Category Archives: Travel

British Airways’ First A380 Arrives at Heathrow Home

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Super-jumbo aviation arrived in the UK yesterday with the delivery to Heathrow of British Airways’ first A380.

The airline is the first UK carrier to take delivery of the double-decker, which is the world’s largest commercial jet. British Airways is also the first airline in Europe to operate both the A380 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the first two of which landed at Heathrow last week.

The airline announced yesterday that the very first long-haul flight on the A380 to Los Angeles will be on September 24, 2013 with prices starting from £621 return, and the first to Hong Kong will be on October 22 with prices from £688 return.

Customers can book online at ba.com or by calling 0844 493 0787.

Keith Williams, British Airways’ CEO, said: “We are delighted to welcome the first of our A380s to the fleet, joining our new 787s.

“These aircraft are the start of a new era for British Airways. Over the next 15 months, we will take delivery of new aircraft at the rate of one a fortnight as we put ourselves at the forefront of modern aviation.

“The A380 is a fantastic aircraft and an excellent showpiece for British engineering. Our customers are going to love the space, light and comfort on board.”

British Airways’ A380s will accommodate 469 customers across four cabins. Customers in First will be seated at the front of the main deck. The cabin will offer 14 seats and is evolved from the current First class with 30 per cent more personal space and 60 per cent more personal stowage.

Club World (business class) customers can choose from 44 seats on the main deck, or 53 seats on the upper deck. These upper deck seats will feature a new 2:3:2 configuration across the cabin. The 55 World Traveller Plus (premier economy) seats will be located on the upper deck while World Traveller (economy) customers can choose seats on both the main and upper deck. Customers travelling in both World Traveller and World Traveller Plus will be able to enjoy the new cabins and seats that have proved so popular on our 777-300ER fleet.

The aircraft’s innovative design makes it much quieter during take-off and landing and 16 per cent more fuel efficient than a Boeing 747. British Airways has ordered 12 A380s for delivery by 2016. Three will arrive this year followed by a further five in 2014.

Both aircraft types will now begin a complex ‘entry into service’ programme, which will see pilot and cabin crew training taking place at Manston Airport in Kent, customer service trials at Heathrow and short-haul flying for both aircraft, including flights within the UK.

The airline’s website (below) features information on the new aircraft, including computer generated imagery (CGI). Two short films are also available on YouTube to give customers a feel for the aircraft.

http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/flight-information/airbus-a380

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgN3NAxxWsg and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5fSLrVzpxg

BA A380

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One year after opening the Emirates Air Line is bringing jobs and growth to east London

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• The Emirates Air Line is successfully supporting regeneration and increasing footfall in Greenwich and Newham
• Since opening customer satisfaction has remained high at 93 out of 100 • The Emirates Air Line will begin a ticketing partnership with The O2 in August

Today marks the first anniversary of passenger services on the UK’s first urban cable car, the Emirates Air Line, and the Mayor says it continues to play a key role in supporting growth and regeneration in east London.

Since opening, the Emirates Air Line, connecting Greenwich and the Royal Docks, has flown over 2.4 million passengers across the Thames and customer satisfaction remains consistently high. Today Transport for London (TfL) confirmed that it is working with AEG Europe, the owners of The O2, to make Emirates Air Line boarding passes available on The O2 website from August. That means passengers will be able to buy e-tickets for a flight on the Emirates Air Line at the same time as they book their visit to The O2, or their Thames Clipper travel.

The Emirates Air Line was built to support current and future regeneration in east London and the balance between leisure users and regular users will change as this takes place. The popularity amongst leisure users means the Emirates Air Line is covering its costs while encouraging people to visit Greenwich and the Royal Docks. Passengers surveyed since the scheme opened have given the Emirates Air Line an average score of 93 out of 100, for both overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend the service to others.

Regeneration of the area is already well underway as illustrated this month when the Mayor of London announced a £1.5bn deal with the Silvertown Partnership to transform Silvertown Quays in London’s Royal Docks into an innovative new quarter that will be able to accommodate more than 1,500 new homes, restaurants, cafes, galleries and leisure facilities both on and off the water, making it a thriving destination for Londoners and visitors to live, work and enjoy. Work on the first phase of the site is expected to begin in 2014/15.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “The Emirates Air Line is doing exactly what it set out to do and supporting regeneration of an area with huge potential to provide new jobs and homes. The £1.5bn deal to transform the Silvertown Quays in London’s Royal Docks is a superb illustration of how providing new transport links like the cable car can be the perfect spur for economic growth.

