ALERT London Gatwick Airport is running out of water

 

London Gatwick Airport runs out of water so toilets won’t flush and restaurants shut.

A burst water main has resulted in low water pressure – with only two toilets reported to be working in one terminal.

Some outlets have not been able to provide food or drinks as SES Water works to resolve the issue.

A Gatwick spokesperson said: ‘An issue with the supply of SES Water to Gatwick and the surrounding area this morning has led to lower water pressure than normal across the airport.

‘Bottled water is being made available to passengers and staff across the airport and other contingency measures are being put in place to ensure the welfare of our passengers. We apologise for any inconvenience to passengers.’

Emirates rejects Heathrow Airport demand to cut capacity

 

Emirates airline has rejected Heathrow Airport’s demands to cut capacity, the company said on Thursday.

Dubai’s Emirates airline said on Thursday it was planning to operate as scheduled to and from London’s Heathrow airport, with no plans to cut capacity after the airport threatened legal action if capacity is not cut.

In a statement, the company described Heathrow’s request as “unreasonable and unacceptable,” saying that moving some Heathrow flights to other UK airports at short notice was not realistic.

 

British Airways has announced it will cut a further 10,300 short-haul flights until the end of October.

British Airways is scrapping another 10,300 flights through the summer peak travel season as the carrier struggles with an ongoing staffing crisis that’s contributed to travel chaos across Europe.

With the latest round of cancellations, which come after the carrier announced reductions earlier this week, it will have pared about 13% of its schedule.

The cancellations are all on short-haul routes, with long-haul operations not affected.

A mysterious plane crossed six NATO countries without authorization, landed in a small airfield before the pilot and passengers disappeared

 

A plane triggered the air defences of six NATO members before landing on Thursday (9 June) in a small airfield in Bulgaria, whereby the pilot and passengers promptly disappeared.

Fighter jets of several countries were scrambled to intercept the mysterious plane, trying to initiate contact with the pilot, without success.

The plane was reportedly spotted by the Hungarian and Romanian Air Force, which scrambled F-16 jets to intercept the Beechcraft. Upon entering Bulgarian airspace, the country’s air force was also activated.

The Beechcraft entered Bulgaria from the northern city of Vidin, where it landed for refuelling, but it is not known precisely where it was refuelled.

The Ministry of Defense announced that the plane entered the airspace of Bulgaria without an approved flight plan shortly after 7 pm on Wednesday.

He said the plane took off Lithuania and passed through seven countries, including Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Serbia, before landing in Bulgaria. Six of them, except Serbia, are NATO members.

The media quoted the director of the airport in Debrecen, Hungary, who reportedly said the Beechcraft also landed at a small airport in Hungary. Reportedly five or six people got off and refuelled the plane using jerrycans. The Hungarian police tried to stop them, but they were swift and took off quickly.

The plane landed at a local airfield usually reserved for agricultural aircraft. It was found abandoned with a still-warm engine.

The prosecutor’s office in the Bulgarian city of Targovishte launched an investigation.

Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport cancels over 100 flights today due to a strike

 

Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport has cancelled a quarter of Thursday morning flights after staff announced a strike.

Unionised employees will walk off the job between 7am and 2pm on Thursday morning as part of a protest against low wages.

“We demand a 300 euro raise for all,” the CGT union said in a statement, pointing to the rapidly rising cost of living.

Unionised workers claim that they are not paid enough to deal with this uptick in demand.

Norwegian Air has reached an agreement in principle with Boeing for a recommitment to purchase 50 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.The agreement also includes options for an additional 30 aircraft.

 

Norwegian Air has reached an agreement in principle with Boeing for a recommitment to purchase 50 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.The agreement also includes options for an additional 30 aircraft.

The 50 aircraft are due to be delivered between 2025 and 2028, at a schedule closely corresponding to current aircraft lease expirations. This entails a limited net increase of the company’s current fleet. The parties’ agreement in principle is subject to various closing conditions, which are targeted to be concluded by the end of June 2022.

The company intends to finance the outstanding balance of pre-delivery payments through positive cash flow from operating activities. A significant share of the aircraft will be owned by the company, ensuring an optimised and balanced aircraft financing structure. Subsequent to the conclusion of these agreements, Norwegian estimates to record a net gain of approximately NOK 2 billion.

Vueling airline to sell flight tickets in the metaverse

 

Vueling, an airline owned by IAG, will open a new sales channel in the metaverse.

The new channel will be up and running before the end of the year, and everything purchased in the metaverse will be usable in the real world and will be the same as a physical airline ticket. This is an airline first with Vueling becoming the first carrier to announce the sale of flights via the metaverse.

To enable this development, Vueling has partnered with Next Earth, the third largest platform available in the metaverse by number of users (more than 230,000 users and 45,000 virtual owners). From Next Earth, the user will be able to visualise real-world journeys and the carbon footprint of each stage, as well as select and book the best modes of transport for each moment.

Furthermore, the airline has joined an alliance with the Spanish start-up Iomob, a shared mobility platform which offers transport companies any mobility service through just one integration. Iomob, that has presence in more than 270 cities, has been briefed to create a specific APP for Vueling (usable in the Next Earth metaverse) which, in addition to flights, will offer last-mile transportation services (e-scooters, scooters, Uber, public transport, etc.).