LONDON - Only once in a while Heathrow slots return to the open allocation pool. British slot coordinator ACI has now reallocated 32 Aeroflot take-off and landing slots among other airlines. JetBlue Airways, Virgin Atlantic and four other airlines will take off on seized Aeroflot slots in the winter season.

LONDON - Following a further review of its operation Gatwick is temporarily moderating its rate of growth for July and August by putting in place a gradually increasing capacity level at the airport, which aligns its growth trajectory with airlines and ground handler’s resource capabilities. 

LONDON - Jobs and innovation are at the heart of a government and industry initiative for developing the UK aviation sector after the pandemic. A peer council of airlines, airports, industry experts and government officials will work together to implement the conceptual 10-point framework.

LONDON - Unite is balloting its union members employed as check-in staff by British Airways at Heathrow airport for industrial action in a dispute over pay.

LONDON - British Airways owner IAG commits to 50 Boeing 737 MAX aicraft. The order is split in 25 737-8200s - a high-density version with additional doors that Boeing developed for low-cost airlines - and 25 737 MAX 10s, which is still pending regulatory approval. Deliveries are scheduled between 2023 and 2027.

RIGA - Air Baltic has 315 pilots in its workforce. The airline is looking to add 120 pilots through 2023.

LONDON - Royal Mail firms up plans to scale up its use of drone technology and create more than 50 new postal drone routes over the next three years, subject to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approval, as part of a new partnership with Windracers, a leading logistics drone company.

TEESSIDE - Loganair suspends its flights from Teesside to London-Heathrow and Southampton citing "cost of aviation fuel" and recent fee increases at the London hub. The Heathrow route suffered from a sluggish return of business travel while leisure traffic spearheads recovery of British aviation.

LONDON - Easyjet is limiting its A319s to 150 seats over summer. This will allow the airline to operate flights with one crew member less.

LONDON - British Airways owner IAG expects its operating results to be profitable from quarter two, "leading both operating profit and net cash flows from operating activities to be positive for the year". The company curbed its operational loss by one third to 731 million Euros in the first quarter.

LONDON - Heathrow welcomed 9.7 million passengers in Q1 2022. January and February were "much weaker than expected" due to Omicron-related travel restrictions, while March demand increased after the unexpectedly quick removal of all UK travel restrictions on 18th March. The future remains uncertain.

MANCHESTER - Air Canada has announced it will resume its non-stop seasonal service between Manchester and Toronto, operating five-times weekly from 1 June thrroug 30 September 2022.

LONDON - Virgin Atlantic 2021 results reflect an "intensely challenging year" for the airline and the continuation of the "immense challenges" the industry faced due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Management expects conditions to improve in 2022 and to turn Virgin Atlantic to a profit by 2023.

LONDON - March saw London City Airport deliver its best monthly passenger figures since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago: 189,000 passengers used the central London hub last month with Amsterdam the most popular route, continuing the airport’s post pandemic rebound.

MANCHESTER - Jet2 firmed up purchase rights for another six Airbus A3210neo as the airlines moves from a Boeing to an Airbus fleet.

LONDON - Severe Covid-19 outbreaks in their workforces cause Easyjet and British Airways to slash their schedules. Easyjet cancelled about 100 connections Monday, including 62 UK departures, according to "BBC". The airlines try to discourage short-term bookings with higher ticket prices.

LONDON - Hans Airways expects start commercial operations this summer. The new British longhaul airline will focus on flights to India to serve pent-up demand as the country opens up after two years of travel restrictions. Hans Airways just arranged the first leasing deal for an Airbus A330-300.

LONDON - Gatwick Airport reopenend its South Terminal Sunday and has gone from an airport with about 300 flights a day (26 March) to one operating around 570 flights (27 March) – making it the equivalent of opening a medium-sized airport overnight. The airport expects a busy summer season.

LONDON - Flybe returns to European skies from 13 April. The relaunched airline will operate up to 530 flights a week on 23 routes, PA news agency reported Tuesday. Flybe will mainly serve domestic flights within the UK, but also tap demand on routes to Amsterdam, Brest, Avignon and Toulon.

LONDON - London City Airport is operating in tailwinds once again. BA CityFlyer starts new routes from London City Airport to Milan Malpensa and Luxembourg on March 27th. Connections to Rotterdam and Nice also resume, 20 of the 25 routes that BA CityFlyer operated in 2019 have now returned to the schedule.

LONDON - British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Heathrow Airport lift the mask mandate for travellers.

LONDON - New UK sanctions on Russia target aviation and oligarchs. Airspace violations by jets that fall under sanctions will be considered a criminal offense under a legal amendment. Authorities already seized a private jet at Farnborough Airport last week and investigate eventual ties to a Russian oligarch.

OSLO - Norse Atlantic Airways and OSM Aviation Academy have agreed to work together to launch a cadet program that will prepare the flight academy’s students for a future career at the new long-haul airline.

LONDON - Gatwick Airport has announced it will reopen its South Terminal in March - after nearly two years being dormant - to help meet the expected strong demand this summer and beyond as confidence in international travel returns.

LONDON - 2021 UK air traffic averaged just 41 percent of pre-pandemic figures, mirroring 2020’s 40 percent average. This is despite shoots of optimism as routes to the USA re-opened and vaccinated passengers were permitted to travel overseas, although destinations were subject to frequent change.

