Showing posts with label Glasgow Airport. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Glasgow Airport. Show all posts

02 August, 2023

Jet2 to start new route between Glasgow and Verona for Summer 2024

The UK's leading leisure airline and holiday company, Jet2 will add a new direct service to the beautiful city of Verona to the airline’s Summer 24 programme from Glasgow Airport. 

The airline has responded to demand from customers and independent travel agents by adding flights, city breaks and holidays to the famous Italian city, which also gives customers access to the incredible Lake Garda.

From 8th May through to 25th September, the companies will operate weekly Wednesday services to Verona, famed as the setting for Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliette.

Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays said: “As well as looking forward to a busy Summer 23, we are also seeing lots of customers want to book ahead for next summer from Glasgow Airport which is great news. In response to that, we are moving to give customers and independent travel agents even more choice thanks to the launch of flights, city breaks and holidays to Lake Garda and Verona for Summer 24.

"This expansion further strengthens a programme which is already our biggest ever, and we know that it will be very popular with customers and independent travel agents right across the region.”



Romance and ruins come together in idyllic Italian harmony in this picturesque UNESCO-stamped city. White-stone Porta Leoni is an old gate oozing character with two façades and remains of columns, while cinematic scenes can be found at tree-ringed Castel San Pietro. Ride up to it on the cable railway before enjoying river views from the ramparts. Oh, and don’t miss the Roman Arena, an enormous 1st-century amphitheatre right in Verona’s heart.

Verona Arena
This Roman amphitheatre was built in 1st century and remains well preserved. Once where gladiator fights were held in front of a 30,000-strong crowd, today it’s better known for the opera performances that take place. View the structure from outside for free or pay the entrance fee to tour the grounds.

Piazza Bra
Verona’s largest piazza and main square is located in front of the city gates. It’s lined with cafes and restaurants, bars and peaceful open spaces to relax in. Among the historic buildings dating back 2,000 years, look out for landmarks like the Verona Arena amphitheatre, now a music venue, and Verona’s town hall.

easyJet expands its Twilight Bag Drop service to Glasgow......


One of Europe's largest airlines and the leading low-cost carrier in the UK, easyJet has confirmed it has expanded its Twilight Bag Drop service to Glasgow Airport.  This service allows passengers on early morning flights to drop their bags off the evening before, saving time for their journey through the airport on their day of travel by skipping bag drop and heading straight to security. It is a service that is expected to be especially popular with thousands of families who are travelling with easyJet for their summer holidays.

The service will be available to all customers on early morning flights departing before 0830 at Glasgow, which represents over a quarter of all flights departing from the airport, and bags can be dropped between 1600 and 2100 the day before they fly. Passengers just need to head to the easyJet Bag Drop Area in Terminal 1, with their passports and boarding passes, and the staff there will take care of the rest.

The airline has also put in place a range of summer travel customer initiatives to help families flying with the airline during the school holidays, including a family hotline, a new WhatsApp channel and extended customer service opening hours.

Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK Country Manager, commented:  We are always looking for new ways to make travel as easy as possible, so we are really pleased to be introducing our free Twilight Bag Drop service at Glasgow from today.

As families look forward to jetting off on their summer holidays, we’ve also put in place some extra support over this busy period, extending our customer service hours and providing dedicated customer service support and adding more people to our customer service team, we are ensuring our customers have the support they need when they travel with us this summer, for a quicker and easier journey.”

easyJet now offers Twilight bag drop services to its customers across five of its key UK airports: London Gatwick, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, and now Glasgow.

29 June, 2023

The UK's worst ranked airports for cancellations.....

UK’s airports ranked on performance ahead of summer holidays


220m passed through UK airports in 2022
Glasgow cancelled the most flights with 1,500 in 2022
Belfast & Stansted were reliable with only 0.8% & 0.7% of flights cancelled


The latest research by tax specialists, RIFT, reveals that while Heathrow may be the UK’s busiest major airport, Brits heading abroad this summer are best to avoid Glasgow Airport, as it ranks as the worst when it comes to the proportion of flights being cancelled.

RIFT analysed the number of annual flights and cancellations at each of the UK’s 10 busiest airports to see which provides the most efficient service to passengers. 

Last year (2022), a combined total of 221.8 million passengers passed through the UK’s 10 busiest airports. 


28%, or 61.6 million, of these people travelled through Heathrow, making it the busiest airport in the nation. 

Gatwick handled 32.8 million passengers (15%), while Manchester and Stansted (10.5%) each served an estimated 23.3 million passengers (11%).

