Latest news with #holidaytravel
Times
17-07-2025
- Times
EU tolerance of French air traffic control strikes is unacceptable
Summer has landed. So what better time to spend hours at an airport, waiting to take off? Or, better still, find your holiday flight's been cancelled — and all because of those French air traffic controllers, who are once again on strike. It's becoming such a summer ritual that Michael O'Leary, the Ryanair boss, has branded the walk-outs 'recreational': the sort of thing that, by some bizarre coincidence, increasingly happens when ze beau temps est arrivé. The controllers have blamed 'short staffing'. Too right — they're making it worse. Whatever, this holiday season is already off to a cracker. On stats from Eurocontrol — the European organisation for the safety of air navigation — the froggie strikes on July 3 and 4 caused about 7,400 flights to be delayed across Europe, with more than 2,800 cancellations. Passengers affected topped a million, with those figures probably an understatement as the impact rolled on into the next day. As for the airlines, they collectively clocked up a £100 million-plus bill. O'Leary's opposite number at easyJet, Kenton Jarvis, disclosed the effect on his carrier — £15 million of costs — adding that he's 'extremely unhappy' with a situation that brings 'unacceptable challenges for customers and crew', plus 'unexpected and significant costs for all airlines'. Jarvis says he's 'spoken to the secretary of state [transport chief Heidi Alexander] about it because it affects UK consumers', adding: 'I don't think the French government are comfortable with it' either. Who really knows? But Britain needs to crank up the political pressure here because there is an easy fix. France is not the only country causing air traffic delays; plenty suffered when the pandemic hit the recruitment of new controllers. But it's the worst offender 'by a country mile' as Jarvis put it, well ahead of Spain, Germany and the UK, as the website Air Traffic Control Ruined Your Flight underlines. Alongside the strike-happy staff, there's a key reason too. Unlike other nations, including Italy, Spain and Greece, France does not allow 'overflights' — ones that merely pass through its air space — during strikes. And, as Eurocontrol notes, while a third of European flights 'cross, land or take off in France' each day, almost 60 per cent of them are overflights. Protection for French overflights during strikes is an issue O'Leary has been raising for six years with the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen — or von 'Derlayed-Again', as he likes to call her. This month he wrote to her again, saying 'it is up to you as president' to 'protect the single market'. So, 'it is unacceptable that every year, the commission washes its hands of responsibility for Europe's single market for air travel, by claiming that air traffic control is a 'national competence' '. As he noted, 270,000 travellers in the EU alone had their flights cancelled due to this month's strikes: a figure that would be cut by '90 per cent' if the EC insisted on 'France protected overflights' during walk-outs or the EU allowed Eurocontrol to 'manage' them. Requesting she 'please now act or quit', he said: 'It is unacceptable that over your six years as president … you have taken zero action'. It is. Von der Leyen did not reply. Given the impact on British travellers, the government should be badgering both her and President Macron, fresh from a state visit to Britain, to fix this problem. Because right now, it's out of control. First puzzler from the Office for Notional Statistics' latest job figures: how does this even happen? 'UK payrolled employee growth for May 2025, compared with April 2025, has been revised from a decrease of 109,000 reported in the last bulletin to a decrease of 25,000'. Or, to put it another way, last month's stats were wrong by a mere 84,000 people. Where were all those worker bees hiding? True, the monthly jobs stats are invariably revised. But that's a hell of miss for a key input into the Bank of England's interest rate decisions. How's it meant to know what's going on in the labour market with figures like that yo-yo'ing around? • Britain runs on ONS statistics. What happens when they're nonsense? Anyway, second puzzler: what sort of thought experiment was Rachel Reeves indulging in before her budget? Did she somehow convince herself that if she jacked up payroll taxes by £25 billion a year, chased wealth-creating billionaires out of the country and had her boss, Sir Starmergeddon, pass laws giving untried workers first-day employment rights, it would result in boom time for the jobs market? If so, she's predictably out by even more than the ONS's dodgy stats. The inevitable has happened. Unemployment has now hit a fresh four-year high at 4.7 per cent, with payrolls contracting in a year by 178,000, or 0.6 per cent, and falling in seven of the eight months since her budget. On top, hospitality and retail — big employers of young workers — have been hardest hit. As the Federation of Small Businesses put it: 'If you make it more expensive and riskier to give someone a job, the result will be fewer jobs.' Still, don't expect Reeves to grasp that. After all, her budget didn't affect 'working people'. More hot air. 'Plans to slash electricity network costs for energy-intensive businesses by 90 per cent are set in motion as government launches new consultation'. A consultation, no less. Yes, luckily this one is only due to last four weeks, while Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, gets 'industry views' on upping the discount on electricity network charges from 60 per cent to 90 per cent for energy-intensive businesses. But it's meant to save 500 of them 'up to £420 million per year'. So what is his consultation for? They're hardly likely to be opposed to it.