LONDON - British Airways has announced that it will be introducing a new destination to its Heathrow short-haul network: Nuremberg.

LONDON - Workers at Airbus’ factories in Broughton in North Wales and Filton in South West England have begun balloting for industrial action in a dispute over pay. Still, the union hopes for "Airbus to return to the negotiating table" and "a mutually acceptable agreement can be reached".

LONDON - British Airways and Loganair have announced a major expansion of their codeshare agreement, offering more choice and connectivity for customers travelling across the UK.

LONDON - The dust settles on the crisis-shaken job market for pilots, although significant regional differences prevail. According to a recent global survey, one in three pilots has not returned to cockpit duty yet. Two years in the crisis only a few pilots have left aviation for good, a recent survey shows.

LONDON - The UK government laid regulations before Parliament that will curb airport slots rules alleviation for the upcoming summer season to a 70 percent minimum utilization - a compromise between calls to reinstate pre-crisis regulation from low-cost airlines and network carrier concerns.

LONDON - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revokes the mask mandade in public transport. British Airways will not rush things.

LONDON - Recovery takes shape: London City Airport expects pent up passenger demand and business travel to fuel a surge in growth in 2022, with the introduction of new routes and the return of important destinations, resulting in more than three quarters of 2019 routes operating at LCY this year.

LONDON - Virgin Atlantic has opened applications to recruit 400 new cabin crew to take to the skies in its red uniform in summer 2022. Still, the airline remains cautious about future staffing needs. The additional roles will be part of an initial 6-month fixed term contract with the view to extend.

LONDON - The UK is about to decide whether or not to extend slot relief for airlines. 56 percent of people surveyed who are planning to fly in the next 12 months are concerned about airfares increasing if airport slot rules remain the same, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by Gatwick Airport and Wizz Air. 

LONDON - British Airways and Qatar Airways extend their joint business. The news follows British Airways’ relaunch of daily services to Doha, with the airline’s first flight taking off from Gatwick this month, giving customers access to Qatar Airways’ expansive global network with connections to over 100 destinations.

LONDON - The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is holding firm the price cap that Heathrow Airport (HAL) can charge its airline customers in the period from 1 January 2022.

LONDON - Virgin Atlantic bolsters its fleet with two additional Airbus A350-1000 aircraft on lease and a new partnership: Easyjet will funnel passengers into Virgin Atlantic longhaul services through connecting flights from and to airports in Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast in 2022.

LONDON - British Airways has revealed initial destinations for its new Gatwick subsidiary BA Euroflyer, which will start flying from March 2022. Tickets to 35 short-haul destinations went on sale Tuesday. British Airways will operate the routes as the BA Euroflyer AOC remains pending.

LONDON - Virgin Atlantic Airways has received 400m pounds in new investments from its shareholders, Virgin Group and Delta Air Lines.

LONDON - A UK aviation consortium featuring representatives from airports, manufacturers and academic institutions have released interim findings on the viability of achieving zero emission flight in the UK. Three aircraft from 9 to 48 seats could provide the technical platform for hydrogen flights.

LONDON - British Airways slashed more than 2,000 flights from its schedule through the winter season as the UK tightens travel rules. From Tuesday 4:00 GMT everyone from the age of 12 will be required to produce a negative PCR or antigen test taken within a 48 hours pre-departure window.

LONDON - The UK Civil Aviation Authority is advising holidaymakers issued with refund credit notes during the COVID-19 pandemic to redeem their credit as international travel continues to open up.

LONDON - British Airways will use sustainable aviation fuel produced on a commercial scale in the UK after signing a multi-year agreement with Phillips 66. Thousands of tonnes of SAF will be produced at the Phillips 66 Humber Refinery near Immingham and will be supplied to British Airways early 2022. 

LONDON - British Airways temporarily suspended all flights to Hong Kong to review "operational requirements" of the destination. According to media reports, British Airways crew members were quarantined in Hong Kong November 20th after a test upon arrival returned a postive result.

LONDON - A steep 50 percent surge in passenger charges at London Heathrow makes British Airways question the size of its future operations at the UK's biggest airport. Heathrow fees are already among the highest in the world and continue to rise, IAG chief executive Luis Gallego told reports Monday in London.

HELSINKI - In their regular negotiations on 16-17 November 2021, Finland and China agreed that flights from Finland to Shanghai could be increased. The number of weekly routes will be raised from seven to 14.

LONDON - American Airlines and British Airways announced a collaboration global COVID-19 testing provider Qured to offer complimentary test kits to support the swift return of international business travel.

LONDON - Heathrow has begun recruiting for over 600 new frontline roles as the restart of transatlantic travel and easing of international restrictions boosts confidence in the aviation sector’s recovery. The reopening of the US travel markets stimulates demand in the core business of the airport.

LONDON - NATS and Heathrow have had a long and successful relationship, working together to operate the world’s busiest and most efficient dual runway airport before the impact of the Covid pandemic. The partnership is extended now.

LONDON - A coalition formed of Gatwick, Belfast International, Edinburgh Airports and Wizz Air have written to Transport Secretary urging him to reinstate the "80/20 Use it or Lose It" airport slot rules to ensure "that UK consumers once again benefit from effective choice of destination and airline".