Travel News

Heathrow airport has reported a £321m ($387m) loss for the first half of the year even though passenger numbers returned to near pre-COVID levels in the period.

Chief executive John Holland-Kaye insisted that the introduction of the passenger cap has seen a "material improvement in performance since it came into place".

"Punctuality has improved, baggage performance has improved, and that shows that the difficult decisions we took two weeks ago are having the impact so that passengers can travel with confidence at Heathrow this summer," he said.

"Airline ground handler performance has been much more stable since the cap came into effect, and we have seen a marked improvement in punctuality and baggage performance."

Earlier this month, the west London airport announced it was limiting the number of passengers who can depart each day over the peak summer months to 100,000 until 11 September.

The decision led to thousands of flights being slashed on top of the tens of thousands of trips that had already been grounded in recent months amid the travel chaos, staff shortages, long security queues and baggage system breakdowns.

Heathrow's adjusted loss before tax during the first six months of 2022 was £321m, down from £787m in the same period in last year.

It attributed the improvement to a jump in passenger numbers, from 3.9 million to 26.1 million.

Fees paid by carriers also rose, but the airport said on Tuesday that this was "offset by increased costs as we invested ahead of demand".

Britain's busiest airport said a shortage of ground handlers is "the constraint on Heathrow’s capacity" as airlines struggle to replace staff let go due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The London hub estimated that airlines were lacking around 30% of ground handling staff compared with pre-pandemic, adding there had not been an increase in these workers since January.

"We estimate that airline ground handlers have no more than 70% of pre-pandemic resource, and there has been no increase in numbers since January," Holland-Kaye said.

Heathrow reported in its results that it had been "raising concerns over a lack of handler resource for nine months". It added that from late June, as passenger numbers began to soar, it had experienced a "worrying increase in unacceptable service levels for some passengers".

The CEO said the airport was busy during peak travel times, but any queues were "well managed and kept moving", adding that the "summer getaway has started well at Heathrow thanks to early planning and keeping demand in line with airline ground handler capacity".

Nigerians in New York, U.S, have written the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, suggesting three steps for the Federal Government to sustain the improvement achieved in providing adequate booklets to missions abroad.

The letter was jointly signed by Mr Francis James, a board member of the Organisation for the Advancement of Nigerians (OAN) and leaders of other 16 Nigerian associations.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the associations had on July 5 wrote to Aregbesola informing him about the scarcity of passport booklets in Nigerian Consulates and embassies in the U.S.

A copy of the letter, made available to NAN in New York on Monday commended the minister for his timely intervention in making passport booklets available to Nigerian missions in the U.S., adding that the Consular Officers had responded very well to Nigerians seeking services.

“We must not allow ineffective processes to put Nigerians at odds with one another. Our Consular staff members deserve the support of our home government, to ensure they deliver good services to their fellow Nigerians.

“To ensure ongoing improvements, we are requesting your Excellency to Keep the commitment to provide adequate passport booklets to clear backlogs at all processing locations by August 31, 2022.

“To improve the passport processing chain, so from application to issuance is completed within a reasonable time frame of not more than three months.

“Also, to hold Innovate1services, the vendor managing the payment portal, accountable to improve their service and deliver a more customer friendly platform to Nigerians,’’ they stated.

By taking the above three steps, they believed that the Nigerian Community would be better served, friction between Consular and non-Consular Nigerians would be reduced, and Nigerians would not be apprehensive when applying for consular services.

According to them, Nigerian Consulate in New York in particular, has come a long way in improving consular services to the Nigerian community, and could be used as a model to improve services at other locations.

The associations, however, thanked the minister for responding to their initial call for the release of adequate passport booklets to enable Embassies and Consulates meet the passport demand of Nigerians in the diaspora.

“We commend your commitment to ensure enough passport booklets are supplied to clear backlogs by the end of August, 2022.

“We are aware that Consulates and the Embassy in the United States have resumed production of regular E-Passport for applications received prior to July 5, and processing of Enhanced E-Passport for applications received after July 5.

“We appeal to you to continue monitoring the situation, to make sure our Embassies and Consulates receive adequate passport booklets to clear their backlogs on or before August 31, 2022.’’

They also thank the minister and his team for increasing the number of daily appointment slots on the central appointment portal from 50 to 100, or to whatever capacity each Consulate and Embassy can handle.

NAN reports that OAN had on June 29, held a virtual Town Hall meeting to discuss the challenges Nigerians faced in getting passports and deliberated on ways to address the challenges.

OAN had summoned the meeting based on the information that prior to June 28, passport issuance had stopped for four weeks at the Consulate in New York, according to James, OAN liaison with the Nigeria Consulate in New York.