Khaleej Times
14-07-2025
- Khaleej Times
Jaipur-Dubai passengers face 9-hour delay amid multiple flight disruptions
Passengers on multiple Jaipur–Dubai flights endured delays of up to nine hours over the weekend as holiday travel chaos and recurring technical issues disrupted one of the region's busiest routes. The delays, which left flyers stranded without timely updates, mirrored similar disruptions in the Mumbai–Dubai sector, where SpiceJet passengers staged protests after an 11-hour delay sparked viral outrage. On Sunday (July 13), SpiceJet's SG 57 from Jaipur to Dubai finally departed at 6.22pm IST, around nine hours behind its scheduled 9.30am takeoff. Flight tracking data reviewed by Khaleej Times confirms the delay, which airport officials said was caused by a late-arriving inbound aircraft (SG 58) held up in Dubai due to a technical issue. SG 58, originally scheduled to depart Dubai at 3.40am UAE time, finally took off at 12.19pm and landed in Jaipur at 5.34pm, leaving passengers fuming over the lack of communication. "There was no information for hours. We just kept waiting at the gate," said Sharjah resident S. Parmar, who was travelling with his family. "In nine hours, we could've made a round trip," said another passenger. The ordeal came a day after Air India Express flight IX-195 from Jaipur to Dubai was delayed by nearly six hours on Saturday despite the inbound flight arriving on time. Earlier, on July 8, SpiceJet's SG 57 had also faced a significant delay, departing seven hours behind schedule. Khaleej Times has reached out to SpiceJet and Air India Express for comment. Responses were pending at the time of publication. The disruptions extended to Mumbai, where SpiceJet's SG 59 to Dubai departed 11 hours late on Sunday, triggering heated clashes between passengers and staff, according to Indian media. Viral videos showed travellers sitting on the terminal floor, chanting slogans and accusing the airline of not giving them food or water as they waited for updates. SpiceJet later issued a statement acknowledging the disruption. "The aircraft was being serviced, and the operation took longer than expected, with the operating crew crossing their Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL)," a SpiceJet spokesperson said, adding that the airline regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers.
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Travel + Leisure
11-07-2025
- Business
- Travel + Leisure
American Airlines Just Added New Routes to Mexico and the Caribbean—See the Full List
'Tis the season to plan holiday travel. American Airlines recently announced an expanded holiday schedule, with new or increased routes to popular vacation destinations including the British Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, and Mexico. "American Airlines is giving travelers the perfect gift for Christmas in July with new routes and more flights to popular destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America this winter," the airline shared in a news release. The new routes include daily service between Chicago (ORD) to Mexico City (MEX) starting on Oct. 26, 2025, as well as holiday service from Chicago to Queretaro, Mexico (QRO) from Dec. 18, 2025 through Jan. 5, 2026. Additionally, the carrier is increasing its frequency of flights from Philadelphia (PHL) to Aruba (AUA); San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU); and St. Maarten (SXM) to as many as three daily flights. It is also launching a new daily service between Philadelphia and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (SDQ). The airline's hub at Miami International Airport (MIA) will see a surge of new flight frequencies, including the Bahamas (MHH, ELH); Kingston, Jamaica (KIN); and San Juan (SJU). The airline is also increasing its frequency to Tortola, British Virgin Islands (EIS) to five daily flights. While the airline announced the new routes and schedules, tickets won't be available for purchase until July 14 on American's website or through travel agents. For travelers looking to save on airline travel, experts recommend booking about three months in advance for domestic trips, and more than no later than three months for international trips. Travelers can also save by flying into nearby airports, or booking on off-peak days. 'As the leading U.S. airline in Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America, at American we're focused on growing our network, giving our customers access to their favorite destinations in the region—from the tropical paradise of Puerto Rico to the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Mexico City, and beyond,' José A. Freig, Vice President of International and Inflight Dining Operations at American, said in a release. 'With these new routes and additional flying, next winter we'll operate 10% more seats than the previous year, a testament to our commitment to the region and our customers.'
