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United Kingdom aviation news

Easyjet places $3.6b Airbus order as profits surge

British no-frills airline Easyjet on Tuesday ordered 36 Airbus A320 jets worth $3.8 billion (Dh13.95 billion) at catalogue prices, after posting record annual profits on keen demand. Easyjet said in a results statement it will purchase 30 next-generation fuel-efficient A320neo aircraft, converting options that had been announced back in 2013, and has added another six firm orders for current-ge...

Easyjet reports record profits for fifth straight year

Easyjet has posted its fifth successive year of record profits, boosted by what the airline said were "favourable economic and consumer trends". Annual profits at the carrier, which has just celebrated its 20th birthday, jumped 18% to £686m. Revenues rose 3.5% to £4.68bn, with passenger numbers up 6% to 68.6 million in the year to end-September. The figures do not in...

Luton airport, passenger number grows by 21.5% in October, 2015

Over 1 million people flew through London Luton Airport (LLA) in October taking it past 12 million passengers in 12 months for the first time in its 77 year history. The 21.5% increase in October vs. the same period last year marks 19 months of consecutive growth in passenger numbers for the airport, which is currently undergoing a £110m development project to increase annual capacity fro...

UK To Boost Funding For Intelligence Agencies, Aviation Security

Britain will boost its intelligence agency staff by 15 percent and more than double spending on aviation security to counter the increasing threat from Islamist militants. The government said it had decided to increase resources in the wake of the growing number of plots against Britain and recent militant attacks, including those in Paris and Tunisia. "I am determined to prioritise the...

Gatwick security scare: Frenchman Jerome Chauris charged over alert

A Frenchman has been charged with possession of an air rifle and a knife, following a major security alert at Gatwick airport on Saturday. Massive disruption was caused at the North Terminal following the incident at 9.30am on Saturday when Sussex Police were alerted to the "suspicious actions" of a 41-year-old man. Jerome Chauris, from Vendome, is due to appear in court on Monday....

Gatwick Terminal Evacuated After Security Alert

Police have evacuated Gatwick Airport's North Terminal after a suspect package sparked a security alert. A man has been arrested after he was allegedly seen discarding a suspicious item in the building. Bomb squad experts were sent to the airport in West Sussex to investigate. Crowds are waiting at the airport and nearby roads have been closed. Gatwick officials have apologised f...

‘Norwegian UK’ set to take-off as airline is granted UK Air Operating License

Norwegian, Europe’s third largest low-cost airline, has today been granted a UK Operating License opening up bilateral traffic rights to a series of potential new markets including Asia, South America and South Africa as the airline continues its huge growth in the UK. Norwegian has grown to become the third-largest airline at Gatwick and also operates from Manchester, Birmingham, and Edi...

UK businesses echo FTA call for Heathrow third runway decision

UK business leaders have echoed the Freight Transport Association’s (FTA) call for the UK government to make a decision regarding expanding Heathrow Airport. Business leaders including the Confederation of British Industry president, Paul Drechsler says “decisive action” is needed and the government needs to “get on” and expand Heathrow Airport. In July this year,...

British Airways owner IAG says not in talks with Finnair

British Airways-owner IAG said it was not in talks with Finnair, denying a report in a Finnish newspaper that had fuelled speculation it might take a stake in the majority state-owned Finnish airline. "We haven't been in any discussions with Finnair," a spokeswoman for IAG told Reuters on Thursday. The online edition of Finland's business daily Kauppalehti had cited an IAG...

ANALYSIS: British spaceplane engine concept gets cash boost

British newspaper readers last week could be excused for believing that humankind is poised on the cusp of a new Concorde era – indeed, an era of Concorde on steroids. As the Daily Mail put it with typically breathless excitement: “Could we soon fly London to Sydney in FOUR HOURS? BAE invests in 4,000mph hybrid rocket jet engine firm”. And, the Mail went on: “Flights fro...

Los Angeles and Chicago O'Hare Named Busiest Thanksgiving Airports

Airports will be busy over the Thanksgiving holiday with 61 percent of travelers planning to take a trip, up six percent from 2014.1 Los Angeles International (LAX) and Chicago O'Hare (ORD) will be the busiest airports for the third consecutive year based on the Orbitz® Insider Index, which analyzed the Orbitz.com® flight booking data of the top 50 U.S. airports over the Thanksgiv...

New Routes Mean More Noise for Some Homes Near Airports

The push to modernize air-traffic control is finally starting to result in faster flights. That's music to the ears of many travelers, but wall-rattling, sleep-depriving noise to many homeowners around the country. The Federal Aviation Administration is redrawing the paths flights follow as it switches from ground-based to satellite navigation dubbed NextGen. Some communities say they weren...