The meeting agreed that a letter would be written to the minister of interior and other key relevant officials to communicate the resolutions from the meeting. (NAN)

By Jimisayo Opanuga

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has declared four work-free days for civil servants in the state who are yet to register or collect their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs).

This was announced in a statement by the State Head of Service, Hekeem Muri-Okunola. He stated that officers are expected to return to work with their voter’s cards after this exercise.

The work-free days begin from 26th July till Friday 29th July before the deadline given by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The statement read, “It is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in the Electoral process of her country, therefore, all Public Servants are encouraged to partake in the upcoming Year 2023 General Elections.

“Consequently, it is notified for general information that all Public Servants who are yet to register for or collect their Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) from designated INEC centres are advised do so before the deadline date of 30th July 2022.

“To this end, Mr Governor has graciously approved a work-free day for public servants to enable them to process/collect their PVCs from their respective Local Governments/ Local Council Development Areas. Officers are expected to return back to work with their Voter’s Card after this exercise.

“Officers are expected to return back to work with their Voter’s Card after this exercise. Accordingly, Accounting Officers are hereby enjoined to excuse their officers in the respective Grade Levels on the designated dates.”

The designated dates are Tuesday 26th- Grade Levels concerned are 01, 03, 07 & 15. For Wednesday, July 27, the Grade Levels affected are 02, 04, 08 and 13, while Thursday, July 28, is for Grade Levels 05, 09, 12 and 17. Friday, July 29 is set aside for Grade Levels 06, 10, 14 and 16.

BC-Dutch-Say-Airport-Cap-Will-Bring-an-End-to-Cheap-Hub-Flights , Pablo Fernandez Cras and Diederik Baazil

(Bloomberg) -- Dutch moves to cut noise and air pollution at Amsterdam Schiphol airport will signal an end to its status as a hub for price-sensitive travelers, Infrastructure Minister Mark Harbers said in an interview.

A capacity cap to be imposed next year means the airport will no longer be focused on luring transfer passengers seeking the cheapest connecting flights between other cities without visiting the Netherlands, Harbers told Bloomberg.

“That’s no longer what this cabinet is aiming for,” he said in The Hague. “Schiphol has raised the rates for the airlines but we are also going to raise the flight tax. Through these measures you know that Schiphol will no longer be a cheap transfer island between airports.”

Schiphol, which has been one of Western Europe’s four major hub airports for decades, plans to limit flights to 440,000 a year from November 2023, according to a government announcement last month. That’s 20% below the level that No. 1 user KLM says is needed and marks one of the first instances of an airport being actively reduced in status for environmental reasons.

Dutch policymakers have previously sought to make Amsterdam a global transfer hub, helping to turn both Schiphol and KLM into far bigger players than if they served the Netherlands alone. The airport is especially popular with Britons as an alternative to traveling via London Heathrow.

KLM has said it was promised a 540,000 post-Covid flight cap at Schiphol in order to catch up with demand after the pandemic, but Harbers said no such pledge was given.

The airline, part of Paris-based Air France-KLM, has previously warned that cutting services would risk undermining Amsterdam’s status a hub and hence reducing the number of viable destinations.

Air-freight services may also be at risk, according to ACN, the Dutch air-cargo association. The capacity cap will see a reduction of as much as 15% in full-freighter flights and could ultimately lead to the expulsion of freight operators, Director Maarten van As told Bloomberg.

Harbers, however, said Schiphol’s hub status is guaranteed with more than 400,000 yearly flights.

Rotterdam Clampdown

The airport is the latest victim of Dutch regulations that seek to halve nitrogen emissions by 2030. Cattle farmers, an earlier target, have challenged the measures in nationwide protests.

Harbers said other sectors face a reckoning with “further objectives” coming this winter in areas that could include shipping, construction, industry and mobility. He said the port of Rotterdam, Europe’s biggest and responsible for 1% of all Dutch nitrogen emissions, may require particular measures.

Schiphol has already imposed unrelated flight curbs after becoming an early victim of the travel chaos gripping Europe amid labor shortages, with passengers enduring four-hour queues and suitcases stacking up to the point that people were asked to leave their luggage at home.

Harbers praised a recent agreement between KLM and trade unions on higher wages and longer permanent contracts and said the facility needs to get back to being “an airport where you can swiftly go through security.”

On Monday, the government officially shut the Federal Government College, Kwali, in the Kwali Area Council of Abuja after terrorists attacked a community near the school.

By Nasir Ayitogo

Gunmen on Friday attacked some officials of the 7 Guards Battalion of the Nigerian Army Presidential Guards Brigade.

The incident, which took place late Friday night around the Bwari Area Council of Abuja, left three soldiers wounded and eight personnel killed.

Two of the slain personnel were officers, including a captain and lieutenant, while the remaining were soldiers.

