Things To Do At The Airport

So the time has come to make your way to begin your journey but you are unsure of the things to do at the airport.

Ok, so you may not be able to have as much fun as the guys do in the video above but having said that there is no need to think of the time you spend at the airport waiting for your flight as boring.

In many ways the whole experience at the airport comes down to attitude. We all know that in this day and age with the many security checks and other validations that need to be made most air passengers are going to be required to arrive at the airport at least two hours before their flight.

The key thing here is not to think of the waiting time as a waste of time. There are several things you can do to make the time pass pleasantly and if you so wish, productively.

Keep yourself energised by having something to eat and drink. Then, how about re-living some of your  beautiful  times from the past. Think about a loved one who you have spent some wonderful moments with. You will be amazed at how quickly the time will pass.

Buy a newspaper or a magazine and use the waiting time to catch up on all the news you have missed in the past few days.  Or how about listening to some of your favourite music  via your mobile phone. This will also put you in a calm and happy mood for your flight.

And if you are feeling tired, why not catch up on some sleep. There is nothing to feel embarrassed by. Nobody cares, just have a nap. But be warned, make sure you set your alarm on your mobile phone. Many people miss their flight through falling asleep at the airport.

British Airways Cabin Crew Strike Resolved

The 14 month British Airways cabin crew dispute has finally ended with a peace deal.

Hundreds of Unite union members at London’s Heathrow airport agreed to stop industrial action after being assured that travel perks would be re-instated to all those who walked out.

This issue had been a major stumbling block in the bitter argument since former British Airways boss Willie Walsh said that the generous travel perk would never be re-instated to those who had taken strike action.

Cabin crew will also get a 4% pay rise this year which is linked to productivity and 3.5% in 2012.

The deal is welcome news to British Airways passengers who have had their air travel arrangements disrupted since the strikes began in March 2010.

The dispute was triggered in October 2009 when British Airways announced it was going to axe 1700 cabin crew jobs, change working practises and freeze pay. After the first three day strike in March 2010 the row escalated resulting in 22 days of strikes, High Court actions and, despite ACAS talks, the sides remained poles apart. 

Several thousand cabin crew who walked out lost their travel perks and union officials faced the sack and disciplinary action linked to the dispute. British Airways refused to restore the travel perk which allows crew to buy flight tickets for fraction of the normal cost. 

The breakthrough came because new bosses were keen to end the dispute which has cost British Airways £150 million.

Willie Walsh, the airline’s tough talking chief executive was replaced by Keith Williams and Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson were replaced by new Unite union leader Len McCluskey. 

In the end, it was the case of both sides having to compromise a little and thankfully common sense prevailed. It is thought that the change in leadership at British Airways and the Unite union gave the fresh impetus for the dispute to be resoled amicably.

Flight Times From UK

Welcome to Flight Times From UK. Obviously there are a huge number of destinations that can be travelled to throughout the world and the flight durations will vary country to country and airport to airport.
 
However, to give you some idea of how long your flight times from the UK will be, please see the information below. These times are based on flying from a London airport although flight times from other UK airports are going to be roughly the same. Starting with European destinations that have flight times of between 1 and 2 hours to far away destinations in the Far East and Australia that take 11 to 12 hours to fly to.

1 to 2 hours

Austria (Tryol, Salzburg)
Belgium (Brussels)
Denmark (Copenhagen)
France, North to Mid (Paris, Lyon)
Germany (Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg)
Ireland (Dublin)
Netherlands, The (Amsterdam)
Scotland (Edinburgh)
Spain, North (Bilbao)
Switzerland (Basel, Geneva, Zurich)

2 to 3 hours

Romania (Bucharest)
Hungary (Budapest)
Finland (Helsinki)
Balearic Islands (Ibiza, Majorca, Menorca)
Italy, North (Milan, Venice)
Latvia (Riga)
Lithuania (Vilnius)
Costa del Sol (Marbella)
Poland (Krakow, Warsaw)
Portugal (Lisbon)
Czech Republic (Prague)
Iceland (Reykjavik)
Netherlands, The (Rotterdam)
Bulgaria (Sofia)
Spain, Mid to West (Barcelona, Madrid)
Sweden (Stockholm)
Tunisia (Tunis)
Austria (Vienna)

3 to 4 hours

Bulgaria (Sofia)
Greece, North to West (Halkidiki, Preveza)
Greece, South (Kalamata, Athens)
Greek Islands, North to West (Corfu, Kefalonia, Skiathos, Zante)
Gibraltar (South of Spain)
Turkey (Istanbul, Anakra)
Madeira (Island South of Portugal)
Malta (Valletta, Birkirkara)
Morocco (Casablanca, Marrakech, Rabat)
France, South (Marseille, Montpellier, Nice)
Norway (Oslo)
Portugal (Porto Islands)
Italy, Mid to South (Rome, Naples, Sicily)
Russia (Moscow, St Petersburg)
Spain, South (Seville)

4 to 5 hours

Azores Islands, The (inc. 2 hour flight from Lisbon, Portugal)
Canary Islands (Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Tenerife)
Greek Islands, East to South (Mytilene, Cyprus, Mykonos, Kos, Santorini, Crete, Rhodes)
Egypt (Cairo, Luxor)
Jordan (Amman)
Syria (Damascus)
Turkey (Izmir, Bodrum)

5 to 6 hours

Israel (Eilat)
Africa, West (Nigeria)
6 to 7 hours
Africa, West (Gambia, Ghana, Senegal)
Saudi Arabia (Riyadh)
Oman (Muscat)
United Arab Emirates (Dubai)
7 to 8 hours
Antigua (St John’s)
Barbados (Bridgetown)
Bermuda (Hamilton)
USA, East (New York, Boston)
Canada, East (Montreal)
St Lucia (Castries)
Trinidad (Port of Spain)

8 to 9 hours

India, North (New Delhi)
India, West (Mumbai, Goa)
Pakistan (Karachi)

9 to 10 hours

Aruba (Oranjestad)
Bahamas (Nassau)
Bangladesh (Dhaka)
Botswana (Gaborone)
Cuba (Havana)
Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo)
Jamaica (Montego Bay)
Kenya (Nairobi)
St Kitts (Basseterre)
Tobago
Zimbabwe (Harare)

10 to 11 hours

Canada, South (Ottawa, Toronto)
USA, South East (Atlanta, Miami)
USA, West (California, San Francisco)
USA, North to West (Montana, Seattle)
USA, South (New Orleans)
Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo)
Argentina (Buenos Aires)
Cayman Islands (George Town)
Hong Kong
Grenada (St George’s)
Mexico (Mexico City)
Namibia (Windhoek)
Chile (Santiago)
South Africa (Cape Town)
Sri Lanka (Colombo)
Tanzania (Dodoma)
Zambia (Lusaka)

11 to 12 hours

Australia (Sydney)
Thailand (Bangkok)
Hawaii (Honolulu)
Japan (Tokyo)
Mauritius (Port Louis)
South Korea (Seoul)
Singapore
Venezuela (Caracas)

New Air To Sea Link At Stansted

There is set to be an exciting development at Stansted Airport this summer.

Royal Caribbean International will launch their first direct cruise connection from London Stansted operated by British Airways charter flights to Venice.

Launching in June, passengers travelling from Stansted will connect directly onto Voyager of the Seas, one of Royal Caribbean International's luxurious cruise ships, for seven nights of Adriatic sailing.