Updated – 13th August 2019

Flight News & Airline Gossip from around the World, just small bits of information that we feel you might be interested in.

First-class passenger ‘placed hidden video camera in airplane toilet’

A first class traveller is facing video voyeurism charges after allegedly placing a hidden camera in an airplane’s bathroom.

Malaysian national Choon Ping Lee is accused of putting the video camera in the bathroom on a United Airlines flight from San Diego to Houston.

A female passenger ‘noticed an item with a blue blinking light’. She handed it over to flight crew, who passed it on to the police.

The FBI took over the investigation and spent weeks tracking down the camera’s owner.

Analysis of footage identified clothing and jewelry worn by the suspect and he was eventually tracked down via airport CCTV footage.

Lee was identified as an employee at Halliburton, and the company cooperated with the investigation to confirm his identity.

Forensic analysis of the device also uncovered deleted files captured from a previous Emirates flight.

If convicted Lee could be jailed for one year.

Agents accuse hoteliers of taking advantage of Super Break collapse

Travel agents impacted by the collapse of Super Break have complained that some hotels have cancelled bookings and hiked up prices.

They are reporting a mixed response by hoteliers, saying some have been helpful by holding reservations and prices but others have apparently taken advantage of the situation.

Agents are urging hoteliers to pull together and say they are making note of which hotels are making their jobs more difficult.

One homeworker said she had seven rooms in a hotel in London booked through Super Break for overseas clients.

She said she hoped the hotel, a Super Break regular, would honour the group rate but she was unable to speak to anyone because she was a ‘third party’.

After being reassured the bookings would not be cancelled, she emailed the hotel and did not get a response immediately.

On following it up, she was told that all the bookings had been cancelled ‘by Super Break’ and she would have to rebookd at rack rates.

“Doing so would have meant a £400 loss out of my own pocket, this meant I had to shop around to protect my clients as well as myself,” she told TravelMole.

“I found that when I tried to rebook the rooms using a bedbank, three of the rooms were available at just about net rate, the fourth was at a much higher rate.”

Travelpack kindly offered her three rooms at a lower rate but again the fourth room was at a much higher rate, she explained. Eventually she had to book a seventh hotel directly.

“I hope I have now just about broken even but it has left a really bitter taste in my mouth and I will never book this or any of the portfolio again. This is a hotel portfolio that I have booked many times in the past,” she said.

“I am also furious that this hotel portfolio and many others have decided to profit from the situation and leave many travel agents and direct customers out of pocket.”

Willie Walsh urges BA pilots to accept pay deal

International Airlines Group boss Willie Walsh has called on British Airways pilots to end their pay dispute, but promised to do ‘everything we can’ for customers if strikes go ahead.

He was speaking as IAG reported a second-quarter operating profit of €960 million before exceptional items.

The pilot union BALPA and BA are holding talks at the conciliation service ACAS to try to resolve the dispute.

Talks continued on Friday and both parties have agreed to continue meeting next week.

BALPA issued a statement on Friday evening saying: “BALPA and British Airways have been in talks at ACAS (The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) since Wednesday afternoon in order to try and resolve the dispute between BA and its pilots. Those talks continued on Thursday and Friday.

“Both sides have agreed to resume talks next week.

“In the meantime BALPA will not announce any industrial action dates at this time.

“BALPA is still committed to finding a negotiated solution to this dispute.”

Earlier this week, BA failed in its a bid to mount a legal challenge to the strike ballot.

BALPA has to give 14 days’ notice of any strikes if the talks fall through.

Walsh told Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday morning that the pay offer is a ‘fair deal’.

He added: “Nobody wants uncertainty that strike action delivers. BA met all day with them and we will meet all day today. BALPA has not yet set a date.”

He told Sky News the airline would do ‘everything we can’ to help customers if the strikes do go ahead.

Walsh added BA has not seen any downturn in post-Brexit bookings.