“As the customer satisfaction scores show, Londoners and visitors from around the world thoroughly enjoy using this innovative transport experience and the new and exciting Emirates Aviation Experience opening in July next to the Greenwich terminal will be yet another fantastic reason to visit this rapidly developing area of London.”

Greenwich will soon be welcoming the arrival of the Emirates Aviation Experience, just next to the Emirates Greenwich Peninsula terminal, and the Emirates Royal Docks terminal will see the world’s oldest and only complete steamship – The SS Robin moored close by and open to visitors in 2014. Other exciting developments coming to the area include a new 452 room hotel next to The O2 with residential apartments in 2015. All of this development will directly benefit from the convenient and direct river crossing the Emirates Air Line provides.

TfL’s Head of the Emirates Air Line, Danny Price, said: “The Emirates Air Line is a great success – not only has it reached over 2.4 million passenger journeys already it is also covering costs and generating revenue for local businesses.

“We are delighted to be working closely with The O2, the partnership is another move towards promoting the Greenwich Peninsula as a destination location and provides customers with a convenient way to plan and book their visit. We will continue to work with the new and existing visitor attractions in the neighbouring areas to help to stimulate growth.”

The O2’s Director of Transport Strategy, Geoff Symonds, said: “The Emirates Air Line has been a resounding success on the Greenwich Peninsula and has contributed to record footfall at The O2 over the last year. The O2 welcomes the opportunity to work closely with TfL to promote the Greenwich Peninsula as a destination and provide a seamless ticketing solution for our customers. We hope this
partnership will introduce new customers to the Emirates Air Line and provide another great experience for customers coming to The O2.”

To celebrate the anniversary the Emirates Air Line has teamed up with rapper Lethal Bizzle, magician Magical Bones, rock band Don Broco and singer Passenger to offer MetroTravel readers the chance to win exclusive performances from the acts in private cabins 90 metres above the River Thames.

TfL announces shortlist of bidders to run Crossrail services

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Transport for London (TfL) today announced the names of the companies shortlisted to bid to run Crossrail services.

The bidders are:· Arriva Crossrail Limited· Keolis/Go Ahead· MTR Corporation (Crossrail) Limited· National Express Group PLC
The Invitation to Tender is due to be issued in September and an operator will be appointed at the end of 2014. The successful train operator will start running the first services from May 2015 between Liverpool Street and Shenfield, taking over the stopping services currently operated by Greater Anglia.

The route through Canary Wharf, the City and the West End will open in late 2018, with the full route running in 2019. Howard Smith, Crossrail Director of Operations, said: “We are a step closer to appointing an operator for Crossrail. As our population grows faster than forecast, the case for stable and sustained investment in London’s transport network has never been stronger. Crossrail will help cut journey times across the city and will achieve internationally recognised high standards of reliability, train frequency and customer service. Crossrail will make it easier for people travelling across the capital, helping create jobs and supporting growth and regeneration along the route.”

When the Crossrail services are fully operational they will increase rail based transport in the capital by 10 per cent and along with the Tube upgrade ensure we can continue to move people efficiently around London.Crossrail will set the benchmark for passenger experience for European metro services. It will be integrated as part of the TfL network providing a fast, frequent service linking the east and west and relieving congestion on some of the busiest Tube lines.
Passengers using Crossrail will see reduced journey times and the new stations will be integrated with existing London Underground, DLR and National Rail stations making it easy for passengers to change between services.

New TfL website available for customer testing

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From tomorrow (Tuesday 25 June), anyone visiting the Transport for London (TfL) website – www.tfl.gov.uk – will have the option of using a new look, new feature site.

• Customers can choose to use the new website with improved features over the summer
• Mobile optimisation and responsive design make information faster and easier to access while on the move

The new TfL website is ready to enter its beta test phase, giving customers the opportunity to explore the improved layouts and use the more personalised and intuitive features that will make it faster and easier to get the travel information they are looking for.