However, when it comes to the possibility of flight cancellations throwing a spanner in the works for UK holidaymakers, it’s Glasgow Airport that is most likely to kick off your holiday on a sour note. 

In 2022 2.5% of all flights from Glasgow were cancelled and while this might not seem like many, it equates to almost 1,500 cancellations. 


Heathrow does rank second when it comes to the frequency of cancelled flights. Of the 367,000 flights that were due to take off last year, Heathrow saw a cancellation rate of 1.7% or 6,391 flights.

Gatwick (3,472) and Edinburgh (1,363) also rank high with 1.6% of flights taken off the board.

Meanwhile, Birmingham airport handled almost 69,000 flights in 2022 and managed a cancellation rate of just 0.6%, equivalent to less than 400 flights. 

Stansted (0.7%) and Belfast International (0.8%) were also impressively reliable. 






Check the tables online here RIFT Holiday cancellations and passports 

What to do if your flight is cancelled


If your flight is cancelled, you have a legal right to either a full refund or a replacement flight to your intended destination. 

If you are halfway through a journey and the cancelled flight is, for example, a connecting flight, you also have the right to a free flight back to the airport you originally departed from. 

If a cancellation delays your journey for more than two hours, and occurs less than 14 days before the scheduled flight time, you are also entitled to compensation to cover your costs, such as food or accommodation when required. 

Compensation ranges between £100-£500 depending on how many miles the cancelled flight was going to take you and how many hours late your eventual arrival was. 

Be passport prepared


While cancelled flights are a common cause of holiday frustration and disappointment, it’s more common for holidays to be disrupted by passport issues. 

If your passport is out of date, it needs renewing before you can travel. The timeline for receiving a new passport is around 12-29 days after submitting your application. But His Majesty’s Passport Office recommends you allow for a waiting time of 10 weeks. 

What’s really important to know is that even if your passport is within its expiry date, it still might not be valid depending on your destination of choice. 

Some countries, such as the US, simply require your passport to be in-date for the duration of your trip, but many popular destinations require you to have at least three months left on your passport, including Spain, Greece, Italy, and France.

Anyone who isn’t aware of this can be in for a nasty surprise when they get to the airport and cancelled flights will be the least of your worries. 

Be prepared and make sure you check the rules specific to your destination well ahead of travelling. 


Bradley Post, MD of RIFT, commented: “Given how many flights leave UK airports every day, it’s fair to say that the industry is highly efficient and reliable with cancellations kept at a minimum. 

In fact, if your holiday is going to get scuppered at the airport, it’s far more likely to be a passenger error than an airline error. Forgotten passports and out of date passports are always going to be leading contributors to ruined holidays. 

You’ve got to double check your passport well before you travel. And don’t forget, when a flight is cancelled by the airline, there’s a good chance of getting your money back. But if it’s your own fault that you can’t travel as planned, you’re not going to get any compensation whatsoever.”





01 June, 2023

easyJet launches new route between Glasgow and Southampton



One of Europe's largest budget carriers easyJet has confirmed it will be launching a new year-round route between Glasgow and Southampton, scheduled to start on 2nd November. 

easyJet says the route will be flown twice a week, with flights on Saturday and Thursday and is part of the airline's programme to connect more of the UK. 

On the south coast of England, the historic maritime city of Southampton, home of the famous Titanic and Mayflower, not only provides onward connectivity to one of the largest European cruise ports, but is conveniently located near some of the south’s best tourist attractions like Stonehenge and Winchester Cathedral, as well as serving as a gateway to the beautiful beaches of England’s south coast and the New Forest. 

Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK Country Manager commented: “We’re delighted to announce this new route today from Glasgow to Southampton, which will provide customers in Scotland even with greater connectivity across the UK, enabling people to explore more of the fantastic destinations the UK has to offer, reconnect with loved ones and do business.

 “We are proud to be the largest airline in Scotland and remain committed to strengthening our unrivalled short-haul network and providing more choice for our customers across the UK, all with great value fares and the warm welcome that our crew are famous for.”

Matt Hazelwood, Chief Commercial Officer at AGS Airports, which owns Glasgow Airport, said: “EasyJet’s plans to operate services between Glasgow and our sister airport in Southampton this winter is great news and this additional service on this popular route will help deliver greater choice and flexibility for both our business and leisure travellers.”

07 December, 2022

UK Border Force to screw up Christmas for millions of travellers........

