Tag: Roads

Jet2 today launched its first flights to the Greek capital, Athens, from Manchester and Birmingham Airports.

Two services per week (Thursday and Sunday) will fly from each base until the end of October.

The operator now flies to 15 locations in Greece.

Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2, said: “As the UK’s leading airline and tour operator to Greece, we are delighted to see our first flights take off to Athens from Manchester and Birmingham Airports today.

“It is fantastic to be operating flights and city breaks to this historic city for the first time, as we know that Athens is a destination that customers want to get to.”

Network Rail has announced it will carry out some 530 engineering projects over Easter, costing a total of £83 million.

This includes the closure of the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Milton Keynes (Friday 15 to Monday 18 April) for upgrades and HS2 works.

Re-signalling and crossing works will also commence at Clapham Junction, while HS2 works and line upgrades will also be inaction at London Euston and Watford North Junction stations.

Network Rail said that 95 per cent of the network would be unaffected by the improvements.

Chief executive Andrew Haines said: “The majority of the railway will be open as usual this Easter for people to take a short break or visit loved ones, but some routes will be affected by our upgrade works, so we’re asking passengers to plan ahead and check their journeys in advance.

“We’ll be carrying out hundreds of vital projects that will improve passengers’ journeys in future – for example by improving reliability and boosting capacity on the network.”

Four weeks ago, P&O Ferries ordered all its vessels to tie up and await an important announcement.

Nearly 800 crew were told that they were being made redundant and would be replaced by cheaper agency staff.

Since then P&O has resumed sailings on all its routes except the most crucial: Dover-Calais.

A spokesperson for the company said: “We apologise unreservedly to all customers whose scheduled journeys with us between Dover and Calais have been cancelled whilst we are unable to sail.

“It is only fair and right that we make alternative arrangements for those customers, which include transferring them onto our Hull-Europoort service to Rotterdam, or booking them onto services with Brittany Ferries between Portsmouth and Caen.

“Both of these options are at no extra cost to customers – if anyone chooses either of these alternatives we will reimburse them for any additional mileage expenses incurred and as well as all meals onboard our overnight crossing. Customers will also receive a 25 per cent discount on their original fare.

“We also recognise that these options will not be suitable for everyone, therefore any customer who booked directly with P&O Ferries will be able to claim a full refund and a free trip for future travel.

“We thank customers for their patience during this time and apologise again to those whose journeys have been disrupted.”

Many passengers arriving at Britain’s busiest airport this morning face long delays at passport control, attributed to staff shortage at UK Border Force.

Natasha Porter arrived at Heathrow Terminal 2 at 8.45am on Air Canada from Toronto, where she had connected from the Dominican Republic. She was travelling with two passengers.

On arrival they were told the main passport hall was too crowded, and they were directed to what Ms Porter describes as “a side corridor”

She says: “A man gave a speech about short staffing and having to hold us here.”

Eventually they cleared passport control at 10.15am, 90 minutes after arrival.

Passengers at Terminal 5, the main hub for British Airways, experienced faster processing – partly because BA has cancelled dozens of flights due to its own staff shortage.

The company had hoped to resume crossing over Easter, but has been telling customers that no services will be operating until at least Tuesday 19 April.

In response to Twitter user Jeremy Palliser’s query as to whether ferries would be running on Thursday or Friday this week, P&O Ferries responded: “This service remains suspended until the 18 April inclusive, we will update when we have more information and if this changes we will contact you directly. We have contacted customers who were affected. Thank you.”

If you’re worried about the mega-queues and security delays causing some passengers to miss flights this spring, there is one blindingly simple solution, writes travel editor Helen Coffey.

You could always ditch the flights and travel closer to the ground this summer, like Helen – who has pledged to travel flight-free throughout 2022.

“Even before the recent turbulence at airports across the land, which even saw unlucky passengers miss flights because they were stuck in hours-long security queues, I couldn’t help but feel a little smug about my choice every time a friend told me about a disastrous flight delay or a nightmare case of lost luggage,” writes Helen.

“The longer I go without flying, in fact, the more I wonder how I ever tolerated it in the first place.”

Some British holidaymakers are missing out on holidays and losing money due to longer-than-usual waiting times for new passports.

Recent reviews on Passportwaitingtime.co.uk, which tracks consumers’ waiting time during applications, show customers’ frustration with the often inconsistent wait times for a new passport.

One user’s review, posted on Wednesday, says she’s waited more than 12 weeks for two of her family’s passports to be renewed.

The typical waiting time for a new passport is five weeks – as stated on the government website – unless it is a first time adult passport, in which case the average wait is six weeks.

However, the passport office advises travellers to allow up to 10 weeks to allow for any delays, with the disclaimer, “Standard online application processing times may change quickly.”

Motorists travelling anticlockwise around the eastern section of the M25 are being warned of delays of an hour as a result of a broken-down lorry. It is in the eastern bore of the Dartford Tunnel, with all traffic diverted to the western bore.

National Highways South East says: “The Eastbore tunnel at the Dartford crossing is closed for recovery of a broken down lorry.

“There are currently long delays of at least 60 minutes on approach along the M25 anti-clockwise. If this closure impacts on your planned route, please allow extra journey time.”

There are height restrictions within the tunnel being used.

Vehicles over 4.8m (15’9”) are advised “to seek an alternative route via the clockwise M25”.

Passengers on the main rail line from Scotland, northeast England and Yorkshire to London King’s Cross are facing delays after a train driver reported hitting an obstruction in the Hatfield area.

National Rail says: “Fleet engineers and the Network Rail quick response staff are on site and are working with the driver to get the train moving as quickly as possible.

“Only one out of two lines are available for trains travelling towards London. Please allow extra time to complete your journey, as services may be subject to delays of up to 20 minutes in the Hatfield area.

“In order to fix the issue safely, more lines will need to be blocked resulting in further delays.
“Some trains may also be diverted away from the area to avoid increased delays, but this will still lead to extended journey times.”

Trains between East Croydon and Gatwick Airport are currently being disrupted, with delays expected until at least 9am.

“There is a fault with the signalling system between Gatwick Airport and East Croydon. As a result of this, trains may be delayed by up to 10 minutes,” says a National Rail update.

Thameslink also tweeted about the delays, saying: “We are currently advising that you allow an additional 10 minutes for travel between Gatwick Airport and East Croydon (towards London). This is owing to a signalling fault affecting our fast ‘Quarry’ line between Earlswood and Coulsdon South.”