BMI has pledged to retain Manchester airport as a key part of its network of services. With eleven routes that include flights from Manchester to Barbados, Las Vegas, Chicago and Antigua, BMI says that it sees Manchester as a vital part of its ongoing expansion program.

With the signing of the open skies deal between the UK, Europe and the united states, BMI may now opt to fly from Heathrow to the US, BMI chairman Sir Michael Bishop went on to say that such a decision however would not effect the Manchester operation.

As a member of the Star Alliance, the Chicago route is of particular importance to BMI as the city is a major hub for fellow member United Airlines. Although BMI intends to continue providing long-haul service from Manchester in the future, it has admitted that the number of opportunities for long haul services from the airport are limited.

In addition to the existing services that operate to Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, a new Lyon service that operates from London Heathrow airport has been added by BMI Regional.

BMI, the UK airline that operates cheap flights from the UK to Europe the Middle East and the USA is set to announce a reduction in the number of short-haul services that it operates from Heathrow airport.

Over the next two years, the company that currently operates 19 short-haul services plans to cut back on its short-haul services in favour of it’s medium and long-haul operations. The change has been attributed to intense competition on some of the routes from other London airports, the companies purchase of Bmed from BA and the introduction of the new open-skies agreement between the UK, Europe and the US.

BMI’s chief executive Nigel Turner said that the future reductions in short-haul services would likely affect domestic services as well as flights to Spain, these cuts would be in addition to the 25% cut in short-haul services that had already been made over the past 3 years.

The airline is said to be conducting a review of it’s position and considering it’s options following its £30 million purchase of Bmed from British Airways earlier in the year. The acquisition of Bmed gave BMI an additional 17 mid-haul destinations and several slots at Heathrow airport. Sir Michael Bishop, the BMI chairman said that the slots would be returned back to BA in 2009 meaning that BA would need to rethink its services to fit the medium-haul and proposed US routes into the  restricted space at Heathrow.

A new service that will restore a link between Bristol airport and Paris is being re-introduced by Air France. The route that was previously operated by BA Connect will provide 3 weekday flights to Charles de Gaulle airport with a less frequent weekend service.

The new service that starts on the 11th June will be operated with a 48-seat turboprop aircraft that will depart from Bristol airport at 06:30, 10:40 and 17:75 Hrs daily. The service is designed to provide direct access to Paris and the AirFrance network as well as the many other long-haul connections that operate from the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.

Economy return fares are expected to start from £105 and are combinable with KLM’s service from Bristol to Amsterdam providing round-trip options through both the KLM and Air France hubs.

More than 1.2 million passengers took to the skies from the Highlands and Islands airport according to figures released by the Highlands and Islands Airports Limited. This figure represents an increase of 7% in the year to March 31, 2007 on the previous year with overall passenger numbers to the regions airports increasing by 57% since 2000 / 2001.

The increase in passenger numbers is said to be largely due to the introduction of the Scotish Executives Air Discount Scheme in May 2006 and the introduction of new routes.

With the better air connections supporting the population and economic growth in the Moray Firth area, the increase in flights and routes is also helping to support business growth and boost tourism in the more remote island communities.

The Passenger Shipping Association have reported a further increase in the number of Britons now opting for a holiday on the open sea. The 1.2 million UK cruise passengers in 2006 is an increase of around 12% on the 2005 figure of 1.08 million passengers. The overall growth of the UK cruise market has doubled in the last 10 years with passengers rating good food, itinerary the standards of accommodation and price as the main reasons for booking a cruise.

New figures for the first quarter of the year have shown a 20% year-on-year increase for the number of passenger arrivals in Hong Kong. According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the increase in passenger figures is largely due to the opening of the Hong Kong Disneyland and the increase in the number of flights from the UK.

Figures show that there were over 157,000 arrivals from the UK between January and March with March figures alone showing an increase of 30%.

18 Co-op stores in the Nottingham area are to start selling pre-packed euros at the checkouts. The new initiative is a partnership of the travel business Travelcare and retail arm of the Co-operative group.

Airline tickets for the first flights to operate from the new Heathrow terminal 5 are being sold by BA.

The new terminal which is due to open in March 2008 will be exclusively used by BA which will operate 90% of its flights from the new site. BA has planned a four phase move that will see the majority of their operation move to the new terminal between the opening date and October 2008. The remaining 10% of BA’s services including some short haul services will continue to operate from Heathrow terminal 3. After BA has moved the bulk of its services to the new terminal 5 the oneworld alliance will have exclusive use of Heathrow’s terminal 3.

BA is spending £60 million on providing premium lounges in the new building which will house up to 2,500 passengers and be known as The Galleries. The overall cost of the new terminal site and building is expected to be around 4.5 billion.

With increasing passenger numbers, the new terminal at Heathrow will bring increased demand for supplementary services such as airport parking and airport hotel services to the Heathrow area.

It seems that travellers are fast catching on to the potential impact that holiday and business travel has on the environment and are more and more willing to make a voluntary contribution to offset their carbon footprint.

Recent statistics show that in the first week of its new green scheme, more than a third of First Choice customers agreed to pay an offsetting charge. The number of people agreeing to pay the £1.50 voluntary levy in First Choice shops was 45% , this reduced to 38% when comparing the take up of the charge across all of the First Choice distribution channels such as the Internet. Sunvil Holidays, another company that has introduced it’s own responsible travel policy have reported that in the last five months, 8,000 customers have agreed to pay a small carbon offsetting fee.

As awareness grows to the possible impact that global and domestic travel has on the environment, more and more companies are queing to show their green credentials. One argument is that this is more about effective marketing than saving the planet. Targeting the conscience of a huge and growing number of people who will sway towards companies that appear to be doing something to help the environment could be very good for business.

P&O Cruises recently smashed its previous sales record for a single day. The new record was set on the first day of selling tickets for the new cruise ship Ventura that is due to start sailing in May 2008. With 19,000 passenger bookings made on the opening booking day, this beats the previous best sales figure by over three times.

Weighing in at 115,000 tones, the Ventura will be the largest superliner ever built for the British market. Facilities on-board include six jacuzzis, five pools and 23 different places to eat or drink for the ships 3,600 passenger capacity.