Tag: automotive

Coronavirus has thrown the travel industry into an unprecedented state, with airlines across the globe being forced to cancel journeys, severely reduce itineraries and ground huge portions of their fleet. In the UK alone airlines have seen their schedules slashed by up to 95 percent.

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Though British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, easyJet and Jet2 are among those who are working with the government to repatriate Britons currently abroad, there remains a massive portion of their aircraft firmly on the ground.

While planes are usually en route to a destination, fuelling up at an international airport, or at a home base patiently awaiting its next lot of travellers, their reality looks for different for the time being.

Images have emerged of rows upon rows of popular airline’s fleet lines up, with no immediate plans to jet off anywhere.

Meanwhile, in the US taxiways, maintenance hangers and even runways have been transformed into special aircraft parking lots.

So, where exactly are UK aircraft being stored amid the COVID-19 crisis?

British Airways aircraft are being stored across the world at various airports, though here in the UK Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Nottingham, Glasgow and Cardiff Airports have all been reported to be providing a safe haven for the carriers.

Bournemouth airport has also taken on a large number of planes after the capital’s airports reached capacity.

According to The Points Guy UK one of BA’s A380 planes is grounded at London, meanwhile, another is being stored at Manila Airport in The Philippines.

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Two 747s are currently parked at Cardiff Airport, and six other 747s are residing at Heathrow.

Cardiff is also housing a Dreamliner, while nine others are at Heathrow having not operated a commercial flight since March 18.

The airline is also reportedly storing some of its fleet in Madrid, and others at Glasgow airport.

Express.co.uk has contacted BA for more insight into where its planes are being stored.

British Airways most recently suspended all of its Gatwick flights, following in the footsteps of easyJet which grounded its commercial planes.

“Over recent days, easyJet has been helping to repatriate customers, having operated more than 650 rescue flights to date, returning home more than 45,000 customers,” the airline said in a statement.

“The last of these rescue flights were operated on Sunday, March 29.

“We will continue to work with government bodies to operate additional rescue flights as requested.

“At this stage, there can be no certainty of the date for restarting commercial flights.

“We will continuously evaluate the situation based on regulations and demand, and will update the market when we have a view.”

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The Luton-based carrier has parked all of its 334 planes, though it is not clear where they are all housed.

Images have emerged showing some grounded flights parked at Gatwick and Luton airports.

Express.co.uk has contacted easyJet for further comment.

In a similar move, Stansted airport’s biggest airline Ryanair says it expects the majority of its commercial flights to be grounded until June.

The Irish carrier said it does not anticipate operating scheduled services throughout April and May, though this is dependant on government advice.

According to the Ryanair website: “We expect that most if not all Ryanair Group flights will be grounded, except for a very small number of flights to maintain essential connectivity, mostly between the UK and Ireland.”

Like most airlines, it is likely a large portion of its fleet will be parked at one of the airline’s main bases, including Stansted and its primary Irish base in Dublin.

Express.co.uk has contacted Ryanair for further insight.

Yesterday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab explained how the UK government has teamed up with airlines at this time to bring Britons home.

The government has partnered with UK airlines including British Airways, easyJet, Virgin, Titan and Jet2 to set up a repatriation effort and ensure those who want to fly home are able to do so.

“The first priority is to keep as many commercial flights runnings as we can, and that’s based purely on the scale and the number of people who want to come home,” explained Raab.

The government will now be injecting £75 million into repatriation efforts in a bid to help commercial airlines continue to fly while keeping ticket costs as low as possible for travellers who wish to book onto flights.

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Holidays have been cancelled or postponed for the near future as coronavirus sweeps the globe. Many Britons may now be left with travel money they purchased that now has no use. It is possible to exchange this back into pounds at this time?

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Express.co.uk spoke to experts to find out what Britons should do about their euros or other leftover currency.

Ian Strafford-Taylor, CEO of Equals (formerly known as FairFX), said: “We’ve found that on average people return from holiday with around £177 worth of leftover currency.”

However, he warned that Britons need to be careful about buy-back rates.

