Category : Airport News

Jetsetters from the Midlands can now enjoy jumbo jet flights from Birmingham to Athens courtesy of Hellenic Imperial Airways and Birmingham International Airport.

The Greek airline will operate a Boeing 747-200 aircraft with 450 seats, and the flights will have onward connections to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Talal Abureyal, Chariman of Hellenic Imperial Airways, said:  “Birmingham is our first UK airport and we are very excited about launching services in the Midlands. Athens, which is our HQ, is not currently served from Birmingham so we expect that our flights will be welcomed by those travelling for business and leisure, in particular those visiting friends and relatives.”

The new flights are sure to be popular with not only Athens-bound travellers, but also those heading for Saudi Arabia, and with Birmingham Airport parking priced as low as around £30* for a week when you pre-book there’s no need to rely on a taxi or a friend to get you to the airport.

* 1 week’s Birmingham Airport parking commencing 08/26/09.

Gatwick’s Inter-Terminal Transit System (monorail) will be closing in September due to necessary work being performed on the tracks.

A new track will reopen on the 28th of April 2010, with a second track to open in July 2010.  In the meantime, a replacement bus service will run from the North Terminal forecourt to the South Terminal forecourt for passengers who need to travel between the two terminals.

While these works are being carried out, travellers requiring Gatwick Airport parking will be able to save time by choosing a car park that provides transfers directly to their departure terminal.  This information is clearly shown on gosimply.com, so you can be sure to choose the most appropriate location to suit your plans.

People across the UK might be tightening their belts a little to make ends meet, but recent figures show that Welsh holidaymakers are still craving sunnier shores this summer.

The Canary Islands should expect 11% more Welsh tourists next month, and Malaga is also set to see visitor numbers rise.  Bmibaby revealed figures showing that 8% more tourists would be heading to southern Spain, while other resorts like Menorca have witnessed a significant increase in their year-on-year booking numbers.   Crawford Rix, managing director of the low-cost airline, said the figures prove that people are still keen to enjoy exotic breaks abroad.  “We are seeing a strong demand from passengers for sunshine destinations, with Alicante, Palma and Malaga topping our lists from Cardiff,” he said.

With the influx of Welsh travellers expected to travel through the airport’s doors, demand is sure to be high for parking at Cardiff Airport.  It makes more sense than ever to pre-book your space as soon as possible to avoid higher prices later this summer.

A recent survey conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has found that charter holiday flights from Newcastle Airport are the most punctual of any UK airport.

In the first quarter of 2009, 85% of all charter flights departed on time, compared to the national average of 68%.

Newcastle Airport

Scheduled flights also outperformed the national average, with 82% departing on time between January and March of this year.  In addition, the average length of unavoidable delays to chartered flights was less than half that of every other airport in the survey.

Dave Laws, chief executive of Newcastle International Airport, praised the teamwork and efforts of employees across the business, and also said, “This survey reinforces the sense in flying from Newcastle International, rather than travelling to larger airport where punctuality suffers and delays are often much longer.”

Their excellent record for on-time flights isn’t the only good news for travellers in the Northeast of England.  Park and Fly Newcastle, a GoSimply Award-winning airport parking service, is located just 0.2 miles from the terminal building at Newcastle Airport.

Johannesburg is ready to welcome tens of thousands of visitors with open arms for the 2010 World Cup.

Extensive works at OR Tambo International Airport and the Coca-Cola Park Arena have been completed in readiness for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. The Confederations Cup on the 14th June this year between Bafana and Iraq is being seen by many as a dress rehearsal that will test the enhanced facilities at both the airport and venue.

Johannesburg airport

Interest in South Africa and Johannesburg as a holiday and business destination has grown in popularity over the last decade with passenger numbers increasing from over 12 million to over 17 million between 2002 and 2006.  Air traffic movements increased by over 25,000  in the same period from around 175, 000 to more than 200, 000.

To cope with the increased demand of recent years and predicted future growth, improvements at Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport have included: the construction of a main central terminal building, refurbishment of existing services such as the airport lounges at Johannesburg, the development of the international pier, construction of a multi-storey car park, road infrastructure development and a link to the multi-billion Gautrain station, amongst others.

With the huge investments made at the airport, the Coca-Cola Park Arena and in local infrustructure, Johannesburg is ready to demonstrate its ability to host a major part of one of the world’s biggest sporting events.

