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How Much Would You Pay For One Of London's Airports?
The UK's second busiest airport— and a perennial frustration for delayed London travelers having to fly in and out on its single runway—Gatwick Airport is about to come under new management. BAA, which owns six British airports and is in turn owned by the Spanish firm Ferrovial, has sold the facility to Global Infrastructure Partners. Final price: a lot:
BAA has agreed to sell its 100% interest in Gatwick Airport Limited to an entity controlled by Global Infrastructure Partners for £1.51 billion. Of the sale price, £55 million is conditional on future traffic performance and the buyer's future capital structure... Colin Matthews, BAA's Chief Executive, said... 'BAA is changing and today's announcement marks a new beginning for both Gatwick and BAA. We wish Gatwick well for the future and are confident that the airport will flourish under new ownership.'
Tags: Spa Travel / Virgin Atlantic / LGW / London Travel / Airport News / → All Tags
Nice Moove: Virgin Atlantic To Add Cowshed Spa To Gatwick Airport
The cows have come home: Virgin Atlantic's clubhouse at London's Gatwick Airport will be closed until the end of November for renovation, including adding a brand new Cowshed Spa for its passengers.
"Cowshed Spa" sounds like an oxymoron, like that other British invention Shabby Chic, but the premium spa brand was named for the original purpose of the building that houses its first location, at the Babington Hotel in Somerset county. (There are no cows there now.) Its six locations in England include one in the London Heathrow clubhouse, where passengers can get treatments like hot stone facials and full-body salt scrubs. Cowshed is also the official spa of the SoHo House in , or so we hear because we can't get in.
Tags: Travel Advertising / LGW / Fashion Travel / Airplane News / Travel Ads / → All Tags
'Runway Fashion' Means Something Totally Different To Gatwick Airport
We love photoshopping sunglasses onto an airplane just as much as the next travel dork, but really—the above ad campaign from London-Gatwick Airport is taking it a bit too far.
Looking to promote Gatwick as a shopping destination, and not just for last-minute trashy paperback books or inflatable neck pillows, the airport placed this faux fashion spread into a British LGBT magazine, Attitude, and—we guess—hopes that the gay population og southern England comes running to buy chains and leather boots duty-free.
Tags: New Routes / Caribbean Travel / British Airways / LGW / Airline News / → All Tags
British Airways Likes Piña Coladas and New Tropical Routes For Fall
Is Montego Bay, Jamaica destined to be the tropical international hotspot for winter 2009? Just today, Jetblue has launched their service there with a balloon-filled extravaganza departing from JFK's Terminal 5. Coincidentally, British Airways has also chosen this day to announce that they'll be crowding the Jamaican skies beginning in October when they begin direct , twice-weekly service from London-Gatwick to Montego Bay.
Apparently Britons are craving some western hemisphere vacationing, since BA just broke the news about their London to Las Vegas flights and now we have Jamaica; but wait, there's more!
Rounding out the trio of new British Airways routes for fall is an unexpected one to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Tickets for the Jamaica and DR routes go on sale tomorrow, but they'll have some competition from Virgin Atlantic to Montego Bay; Branson' carrier has been flying this route since 2006 and keeps tickets around £600 ($933) per person, round-trip in fall. Do we smell the sweet scent of an upcoming airfare war?
Related Stories:
· @British_Airways [Twitter]
· BA To Launch Two New Caribbean Routes [FlyerTalk]
· British Airways Coverage [Jaunted]
[BA photo: griffs0000; Triple 7s via AskGamblers]
Tags: New Routes / Las Vegas / London / British Airways / Airline News / LAS / LGW / Virgin Atlantic / → All Tags
British Airways Ups the Ante With New Las Vegas Route
Las Vegas may have a fake Venice, New York and Egypt, but perhaps they should start thinking about installing a replica Trafalgar Square now that British Airways has announced plans for a new non-stop route from London.
Due to go direct from the land of fish and chips to the city of all-you-can-eat buffets starting this fall, the once-daily roundtrips from London-Gatwick to McCarran will join Virgin Atlantic in shipping over the Brits and their pounds sterling to drop in casinos. According to info obtained by the Las Vegas Sun, England is already "the No. 3 provider of foreign tourists to Las Vegas behind Canada and Mexico."
This whole business with the added flights is also about to give "Triple 777s" a new meaning, as BA's arrival on VA's route means that their planes will be going head-to-head for a jackpot win on Vegas supremacy. As if the BA thorn in Richard Branson's side wasn't in deep enough already. And just like everyone else on their way to the "Sin City," all British Airways wants to do is score.
Related Stories:
· British Airways to Start Daily Service to Las Vegas [LV Sun]
· Las Vegas Travel [VegasChatter]
· British Airways Coverage [Jaunted]
[BA photo: griffs0000; Triple 7s via AskGamblers]
Tags: Travel Deals / US Airways / LGW / → All Tags
US Airways Sale To UK: It Rules
Summer is traditionally the season for budget-busting blockbuster movies, but also budget-busting European vacations. But while this summer's "X-Men: Origins," "Star Trek" and other major franchises might still break box-office records, visitors to London might be able to come in under budget thanks to US Airways' major peak-season sale to Jolly Olde.