“Those with cash, whether leftover from a holiday or because travel plans were cancelled due to coronavirus, can change their currency back to sterling, but this will leave them at the mercy of buy-back rates, which have been hit by the falling pound over the last few weeks,” he said.

The best way to counter this problem is to shop around first.

“Savvy consumers should shop around before they change currency back to make sure they’re getting the best offer available and not losing too much money in the process,” Strafford-Taylor detailed.

However, given the closure of many bureau de changes and suspension and cash services it may actually be best to hold on to the travel money.

“If they can, holidaymakers might want to keep hold of their currency until their next trip and use it then,” said Strafford-Taylor.

“For those using prepaid currency cards, they can spend their money back in the UK online or in stores, keep it for their next trip, or change it to a different currency altogether.”

Sacha Zackariya, CEO, Change Group International Plc, also agreed exchanging money may not be wise right now.

“Along with all other bureaus de change and banks, we have now closed all branches,” Zackariya told Express.co.uk.

“We actually made the decision to close them before government restrictions to protect our staff and customers.

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“Due to this, unfortunately, there is no easy solution to change your foreign currency at this point.

“I would, therefore, recommend holding on to this leftover currency until your next holiday or if it is somewhere you are unlikely to travel again then exchange it at a later date.

“As international travel restrictions are updated and government policies change we recommend checking our website for updates on this situation.”

Sterling’s biggest low this week came after Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivered an announcement on Tuesday night that saw the UK forced into full lockdown.

The measures included the closure of many “non-essential” shops and businesses which saw the pound plummet.

However, Michael Brown, Currency Expert at Caxton FX, said: “Sterling continued to gain ground against the euro on Thursday, as a broad-based improvement in risk appetite helped to push the pound to its best levels in a week, back above the 1.10 handle.”

The boost came as the Bank of England decided to keep interest rates at a steady 0.1 percent on Thursday.

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Coronavirus has left everyone nervous about germs and handwashing has never been more discussed. However, it turns out that it’s not just your hands that should be cleaned when travelling. Research shows that your passport could be a veritable smorgasbord of nasties.

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A recent report by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) shed some light on this.

Findings showed that the COVID-19 virus could still be detected on plastic surfaces (such as passport covers) up to three days after the initial contamination.

With this in mind, cast your mind to how many people have handled your passport as you’ve handed it over to be checked while travelling…

So should you be disinfecting your passport when you travel to prevent catching anything unpleasant?

One expert advised wiping the travel document down with wipes of over 60 percent alcohol.

Erin Sorrell, Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Georgetown University told Afar magazine: “In general, viruses—and not just the coronavirus—can survive longer on nonporous, water-resistant surfaces like plastic and steel.

“Many passport covers are made from plastic and those surfaces should be cleaned regularly.

“Using a disinfectant wipe that is over 60 percent alcohol is a good method.”

However, travellers should be careful not to damage or smudge any airport stickers they may need while cleaning their passport.

Passport covers to go over the passport could help worried travellers.

A sheath can protect the passport itself from germs and comes with no risks when cleaning.

Furthermore, other materials such as leather and fabric are porous.

This makes them less hospitable for viruses so they won’t survive as long.

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However, these covers should still be cleaned every now and again to still be on the safe side.

Travel health experts at Vaxxy Travel shared their top tips with Express.co.uk for saying safe and clean while travelling.

“Before your travel, organise an inflight bag of essentials to ensure you can remain clean whilst on the flight,” said Parvinder Sagoo, Pharmacist and Clinical Advisor at Vaxxy Travel.

“Things like anti-bac hand wipes, spray, hand sanitiser, facial wipes, anti-bacterial hand cream and face cream and any other items that will keep your immediate area safe.

“Once you get on the plane, wipe down your armrests, tray table and window shutter with one of the wipes to ensure any germs are removed.

Ensure you do not share any food with anyone on your flight, and when it comes to the in-flight meals make sure you wipe down any areas of plastic that you will be touching.

“Ensuring you take regular trips to the bathroom to wash your hands thoroughly in between hand sanitiser is advised to keep hands clean.

“If you do go to the bathroom, it might be an idea to take your anti-bac wipes with you so you can wipe down the areas that you will be in contact before and after for the next person.”

