Seized: Hundreds of fake England shirts found at Heathrow

Hundreds of fake England football shirts have been seized during the World Cup at London’s Heathrow Airport.

A team from Border Force – containing officer Sean Rooney – discovered the consignment of more than 400 home and away replica jerseys in freight on Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 June.

The shirts, which had been imported from Hong Kong, have now been confirmed as fake by the official England kit manufacturers, Nike.

Conned

Sean said:

The package from Hong Kong was labelled up as being glassware, so when I opened it up and saw the shirts I knew they had to be fake.

To the untrained eye they look pretty genuine. I’m certain they would have ended up being sold to unsuspecting members of the public as the real thing, so it is good we have found them, taken them out of circulation and stopped people getting conned.

The shirts, which could have been worth between £20,000 and £30,000 if sold, will now be destroyed.

Rooney

Marc Owen, Border Force Heathrow Director, said:

Counterfeit goods cause damage to legitimate businesses and traders, which is why Border Force is working hard to stop them entering the UK.

Not only do they leave customers out of pocket when sold as the real thing, they are something that is at best inferior, at worst possibly dangerous.

This was a great result for Rooney and his team-mates at Heathrow.

Border Force officers work around the clock at ports, airports and international postal hubs to detect illicit goods, illegal drugs and weapons.

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Easyjet considers Heathrow move

Easyjet has dropped its biggest hint yet that it’s seriously considering a future move to London Heathrow.

The Daily Telegraph has reported that the airline has applied to join a key committee, which represents the “operational and strategic” interest of carriers operating out of Heathrow.

A spokesman for Easyjet confirmed the carrier had applied to join the committee. He said that, as Britain’s biggest airline, Easyjet has an interest in the expansion plans of “both Heathrow and Gatwick”, where it is the dominant operator.

“Heathrow is one of less than a handful of primary airports in Europe we don’t operate from,” the spokesman said.

“We operate out of hub airports in France, in Italy, in Holland. We don’t currently [operate from Heathrow] but we’ve never said we wouldn’t in the future.”

After the 2015 general election The Airports Commission will report its final conclusions where to build a new runway to improve airport capacity in the south east – Heathrow or Gatwick.

If Heathrow receives the go-ahead, it will free up more slots at the airport, which currently operates at 98 per cent capacity.

Easyjet’s interest in Heathrow could prove crucial in the debate over airport expansion, as a key argument in Gatwick’s proposal is that its rival Heathrow is too costly for low cost airlines.

Last month (May 13) Easyjet confirmed it carried 12 million business travellers for the year ending March 2014, with one in five of its passengers now using the airline for business. A move to Heathrow would significantly help boost its share of the business travel market.

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Samsung rebrands Heathrow terminal to “Terminal Samsung Galaxy S5”

Samsung will take airport branding to dizzying new heights next week with the renaming of a Heathrow Terminal.

For two weeks from Monday, Terminal five will be known as “Terminal Samsung Galaxy S5” to promote Samsung’s new phone.

The new name will be plastered on signs at the entrance, drop-off area, lounges, security and gates and the new name will appear on the terminal’s 175 digital screens.

Signs will point travellers to the terminal’s Dixons where they can buy the mobile phone.

The terminal five website will also be rebranded.

Terminal five was opened in 2008, is 353,000 square metres large and hosts thousands of passengers a day.

This is the first time it, or any other Heathrow terminal, has had its name changed for sponsorship.

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Heathrow Airport Says New Runway Possible By 2025

Heathrow Airport and rival Gatwick have published revised plans for new runways to increase London's airport capacity, marking the latest stage in a long-running debate over how and where the expansion should take place.

Heathrow, Britain's busiest airport, is competing against Gatwick, the second busiest, plus a second expansion option at Heathrow proposed by Heathrow Hub.

These three shortlisted groups revealed their latest proposals on Tuesday, with Heathrow Airport and Gatwick broadly sticking to earlier cost estimates.