According to a source within the army, the main aim of the terrorists is to attack the Nigerian Law School in Bwari and they may have already camped in the area.

The Nigerian army has yet to officially react to the attack. Army spokesperson Onyema Nwachukwu did not pick up or return calls to his phone. But different intelligence sources had told PREMIUM TIMES that the government was aware of plans by terrorists to attack some places in the capital and security had been increased around the city.

On Monday, the government officially shut the Federal Government College, Kwali, in the Kwali Area Council of Abuja after terrorists attacked a community near the school.

 Similar attacks 

The attack on the Guards Brigade, whose duty is to protect the president, comes a few weeks after terrorists launched a similar attack on a presidential convoy in Dutsinma, Katsina State.

On the same day,  terrorists invaded the Kuje prison in Abuja and freed hundreds of inmates, including Boko Haram suspects.

Friday’s attack also occurred two days before terrorists released a video showing them manhandling persons kidnapped from the Abuja-Kaduna train.

One of the terrorists in the video threatened that his group would abduct President Buhari, Kaduna State Governor Nasiru El-Rufai and other prominent Nigerians and destabilise the country if their demands were not met.

The terrorists also threatened to kill and sell some of the remaining Abuja-Kaduna train passengers in their custody.

“This is our message to the government of Nigeria and just as you have seen these people here, by God’s grace, you will see your leaders; your senators and governors will come before us. These ones you are seeing here, we will keep some as our slaves and sell them off just as our Imam told you in the past.

“Just like the Chibok girls that were sold off, we will equally sell these ones as slaves. If you don’t adhere to our demands, we will kill the ones we need to kill and sell the remaining. By God’s grace, El-Rufai, Buhari, we will bring you here,” the terrorist said in the video.

Until recently, the FCT had enjoyed relative peace, compared to some neighbouring states such as Niger and Kaduna where terrorists, locally called bandits, operate almost on daily basis.

Despite the deteriorating security situation, the Buhari government has repeatedly insisted that security has improved under the president.

There are no immediate solutions to the current crisis rocking Nigeria’s aviation sector as the cause of the major challenge in the industry is a global issue, the Federal Government declared on Tuesday.

Although the government stated that it was making efforts to address the challenges, it stressed that it could not tell when the solutions to the crisis would materialise.

Domestic airlines in Nigeria have been faced with a stiff challenge posed by the hike in the price of aviation fuel, popularly called JetA1.

The cost of the commodity has jumped from less than N300/litre to over N800/litre within about five months.

This has also warranted an increase in airfares by airlines that could manage to get the commodity, while others that could not survive the situation, such as Aero Contractors, have temporarily suspended operations.

However, the airlines operating currently, have continued to delay or cancel flights due to difficultly in accessing JetA1, a development that has caused untold hardship to travellers.

Reacting to the crisis in the sector at a meeting with officials of the Airline Operators of Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, stated that the government was aware of the challenges, but noted that there was no immediate solution to the concerns currently.

He said, “Energy crises is real and it is global. Today there is aviation fuel problem all over the world. From America to New Zealand. It is aggravating in Nigeria because we don’t produce the product.

“It is aggravated also because the foreign exchange is scarce in Nigeria and the source of earning the foreign exchange has also has dwindled”.

He said the Federal  Government had in the past sourced 10,000 metric tonnes of aviation fuel for domestic airlines, adding that the government was wiling to do more.

“As we speak, the government is in the process of finding a permanent  solution to this issue,” Sirika stated.

Outlining some of the the solutions, the minister said it would include, “importation of the product at the appropriate price, accelerating the refurbishment of our refineries and also wait for the coming on stream of Dangote Refinery to boost supply of the product.”

He, however, noted that this would not happen soon.

“So when you ask how soon, I wouldn’t know when Dangote will come on stream, I wouldn’t know how soon the refineries will be fixed. I wouldn’t know when imports would become sufficient. But the government is working towards all these to happen,” Sirika stated.

The minister said he would meet with relevant stakeholders including the Central Bank of Nigeria so that the airlines could access forex at the official rate rather than the black market price.

The President, AON, Abdulmunaf Sarina, said the aviation fuel crises began from N180/litre, but had now jumped to N1000/litre, adding that accessing forex crises was a huge burden on the Industry.

“The rate at which the dollar is escalating now is very alarming. Everyday, a difference between of N10 to N15 Naira is added at the parallel market. Last week Monday, it was N610 but today it is N670 to one dollar,” he said.

On his part, the Vice President, AON, Allen Onyema, said the airlines were satisfied with the government intervention in the industry, but admitted the solution to the crisis was not in the short term.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s railway network ground to a crawl on Wednesday after 40,000 staff walked off the job in a dispute over jobs, pay and working conditions. Train companies said only about a fifth of services across the country were due to run.