He told Today: “People are booking flights for November 1. Demand for aviation is looking good at the moment. We are not seeing any impact in our bookings. That could be because we tend to be a bit more London centric.”

BA unveils new Club Suite

British Airways has unveiled its latest business class suite, Club Suite, on board its first Airbus 350 as part of its £6.5 billion investment programme

The aircraft landed at London Heathrow this weekend and is the first of 18 A350s due to be delivered. Four of the new aircraft are scheduled to join the fleet before the end of the year.

The newly-branded ‘Club Suite’ offers direct-aisle access, a suite door for greater privacy and ‘luxurious’ flat-bed seats in a 1-2-1 configuration.

BA said the suites give passengers 40% more storage, including a vanity unit and mirror, WiFi, 18.5-inch inflight entertainment screens, and PC/USB power.

The A350 aircraft have higher levels of humidity and refreshed air as cabin pressure equivalent to an altitude of just 6,000 feet.

They also have 25% lower fuel burn to significantly reduce CO2 emissions.

The three-cabin A350 features 56 seats in World Traveller Plus with a new pillow and warm quilt, new amenity kits, an enhanced service and improved dining experience.

The World Traveller (economy) cabin has 219 seats with high-speed WiFi.

In phase two, which starts in September, the aircraft will begin long-haul flying to Dubai, followed by services to Toronto, Tel Aviv and Bangalore this year.

During this time another three A350 aircraft will join the fleet and two Boeing 777 aircraft will also be retrofitted with the new cabin.

At the start of 2020 BA will roll out its Club Suite on further long-haul aircraft across the network.

China Airlines execs removed amid cigarette smuggling scandal

Two China Airlines executives were removed from their positions as pressure mounts over a cigarette smuggling scandal at the airline.

Senior vice president Lo Ya-mei has been moved to executive assistant to the chairman and Chui Chang-hsin has been reassigned as a senior specialist to the airline’s president.

Part of vice president Chui’s responsibilities was to oversee duty-free product sales.

Both executives were part of the recent overseas 12-day trip by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to the US and Caribbean aboard a China Airlines plane.

National Security Bureau agents accompanying the president used the overseas trip to allegedly smuggle nearly 10,000 cartons of cigarettes into Taiwan.

The retail value of the cigarettes was nearly $200,000.

The agents allegedly ordered the cigarettes via the airline’s online duty-free store and attempted to collect them on their return to Taiwan last week.

They were loaded onto government vehicles in the Presidential motorcade but were stopped bu customs officers after a tip-off.

CAL has come under heavy criticism for allowing such a huge order of duty free goods.

The normal allowance is just one carton of cigarettes per person.

The airline said it is investigating other executives in charge of arrangements for previous Presidential or other government flights.

One government security agent was detained for questioning while employees at the CAL-owned Pacific Catering Services Ltd are also being investigated.

The Taiwan President personally apologised and admitted that cigarette smuggling has been taking place for years.

Toddler injured on airport baggage belt

Officials at the world’s busiest airport are investigating how a toddler went on a wild ride on a baggage conveyor belt into a restricted area.

A two-year-old boy suffered a hand fracture at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport after jumping on the belt while his mother was printing out boarding passes from an automated machine.

The boy’s mother, Edith Vega, told Channel 2 Action News she looked round and saw him ride the belt, and moments later disappear from view.

He then disappeared into a restricted area with no one close enough to grab him in ttime.

At some point he injured his hand and was treated at a local medical facility.

Vega said he jumping on the belt behind a Spirit Airlines check-in kiosk which was closed and not manned.

“When I tried to go after him, it was at the end of the machineI couldn’t even catch up … I wanted to jump in and try to go get him, but they didn’t allow me. I was just freaking out,” Vega said.

A TSA employee alerted police after the toddler fell through the chute into the TSA bag room, Channel 2 reported.

Vega said TSA officers told her the belt goes on several turns and loops before dropping into the baggage room.

