LONDON – Further strike action is planned by the Unite union of cabin crew for four days from March 27th. British Airways has stated that due to increased numbers of crew reporting for work, they plan on expanding the numbers of flights leaving from each of the London airports.

All flights should be running from both Gatwick and London City airports. However, Heathrow is affected to a far greater extent. Around 55 per cent of short-haul flights are scheduled and about 70 per cent of long-haul flights.

BA’s chief executive, Willie Walsh, said:

“We will do all we can to rebook affected customers onto other British Airways flights, offer seats on alternative airlines or give a full refund.”

The short-haul schedule will be supplemented by the leasing of 11 further aircraft from other airlines. This is fewer than the 25 that were leased by British Airways for the earlier three-day strike.

LONDON – British Airways‘ cabin crew will no longer be flying to Orlando, Sydney and New York for discount rates after the airline withdrew staff benefits as a result of the ongoing strike action.

BA has written to all the members of the Unite union who are currently taking industrial action to tell them that they will no longer be able to get special deals on flights, as this was a non-contractual perk given at BA’s discretion.

Previously, cabin crew could get unlimited discount standby tickets and after a certain length of service, were also entitled to a free business class flight on which they would only have to pay air passenger duty.

LONDON – Thomas Cook has announced an upturn in bookings for summer holidays following its TV advertising campaign featuring Jamie and Louise Redknapp.

The travel firm says that it has seen a 30 per cent improvement in bookings in the last month, particularly UK holidaymakers, keen to get away in the summer.

A lot of the success is being put down to the memorable TV adverts featuring Jamie and Louise Redknapp, with Thomas Cook describing the response as ‘incredible’. The campaign is now going to run throughout the summer, where ordinarily such campaigns end much sooner. Thomas Cook’s TV ad budget has consequently been increased to £6.5m from £2.5m.

Thomas Cook shares rose by 3.6 per cent on the back of this news and the mood is one of cautious optimism. The best-selling holidays have been to mid-haul destinations outside the eurozone, such as Turkey and Egypt.

LONDON – The striking Unite union has claimed that many of the British Airways flights that are running are doing so without passengers. Members of the union believe that BA are having planes fly carrying only cargo to give the impression that they are not so badly affected by the strike.

Yesterday BA added eight further long-haul flights and another 18 short-haul flights to its schedule despite the lack of cabin crew. Unite say that these planes are virtually empty and have branded the move ‘propaganda’. The reinstated flights are to Miami, LA, New York and Cape Town, among other places.

Unite say that only 30 per cent of flights took place on Saturday. British Airways have not given official details regarding flight cancellations.

GLASGOW – As the Unite strike enters its third day, most British Airways passengers heading from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Heathrow will find their flights have been cancelled. While there are still a few flights running in the afternoon, the majority are not.

Seven BA flights from Glasgow have been cut and six from Edinburgh. The situation is better for those travelling to Gatwick as most of these flights should be unaffected.

Speaking on behalf of Unite, Brian Boyd said that 120 BA planes were grounded at Heathrow and added that there was only one flight each way between Heathrow and Glasgow.

Unite are hoping that British Airways will have been sufficiently affected by the strike action that they will enter into negotiations.

Hong Kong – Cost cutting efforts appeared to have paid dividends for Cathay Pacific after the airline announced a return to profit for 2009.

After making a loss in 2008, Cathay Pacific has now announced a £405million net profit, with ‘fuel hedging’ playing a major part in offsetting a drop in revenue of around 25 per cent.

However, the airline remains wary, believing the economic slump is still playing a major part in airline ticket sales. More passengers flew in the second half of the year, but the situation remains fragile, not least because of rising fuel costs.

It has been estimated that airlines lost around $11billion last year overall, so this success is likely to be a source of much pride for Cathay Pacific.

Air France has joined the battle for business travellers who are being forced to purchase cheaper flight tickets by offering ‘premium-economy’ cabins on some of its flights.

With businesses paying more attention to costs, many travellers are no longer flying first-class, but airlines have acknowledged that there is a gap in the market for these customers. Qantas has done away with first-class cabins in favour of premium-economy cabins, while Air France is approaching the same problem from the opposite direction by removing some of its cheapest seats in order to offer the same.

The premium-economy seats offered by Air France will allow 40 per cent more space for each passenger. This is great news for taller travellers who may actually be able to get some sleep on long-haul flights now.

The Unite union of cabin crew has drawn up a document outlining cost-saving measures that could be taken by British Airways and which could prevent a strike.

BA wants to cut around £60m from its budget for cabin crew and this document proposes savings of a similar amount. The deadline for announcing a strike is the 15th March, so the current meetings represent something of a last-ditch attempt at preventing industrial action.

81 per cent of Unite cabin crew have voted in favour of a strike. BA will study the cost-saving document over the next week and its response is likely to determine whether one goes ahead or not.

Willie Walsh, BA chief executive, says that staffing cuts on long-haul flights are unavoidable and believes that the 60m savings required can only be achieved through a reduction in pay for crew of around £2,000 – something which he believes the union will not acknowledge.

PARIS, FRANCE – Air France has announced that it will be increasing its numbers of long-haul flights this summer after detecting faint signs of economic recovery.

Capacity will be increased by a less-than-earth-shattering 0.8 per cent, but set against a backdrop of airlines folding or reducing the numbers of flights available, this is a relatively positive move.

However, overall Air France capacity will be reduced by 0.3 per cent, with medium-haul flights down by 4 per cent. The statement announcing these changes emphasises that recovery is very much dependent on the country in question, hence the apparent discrepancy in policy of increasing long-haul flights while reducing medium-haul flights.

The airline industry as a whole is set to post losses of around $5.6billion this year.