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Since the outbreak of coronavirus, the number of confirmed cases has increased rapidly, showing how contagious the disease truly is. This has led governments to urge people not to travel unless absolutely essential, however, there are many who have found themselves in this category, needing to fly back home to safety.

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Most plane passengers are taking safety very seriously, washing their hands, using hand sanitiser and wearing face masks while travelling through airports and on aeroplanes.

However, one traveller shocked his fellow fliers when he took extreme measures to protect himself from the COVID-19 virus.

Passengers were so shocked at his choice of protection that one snapped a photo of the moment and shared it with Instagram account @PassengerShaming.

The man can be seen sitting at the end of an economy row on board a plane.

Strapped into his seat, the man appears to be taking a mid-flight snooze.

However, it is the intense ensemble he has opted for in an attempt to protect himself from the virus which may be surprising to some.

Not only has the man donned a face-mask for protection, but he also appears to be sitting inside a huge plastic bag.

His entire body is enclosed within the plastic, and there seems to be no holes or way for him to breathe.

At the time of writing, the image has amassed 23,351 likes and 709 comments, dividing the opinion of many.

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One user wrote: “I can’t breath just looking at this picture.”

Another pointed out how unsafe his outfit could be. They said: “Meanwhile, it’s the suffocation that gets him.”

Someone else simply commented: “That can’t be safe.”

Another questioning: “Can they breathe?”

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Others, however, felt that his outfit choice was reasonable given the circumstances.

One said: “At this point, that seems like a normal response to me.”

A second added: “No chances taken!”

While a third congratulated the traveller, saying: “At that point, just put yourself in the checked luggage hold.”

There were some users, though, who felt even his extreme safety precaution simply wasn’t enough to protect himself and others around him.

“I wish you would start a COVID-shaming Instagram page to call out the stupid behaviour that is keeping this virus spreading,” said one commenter.

Another angrily vented: “Why are people even flying?! Stay your a***s home!!!”

This call to stay away from unnecessary travel was also echoed by PassengerShaming, who captioned the image: “If you can avoid it, please stay home.”

Of course, there were also those who tried to inject a little humour and light-hearted banter into what feels like an ominous situation.

One commenter said: “At that point, just put yourself in the checked luggage hold.”

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The airline Emirates has announced it plans to suspend all flights by March 25. The decision is in line with a number of other airlines who have cancelled or reduced services as coronavirus fears grow.

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Emirates announced it will suspend all passenger flights in a statement posted on Twitter.

The statement reads: “Today we made the decision to temporarily suspend all passenger flights by 25 March 2020.

“SkyCargo operations will continue. This painful but pragmatic move will help Emirates Group preserve business viability and secure jobs worldwide, avoiding cuts.

“We deeply apologise to our customers for the travel disruptions and inconvenience caused. We are committed to minimise impact to our customer.

“We will continue to watch the situation closely, and will reinstate our passenger services, as soon as feasible.

“These are unprecedented times for the airline and travel industry, but we will get through it with your support.”

Are you affected?

The airline flies from six UK airports, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, London Gatwick and London Heathrow.

The majority of flights are long haul and will usually stopover in Dubai.

Those who have booked tickets and are set to board a passenger flight from March 25 will no longer be able to do so.

In the statement, the airline explained it will try to minimise the impact to customers as much as possible.

The company also shared information for customers hoping to get a refund or fly at another time.

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Passengers who are no longer able to fly will be able to request a travel voucher.

Detailing the voucher, the Emirates website wrote: “Travel vouchers are valid for one year from the date of issue and can be used for any Emirates product or service.

“Travel vouchers are issued per passenger and are non transferable.

“You can use the travel voucher throughout the year for multiple transactions if you wish to (up to its value).

“You will also receive travel vouchers for any services you have paid for associated to your ticket.”

Passengers whose flights have been disrupted can also put in a request for a refund.

Over the past few weeks, airlines including EasyJet, Ryanair, British Airways and Norwegian Air have all cancelled a huge number of flights.

This follows the government’s advice, who have urged Britons to stop all unnecessary travel.