Heathrow Airport said a third runway could now be delivered by 2025, a year earlier than the group estimated last July and bringing it into line with Gatwick's time frame.

Britain's Airport Commission is due to make a final recommendation on where and how to expand London's airport capacity by next summer after a general election.

Politicians and business leaders have said south-east England needs additional runway capacity to help the country remain economically competitive. But runway expansion is unpopular and a decision has been repeatedly pushed back.

Passions ran high during Britain's last election in 2010 over possible expansion at Heathrow due to its proximity to London and the safety and pollution issues this would create.

Plans to expand Heathrow were scrapped in 2010, but in December two expansion options for Heathrow were shortlisted, marking a significant u-turn.

The Commission has also said a plan to build a new airport on the Isle of Grain to the east of London in the inner Thames estuary remains an option, but this is not formally on the shortlist. The Commission will make a decision about whether to include it later this summer.

The cost of Heathrow's plan would be GBP£16.8 billion (USD$28.34 billion), inclusive of a GBP£1.2 billion bill for the government for new road and rail access costs. The balance would be met by debt and equity investment from its investors.

Gatwick Airport, which said in March that it could deliver a new runway by 2025, estimated the cost of its proposal at GBP£7.8 billion. It said there would be no additional cost to government.

Heathrow Hub, led by consultant Mark Bostock and former Concorde pilot William "Jock" Lowe, estimated the cost of its plan, which involves extending one of Heathrow's existing two runways, at about GBP£12 billion, financed by private investment. Heathrow Hub said that the runway extension could be completed by 2023.

Gatwick said its proposal would bring Britain economic benefits of about GBP£80 billion as a new runway at Gatwick would increase competition and bring lower fares. Heathrow estimated it would boost Britain's economy by GBP£100 billion. Heathrow Hub said it would deliver benefits of GBP£45 billion.

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British Airways facing payouts after Heathrow emergency landing

British Airways is reported to be settling claims for passengers on flights affected due to disruption at Heathrow as a result of an emergency landing of one of its aircraft.

Flight compensation solicitors Bott & Co says passengers are eligible for compensation of between €250 and €600 per person, depending on their flight distance and length of delay.

One couple are reported by the Cheshire-based law firm to have been awarded €1,200 in compensation after they missed their connection for New York due to one of Heathrow’s two runways being closed after an Airbus A319 en route to Oslo had to make an emergency landing almost a year ago.

BA initially denied responsibility for the technical failure which triggered the emergency landing. The airline claimed it was an extraordinary circumstance and was exempt from paying compensation to affected passengers under European regulation EC261/2004.

But a report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch subsequently revealed the fault was due to human error.

The incident was found to have been a result of retaining latches - which hold the fan cowl doors in place to shield the inner part of the aircraft’s engine - not being closed before take-off.

The law firm says it has won compensation for passengers on three BA flights disrupted as a result.

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Dubai Overtakes Heathrow as Busiest Airport for International Passengers

Dubai International became the busiest airport globally for international passengers in the first quarter, overtaking London's Heathrow, and illustrating the stellar growth of Emirates Airline in less than 30 years of operations.

Dubai's main hub, the home of Emirates, handled 18.36 million international passengers in the first quarter of the year, Dubai Airports said in a statement Monday. Heathrow saw a total 16.1 million people pass through the airport in the same period, according to statements on the airport's website.

Heathrow pipped Dubai last year to the top spot for international traffic, followed by Hong Kong and Paris, according to official figures from Airports Council International, a global trade body, which hasn't released first quarter figures yet.

Statements from all four airports show Dubai to be the busiest airport for international passengers and the fastest-growing in the first quarter, as the number of people passing through the hub increased 11.4%, compared with the same period a year earlier.

"The growth in passenger and freight traffic supports our continued investment in expanding and improving our facilities at Dubai International," said Paul Griffiths, chief executive officer of Dubai Airports.

