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

Tuesday, 03 November 2020

BBC News

• Covid: Ryanair will not offer refunds for November flightsThe airline will allow passengers to change their travel plans for free amid new lockdown measures.

Financial Times

• It's time for paperless passportsOur existing systems are not up to the task. The pandemic offers a chance for a rethink
• Ryanair chief criticises UK government as airline suffers lossesMichael O'Leary lambasts PM's mismanagement of coronavirus crisis
• Ryanair: well groundedAirline may have suffered rare quarterly loss but it has the wherewithal to survive this crisis

The Telegraph

• ‘Ryanair of long-haul travel’ wins more than £1m of taxpayer Covid fund [subscription]Government fund, set up to help businesses impacted by Covid-19, to invest in a low-cost airline launched by former Lehman Brothers trader. A former Lehman Brothers trader has been handed more than £1m of taxpayer cash to set up a new airline, despite established carriers being repeatedly rebuffed in their bids for a bailout.
• Hundreds of thousands of people's livelihoods in the aviation industry hang in the balance because of delays over testing - John Holland-Kaye [Subscription]Ministers must work at pace with industry to put in place pre-departure testing that can get people travelling again and boost trade
• How the aerospace industry is restoring confidence in the travelling public - British Standards Institution [Subscription]Before Covid-19, some airline passengers were concerned about engine failure, or take-off and landing. Now the travelling public have a new worry: how can they minimise their risk of infection.
• Airlines will not refund Britons despite travel ban [subscription]Hundreds of thousands of Britons barred from flying during the second lockdown are to be denied refunds by some of Europe's biggest airlines.
• Five-day quarantine would catch 'up to 90pc' of cases and kickstart post-lockdown travel [subscription]Quarantine could be safely cut from 14 to five days to kickstart travel after the national lockdown and in time for Christmas ski holidays, according to the most comprehensive study yet of Covid tests on passengers.

Times Online

• Sky falls in as Ryanair slumps to €197m loss [subscription]Ryanair has reported a €197 million first-half loss following a slump in air travel over the summer and expects losses in the second half of the year to be even higher.
• Heathrow plans legal challenge to abolition of duty-free sales [subscription]Heathrow is preparing a legal challenge over a government decision to scrap airport duty-free shopping on goods such as perfumes, electronics, clothes and chocolate. Britain’s biggest airport hopes for a judicial review after a claim that the change would cause a £2.1 billion annual hit to the UK economy.

Reuters News

• UK aviation needs government support for new lockdown pain - airport boss Britain’s airports and airlines need urgent support to survive the “very bleak future” posed by a new lockdown in England, warned the boss of one of the country’s biggest airport groups.

Sky News

• More than £1bn being held in refunds for cancelled holidaysCustomers are waiting for more than £1bn in refunds due to package holidays being cancelled because of coronavirus.

London Evening Standard

• Profits nosedive: Ryanair reports £178million loss in six monthsRYANAIR boss Michael O’Leary renewed criticism of the government’s “failedâ€� lockdown strategy as his company announced six-month losses of 197 million euro (£178 million) from the pandemic.

Manchester Evening News

• Manchester Airport boss calls for government help as he warns of "very bleak future" for the aviation industryThe Airport Group's CEO Charlie Cornish says after promises of help "an urgent package of support must materialise"

Reading Evening Post

• Heathrow Airport - what the new lockdown rules mean for passengersThe country is set to go into lockdown on Thursday, November 5, with Michael Gove saying foreign holidays are banned. Here's how travel restrictions will affect the airport

Other News Sources

• Is Hydrogen The Future In Aviation?While still in their infancy, hydrogen-powered aircraft could be the solution to carbon-free sustainable aviation. Despite considerable advancements in engine designs that produce 25% more efficient engines than the ones they are replacing, they all still burn kerosene.