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Coronavirus has thrown the holiday plans of many into chaos as the deadly virus sweeps the globe. There are current 212, 616 confirmed cases in the world and a total of 8, 727 deaths so far. Coronavirus has proven a nightmare for those with flights booked as the UK government warns against all but essential travel outside the UK for 30 days.

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Travellers are being forced to rearrange their holidays, whether that’s cancelling flights (if they haven’t already been axed) or rebooking.

Each airline has their own policy on how customers should proceed, from easyJet and Ryanair to British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Travel app Omio has rounded up airline policies as a resource for anyone who had previously booked travel or may be trying to travel home.

Boris Radke, Director Corporate Affairs at Omio, said of the current situation: “Right now, restrictions across many countries mean for most people and with only a few exceptions, it’s not possible to travel, nor is it sensible to. However we fundamentally believe in people’s desire to get back on the move as soon as it’s safe to do so; when that happens, we want to be there to support their needs.”

Here is Omio’s list of rebooking and cancellation policies for major airlines:

Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus is currently waiving our change fees across all fare types and in all markets.

You may re-book to another day of travel by using the Manage Trip section. Please note the departure destination cannot be changed online.

If your flight is cancelled you can apply for a refund you can switch the date or destination of your journey.

Air Canada

Air Canada has implemented a goodwill policy that applies to flights to, from or via certain countries listed at this link. For other destinations, normal fare rules, including change policies, apply.

Air France

Users can postpone their trips (if booking was done before 31 March + flight planned until 31 May) without fees. If flight is after 31 May, then possible to get a voucher for the full amount.

Alitalia

All passengers who purchased a ticket issued by 3 April for a flight departing from 23 February to 31 May can request the following by 31 May:

To change your booking for another trip taking place by 31 December

A refund with a voucher of equal value to the ticket purchased, valid for one year, to fly to any destination offered by Alitalia.

All passengers in possession of an Alitalia (055) ticket whose flight has been cancelled can request the following by 31 May:

To change your booking for another trip taking place by 31 December

A voucher of equal value to the ticket purchased, valid for one year, to fly to any destination serviced by Alitalia.

A refund of the price of the ticket or of the remaining value of the part of the trip which has not yet been completed.

American Airlines

No Change Fees For All Tickets Purchased Between March 1-31, 2020.

British Airways

If your BA flight is cancelled and you have booked via British Airways – they will rebook or refund you for your ticket via Manage My Booking. They recommend you go first to ba.com as this is the quickest and easiest way to make changes to your booking.

If you have booked via a travel agent, contact them directly to discuss further arrangements for your booking. 

BA are enabling customers to change their destination, date of travel, or both for free, on all new bookings made from Tuesday 3 March to Sunday 31 May 2020, as well as any existing bookings that depart up to Sunday 31 May 2020.

Delta Airlines

Delta is broadly waiving change fees for travel impacted by coronavirus. That means all travel departing in March or April 2020, as well as all tickets purchased in March 2020.

For flights May 1, 2020 or later, please continue to check back as the situation evolves.

EasyJet

Change fees waived until further notice.

The airline said: “Please be assured if your flight is cancelled, you will be contacted by us there is therefore no need to contact us.

“If a country changes their travel advice there will be a short delay in our flights being cancelled and following that rescue flights will be published. On average this is around 12hours during which time our operations team are working to understand the restriction and the impact it will have on our flight programme. As soon as they have done this the revised flight programme the affected customers will be contacted via email and SMS to alert them.”

Emirates

For those prohibited from travel due to travel restrictions as well as impacted by cancellation and suspensions (not including Iran the policy is:

Ticketed to travel until May 31

Rebook permitted until June 30

Reroute permitted until June 30 to selected Emirates destinations only. Applicable fare difference if any would apply.

Travel Vouchers for ticketed value.

Refund of unutilised tickets.

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Etihad

For passengers whose tickets were issued in the UAE on or before March 5, 2020 and who have been instructed or instructed by the authorities not to leave the UAE until further notice, flights departing by April 15, 2020 can do so without a standard change fee be rebooked.

