LONDON - London City Airport (LCY) has welcomed the restoration of key regional routes, with flights to resume shortly to Edinburgh, Glasgow - both with British Airways -and Dundee with Loganair, re-establishing important domestic connectivity and tourism links between Scotland and the heart of London.

LONDON - Airlines will fight attempts by suppliers and airports, including Heathrow Airport, to cover pandemic losses by raising charges, the new head of industry body IATA Willie Walsh said on Wednesday, as he promised "strong and aggressive" resistance to such moves.

LONDON - Unite has announced 41 strikes at Heathrow Airport citing a bitter dispute after the company's decision to fire and rehire its entire workforce, slashing pay and reducing conditions. "Targeted strike action" will begin on Friday 2 April and there will be 41 strikes over a 23 day period, with the final strike scheduled for Sunday 25 April.

LONDON - Heathrow Airport raised 350 million pounds in bonds maturing in 2028, as it bolsters its pandemic-hit finances ahead of the reopening of international travel in May. The airport demands more immigration officers as travellers reported line times of three to six hours after arrival at Heathrow.

LONDON - Almost four months of public consultation regarding proposed changes to arrival routes into London Luton Airport have now ended. New flight paths will "simplify and modernise" approaches into Luton and segregate arriving inbound traffic from Standsted corridors, the airport said.

LISBON - Portugal's aviation regulator this week refused to evaluate a plan to build a new airport in Lisbon, in the latest setback for one of the country's largest infrastructure projects, but the government said it would push for a solution to keep the airport project alive.

LONDON - The UK Civil Aviation Authority approved new passengers service fees that will help Heathrow airport to cope with the financial consequences of the Covid-19 drop in traffic. This includes a new "airport cost recovery charge" of 8.90 pounds on each departing passenger levied through the remainder of 2021.

DUBAI - Dubai Airports' chief executive warned on Monday it would be another tough year for the Middle East's busiest hub after passenger numbers slid 70 percent in 2020. The airport, the base for airline Emirates, handled 25.9 million passengers last year, mostly in the first quarter before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

LONDON - Britain is looking at greater testing of all people who have arrived from abroad while they are self-isolating to defend against new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, a minister said. ITV reported that all international arrivals would have to be tested for
COVID-19 on the second and eighth days of their self-isolation.

ZURICH - Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss International is reducing its Geneva flight operations further to an "absolute minimum", citing coronavirus travel restrictions, the company said on Monday. The reduction means Swiss will operate only 10% of the flights from Geneva during February that it flew in February 2019.

LONDON - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated on Wednesday the Covid-19 lockdown in England would last until March 8 when schools could start to reopen as he said some travellers to Britain would have to quarantine in government-provided hotels. Borders will be closed for 22 countries.

LONDON - London Luton Airport has submitted an application to Luton Council to change its current annual passenger cap from 18 million to 19 million. The application, which follows a public consultation held in October 2020, seeks to vary five conditions the airport's original planning permission.

LONDON - Britain's government will give financial aid to airports before the end of March, after the industry called for urgent support as tighter COVID-19 rules for international travellers start on Monday. Aviation minister Robert Courts said the government would launch a new support program this month.

LONDON - Once among the most vibrant airports in the world, London Heathrow will not make it into the top 10 of global aviation hubs in 2020. Corona fallouts on traffic keep denting recovery expectations. Heathrow Airport already curbed its 2021 passenger forecast by more than 40 percent to just over 37m travellers.

LONDON - London Stansted Airport has launched a new Covid-19 testing facility, as part of a move by its parent company, Manchester Airports Group (MAG). The announcement means the full range of tests – RT-PCR, RT-LAMP, Rapid Antigen and Antibody - will be available to all passengers inside the main terminal building.

MADRID - Spain and Britain reached a preliminary agreement to keep the Gibraltar border open, just hours before full Brexit. As part of the agreement, Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory located on Spain's southern tip, will remain part of European Union agreements such as the Schengen Area.

PARIS - The European Commission proposed on Wednesday new rules on airport slots for summer 2021, allowing airlines to keep those slots if they use 40% of them instead of the normal 80% as the travel industry recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

LONDON - Next-generation, zero-emission planes could be operating out of London Stansted "within the next 10 tp 15 years", according to management. The airport started a competition for the first airline to operate a zero-emission flight awarding five years free landing fees worth 1.3 million pounds.

PARIS - Low-cost carrier Wizz Air is seeking a bigger foothold at London Gatwick, but its ambitions may be hampered if regulators extend a freeze on airport slots in response to the coronavirus crisis, Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi said. Industry body IATA warned of airline networks to "crumble", if current exemptions expire.

LONDON - The boss of Britain's Gatwick Airport said the introduction of shorter quarantine times from mid-December was boosting travel, and that the combination of testing and a COVID-19 vaccine means he is optimistic holidays can restart next year with a "strong performance" of airline demand.