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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

British Airways cabin crew will not strike over the Easter and royal wedding bank holidays, the airline and Unite union said in a joint statement yesterday. BA’s new chief executive Keith Williams and Unite boss Len McCluskey have agreed to extend a prior deadline of 15 April for any strikes to be announced, meaning crunch talks can continue and Unite will hold off from calling disruptive action over the holidays.

source: cityam.com

The nation’s third-biggest airline has filed suit against Orbitz Worldwide, the second-biggest online travel site, and Travelport, the company behind Orbitz’s reservation system, saying they’ve taken “‘unprecedented’” steps to discourage use of American’s preferred direct booking pipeline.

American’s push for travel agents to start using its direct link to find its fares and flights rather than the centralized systems that currently pool most airlines’ price information has set off a series of clashes.

Brian Hoyt, a spokesman for Orbitz, called the lawsuit “‘completely baseless. … Their goal is to make it harder for consumers, to make it harder to comparison shop.’”

source: USA Today

Canada’s largest airline wants the new discount carrier to be a competitive answer to its lowercost rivals, like WestJet Airlines Ltd., Air Transat and Sunwing Vacations, which have been growing at a faster pace than Air Canada in recent years and eroding its market share on certain routes.

It wouldn’t be the first time Air Canada entered the low-cost market. It launched two other low-cost carriers, Tango and Zip, in the past. Both ceased operations after two years.

source: vancouversun.com

UK citizens are being warned against “‘all but essential'” travel to Syria, after three weeks of unrest which have reportedly left 170 protesters dead.

The advice was issued in an update from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Middle East and North Africa Minister Alistair Burt said that security in the country was “‘deteriorating'”. he also added that “‘We recommend that those in Syria exercise caution and maintain a high level of security awareness, particularly in public places and on the roads, and avoid large crowds and demonstrations.'”

source: BBC

The European Union is planning changes to its law on airline passenger rights, following heavy criticism by both carriers and passenger groups.

Shortcomings in the regulations were highlighted last year during the airspace closures that started a year ago this Thursday, after Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull erupted.

Airlines, which faced a bill of £2.2 billion as a result of the closures, argued the rules were not originally conceived to deal with such circumstances outside of their control.

source: travelweekly.co.uk

The world’s largest online travel company Expedia has unveiled plans to spin off its TripAdvisor brand.

Expedia said it hopes to split into two public companies – Expedia and TripAdvisor – by the third quarter of 2011.

TripAdvisor allows travellers to post reviews and attracts more than 40 million visitors a month across 29 countries.

Expedia, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, employs 8,900 staff worldwide.

source: Press Association

A drunk who sparked panic by claiming the plane passenger next to him was a suicide bomber was yesterday jailed for three years.

James Glen, 38, was flying to Heathrow from Australia when he told a stewardess Ali Ghazanfar had a gun and would let off a bomb unless he was given £20,000.

Innocent Mr Ghazanfar was searched, before Glen was charged with making a bomb hoax. He pleaded guilty.

source: Mirror

British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha have flown to Spain on a budget airline for a two-day break to celebrate her 40th birthday.

The couple travelled to Spain on a “‘low-cost airline'”, although he denied Spanish press reports that it was an easyJet flight.

Spain’s El Pais daily said they arrived in southern Spain late Wednesday and then went on by car to the historic city of Granada, the site of the sprawling Alhambra fortress-palace, built by Spain’s medieval Moorish rulers.

source: AFP

Southwest Airlines is willing to expand inspections for its older Boeing 737 aircraft but sees no reason for concern a week after one of its jets made an emergency landing with a hole in its fuselage, the discount carrier’s chief executive officer said on Friday.

An older-model Southwest Airlines 737-300 was forced to make an emergency landing in Arizona on April 1 when a 5-foot (1.52 meters) tear opened up in its fuselage 20 minutes after takeoff.

The incident prompted Southwest, the largest domestic airline by passengers flown, to ground planes and cancel hundreds of flights over the weekend so it could inspect more than 70 of its older model 737-300s.

source: reuters.com