“I’m thankful he’s alive,” she added.

TSA and airport officials are still investigating the incident.

Disney dismisses rumours of airline plans

Just like a typical Disney movie, news of a dedicated Disney airline seems to have been a fairy tale fantasy.

After fan site JustDisney.com posted rumours the Happiest Place on Earth was going airborne, Disney officials shot down the idea, saying they have no plans to launch an airline.

Many media outlets took the bait, reporting the ‘news’.

The site claimed Walt Disney Co was looking to buy small regional airlines to build up a Disney branded carrier serving Orlando from major airport hubs such as Chicago, Detroit and New York.

Citing insider knowledge, the proposed inflight service would include the new Disney + streaming service at each seat, as well as airport character meet and greets before takeoff, it reported.

Livery would have traditional Disney themes and it would offer Disney themed snacks and drinks.

JustDisney said it was targeting a 2021 launch.

Disney responded by denying the claims.

It told news outlets including The Sun that the rumours were ‘unfounded and incorrect’.

Still, the rumours were not that far-fetched as the company has made no secret of its wish to own more of the guest travel experience.

The cruise line is well established and Disney is speaking with Virgin Trains USA about a direct link to parks from Orlando.

It currently operates the complimentary bus service Walt Disney Magical Express from Orlando Airport for hotel guests.

Although Disney vacation packages include flights, it is one of the few parts of the guest journey that the company doesn’t have operational control over.

It has worked with airlines before on branding projects and could perhaps be looking at a Virgin-style licensing agreement.

Virgin Atlantic A350 goes on sale

Featuring a redesigned Upper Class cabin and a one-of-a-kind social space called The Loft, Virgin Atlantic’s new Airbus A350-1000 (below) has gone on sale with the first commercial service, Heathrow – New York, due on 10 September.

Four A350s – Mamma Mia, Red Velvet, Rain Bow and Queen of Hearts – will join the airline’s fleet by the end of this year, with all four aircraft flying the New York route.

Virgin will continue to take delivery of a further eight A350s throughout 2020 and 2021 and says full schedule and destination information will be revealed in due course. All the initial A350 deliveries will be based at Heathrow.

The final five aircraft will have a leisure configuration and will operate routes to Florida and the Caribbean from Gatwick and Manchester Airport. These deliveries will take place in 2021 as the airline begins to retire its 747 fleet.

The Loft, the largest social space in the Virgin fleet, is designed for passengers to gather, chat, enjoy a drink or dine with friends, while the A350 also offers the redesigned Upper Class suite boasting window-facing seats and deployable privacy screens.

Airport hotel installs flight simulator

AvGeeks with a layover at Tokyo Haneda airport have a unique new way to pass the time.

A hotel close to the airport has installed a fully-featured flight simulator in one of its guestrooms.

The Haneda Excel Hotel Tokyu is offering guests the opportunity to virtually take flight for a 90-minute simulator session with a qualified flight instructor.

A session costs 30,000 yen (about $277) or guests can book the room for an overnight stay for an additional $234.

Bookings for the ‘superior cockpit room’ go live on July 18.

Hotel PR manager Aki Hagawara says the hotel has received a lot of interest for sessions which simulates a flight from Haneda Airport to Osaka on a Boeing 737-800 jet.

It cost about $93,000 to install the simulator, Hagawara says, and the idea came from the hotel general manager.

Hagawara said it is a way for the hotel to stand out from the competition. It is targeting transit passengers as well as local aviation buffs, she added.

BA suspends all Cairo flights

British Airways has suspended flights to Cairo over concerns of security risks.

BA announced daily flight between Heathrow and the Egyptian capital would be cancelled for seven days from Saturday July 20 as a precaution to allow for ‘further assessment’.

Lufthansa also cancelled its Cairo flights on Saturday, citing an ‘unclear security situation’, adding safety is its ‘number one priority’. On Sunday it announced on Twitter that it had resumed the service.