Airfare Watchdog initially zoomed in on fares from Ohio to the U.K. via London's Gatwick Airport, but how about $620 round-trip from Denver? Or $549 from Seattle? It remains to be seen if the pound will cooperate, of course, but with a cheap flight you'll be able to pinch some pence.
We wonder if London mayor Boris Johnson might be sending a thank-you card to US Airways for their cooperation. Johnson just announced the city was pouring £2 million into a new tourism campaign with the slogan "Only in London" for British Tourism Week. Savvy travelers who buy this week won't be the only ones in London this summer, but at least they'll know they did it for less.
Related Stories:
· Major Peak Summer London Sale on US Airways [Airfare Watchdog]
· Only in London Tourism Campaign Announced [Holidaylettings.co.uk]
· London coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: mount_otz]
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Get Naked for the Sake of Art...Er...Rather, An Airline
How much do you love free airfare? Do you love it enough to get naked for it ... in public?! If so, then have we got some happy new for you: it seems that new routes will be launching in Europe soon, and they're looking to recruit a a whole sea of exhibitionists for a publicity stunt in central London.
To be more specific, the unnamed airline is in need of 999 bare bottoms this Sunday, March 15, and signing up and showing up will yield you a free roundtrip from London Gatwick to any of their eight destinations in Europe.
Frankly, for those in London this week, this is a huge win-win situation; strut your naughty stuff and get more stuff in return. Nonetheless, public nudity is still against the law, and so volunteers will be provided with a little something to "cover their rude bits."
Tags: For Sale / Airports / LGW / London Travel / → All Tags
Who Wants To Buy An Airport?
Got a couple bil lying around? Flaunt your wealth with a transportation portal that's all yours. London's second-largest airport is for sale, and while you just missed the initial bid deadline, it's still up for grabs.
British Airports Authority was ordered to sell Gatwick Airport after British courts ruled that the company's holding of three London-area airports constituted a monopoly. Six bids have been entered, including, as Joe Sharkey noted, a coalition which includes bailed-out bank Citigroup and who currently leases Chicago's Midway Airport. Other bidders include Manchester Airports Group and a German construction company.
BAA was expecting to get in the neighborhood of $2.7 billion for Gatwick, but the private bids are rumored to be more in the neighborhood of $2.33 billion. That's almost 15 percent off! Whatta deal! But the trappings we envision would be bundled with a personal airport are probably more fantasy than reality (no more security queues and in-terminal Starbucks only serves your favorite drinks, to begin with). One thing's for sure, we'd be a lot more optimistic if Richard Branson had entered a bid, as was the rumor last fall. There's always a first time to fly into Virgin Airport.
Related Stories:
· Sovereign wealth giant ADIA drops out of Gatwick race [Times Online via Joe Sharkey]
· Will Richard Branson Buy Gatwick? [Jaunted]
· LGW coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: johann-in-london]
Tags: LGW / LHR / Richard Branson / Airports / → All Tags
Will Richard Branson Buy Gatwick?
He's clearly crazy enough to make a go at commercial space travel, but is billionaire Richard Branson really gonna buy up an English airport? Maybe!
A government agency will soon decide whether BAA, the Spanish-owned subsidiary that runs Gatwick and six other British airports, is acting against consumer interest, and most everyone is betting that its holdings will be broken up. If that happens, says the Telegraph, Gatwick, Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airports will be sold off. Branson says he's trying to secure funding to make a bid for Gatwick, where Virgin Atlantic could spruce things up to compete against British Airway's T5 at Heathrow.
Other bidders are also interested, and it will be months before we even find out when Gatwick could go up for sale. That should give Branson enough time to scrape together the £2 billion ($3.6 billion) it might cost!
Related Stories:
· Branson Weighs Bid for Gatwick [Telegraph]
· Gatwick coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: Airports / London Gatwick / LGW / Crime / → All Tags
Homeless Travel: British Airports Are "Clean, Dry and Warm"
Funny, we're usually trying to get the hell out of Gatwick. But we're more fortunate than former chef Anthony Delaney who took up residence in the airport after losing his job and then his house in 2004. He's been staying at LGW off and on since then because, he says, it's "clean, dry and warm."
The authorities, though, don't particularly appreciate him. After getting tossed from the airport in 2006, Delaney kept coming back, despite a court order telling him to stay away.
This week, the police picked him up again, and it doesn't seem like he'll be returning to Gatwick anytime soon. The judge on his case remanded him, adding this bit of helpful advice:
There are other places you can have a shower.
Related Stories:
· Homeless Man "Lived in Airport" [BBC]
· British Airports: London Gatwick's a Loser [Jaunted]
· Airports coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: IMDb]