The current TfL website receives around 250 million visits annually. At least 25 per cent of these are from mobile devices for which the current site offers only limited functionality. The new site, which will be live in parallel with the current site until the end of summer, has been optimised for use on mobile devices and built with a responsive design so that it is consistent across mobile, tablet and desktop. It is cleaner, touch-screen friendly and quick to load while on the move.

The new site will initially preview the updated design and layout, new look Journey Planner and other top level content to give customers a feel for the improvements. New features will continue to be added to the site over the summer and customers are encouraged to test these out and give us their feedback.

Some of the key improvements will include:
• a more intuitive Journey Planner that remembers recent journeys making it easier to check regular routes;
• single fares information displayed clearly within Journey Planner;
• improved mapping and a Street View function in Journey Planner that will be helpful when travelling in unfamiliar areas;
• more live information about the status of bus, rail and road services, including accidents and traffic hotspots and future planned works.

Later during the beta test phase, the new ‘Nearby’ feature will be added. This will show local transport links for all modes, along with live travel information including status updates and live departures. This tool will provide customers with easier access to their options for journey planning. Customers will also be able to personalise their homepage from later in the summer.

Phil Young, Head of TfL Online, said: “We have redesigned our website around what our customers have told us they want. The new site is optimised for mobile devices, making it much easier to access travel information while on the go. We will add in more features over the next few months until we are ready to fully launch the new site and switch off the old one after the summer. We’re encouraging everyone to try out the new features and let us know what they think so we can continue to make improvements to meet our customers’ needs.”

Drunk guy on the tube in London

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I spotted this guy in front of me going down the escalator on the tube, he was soo drunk he could hardly stand. I followed him onto the platform (still filming) I was quite scared he might fall onto the track. I was so close to telling him to get away from the platform edge. Thankfully the train arrived and he got on okay. He couldn’t even stand up on the train. Hopefully he got home safely. –

New school rate on the Emirates Air Line means pupils can swap classrooms for high flying cabins

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Pupils from school years 1 to 11 can travel on the Emirates Air Line for just £1 when in a school group History, science or design and technology can be learnt 90 metres above the River Thames on the Emirates Air Line Transport for London (TfL) has today announced a new school rate for pupils from school years 1 to 11 travelling on the Emirates Air Line in a school group. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has approved TfL plans which mean schools in all of the London Boroughs can book a return journey on the Emirates Air Line for just £1 per student. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London said: “What better way to learn about our city’s fascinating history than by travelling at 90 metres above the Thames on the Emirates Air Line, marvelling at its sleek design, whilst our fine capital unfolds underneath?. I am delighted that with the introduction of this special rate even more children can now enjoy one of London’s transporting triumphs!” Danny Price, TfL’s Head of the Emirates Air Line said: “We have introduced the Emirates Air Line school rate with the Mayor of London because we want to inspire young people and encourage learning about the scheme as a new urban transport experience in London. The Emirates Air Line is supporting regeneration and playing a vital role in attracting investment to the area so it is important that young people, as the future users and designers of transport, can benefit and be a part of that.” TfL’s London Transport Museum has been working closely with schools to support exciting lesson plans for all ages. The Emirates Air Line offers teachers a vast array of subject areas to choose from if they want to have a lesson in a cabin or include a visit to the Emirates Air Line as part of a school trip to the area. Pupils can learn about the history of south and east London and the Olympic Legacy, the areas on-going regeneration and sustainability and the art, design and technology behind the Emirates Air Line. Last week pupils from Sherington Primary School in Greenwich and Royal Docks Community School in Newham visited the Emirates Air Line. Diane Atkinson, Head Teacher of Sherington Primary School in Greenwich said: “The journey on the Emirates Air Line was an amazing opportunity for our children as part of their study of the local area. There are spectacular, unique aerial views of the river and surrounding landscape. The trip provided a perfect opportunity to study and discuss land use and the children had an exciting adventure on this unusual form of transport.” Schools may also want to visit The O2 which is close to the Emirates Greenwich Peninsula Terminal and has the British Music Experience, an interactive exhibition about British music history. The Crystal – a sustainable cities initiative by Siemens is next to the Emirates Royal Docks Terminal and is a great place for pupils to learn about innovative technologies that are driving future trends for a more sustainable world.