Only one change is allowed, and standard fees apply for further changes. A route change or new booking is only possible if there are no travel restrictions for the intended travel destination.

Passengers can also request cancellation. In this case there is no fee for the reimbursement of the unused part of a ticket.

Eurowings

Free rebooking possibility for new bookings until 31 March 2020. As of now and until 31 March 2020, Eurowings passengers can rebook newly booked flights once free of charge. Thus, passengers can rebook to a new date within the travel period until 31 December 2020 without any rebooking fee.

Free rebooking until 31 December 2020 for already booked flights with departure date until 30 April 2020. The goodwill regulation for existing bookings applies to all flights with a departure date up to 30 April 2020. Passengers can rebook once to a new date within the travel period up to 31 December 2020 without any rebooking fee.

Lufthansa

Possibility to rebook existing bookings:

The new waiver policy for existing bookings applies worldwide for tickets purchased before 5 March with a travel date up to 30 April 2020. Passengers can rebook to a new date up to 31 December 2020 without any rebooking fee – regardless of condition of the original booking fare purchased.

General rebooking option for future bookings:

With immediate effect and until 31 March 2020, the Lufthansa Group airlines will waive the rebooking fees for all newly booked flights worldwide and offer a one-time rebooking – regardless of condition of the original booking fare purchased. Passengers can in future rebook to a new travel date until 31 December 2020 without rebooking fees.

Applicable for both waiver policies: The departure and destination airports must be identical. If the original fare is no longer available, the corresponding difference must be paid. The rebooking must be made before the original travel date.

Ryanair

If your flight is cancelled, then Ryanair will inform customers who can get full refund for free (or modify).

The flight change fee has been removed for April flights.

Virgin Atlantic

No change fee for new bookings including reward flights made in March 2020 for travel up until September 30 2020.

Flexible policy to waive the flight change fee for bookings made from March 4 – March 31 2020.

Vueling

Offering change of flight dates of all the bookings which include flights between April 13-30 2020.

The date change will be completely free (only the fare difference will be paid, if applicable).

The passenger/agency can change the flight to travel on any other available flight operated by Vueling on the same route.

Valid for all fares and flights operated by Vueling.

Please note that only one date change is allowed per flight in the booking (except for the TimeFlex fare which allows unlimited changes). It is only possible to change the date if none of the flights in the booking have been taken.

Wizzair

Passengers with bookings affected by cancellations are automatically informed (in most cases at least 14 days prior to their original date of travel) and reaccommodated on an alternative route.

Customers who have booked directly on wizzair.com or via the airline’s mobile app will receive an email notification establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of cancellation of flights.

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The pound to euro exchange rate plummeted to a six-month low on Tuesday as coronavirus sweeps the globe. Following panic from several industries surrounding closures and job layoffs, the government last night unveiled its stimulus package which hopes to add some stability for the economy.

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Sterling is currently trading at a rate of 1.0975 against the euro at the time of writing. It shows a small boost since yesterday, likely owed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s dedication to pump money back into areas of the economy which are floundering amid the spread of the deadly virus.

In a speech yesterday Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said that the government would be providing a £330billion bailout for businesses.

The plan includes scrapping business rates for a year and providing cash grants to shops, pubs and other high-street outlets hit by fewer customers.

Vowing to do “whatever it takes” to protect the economy, Sunak said: “We have never, in peacetime, faced an economic fight like this one.”

PM Johnson added: “This enemy can be deadly, but it is also beatable.”

The government will also be offering a three-month holiday on mortgage payments for those in need.

Gareth Shaw, Head of Money at Which?, said: “The measures announced by the chancellor, such as a three-month mortgage holiday scheme, are an important first step to helping millions of consumers who may face financial hardship during the coronavirus crisis.

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“The government must move swiftly to ensure those in need of assistance get clear information about how these schemes will work in practice – and that the process for doing so is straightforward, ensuring consumers can easily access the support they need in the challenging months ahead.”

Home Secretary Dominic Raab announced yesterday afternoon that the government would now be advising all Britons to avoid any unnecessary travel over the next 30 days.

