Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsIntroduction: US reopens its borders to UK visitors today20-month ban on arrivals is lifting, for fully-vaccinated passengersBA and Virgin Atlantic put aside rivalry for return of leisure flight…
Airlines hope for fistfuls of dollars as transatlantic flying returns
The reopening of US routes saw improved forecasts and rising shares, but there may still be turbulence to comeThe golden goose is airborne again. The reopening of the US border to leisure travellers from the UK and most of Europe – with the accompanyin…
Like it or not, with Nord Stream 2, Putin has a foot on the gas Europe badly needs
With Gazprom’s flagship pipeline poised to deliver energy under the Baltic, leaders have little choice but to do businessAfter years of debate in Germany and beyond, the Russian state-backed energy giant Gazprom confirmed last month that it had finish…
Grant Shapps wants to scrap costly PCR tests for travellers by half-term
Shift in policy in England would mean such Covid tests being replaced by cheaper lateral flow onesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said he wanted to scrap costly PCR tests for internatio…
Regulator drops BA and Ryanair lockdown flights refund case
Competition and Markets Authority ends four-month investigation saying it cannot justify expenseCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe competition regulator has dropped its investigation into whether British Airways and Ryanair…
BA abandons plans for short-haul subsidiary airline at Gatwick
Proposals for BA-branded subsidiary ditched after pilots refuse to back deal between airline and unionBritish Airways is abandoning plans for a short-haul, BA-branded subsidiary at Gatwick after pilots refused to back a deal between the airline and uni…
Virgin Atlantic reports 600% surge in flight bookings to the US
Sales jump as US says it will allow fully vaccinated passengers from UK and some EU countries to enter from NovemberCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageVirgin Atlantic has reported a 600% surge in flight bookings to the US and B…
The battle for Britain’s skies takes a new twist pitting easyJet against Wizz Air
Analysis: airline fends off Hungarian interloper in increasingly febrile fight over Gatwick slotsThe battle for the post-pandemic holiday skies took a fresh twist yesterday, as easyJet launched a £1.2bn fundraiser while announcing it had fended off a t…
BA and Lufthansa resume flights from London City airport
Flights to Zurich, Frankfurt and Rotterdam show business travel returning despite Covid pandemicBritish Airways and Lufthansa have resumed flights from London City airport as pan-European business travel shows the first signs of picking up.Alison FitzG…