Three major UK airlines have warned BAA that a £900 million improvement scheme for Gatwick Airport is futile in the face of dwindling passenger numbers.

BAA's £900m plan deemed "pointless" by airlines

Guardian.co.uk reports that, in a letter sent to BAA, British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair said that the business case for funnelling hundreds of millions of pounds into new facilities was “unproven”, especially in light of a fall in traffic of 12% since the start of this year.  The letter went on to state that it was pointless to make decisions about future developments at Gatwick when the airport is due to be sold in the near future.  The airlines are also very concerned that they will be the ones stuck with the bill for any improvements, and will ultimately have to pass on the cost to passengers by increasing fares.

We at GoSimply.com might not have control over the cost of flights, but we can assure our customers that we will always provide great deals on Gatwick Airport parking (and parking at 23 other UK airports) to help keep the cost of holidays down.

The United Arab Emirates city of Dubai is famous for its lavish lifestyle and world class engineering feats. Remaining a popular destination for business travellers and tourists, 2008 saw almost 7 million people visit the ‘City of Gold’.

Palm Islands Dubai

Despite the current world economic down turn, Dubai continues to see growth in its business and tourism markets with major hotel and resort developments such as the Palm Islands, World Islands and the Burj Al Arab Luxury Hotel continuing to fuel visitor demand.

Located in the Garhoud district, 4km (2.5 miles) southeast of Dubai, is Dubai International Airport.  Officially opened in 1960, the original airport runway was made of nothing more than compacted sand, a far cry from the world class airport that stands today. After many years of development and at a cost of billions, Dubai Airport now has a capacity for 60 million passengers a year and is currently ranked as the 20th busiest airport in the world. With further developments underway to accommodate up to 80 million passengers by 2011, Dubai International Airport and indeed the United Arab Emirates are destined to see many more world traveller in the years ahead.

In true form to the country known for its indulgence, facilities at the airport are also world class with the Dubai Airport Lounge being recognised as one of the top 10 airport lounges in the world by a number of travel journalists.

With work underway to complete the Burj Dubai, soon to be the worlds tallest building at 2,684 feet (818 mtrs), Dubai is well set to ride out the economic slow down with world interest in its engineering projects, heavy investment and growing popularity.

Today is the final day for companies interested in purchasing Gatwick Airport to throw their hats in the ring.

BAA is expected to receive three serious offers, which are rumoured to be for less than the £2 billion estimates suggested last year.  The interested parties are understood to be groups including General Electric, Manchester Airport and Vancouver Airport.

The Competition Commission ordered BAA to sell off Gatwick, Stansted and one of their Scottish airports last year, after an inquiry found that travellers were suffering due to a lack of competition between airports.  BAA has until the 19th of May to appeal against the Commission’s decision.

Luton Airport is to introduce a £1 charge for dropping off passengers at its terminal building this summer. The airport introduced a similar fee last year for the use of its trolleys and for the clear plastic bags used to take liquids through security.

£1 drop off charge at Luton Airport

To avoid the £1 drop off fee when it comes in to force, passengers could be dropped off at the Mid term parking car park to catch the shuttle bus to the terminal. Nic Horton, the development manager for Luton Airport said: “Making a small charge reminds drivers of the ten-minute time allocation and keeps the traffic flowing. “By offering a choice of options we can provide an airport experience to suit the needs of all our passengers.” A date for the introduction of the drop off fee at Luton Airport has not yet been confirmed.

Word has reached us here at gosimply.com that a customer has inadvertently locked himself in his vehicle whilst parked at the airport.

Mr. Stan Ridgway, former singer for the band Wall of Voodoo (who enjoyed a minor hit in the 1980’s with the song “Mexican Radio”), wrote to us via our website’s contact form this morning, unfortunately he forgot to state which airport he was stuck at!

Have you seen this man?

In his cry for help, he indicated that he had experienced an apparent child-safety lock malfunction, trapping him inside his 1969 Chevrolet Camaro. His attempts to free himself have so far consisted of “yelling”, but no help has been forthcoming.

In our drive to always provide helpful, friendly advice to each of our customers, we have suggested he kick out a window or possibly make his way to the boot and attempt to release the latch from within.  So far, no reply from Mr. Ridgway has been received.

We implore any customers who may be in the area of an airport parking facility to listen out for muffled cries for help, in hopes that Stan may yet be saved and reunite the much-loved Wall of Voodoo for a worldwide tour.