BA said the suspension of services was its own decision and its flights will remain grounded until at least Friday, July 26. It’s not known how long Lufthansa is planning to suspend its Cairo flights.

In a letter handed to passengers at Heathrow who were about to board a flight to Cairo, BA said: “We constantly review our security arrangements at all our airports around the world and have suspended flights to Cairo for seven days as a precaution to allow for further assessment.

“The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our priority, and we would never operate an aircraft unless it was safe to do so.”

Lufthansa issued a statement saying: “As safety is the number one priority of Lufthansa, the airline has temporarily suspended its flights to Cairo today as a precaution, while further assessment is being made.”

BA has said passengers due to fly to and from Cairo who still want to travel are being rebooked on flights operated by other airlines, such as Royal Jordanian via Amman. Those that no longer wish to fly are being offered a refund.

On Friday, the Foreign Office updated its advice to Egypt. The advice includes the warning: “There’s a heightened risk of terrorism against aviation. Additional security measures are in place for flights departing from Egypt to the UK.”

Boy evades Heathrow security to board US-bound BA flight

Police are investigating how a 12-year-old boy slipped through security and boarded a British Airways flight to Los Angeles without a ticket or boarding pass on Sunday evening.

The unaccompanied child was rumbled when cabin crew asked to see his boarding pass in order to direct him to his seat.

The boy, who is believed to be Dutch, was travelling on his own and refused to leave the aircraft when he was challenged, according to the Daily Telegraph. He was eventually removed by police.

The aircraft then had to be cleared and all passengers were security checked, delaying the flight by more than four hours.

It’s thought the boy was a transit passenger who had a ticket to an onward destination, but had then attempted to see if he how far he could get.

Passenger Rachel Richardson, who was heading to Los Angeles on a business trip, told the Telegraph: “The boy would not speak to the cabin crew and they were asking if anybody spoke Dutch. He would not help them understand where his bags were so the whole aircraft had to be cleared which meant we were almost more than four hours delayed taking off. It was very frustrating.”

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: “A 12-year-old boy boarded a BA flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles at around 17:15hrs on 14 July.

“He was identified by cabin crew during pre-flight check. He did not have a ticket or any travel documents.

“The boy was an unaccompanied minor. He is not a UK national. As a security precaution, passenger de-planed following a discussion between police and the captain.

EasyJet to add more Canary Island flights from Liverpool

EasyJet will add flights to Tenerife from Liverpool for the first time this winter.

The twice weekly service, which will be easyJet’s fifth new route from Liverpool in the past 12 months, will start on October 30.

It will complement the airline’s existing Canary Islands flights to Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

Package holidays including accommodation and transfers will also be available with easyJet Holidays.

The airport’s director of aviation development Paul Winfield said: “We are delighted to secure this latest new route to Tenerife from easyJet for the forthcoming winter. Holidaymakers from across the North West and North Wales will be able to benefit from this new winter sun service.”

France to introduce new air tax

France has announced it will introduce an ‘eco-tax’ for all flights departing from French airports from next year.

The amount will depend on the type of ticket, but will start at €1.50 for economy tickets within France or the EU and will rise to a maximum of €18 for long-haul business-class flights.

No tax will be imposed on flights into France.

The levy is expected to raise about £162 million from 2020, according to transport minister Elisabeth Borne. She said this would be invested in cleaner transport, such as rail.

The French government has tried to tighten environmental regulation, but last year president Emmanuel Macron was forced to abandoned plans for fuel tax rises after widespread protests.

Norwegian to drop London to Las Vegas flights

Norwegian is to drop its seasonal flights between Gatwick and Las Vegas this winter.

The route was launched in 2016 and was originally intended to be year round, but the airline suspended the service during the summer months.

At the time, it was alleged that the heat in Las Vegas was causing problems for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner operating the route.

The airline has now confirmed that it will not resume flights to Vegas this winter.

