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HEATHROW TERMINAL 5 CHAOS A DROP IN THE OCEAN
- AS the opening
of Heathrow’s new Terminal 5 continues to be marred by
baggage problems, leading travel insurance company
InsureandGo, which has campaigned for a tightening up of
baggage handling procedures since last summer, has released
new
figures showing that nearly 200,000 UK passengers a month
have had their luggage lost or misplaced at airports over
the last
two years.
InsureandGo estimates that 25% more bags are lost in August than any other month, with around 249,000 passengers losing
or
misplacing luggage on average during that month over the
last two years. January is the quietest month for lost
baggage, with
a relatively low 156,000 passengers suffering from bags
going missing. April is usually slightly below average, with
an
average of 189,000 passengers losing out, but that figure is
set to rise this year with the unexpected problems at
Terminal
5.
Perry Wilson of InsureandGo commented:- “BAA has come in for
a lot of criticism over the last week or two over the
problems at
Terminal 5, but people have to realise that baggage delays
and lost luggage have been a big problem at many airports in
recent times, as our research shows. We are still very
hopeful that the new baggage system at Terminal 5 will cut
down on
lost luggage once it has got over its teething troubles, and
we would urge others in the airline industry to step up
their
efforts in improving the security of luggage as it passes
through airports.”
Region Estimated average number of passengers who have had
luggage lost or misplaced at an airport by month...
|
Month |
Luggage lost or
misplaced |
|
January |
156,000 |
|
February |
154,000 |
|
March |
184,000 |
|
April
|
189,000 |
|
May
|
208,000 |
|
June
|
224,000 |
|
July |
244,000 |
|
August |
249,000 |
|
September
|
229,000 |
|
October
|
213,000 |
|
November |
167,000 |
|
December |
167,000 |
InsureandGo’s research also found that holidaymakers are getting so
worried about having their luggage lost or stolen that
just over three in 10 of them (31%) say they have on occasion packed
less, so that they can keep their luggage with them
throughout the flight in order to reduce the chance of loss or
theft.
The £150,000 baggage handling scheme being run by the British
Airports Authority at Terminal 5 involves the attachment of
radio frequency identification tags to bags, so they can be sorted
more effectively and tracked at every stage of their
journey. |
"Don't panic" at the pumps!
THE UK holds 70
days of fuel in reserve according to Nick McGregor, an oil analyst
with stockbrokers Redmayne Bentley, but will this be enough as
warnings that the shutdown of Scotland's only crude oil refinery
could lead to shortages?
The shutdown will last for month at the refinery at Grangemouth,
which supplies all of Scotland, Cumbria, Northumberland and parts of
Yorkshire. It was started on Friday, 18 April 2008 by Ineos on
safety grounds. Grangemouth provides about 10% of the
total refinery capacity UK, as it is one of nine oil refineries.
This shutdown comes ahead of a 48 hour strike, by members of Unite,
which is to be held on 27 April 2008 to 28 April 2008 over pension
changes.
Industry advisers and Government officials have said that the
closure of the Ineos, Grangemouth for a month, on safety grounds,
ahead of a strike by 1,200 members of the Unite union, should not
affect petrol prices and it will not lead to shortages. But the fear
is now those motorists will start to panic buy fuel.
"There is sufficient
fuel in reserve to cover this action. There is no need for drivers
to stock up with petrol at the pumps. People will make it harder for
the system to cope by stocking up. I think the statement 'don't
panic' is a very valid one at this stage. There is certainly no case
for panic buying!" said Douglas Robertson, from the Scottish
Motor Trade Association, which acts for petrol retailers in
Scotland.
The Scottish Government has called on Unite and Ineos to get around
the negotiating table to resolve the dispute.
New Spanish fishing
armada is coming if Brown fails to stop Commission proposal
IN
Brussels, 10 April 2008, a new Proposal from the European
Commission which was approved in the European Parliament could
allow the Spanish fishing fleet to grab UK quota and displace
British fishermen in the North Sea.
If the proposal is endorsed by the Council of Ministers, the
Commission will be able to give any unused fishing quota from
one EU country to another. Unused UK quota could be given to
Spain or any other major fishing nation.
According to Sir Robert Atkins MEP, this would clearly undermine
the entire concept of relative stability and as such, would
destabilise one of the core principles of the CFP.
Sir Robert said:- "This is a Trojan Horse as it will give
right of access to fishing opportunities previously allocated to
other member states.
With 60% of the Britain's fishing fleet now lost because of the
Common Fisheries Policy, is Gordon Brown going to condemn the
fisherman that remain by dithering on this proposal when
rejection in Council is the only option?" |
