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Airline shares dived on Monday in fright at the threat to traffic from an Icelandic volcanic ash cloud closing the skies over Europe, a year after European airlines were hit by month-long ash chaos.

Iceland’s Grimsvoetn volcano began erupting late on Saturday. Ash from the eruption is expected to reach Scotland on Tuesday, and might reach France and Spain on Thursday.

In April 2010 Iceland’s Eyjafjoell volcano erupted, spewing a massive cloud of ash that caused the planet’s biggest airspace shutdown since World War II with more than 100,000 flights cancelled and eight million passengers stranded.

source: AFP

More than half of overseas holidays taken by Britons concentrate on just four countries, according to new research by The Co-operative Travel.

The study found that 61% of breaks are spread between Spain, Greece, Turkey and the US.

Cost is given as the main reason why plans to travel more widely have been put on hold, and 23% of adults say that they actually travel less than they did as children.

source: travelweekly.co.uk

Budget airline easyJet has reported a near-doubling in losses as the company battled higher fuel prices and challenging consumer conditions.

Pre-tax losses increased 94% to £153m in the six months to March 31 after the latest surge in the price of jet fuel cost it an extra £43m and it absorbed an increase in air passenger duty.

source: belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Mystery surrounds a new airline that claims to be establishing a base at the Isle of Man Airport.

According to its website, Ellan Vannin Airways is set to take up residency in EuroManx House at the IOM airport and launch flights in 2012 from the Isle of Man, Cambridge and Oxford airports.

The airline is already advertising  jobs through totaljobs for bases at Oxford, Isle of Man, Cambridge and Liverpool, however, the Isle of Man Examiner reports no approach has been made to the airport managers at Ronaldsway.

source: Reuters

Marriott has won two major awards at the ‘Frequent Traveler Awards’, held April 28 in New York.

The chain’s Marriott Rewards scheme picked up the award for ‘Hotel Program of the Year’ in both the Americas and Europe and Africa, although ‘Priority Club’ by rival chain InterContinental took the ‘Program of the Year in Middle East and Asia/Oceania’.

Air Canada‘s Aeroplan, Lufthansa‘s Miles & More and Emirates‘ Skywards were the big winners in the airline ‘Program of the Year’ category, taking the Americas, Europe and Africa and Middle East and Asia/Oceania respectively.

source: Independent.co.uk

One year after the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, more than 70 airlines took part in a simulation on Wednesday to prepare for another ash cloud closing European airspace.

The exercise simulated the eruption of the Grimsvötn volcano in Iceland, sending volcanic ash south across the North Atlantic and Europe, said the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), based in Montreal.

It aimed to validate changes and improvements to contingency plans and procedures in case of another eruption.

The results are to be presented in Brussels on June 6 and 7. The simulation was not expected to impact regular air travel.

source: Independent.co.uk

The European Union has added all airlines from Mozambique to a blacklist which prohibits operations within Europe.

In the 17th update of the EU’s “‘no-fly'” list, released Tuesday, all air carriers certified in Mozambique were banned from flying into the EU because of “‘significant safety deficiencies'” uncovered by aviation experts working in the region.

The new list, updated for the first time since November 2010, bans a total of 269 carriers from operations within Europe, hailing from 21 states around the world which are believed to have significant safety problems.

source: Independent.co.uk

Transport problems remain “‘one of the biggest risks'” to the 2012 Olympic Games, a London Assembly report has claimed.

The report, by the assembly’s transport committee, found the city’s transport network was already running at near-full capacity.

During the games more than a million extra journeys are expected across the busiest nine days.

source: BBC.co.uk

With airline baggage fees raking in $3.3 billion for airlines each year, the least they can do is give your money back if they lose or delay your bags.

The new rule would require airlines to refund fees if your luggage is lost or not delivered in a “‘timely'” matter.

U.S. airlines mishandled more than 2 million bags last year.

source: freep.com

The government has blocked relaxation of a ban on carrying liquids in airline hand luggage amid warnings from carriers that the move would trigger chaos at airports.

The Airline Operators Association has lobbied for a hiatus in the partial lifting of the liquids ban after warning that the x-ray technology to detect suspect liquids is not ready. Darren Caplan, chief executive of the association, said. “‘Airports have always supported a lifting of the ban for the benefit of our passengers, to ensure they have a positive experience when they are travelling – but only when appropriate technology has been developed and properly tested.'”

The EU now faces calls to issue a new timetable for lifting the ban, given the UK’s important role in the transfer passenger market – Heathrow carries around 6 million connecting customers from outside the EU every year.

source: guardian.co.uk