In a statement provided to Business Traveller a spokesperson said: “As Norwegian moves from growth to profitability, we have decided to discontinue our seasonal London-Las Vegas service following a comprehensive review of the route.”

Virgin Atlantic recently moved its Las Vegas service from Gatwick to Heathrow. British Airways operates flights to the city from both Gatwick and Heathrow.

Ryanair reports double digit passenger growth

Ryanair passenger numbers grew 13% in June to 14.2 million people.

Average load factors for the group, which includes Ryanair and Lauda, were 97%.

Ryanair operated almost 78,000 scheduled flights in the month.

Airlines accused of cashing in on ‘rip-off’ no-show clauses

A consumer rights group is calling on the CAA to get tough with airlines who, it claims, are cashing in on ‘rip-off’ no-show clauses.

Which? wants the UK aviation body to ban the clauses, claiming they penalise passengers who miss one leg of a flight.

The consumer champion says it knows of cases where passengers have been left stranded and hundreds of pounds out of pocket by airlines who ‘exploit’ the little-known clauses ‘that are often buried deep in the terms and conditions’.

It claims that in some cases airlines are effectively able to double their money by reselling the seats they cancel, with no refund given to passengers.

Last December, it wrote to nine airlines, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, informing them that the practice potentially breaches both the Consumer Rights Act and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Directive.

It argues their no-show clauses create a ‘significant imbalance’ between the airline, which stands to profit from the term, and passengers who face having to pay out considerable sums of money to rebook.

In response, Flybe was the only carrier that pledged to make some changes, but it has not removed its ‘no-show’ clause completely.

Which? said it had previously secured commitments from Thomas Cook Airlines and Aurigny to scrap the terms, which have recently been ruled unlawful in Austria,.

In a report last week, the CAA concluded that a policy of automatically cancelling a passenger’s return if they do not take the outbound flight is ‘disproportionate’.

It also said that ‘no-show’ clauses used by some airlines – including BA – fell short of its expectations on ‘fairness and transparency’ for consumers.

But the CAA stopped short of taking any enforcement action.

Caroline Normand, Which? director of advocacy, said: “It’s totally unreasonable for an airline to cancel a passenger’s return flight – often without warning – simply because they’ve missed the first leg of their journey.

“Airlines have been able to cash in with this tactic for too long – leaving people miserable, stranded and hundreds if not thousands of pounds out of pocket.

“If airlines are not going to do the right thing and stop this disgraceful practice on their own, the Civil Aviation Authority should step in and ban these rip-off clauses.”

In its defence, BA said many of its tickets allow customers to make changes to their flights if they inform the airline before they travel, and stated that the policy is common practice in the industry, designed to stop ‘tariff abuse’.

Virgin Atlantic told Which?: “Having worked with the CAA and listened to our customers we have now updated our policy on no-shows. We always encourage customers to get in touch as soon as they think they are going to miss their flight. If they arrive too late at the airport we will rebook them on the next available flight and their inbound flight won’t be cancelled.

“If a customer can’t make their flight due to a legitimate change in circumstances we will not cancel their inbound flight if they get in touch with us before the flight. If the customer can’t contact us before they miss their flight they will need to contact us as soon as they can and if there has been a legitimate change in circumstances we will reinstate their inbound ticket.

“We would also like to emphasise that if customers are unable to take their outbound flight due to an event beyond their control, we will honour any onward or return journeys if we are provided with proof of such an event.”

Air Canada investigates how woman was abandoned on parked plane

Air Canada has launched an investigation into a woman’s claims that she was abandoned on a plane after she fell asleep during the flight.

Tiffani Adams claims she woke up several hours after the 90-minute flight from Quebec had landed in Toronto.

She claims she was still strapped in her seat, but the aircraft was dark and she was freezing cold.

Adams called a friend to tell her where she was, but then her phone died less than a minute into the call.