The Independent
04-07-2025
- The Independent
Travel chaos as 70,000 Ryanair passengers hit by French air traffic control strikes
Tens of thousands of holidaymakers faced a second day of disruption across France on Friday due as the air traffic control strike rumbled on. French workers are walking out over demands for improved working conditions, with the strike coinciding with the height of the summer travel season in Europe. The industrial action, which began causing disruptions across French airports on Thursday and will intensify significantly today, saw widespread cancellations across the country. Ryanair was among airlines that announced widespread disruptions, saying in a statement on Friday it cancelled more than 400 flights affecting 70,000 passengers. This is significantly higher than the 170 cancellations the company predicted on Thursday. The company said the strike affects all its flights over French airspace, as well as traffic in and out of French airports, and also flights over the country to destinations such as the UK, Greece, Spain and Ireland. It urged the European Union to reform air traffic rules. Rival budget airline easyJet said Thursday it had cancelled 124 flights and was scrapping 150 on Friday due to the industrial action. Earlier this week, the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) requested airlines to cut flights as a preventative measure. On Tuesday, it s from the capital's airports, including Charles de Gaulle, Orly, and Beauvais. This was alongside half of all flights in Nice and 30 per cent in Marseille, Lyon, and several other cities. Despite the preventive cancellations, the authority warned in a statement that ″disruptions and long delays are to be expected at all French airports.' One of the two unions leading the strike, UNSA-ICNA, said in a statement there are not enough employees to handle surging air travel and that inflation is eating away at salaries. The unions also are protesting new reform measures aiming to more tightly monitor their work, prompted by a near-collision at the Bordeaux airport. The union is calling for improved pay and more staff. The strike comes after a meeting last Wednesday with the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) was unable to reach an agreement. Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot called the union demands — and their decision to strike just as French schools close for the summer and many families head on vacation — ″unacceptable.″ The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has issued a warning to travellers in light of the strikes. A spokesperson for FCDO said: 'There can be frequent industrial action across France. 'This can lead to disruption and delays on roads and public transport. 'If you're due to travel to or within France, monitor the media, check your operator's advice and follow the advice of the authorities. 'On 3 and 4 July, planned industrial action by air traffic control unions is expected to disrupt flights to and from airports across France. "Check your operator's advice before travelling, including where you are taking connecting flights.'
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Wisconsin deputies clock multiple drivers at 90+ mph ahead of holiday weekend
BARRON COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV) – As holiday travel ramps up, authorities in Wisconsin are urging drivers to slow down and prioritize safety over speed. In a social media post, the Barron County Sheriff's Office said they've already stopped nine drivers going 90 miles per hour or faster. One photo shows a radar gun capturing a vehicle at 99 mph. Green Bay Police narrowly win 'Battle of the Badges' blood drive 'We thought F1 was awesome too, but we prefer people don't try to reenact it on our highways,' the post read. One critically injured, driver arrested for OWI after crash into Two Rivers home With the Fourth of July weekend expected to bring increased traffic, deputies are reminding motorists that getting to their destination safely is more important than getting there quickly. 'It's going to be an amazing weekend for America's birthday,' the sheriff's office said. 'Please help us ensure everyone gets to their destination safely. As always, we are out and about if you need us.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
