Posted on 21st July 2010 by admin in Travel
Bands and solo acts are competing for a £1,000 music prize by performing live for for travellers at Glasgow Airport, in the main terminal building. The first six acts, which were chosen from a shortlist of 24 played last Thursday as part of the airport’s “Airplay” sessions.
Travellers may then vote for their favourite act through a web page. The competition hopes to strengthen Glasgow’s status as a United Nations (UN) City of Music, awarded in 2008 because of its rich musical heritage. Around 100 acts originally entered the competition and the best were selected to play to travellers as part of a “free entertainment”
Four heats are being held on Thursday 15, 22 and 29 July consecutively, and one on Thursday 5 August.
The winner of each heat, determined by public vote, will go forward to the live final on Thursday 12 August. The ultimate winner will be chosen by a panel of judges. The final winner/winners will be selected by a panel of judges, and Glasgow Airport’s terminal manager, Mark Johnston, stated that the festival may become an annual event .
He added that it was a great opportunity for new solo singers or bands to showcase their music in front of thousands of people, and that they had received many entries from right across the country.
Posted on 20th July 2010 by admin in Travel
Newcastle based Monster Travel agency, which was part of the Freedom Travel Group has ceased trading, resulting in a loss of some 94 jobs.
The call centre and homeworking company was set up in April 2008 by David Hawke and Julie Gilmore. Hawke come from Hays Travel and was previously head of direct sales for Thomson Holidays.
The company sold package holidays but also put together dynamic options.
A spokesman for the CAA announced that all forward bookings would be honoured by Freedom Travel Group using the ATOL bond.
ABTA has issued a warning to agents who are advertising for customers to rebook following the cessation of Monster Travel.
It reminded agents that because Monster Travel was a managed branch of The Freedom Travel Group, Freedom will be honouring all bookings.
“If members encourage customers to rebook they will have been double-booked and may look to the member for recompense,” it warned.
Some of the staff working at Monster Travel had previously worked for Freedom direct, who had folded just a week earlier.
In an ironic twist, David Hawke commented on the closure of Freedom as “a sad indictment of the times” only to become a casualty himself a week later.
Hawke, who was employed by TUI as head of the call centre before he founded Monster Travel with his wife partner Julie Gilmore.
Posted on 12th July 2010 by admin in Travel
Global Infrastructure Partners, who own Gatwick Airport, have outlined an investment and development programme which will take place over the next two years at a cost of one billion pounds.
Part of the improvements include a new state of the art inter-terminal shuttle that will be in use in July, a full two months ahead of schedule. The new extension at the North Terminal will also be fully functional.
In the course of the next two years the departure lounge, baggage systems and immigration halls will all be given a face-lift, bringing facilities up to date.
Global Infrastructure Partners have stated that they aim to focus on the Airport’s world-class facilities and quality of service, hopefully making it a first choice for travellers.
Gatwick is the busiest single runway airport in the world and the second largest airport in the UK. It serves more than 200 destinations across 90 countries in the world – more than any other airport in the UK. It is estimated that approximately 33 million passengers use the airport every year.
It is hoped that the new facilities will attract more long-haul flights, with aeroplanes such as the Airbus380 flying to major international hubs, for example Mumbai, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore.