Her friend called Toronto Pearson Airport, but Adams claims she was only found when she used a torch she discovered in the cockpit to open the aircraft door.

She hung out of the door to signal to a baggage trolley operator, who managed to rescue her.

Air Canada has confirmed that the incident took place, which came to light via Ms Adams’ friends’ Facebook post. The airline said it is investigating but it has declined to comment further.

RAF jets scrambled after mid-air drama on Jet2 flight

A 25-year-old woman is in police custody after becoming disruptive on a Jet2 flight from Stansted, which was forced to return to the UK, escorted by two RAF jets.

The sonic boom from the Typhoons were so loud that people called 999, fearing an explosion.

Jet2 adds Twilight Check-In service at two more airports

Jet2.com and Jet2holidays have rolled out their Twilight Check-In service at two more airports.

Edinburgh and Newcastle have been added to the list, so the service is now available at seven UK bases.

Twilight Check-In is aimed at customers staying at a hotel or who live near the airport as it saves time on the morning of their flight.

Customers can check in online at least 24 hours before their flight, then visit the Twilight check-in where they can drop their bags at the Jet2.com check-in desks between 3pm and 8pm the night before.

They can then arrive at the airport the following morning and head straight to security, bypassing check-in.

The service only applies to flights departing before 12 noon the following day.

Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, said: “The popularity of this service means we are delighted to be launching it from Edinburgh and Newcastle Airports, meaning customers can start their holiday with us luggage-free and breeze through the airport to catch their flight.”

IAG orders Airbus extra long-range narrowbody aircraft

International Airlines Group has placed orders for eight Airbus A321XLR aircraft for Iberia and six for Aer Lingus, plus 14 options.

The extra long-range narrowbody aircraft will be used to expand both airlines’ existing longhaul fleets with first deliveries scheduled for 2023.

IAG said Aer Lingus will be able to launch new routes beyond the US East Coast and Canada. It is already taking eight A321neo LR on lease with the first delivery scheduled for this summer.

For Iberia, this is a new aircraft type that means it can operate new transatlantic destinations and increase frequencies in key markets.

Willie Walsh, IAG chief executive, said: “The A321XLR has the same unit cost as a widebody longhaul aircraft which will enable profitable network expansion. This will strengthen both Dublin and Madrid hubs providing new transatlantic routes and additional flexibility for connecting passengers. These aircraft will also bring further cost efficiencies and environmental benefits.”

High-tech escalators could transform airport experience

A glimpse of what airports could look like in the future has been unveiled on a design website, promising to cut check-in, security and immigration checks to less than a minute per passenger.

Called Aerochk, the concept would see travellers arrive at an airport and step straight on to a high-tech escalator.

According to the description on design inspiration website Imaginactive, passengers would place their passport on the left side of the machine and their luggage on the right.

A robotic passport conveyor would check if the passport is valid and if the individual is registered for a flight.

It would then check them in and perform all other necessary background checks, using facial recognition technology.

Their height and weight would be recorded to optimise the ‘weight and balance’ of the aircraft and other equipment would be used to identify passengers and determine if they pose a security threat.

The Aerochk could even ask questions and record vocal answers, and could be adapted for children or disabled travelers.

Meanwhile, a luggage conveyor would use various types of scanners to check if bags contain dangerous or prohibited items.

Each suitcase would be photographed, weighed, and automatically associated with its owner.

Larger bags would be diverted into the cargo hold while hand luggage would be picked up by passengers upon leaving the Aerochk.

“If a problem was detected on a suitcase or if more information is required, then it would be routed to a different exit and inspected by an airport agent,” say designers Charles Bombardier and Ashish Thulkar.

The concept is based on technologies that already exist, they add.

“The Aerochk also reduces the likelihood of human error which is prevalent in areas where large volumes of people are passing through.

“It is very easy for workers in airport security to miss contraband in luggage simply due to the excessive volumes that they have to process every hour.”