In parliamentary updates at the House of Commons he said: “The FCO will always take into consideration the safety of British nationals so with immediate effect I’ve taken the decision to advise British Nationals against non-essential travel globally for a period of 30 days and of course subject to ongoing review.

“I should emphasise this decision is being taken based on the domestic measures being introduced into the UK alongside the border and a range of other restrictions which are being taken by countries right around the world.

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“The speed and the range of these measures across other countries is unprecedented some of those decisions are being made without notice.”

However, there may still be some who need to exchange travel money, and now are faced with concerns about whether they will lose out huge sums of money.

Although the Post Office has cancelled the sale of travel insurance, it continues to offer travel money exchanges.

It is currently offering €1.0577 for £400 or more, €1.0731 for £500 or more or €1.0785 for £1,000 or more.

Ian Strafford-Taylor, CEO of international travel money specialist Equals said: “The global pandemic of the coronavirus along with the government’s response and the market’s reaction has left the pound incredibly vulnerable.

“Combined with travel bans, country lockdowns and mass flight cancellations, holidaymakers are struggling to know which way to turn.

“People who have had to postpone their holiday or had their trip cancelled, could hold onto their travel money until they are able to rebook, or if it’s loaded onto a prepaid card, they could use it while on home soil.

“It’s a very uncertain time for the pound, so if you do need to change your travel money back into pounds, you should shop around to find the best buy-back rate.”

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Coronavirus has forced Spain to lock down its borders as the number of cases in the holiday hotspot continues to rise. At the time of writing, there are 11,309 confirmed cases in Spain – the fourth highest country in the world after China, Italy and Iran. Airlines have cancelled huge swathes of flights to and from Spain.

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Now Ryanair has issued an “important notice” to those currently in Spain and hoping to return.

The budget airline explained that those checked in to return from March 21 to March 28 have been unchecked in by the carrier.

Instead, Ryanair has said customers should apply for a free move on an alternative date.

This is what you need to know about the latest update.

Ryanair said in a statement today: “In response to the decision of the Spanish Government to “lock down” the entire country to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus, Ryanair Group Airlines (including Buzz and Lauda) has been forced to severely reduce flights to/from Spain, the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands from 24:00 Sun 15 Mar until 24:00 Fri 20 Mar.

“Customers that were already checked-in for their return flight may have experienced difficulties to change their booking. 

“Today we are unchecking all customers booked on flights exiting Spain from 21 Mar to 28 Mar and advising them to apply for a free move on an alternative date via our online service.

“Ryanair Group apologises for any inconvenience caused by this unprecedented crisis. 

“The safety and well-being of our people and customers is our main priority. 

“We are working closely with state authorities and we will follow any travel restrictions that are imposed. 

“We will continue to comply with all WHO and EASA guidelines to combat the Covid-19 virus.”

The statement comes a day after Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said the carrier was communicating with those travellers impacted by travel changes.

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He said: “At the Ryanair Group Airlines, we are doing everything we can to meet the challenge posed by the Covid-19 outbreak, which has over the last week caused extraordinary and unprecedented travel restrictions to be imposed by National Governments, in many cases with minimal or zero notice. 

“We are communicating with all affected passengers by email and SMS, and we are organising rescue flights to repatriate customers, even in those countries where travel bans have been imposed.

He added: “Ryanair is taking all actions necessary to cut operating expenses, and improve cash flows at each of our airlines. 

“Ryanair is a resilient airline group, with a very strong balance sheet, and substantial cash liquidity, and we can, and will, with appropriate and timely action, survive through a prolonged period of reduced or even zero flight schedules, so that we are adequately prepared for the return to normality, which will come about sooner rather than later as EU Governments take unprecedented action to restrict the spread of Covid-19.”

Ryanair also commented on the European lockdown which is currently underway in a statement.

“Ryanair expects the result of these restrictions will be the grounding of the majority of its aircraft fleet across Europe over the next seven to 10 days,” said the Irish carrier.

“In those countries where the fleet is not grounded, social distancing restrictions may make flying to all intents and purposes, impractical, if not, impossible.

“For April and May, Ryanair now expects to reduce its seat capacity by up to 80 percent, and a full grounding of the fleet cannot be ruled out.” 

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