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Alitalia cancels all tickets from 15 October
Alitalia is now under Extraordinary Administration and will no longer sell tickets for flights from 15 October. After this point, the airline will cease to exist and the new state airline ITA will take over. Alitalia has been in financial difficulties for as long as I can remember, so it will be interesting how the new airline fares given the state of the airline industry currently. ITA will have to buy Alitalia’s brand, aircraft and other assets. The branding looks remarkably similar with the green and red livery although they will fly a much-reduced schedule domestically and internationally
All customers holding tickets beyond 15 October can change the flight with another equivalent operated by Alitalia by 14 October; otherwise, you can get a full refund of the ticket.
South African red list appeal fails
South Africa has been on the red list since December 2020 due to the Beta variant which was first seen there. The variant is now being quickly overtaken by the Delta variant which now accounts for around 90% of South African cases and it is likely to become an even higher proportion soon. As a result, a petition was launched by Satsa, the body representing South Africa’s inbound tourism (which gained nearly 28,000 signatures) to force the government to review the country’s status. There argument was based on the lower transmissibility of the virus compared to other variants as well as falling levels in the country due to the Delta variant.
This was debated in parliament yesterday. Unsurprisingly the government refused to budge stating that,
Country allocations to the traffic light system are reviewed every three weeks, unless concerning evidence means we need to act faster to protect public health. At the most recent review on 4 August, it was decided that South Africa would remain on the red list as South Africa continues to present a high public health risk to the UK from known variants of concern.
Gatwick proposes second runaway
After Heathrow was awarded the extra runway for London, Gatwick have now launched their own bid for a second runway.
Gatwick today announced that a public consultation will start on the 9th September 2021 on plans to bring its existing Northern Runway into routine use alongside its Main Runway. The airport state that the scheme will help secure the airports long- term growth, generating approximately 18,400 additional jobs by 2038. While passenger numbers currently remain low, Gatwick still expect to be capacity constrained in the time it would take to secure approvals, complete construction, and start operations.
The proposed plans would allow the airport’s Northern Runway to be brought into routine use, for departing aircraft, by repositioning its centre line further north by 12 metres. Currently, they are not permitted to use both runways simultaneously as they are not far enough apart, unlike Heathrow.
This would enable dual runway operations with the airport’s Main Runway and would add resilience to Gatwick’s operations (reducing delays and congestion). Prior to Covid, Gatwick was the busiest single runway in the world.
3 comments
Interesting to read that Gatwick proposing a second runway. My BA Jersey Gatwick flight in Feb 2022 got moved to Heathrow today so looks like that route now permanently moved to Heathrow?
It would make sense. I have never understood why a premium route such as Jersey with lots of connecting passengers would be at Gatwick.
I have to say, the government’s approach to the traffic light system has never made sense and their reasons for keeping countries on certain lists or moving them remains baffling.
The reason they have stated there for South Africa is insane – how can they say that the Beta variant (clearly now only 10% of cases as the Delta variant is now 90% of SA’s cases) is still a VOC when we’re rampant with one that’s even worse!?
Bonkers
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