Arrival delays lightly during Border Force strike
Photo by Yolanda Suen on Unsplash
Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has confirmed that its members working for the UK's Border Force workers will strike at six major UK airports for at least eight days over the Christmas period screwing up travel plans for millions.

The union has called strike action between 23rd and 26th December, and then from 28th to 31st December and will affect the UK's major airports London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Cardiff.  A strike will also impact the south coast port of Newhaven, which would have devastating consequences for the only loss-making route to Dieppe by Transmanche Ferries / DFDS.  These dates have been chosen by the union, it says,  to have the maximum impact by causing the most disruption to passengers. 

PCS Mark Serwotka told media that 40,000 of its members were having to use food banks, while 45,000 were claiming in-work benefits. Although, union reps couldn't say how many of those going on strike were included in those numbers.   The union are calling for a 10% pay increase, better job security, with no cuts to pensions or redundancies.  

eGates should remain operational throughout the strikes for those with biometric passports from EU countries, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland or the USA.

Most civil servants have received just a 2% pay rise this year and after a pay freeze for a number of years. PCS said 86% of its 100,000 members across 124 government departments and public sector employers have voted in favour of strike action and promised more strikes - over all departments would be called next year.  So far only a few jobcentres and benefits offices will take strike action in the coming weeks, however, the union is already making plans for most Universal Credit service centres to see crippling walkouts in the new year. 

The Christmas action will affect millions of people who had been planning getaways over the festive period and to reunite with relatives from overseas.  Robert Jenrick, the Immigration Minister called the strike "unjustifiable and will ruin the plans of thousands of families and businesses across the country. - While we are working closely with all UK ports and airports and have robust plans in place to minimise any delays if strike action goes ahead, passengers should be prepared for their plans to be severely disrupted."

Gatwick Airport said it will deploy extra staff on strike days to help with the welfare of stranded passengers and were in consultation with Border Force over mitigation however, delays of between 4 and 6 hours should be expected.  

The Business Travel Association warned  "The entire travel support system will once more be plunged into dealing with cancellations and disruptions rather than bookings with no financial recompense.  - further strike action puts British workers’ Christmases at risk. Hard workers up and down the country will be stranded, struggling to get home."

A spokesperson for London Heathrow Airport claimed that "Our priority is to ensure passengers get through the border safely and as quickly as possible. We are working closely with airlines and Border Force on mitigation plans for potential strike action by Border Force officers and these plans will now be implemented for the notified days."

Manchester Airport said "It is hugely regrettable that the PCS Union has chosen to disrupt one of the most important times of the year for international travel by calling a strike by Border Force officers at several UK ports, including Manchester Airport, for 23-26 December and 28-31 December.  We urge union and Government representatives to work together to find a solution to avert this strike action."

It added: "We will be working with our airlines to provide passengers with as much advance notice of cancelled services as possible, so that people have the chance to rebook their travel around the strike days. Arriving passengers should also be prepared for much longer immigration queues on strike days, owing to reduced Border Force staffing levels.  Those due to travel during the affected period should look out for communications from their airlines over the coming days."








08 July, 2022

Inaugural easyJet flights take off to new destinations from Glasgow Airport

In recent weeks there has been a raft of new routes launched from Glasgow to Europe, further connecting one of Scotland's primary airports to popular holiday destinations.

Budget airline easyJet has started flights from Glasgow Airport to Pula in Croatia and Chania on the Greek Island of Crete, aimed at providing customers in Scotland with the opportunity to explore more of Europe this summer. 

The inaugural flight on the new summer route from Glasgow to Pula took off for the first time on 27th June, with the new service now operating up to twice a week on Mondays and Fridays throughout the summer. Flights to Chania started on 29th June, operating twice weekly on Wednesdays and Sundays until 4 September.

Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK Country Manager, said:   "We are delighted to be launching new flights from Glasgow Airport to Pula and Chania. These routes further strengthen our network from Scotland and provide more connectivity for our customers wanting to explore or relax in some of Europe's most scenic destinations.  We are proud to be the largest airline in Scotland and offer our customers great value fares and more choice when they fly with us."

 Christopher Tibbett, Head of Airline Relations at Glasgow Airport, said: "The launch of these new routes to Pula and Chania from Glasgow Airport are both welcome and timely as we enter the popular summer holiday season.

 A large number of our passengers haven’t been overseas in nearly three years and are rightly keen to enjoy a well-deserved sunshine break. The addition of these easyJet services not only delivers two more fantastic destinations for Scottish travellers to explore but also demonstrates that our industry is on the path to recovery.”





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