Transportinfo.org.uk - today's transport news in the uk, hand picked for you each morning

Saturday, 18 July 2009

BBC News

• Car jobs 'could be lost abroad'The government has been warned by MPs that it risks skills and jobs in the car industry being lost abroad if it does not get its strategy right.
• BA announces plan to raise £600mBritish Airways plans to raise more than £600m to help it weather the recession, the airline has said.

Financial Times

• Fundraising could hit pension plansThe move by British Airways to raise £680m in new capital may have boosted the airline's financial position, but it undermines the security of its schemes

Times Online

• BA fund makes a calculated gambleBritish Airways suddenly has an extra mile of runway to get airborne again. Yesterday™s capital-raising and the unusual sacrifice by its pension funds have together given the stricken company the breathing space to keep trundling along till economic conditions provide some lift.

Daily Express

• General Motors faces RHJ cutsONE of the bidders for General Motors' European business, including Opel and Vauxhall, said it planned to cut up to 10,000 jobs.
• Comment: BA experiencing turbulent timesONCE it decided it needed to raise finance, British Airways moved quickly. Within a week of rumours circulating of a bond issue, no doubt put out by sources close to BA to test the water, a deal was struck yesterday.

The Sun

• Sex act at wheel of Virgin train A TRAIN driver faces the sack over claims he was caught pleasuring himself

Liverpool Echo

• MP shock over government delay on aid for Merseyside car maker JaguarMPS today condemned the failure to deliver badly-needed aid to crisis-hit Merseyside car maker Jaguar - describing themselves as "astounded" at the delays.

Metro

• Tory leader flew to biofuel meetingEnvironmental campaigners have criticised Conservative Party leader David Cameron for using a helicopter to travel to a meeting with university biofuel researchers.

The News (Portsmouth)

• Catarmarans arrive after trip around the worldTwo new ships splashed down in Portsmouth after hitching a ride from the Far East on this vast container vessel.

The York Press

• York rail station ticket barriers plan thrown outUpdated: CONTROVERSIAL plans for ticket barriers at York Station were thrown out by councillors, following a fiery meeting at the city™s Guildhall.
• Fuel war as petrol and diesel prices drop in York THE cost of both petrol and diesel in York has fallen below £1 a litre again as a new fuel price war erupted.

Sunderland Echo

• A195 slip road closureMotorists are being warned that the slip road from the A195 to the Wear Industrial Park has been closed due to heavy rain.

International Herald Tribune

• By Degrees: Buses May Aid Climate Battle in Poor CitiesLow-emission buses could greatly reduce heat-trapping gases produced in the developing world’s booming cities.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• SMMT welcomes green transport plansGovernment plans to reduce road transport emissions by 14 per cent over the next ten years have been met with approval by a leading industry body.The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has welcomed the move, which was announced earlier this week by transport secretary Andrew Adonis.Chief executive of the SMMT Paul Everitt said that "significant progress" has been made in the UK vehicle industry on the issue of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.He added that the sector was "encouraged" by the support the government is giving to the development ...

Aviation Industry

• Continental CEO Kellner QuitsChairman and CEO Lawrence W. Kellner will leave Continental Airlines Inc. at the end of the year to return to the private-equity business and will be replaced by company president Jeffery Smisek.

Other News Sources

• BA claim luxury air travel days are overDemands for luxury air travel have declined since the recession and British Airways has admitted that they do not see the demand increasing to previous levels again. The demand for premium seats fell by 14.9% in June . It would have fallen more, however BA were offering a two for one offer on Business Class fares. People [...]
• Bookings for the ABTA Travel Convention are ahead of 2008 Bookings for the ABTA Travel Convention are ahead of last year with 520 people registered to attend. The...
• Online flight booking fees go sky-highThe cost of booking flights by debit or credit cards has soared over the past 18 months by a shocking 614%
• Biofuel industry faces uncertain futureThe UK's biofuel industry is set to suffer following the government's plan to abolish the existing tax savings.
• Possibility of legal tailgating in five to 10 yearsTruck drivers could be travelling less than a metre from the vehicle in front
• Highways Agency spending stats revealedTransport minister Sadiq Khan has revealed figures showing Highways Agency spending over the last decade
• Air cargo confidence on the upConfidence among airline cargo executives has increased dramatically in the last three months, according to the latest survey by the International Air Transport Association (Iata).
• Walker set on going it aloneUK forwarder Walker Freight Services has dismissed speculation that it is in merger and acquisition talks.
• Startup JetAmerica opts to suspend launchCiting continuing difficulty in obtaining slots at Newark airport to support its charter flights, startup JetAmerica has suspended sales and the planned...
• More KG vessels squeezedLIQUIDITY problems for German KG box vessels continue to escalate, with another one-ship company going insolvent today.
• Salford City Council approves £400m port schemeSalford City Council has approved Peel Group's plans for a huge £400m port for cargo ships to be built at Barton, near Eccles.
• Southern launches iGoogle and Vista gadgetA new iGoogle Southern ‘gadget' is now available for passengers to download and store on their iGoogle home page. The gadget allows passengers to book train tickets through Southern's new online booking system.read more