Dubai International's growth is being driven by Emirates and its strategy of using widebody aircraft to connect passengers in Asia and Australasia with Europe and the U.S. via a stop in its home hub. The airline carried nearly 40 million passengers in its last fiscal year. It and lower-cost, shorter-haul carrier flydubai, which is also based at Dubai International and growing apace, helped add 28 new destinations to the airport last year.

Having started operations in 1985, Emirates now serves 142 destinations in 80 countries and territories making it one of the largest carriers in the world, and it plans to grow further. The airline has 374 jets on order with Boeing Co. and Airbus Group worth a combined $162 billion. That is on top of the 218 it currently flies, although many of those aircraft will replace some of the current fleet.

Flydubai is also soaring. It increased passengers last year by 38% to 6.8 million. To cater for forecast growth of both Emirates and flydubai, Dubai Airports has plans to increase capacity at Dubai International from 75 million currently to 100 million by 2020.

The airport may still be edged out by Heathrow for the full year, as Dubai International plans an 80-day improvement project on its two runways on May 1 that will reduce the number of flights at the airport by 24%, and impact Emirates full-year revenues by $272 million.

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Traffic down in March at Heathrow - but up at other airports

Traffic at London Heathrow was down 2.8% in March compared to the same month last year.

The airport also revealed it has lost its crown to Dubai Airport as having the highest number of international passengers over a two-month period for the first time. The world’s third busiest airport welcomed 5.8 million travellers in March, despite seats per aircraft increasing by 1.9%, but passengers per aircraft decreased 3% to 146.6.

Heathrow says the reduction and load factors, reflect the shift of the Easter holidays into April this year, from March. Heathrow CEO Colin Matthews, says: “Passenger numbers were in line with expectations in March, consistent with the Easter bank holiday moving from March last year to April this year.

“Dubai’s announcement that it has overtaken Heathrow in the last two months shows that the UK will soon no longer have the world’s number one airport for international passenger traffic."

London Gatwick meanwhile, welcomed 2.7 million passengers in March, an increase of 5.1% on 2013, or 131,500 passengers, more than 2013.

Stewart Wingate, London Gatwick chief executive, says: “This has been a successful and exciting year for Gatwick that has seen steady growth, the completion of spending over £1 billion on improving the passenger experience and offering new routes that satisfy the demands of business and leisure travellers."

Edinburgh Airport enjoyed a 4.9% increase in travellers in March, with more than 730,000 travellers using the Scottish airport.  Growth at Glasgow Airport has also continued with almost 532,000 people travelling through the airport in March, a rise of 4.1% compared to the same period last year. Copenhagen Airport's passenger numbers for March were up by 4.8% year on year, with close to two million passing through, which was a new record for the month.

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Heathrow airport boss Colin Matthews resigns after six years

Heathrow airport is looking for a new chief executive as Colin Matthews is to stand down after six years in the job.

Matthews, 57, joined in March 2008 at the time of the shambolic opening of Terminal 5; he will stay until the new Terminal 2 is safely opened, in June.

Matthews said: "It has been a privilege to serve as CEO of Heathrow for the last six years. With a strong leadership team, the company continues to raise standards of passenger service, improve efficiency and reduce costs.

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Heathrow Airport reports growth in February passenger traffic

London Heathrow Airport served 4.9 million passengers in February 2014, up 1% from corresponding period in 2013.

The increase in number of passengers can be attributed to a rise in passengers flying to emerging market countries, including BRIC countries.

Overall passenger numbers to BRIC countries increased 2.5%, with

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McLaren's F1 technology to be used to increase Heathrow efficiency

The McLaren motor racing team is working with a consortium of companies to improve efficiency and environmental performance at Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL).

The group, led by NATS, also includes Siemens Postal, Parcel and Airport Logistics and AVTECH Sweden AB, has won a four-year contract to deliver enhanced capacity management capabilities.

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