Liberal Democrats dismiss ‘Boris Island’ airport plan
Revamped abbey launched as new events venue
STANBROOK ABBEY in Worcestershire opens on September 5 following a multimillion-pound makeover by hotel group Clarenco. The former monastery, set in 21 acres, has a range of areas for events, from small meetings and corporate presentations to gala receptions for up to 110 guests – with plans to increase capacity during 2013. Clarenco owner Mike Clare said: “Our aim is to restore and develop iconic and unusual properties in a sympathetic way that is in keeping with their historic character.”
HONG KONG AIRLINES CONFIRMS SUSPENSION OF
ROUTES
Gulf Air to return to Iraq and Iran
GULF AIR IS PROGRESSIVELY restoring services on its Iraq and Iran networks this autumn. It suspended the flights to the two countries in 2011 due to a combination of high fuel prices and Bahrain’s political unrest. The Bahrain- based carrier has announced the following flights to Iraq:
• Baghdad will start on September 21 with five weekly flights.
• Najaf will start with four weekly flights from September 20, increasing to daily from December 1.
• Erbil from September 23 with four weekly flights, increasing to daily from October 28.
• Basra, with three weekly flights from October 29, increasing to four from December 1.
Gulf Air’s services to Iran will also be restored: 10 1
• Tehran will start with six weekly flights from September 25, increasing to daily from December 1.
• Mashhad will start with four weekly flights from September 22, increasing to daily from December 2.
• Shiraz will begin with five weekly flights from September 23, increasing to daily from December 1.
• Isfahan will operate with three weekly flights from October 30. ■ See Airlines report, p68
GATWICK FLIGHTS HONG KONG AIRLINES has confirmed it is dropping its all- business class flights between Hong Kong and Gatwick from September 10. A statement from the airline cited “the continuing weak economic outlook in Europe, combined with the strength of the regional business within Asia”. “We believe that a regional model focused on Asia Pacific is most appropriate for Hong Kong Airlines at this stage of our growth,” said Yang Jian Hong, president of Hong Kong Airlines. “Our key focus will be building our regional network and strengthening our business across China, South East Asia, Japan and
AIRLINES
FASTJET CLEARED FOR TAKE-OFF IN NOVEMBER
NEW AFRICAN NO-FRILLS airline Fastjet is to start services in November, later than the originally announced launch in October. The airline also said Easyjet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s holding company Easygroup has been granted a
5 per cent stake in Fastjet, with share options to take another 10 per cent of the company. Haji-Ioannou has been acting as a consultant for the project and helped to put together the new airline’s management team headed by former Easyjet chief operating
officer, Ed Winter, who has been appointed as chief executive. In June, Fastjet
purchased Lonrho’s aviation business, which currently flies under the Fly540 branding, with operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Angola and Ghana.
Korea. As part of this decision, we will suspend our long-haul flights to London from September 10, 2012 until further notice.” Hong Kong Airlines said it
would provide “every assistance to its customers and the travel trade to arrange either rebooking or a full refund”.
The move is a blow to Gatwick airport, which also saw Kuala Lumpur-based Air Asia X drop its flights to the Sussex airport in March. In recent times the airport has seen a growth in services to Asia, with new routes to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with Vietnam Airlines, and to Seoul with Korean Air.