The 24-hour strike by cleaners, signalers, maintenance workers and station staff comes a month after the country’s most disruptive rail walkout in three decades brought trains to a halt across the U.K at the start of the summer holiday season.

The dispute centers on pay, working conditions and job security as Britain’s railways struggle to adapt to travel and commuting habits changed — perhaps forever — by the coronavirus pandemic. There were almost 1 billion train journeys in the U.K. in the year to March, compared to 1.7 billion in the 12 months before the pandemic, and rail companies are looking to cut costs and staffing.

Negotiations have so far ended in deadlock. The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers says employers’ latest pay offer falls short amid soaring inflation — currently at 9.4% — and the worst cost of living crisis in decades.

It accuses the Conservative government of preventing train companies from making a better offer. The government says it is not directly involved in the dispute.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the union “will continue to negotiate in good faith, but we will not be bullied or cajoled by anyone.”

“The government need to stop their interference in this dispute so the rail employers can come to a negotiated settlement with us,” he said.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps accused union leaders of “trying to cause as much disruption as possible to the day-to-day lives of millions of hardworking people around the country.”

He said the strike had been “cynically timed” to disrupt a semi-final of the European women’s soccer tournament on Wednesday in Milton Keynes, north of London, and the opening of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Thursday.

The union staged three one-day strikes last month that stopped services across much of the country.

More strikes are planned for Saturday, when train drivers are set to walk out, and on three days in August.

The Associated Press

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's newly licenced national carrier will lease a mix of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, the aviation minister said on Wednesday.

Hedi Sirika told reporters in Abuja after the plan was approved by cabinet on Wednesday that the airline will start with three aircraft.

(Reporting by Felix Onuah, Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

(Bloomberg) -- Wizz Air Holdings Plc said moves to reduce summer capacity amid an industry-wide aviation staffing squeeze are beginning to have an impact, with a reduction in delays in the summer schedule.

Disruption levels are starting to normalize after the adjustments, Europe’s third-biggest discount carrier said in an earnings statement Wednesday.

Budapest-based Wizz still aims to increase summer capacity by around 30% compared with 2019 and said it expects to deliver “a material operating profit” as revenue and pricing momentum continues to improve.

Wizz said this month it would trim planned capacity by 5% over the peak summer period to combat delays and cancellations resulting from employee shortages that are plaguing the European travel industry. That’s less than at some other airlines flying out of larger airports where the squeeze on operations has been more severe.

The carrier, which is listed in London, reiterated that it had an operating loss of 285 million euros ($289 million) in the fiscal first quarter through June amid amid reduced flying, costs from timetable disruption and foreign exchange losses, and a net loss of 453 million euros.

Discount rival EasyJet Plc on Tuesday booked a charge of £133 million for the June quarter amid travel disruption driven by staff shortages and capacity caps.

“We will start with domestic flights and then we grow to become international and then we move to become regional and intercontinental."

The Federal Executive Council has approved the leasing of three aircraft by the country’s national carrier, called ‘Nigeria Air’ to enable it to commence operations on a date to be announced soon by the government.

Aviation minister Hadi Sirika announced this while briefing journalists at the end of Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting.

“We have said in our outline business case, which was earlier approved, that we are starting with three aircraft for the first instance and then we progress. We will have a mixture of Airbus and Boeings because every airline that will grow big uses the two,” he said.

Mr Sirika said Nigeria Air will start with domestic flights before expanding to international routes.

“We will start with domestic flights and then we grow to become international and then we move to become regional and intercontinental. There are challenges currently in our aviation industry but it is a global phenomenon and it will not last forever because aviation is a very resilient sector. Certainly, we will overcome these problems,” he added.

Many Nigerians are suspicious of the plan to launch a National carrier, partly with public funds, at a time the government can no longer fund its essential operations.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Nigerian government, between January and April, spent more money to service its debts that its total earnings for the period.

However, the government has said the national carrier will be largely private sector driven.

On Wednesday, the FEC also approved N707. 9 million for the procurement of investigation tools for Nigeria’s Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB).

The AIB investigates accidents involving aircraft across Nigeria.

Mr Sirika said the tool, when procured, will aid investigations, whenever an aircraft is involved in an accident in any part of Nigeria.

“The memo was for the deployment of an investigation tool by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB). That tool permits the AIB to be able to record going-ons in flights; God forbid, should there be a need to investigate an accident, or a serious incident and the tool will help them to do so.

“That procurement is in the sum of N707, 962, 854. 83, an equivalent of 1, 506, 285.70 Euros, inclusive of 7.5 per cent value added tax at the Central Bank’s exchange rate of N470 to a Euro, with a delivery period of 11 months,” he stated.