Passengers queues at Heathrow Airport in London. Bloomberg
Passengers queues at Heathrow Airport in London. Bloomberg
Passengers queues at Heathrow Airport in London. Bloomberg
Passengers queues at Heathrow Airport in London. Bloomberg

Heathrow Airport worst in Europe for cancellations, UK business committee told


Nicky Harley
  • English
  • Arabic

Heathrow Airport is the worst in Europe for cancellations, the UK's transport committee is told as it attempts to tackle Britain's continuing travel chaos.

Mass redundancies by top airlines, including British Airways, have been blamed for the cancellations and queues at the airports.

On Tuesday, the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee heard evidence about flight cancellations and compensation.

It heard that the worst airline was British Airways, which is cancelling 114 flights a day, followed by easyJet.

“The top airline for cancellations on a daily basis is British Airways,” travel journalist Simon Calder said.

“In some cases they are doing it gentle three weeks before, none of the at the gate last minute cancellations. There are 20,000 seats a day not operating. easyJet cancelled 55 today but the cancellations are much closer to the day. Wizz Air started well but are now having problems.”

He said Ryanair and Jet2 were the best to “guarantee getting there”.

Mr Calder said Heathrow was the worst airport when it came to cancellations, followed by Amsterdam and Gatwick.

Oliver Richardson, national officer for Civil Air Transport, Unite, said the airlines who made the most redundancies are suffering the worst.

“When you look at who is performing worst is correlates with the companies that carried out the most redundancies. Ryanair agreed on no redundancies and a different position was taken by British Airways who lost 10,000 staff through redundancies. They got rid of too many people.”

Passengers in the arrivals hall of Terminal 5 at London Heathrow Airport in London, UK, on Monday. Bloomberg
Passengers in the arrivals hall of Terminal 5 at London Heathrow Airport in London, UK, on Monday. Bloomberg

British Airways refused to respond when the panel asked if its “aggressive sack and rehire” policy was the reason for the mass cancellations.

“We were losing £20m a day and the airline was in a very precarious position, and we had to secure the airlines future,” Lisa Tremble, British Airways' chief corporate affairs and sustainability director, said.

She said up to 85 per cent of people whose flights have been cancelled had been offered an alternative flight within 24 hours.

EasyJet said it had made 2,000 redundancies and accepted it needs improve.

“We haven't got it right and we need to get it right,” said Sophie Dekkers, chief commercial officer at easyJet.

It has been cancelling 55 flights a day but said it was providing refunds within four days and compensation within seven days.

The panel was told 30 per cent of the people working in the industry were EU citizens and many have left the country, and other former employees have now sought careers in different industries.

Sue Davies, head of consumer rights and food policy, Which?, said the airlines need to be held to account.

“There is blatant flouting of consumer rights,” she said.

“We need some short-term action but there needs to be an overhaul of consumer rights. Many airlines are breaking the law with no consequences. We feel this is a systemic problem across the sector that needs a longer term solution. The CAA is not being proactive enough. Ryanair is the worst for compensation, some people are waiting five years.”

PROFILE BOX:

Company/date started: 2015

Founder/CEO: Rami Salman, Rishav Jalan, Ayush Chordia

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Technology, Sales, Voice, Artificial Intelligence

Size: (employees/revenue) 10/ 100,000 downloads

Stage: 1 ($800,000)

Investors: Eight first-round investors including, Beco Capital, 500 Startups, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Hala Fadel, Odin Financial Services, Dubai Angel Investors, Womena, Arzan VC

 

Red flags
  • Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
  • Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
  • Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
  • Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
  • Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.

Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Sukuk explained

Sukuk are Sharia-compliant financial certificates issued by governments, corporates and other entities. While as an asset class they resemble conventional bonds, there are some significant differences. As interest is prohibited under Sharia, sukuk must contain an underlying transaction, for example a leaseback agreement, and the income that is paid to investors is generated by the underlying asset. Investors must also be prepared to share in both the profits and losses of an enterprise. Nevertheless, sukuk are similar to conventional bonds in that they provide regular payments, and are considered less risky than equities. Most investors would not buy sukuk directly due to high minimum subscriptions, but invest via funds.

World Cup League Two

Results

Oman beat Nepal by 18 runs

Oman beat United States by six wickets

Nepal beat United States by 35 runs

Oman beat Nepal by eight wickets

 

Fixtures

Tuesday, Oman v United States

Wednesday, Nepal v United States

 

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

TOURNAMENT INFO

Opening fixtures:
Friday, Oct 5

8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Paktia Panthers

Saturday, Oct 6
4pm: Nangarhar Leopards v Kandahar Knights
8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Balkh Legends

Tickets
Tickets can be bought online at https://www.q-tickets.com/apl/eventlist and at the ticket office at the stadium.

TV info
The tournament will be broadcast live in the UAE on OSN Sports.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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THE LOWDOWN

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Rating: 4/5

Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies

Director: Ritesh Batra

Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz

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Updated: June 14, 2022, 1:01 PM`