the consultation stage so we’ll bring you updates as the plan progresses.
Free snacks to return to British Airways flights
British Airways is bringing back free snacks to its economy passengers, six years after cutting them in a £400m-a-year cost-cutting decision. Economy passengers on short-haul BA flights will now be entitled to a free snack and bottle of water. CEO Sean Doyle said that the airline received good feedback from customers who were given the snacks during the pandemic as a goodwill gesture. He wrote: "You’ve…told us you appreciate the complimentary water and snacks we’ve been offering on short-haul flights in our Euro Traveller cabin, so we’ll be continuing with these too."
Heathrow staff threaten half-term strike
Heathrow Airport staff could throw the big February half term getaway into chaos as they threaten to strike over a pay dispute. Hundreds of refueling staff and baggage handlers are reportedly set to walk out for three days from February 11th which would have dire consequences for travellers and throw the much looked-forward to recovery for the travel industry into doubt once again. The workers are employed by Menzies Aviation which provides services to airlines that include Qantas, American Airlines and Icelandair. Let’s hope this dispute is settled before hand so the great migration to the beaches can go ahead without any more bumps in the road!
Weekend see bumper bookings
As expected many holiday firms are reporting a bumper weekend of bookings as people plan for last minute and summer holidays after the removal of testing requirements last week. Both
Greece and
Turkey have seen bookings surges, but one country lagging behind is
Spain. Usually the top pick for summer sun seeking Brits, Spain recently announced that all arrivals aged over 12 need to be fully vaccinated, which is not good news for Brits as the rollout of second jabs for over 12s only got underway at the end of December, meaning many are not able to enter Spain currently.
Make sure you come back to us the same time next week for the latest travel news so you can stay up to date with the latest changes in rules and other useful information relating to holidays!
