If you want to be picky Virgin had links with LTN for years and I would call it UK short haul. Now that has got you thinking lol

The point keeps getting missed that the current funding available is not specific to related to aviation but is available to all companies if you meet the criteria, so what conditions are you expecting? The Air France deal is very much that - a deal tailored specifically for Air France.

Also, is there a list of socially acceptable major British companies available i.e. those that don't have significant foreign shareholdings?

With the press at the airport I would have thought they would have been a bit more on the ball allowing passengers to stand outside the entrance.

https://www.theguardian.com/business...-from-bulgaria

Who on the ball, the airport or the passengers?
Today no-one was managing my isle progress at Tesco or B&Q once I got in!

It will. I'm glad I'm not a Luton Parkway》London commuter anymore every day on Thameslink to London Bridge then tube, shoulder to shoulder on the train and platform. A flight from LLA a couple of times a year would be the least of my worries!

I don't have to think too hard.

I've been on 4 different Viscounts out of Luton to both Dublin and Maastricht under Virgin name.

But either those, or whatever you allude too, are irrelevant to TODAY. Virgin may have had such links with LTN for years, but the word "years" repeats itself as this was all years ago. Indeed, last century was it not ?

I have the joy still of such commuting. I do Parkway to Blackfriars still. Actually it is OK at the moment, or has been OK for the past 5 weeks. Off peak you near get a coach to yourself! Admittedly I have the luxury of being allowed full flexi working so aim to avoid high peaks, but even peak shoulders in past 5 weeks been barely a dozen pax per coach. The District Line that i use from Blackfriars has been OK too for the past 4 weeks, although the first week of lockdown it was hit and miss on maintaining distancing.

Anyway, trains are a bit of a digression.

Lighten up my friend and be safe on your commute. It was a light hearted reply in a world of misery, death and economic meltdown but actually I was not talking about Viscounts, Dublin, Maastricht or even Boeing 727’s or the Virgin 747 that landed at Luton so you have jumped to the wrong conclusion and had a little paddy on the way.

Try again and be happy this time. Virgin at Luton but maybe not since the terminal was expanded but very much this Century. Think about it. I even have the photographic evidence as it was a common sight. I know you will get the answer soon. Lol

When will LBC collapse financially and then the forensic accountants be unleashed? TICK, TOCK..........

A council with big plans but didn’t have the money to pay for them so they borrowed lots of money and still need to borrow lots more money to finish their dream. They could always sell the airport to raise some money to pay off the debts and pay for improvements to Social Services.

Wizz Air 6 New Routes Announced
 

Wizz Air have today announced six new routes:

Faro - From July (4x Weekly)
Corfu - From July (2x Weekly)
Zakynthos - From July (2x Weekly)
Heraklion (Crete) - From July (3x Weekly)
Rhodes - From July (2x Weekly)

Marrakesh - From October (4x Weekly)

I guess these are replacements for the Norwegian routes that seem to have been a big failure (with the exception of Tromso that restarts in December). I notice Turku in Finland has also disappeared too.

Wizz have made quite a few changes to their routes at Luton in the last 12 months

2019 included:
Bari, Bergen, Catania, Kutaisi, Ljubljana, Oslo, Porto, Prague, Stavanger, Tallinn, Turku
Seasonal: Verona

These routes are replaced in 2020 (at least according to the timetable) by
Castellón, Gran Canaria, Moscow–Vnukovo, Saint Petersburg, Tenerife–South, Vienna
Seasonal: Corfu, Faro, Heraklion, Marrakesh, Porto, Rhodes, Zakynthos

I wonder if the airport needs to be concerned with Virgin Atlantic closing operations at Gatwick and with BA threatening to do the same?

Gatwick has always been renowned as being the favourite choice for low cost carriers as the routes seem to be more profitable for the airlines and more bums on seats. Whenever slots become available there is always a rush to grab them!

I can imagine Wizz will be keen to further grow from there and easyJet to strengthen the fortress they currently have in place.

With easyJet delaying the arrival of any new aircraft, would they prefer to reduce operations at another base, so assets can be transferred south of the river?

It was a point I have made and I was condemned for making it.

Virgin have said they intend to keep their Gatwick slots at least for the short term, which won’t best please Gatwick and will be a relief to Luton.

I see there are major concerns about a domestic flight from Belfast to Heathrow operating at capacity with no social distancing. When it comes to Wizz flying farm workers into Luton in a near full aircraft no one is bothered.

Coronavirus: Aer Lingus review after packed flight complaint https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-52539141

The incoming pax on Wizz were coming from rural areas in countries with little virus, and proceeding to farms where they would be living on site, essentially quarantined. And they were given masks. No comparison.

The Aer Lingus story in my opinion is a non-story...

If you choose to travel at the moment, you are basically choosing to take the risk of being unable to social distance. Aer Lingus are the only airline operating between London and Belfast, and it’s inevitable the few seats being made available will sell out.

Looking at the Aer Lingus website many days they are sold out and charging a very handsome price on other days!

Its exactly the same with Wizz Air, you can cross your fingers for an empty flight and hope most people are not travelling, but if the flights full, tough!

Not all passengers were farm workers. So there are no concerns about passengers flying out of Luton from all corners of the country then? I can’t use my local tidy tip due to social distancing concerns but I can fly out on a full Wizz flight to say Portugal and then come back a few days later with no worries?

Why is it? Why am I in lockdown and can’t go to the pub?.

Remember social distancing is not only there to protect the individual who is prepared to take a chance but society in general and the NHS.

I meant its a non-news story, because it is impossible to social distance on an aircraft, unless it is probably flying with no more than 20-30 passengers on board and people boarding the aircraft should be very well aware that it is impossible to be more than 2 metres away from a fellow passenger if they have ever flown before!

I'm not here to discuss with you what the government says you can/can't do in lockdown, but the government has clearly decided to not stop airlines flying aircraft with passengers on.

I wonder if that might change this weekend. A 14 day quarantine period is apparently one option to overcome the lack of social distancing.
Assuming we have some kind of lid on Covid within the UK by that point then domestic flying would I presume be considered a lower risk.

We have to wait for the vision to be outlined by the PM.

The airlines are already kicking off about the idea of a 14 day quarantine. Meanwhile in New Zealand they have almost eliminated Covid 19 in part by closing its borders.

Coronavirus: UK airlines warn quarantine will 'kill air travel' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52523320

At Luton the airport appears to be playing lip service to government social distancing restrictions even with flights spaced hours apart while Wizz doesn’t give a monkeys with just an overnight deep clean and flying full aircraft.