Sixt rent a car blog » heathrow airport

BA set to Restore Travel Perks for Staff

Andy Aspden — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 14:59:01 +0000

As the discussions between members of the Unite union and British Airways continue to try and reach an agreement between all parties, BA have taken the step of restoring travel perks for staff. This move takes away one of the biggest grievances raised by the striking staff and could pave the way for a settlement to the dispute.

Strikes by BA staff this year have disrupted flights from Manchester, Heathrow and Stansted on several occasions this year, but it is hoped that this decision will influence the current vote for further strike action.

During 2010 BA staff have staged a total of 22 days of strike action, causing a total cost of £150m to the airline. When the dispute began in November last year, it centred on changes to staffing levels and working conditions.

When the dispute first started in November 2009 it related to working conditions and staffing levels, but following the removal of travel concessions and other disciplinary measures taken by BA during the strikes there has been little sign of an impasse. With BA now conditionally restoring the travel concessions it is hoped that the vote will turn out favourably for the airline.

M4 Bus Lane to be Suspended

Andy Aspden — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 09:52:44 +0000

Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, announced yesterday that he will be suspending the much maligned M4 bus lane. The move should free up an extra lane traffic on the often congested motorway that connects London to the West of England and Wales.

In a press release from the Department for Transport (DfT), they confirmed that motorists travelling towards the capital would be able to use the bus lane – not just motorbikes, licensed black taxis and buses.

The move follows analysis into car journey times at peak times on the motorway showed that opening the bus lane would significantly reduce the journey times for hauliers and other motorists, without causing a significant impact on the vehicles already allowed to use the lane.

The suspension due to start before Christmas and stay in place until the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, when the lane becomes part of the Olympic Route Network. Following the Olympics the plan is to make the suspension a permanent move, but there will a be a further assessment of the traffic during the next 18 months to help finalise the decision made by the Government.

Mr Hammond went on to say: “I want to keep traffic moving and improve journey time reliability through making the most of our existing roads.

“The M4 is a vital strategic route and therefore it is important that we do everything possible to reduce congestion on it.

“Once the Olympics are over my intention is to scrap the bus lane permanently as I believe excluding road users in this way is unfair and damaging to the economy.”

As it stands the suspension will help commuters and travellers from places located next to the motorway, such as Bristol and Cardiff, especially when driving to the centre of London or to Heathrow Airport.

‘Perfect Flight’ Between Heathrow and Edinburgh

Andy Aspden — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 13:16:48 +0000

Earlier this year British Airways flight BA1462 performed the first ‘perfect flight’ between Heathrow Airport and Edinburgh Airport, setting an important environmental milestone for the aviation industry. Every aspect of the flight, from backing away from the airport, taxiing and a continuous descent approach, was optimised to cause minimal delays and emissions during the journey.

The National Air Traffic Services (NATS), British Airways and BAA Heathrow and Edinburgh collaborated on the project to see the benefits that this kind of flight can offer. All parties entered into the project with the belief that a quarter of a tonne of fuel could be saved if things ran perfectly throughout the flight, effectively preventing an additional tonne of CO2 being used.

The landmark flight was initially proposed by NATS’ Andy Sampson and Kel Kirkland, with Mr Kirkland saying “Unlocking each individual link in the chain on a single flight is not easy. Everyone has had a part to play.

“It will be some time before we can expect to see the “perfect flight” replicated day in, day out but we have demonstrated it is possible and we can work towards it in the long-term.”

An Airbus 321 was used for the flight and was able to complete its flight without having to adhere to the usual constraints applied to flights in the UK as it was a one-off test, as well as being allowed to fly at a more fuel-efficient altitude for a longer period of time than usual.

BAA Heathrow Airside Operations Colin Wood said of the flight: “The benefits should include reduced taxi time, lower carbon emissions, improved air and noise quality and lower airline fuel costs. We are always looking for ways to improve the environmental efficiency of ground operations at our airports and trials such as this are fundamental in delivering new procedures and technologies.”

BA’s Heathrow Customer Service Staff Accept New Rules

Andy Aspden — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 08:02:03 +0000

British Airways’ Customer Service staff at terminals 1 and 3 in Heathrow Airport have voted to accept new working practices that have been agreed with both the GMB and Unite Trade Unions. The deal introduces new flexible, customer focused, working arrangements and effects 2850 staff at the airport.

However, the new changes will also reduce the workforce on staff at Heathrow by 500 members by March 2011, 300 of which have already agreed to voluntary redundancy packages or new flexible working opportunities. The hope is to significantly increase productivity gains and enable staff to quickly respond to customers needs.

BA’s chief executive, Willie Walsh, said in a press release: “This is another important step towards securing permanent structural change and the long term future of the company. It also underlines our commitment to working with all of our trade unions, including Unite.

“I’m delighted that our colleagues have voted in favour of the productivity deal that offers them future job security and will provide a more flexible, cost-efficient and customer focused ground operation at Heathrow.”

Heathrow Airport Celebrates the Best of British Food

Andy Aspden — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:03:44 +0000

I’m possibly slightly late with this story, but I have only just found out about and still thought it suitably newsworthy to be putting up for travellers heading to or from our Heathrow Airport car hire branch.

Passengers passing through the main terminals of Heathrow will find that the restaurants, cafés and bars are currently celebrating British Food Fortnight, giving everyone the opportunity to sample some of the ‘best bites of Britain’. From the homely tastes of pork pies or fish and chips, to the more experimental side of British cuisine thanks to Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food’s 3 course set menu including goat’s curd and sea bream, there are plenty of culinary delights to fuel you up before or after a flight.

If you prefer a more liquid form of refreshment then The Harlequin in terminal 1 is serving traditional British ales such as Theakston’s Old Peculiar and Bishop’s Finger as well as an ale made exclusively for the pub. Alongside the restaurants and bar’s Heathrow’s shops will also be joining in the celebrations give passengers special offers and tastings on rare and exclusive The Dalmore and Jura whiskies at World Duty Free.

The event started on the 28th of August and is set to end on the 12th of September, so if you are travelling through Heathrow at any point during the next few days take some time to sample the ‘Best of British’.

BA Crews Vote on Further Strike Action

Andy Aspden — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:29:48 +0000

British Airways are currently facing the prospect of yet more strike action from its staff after another ballot to strike was sent out to Unite members this week. It is feared that if the ballot comes back in favour of a strike that the staff could choose the period over Christmas as the time to hold their protest.

Over 1,000 flight attendants met at Kempton Park Racecourse to discuss the need for more strike action, following on from the 22 days of striking that the crews have already taken part in since March this year. At the moment though, crucially needed talks to break the current deadlock are not set to be held until the TUC conference next week when representatives from all parties will meet.

Although the strikes are only in discussions they will affect flights from Heathrow Airport and Manchester Airport if they go ahead. Sixt have branches at both airports and will do our best to keep all readers of the blog up-to-date with the situation.

The row his risen after plans to cut costs by reducing benefits to staff and cabin crew members on flight were revealed by the BA boss Willie Walsh earlier this year.

Strike Threat Lifts for BAA Airports

Andy Aspden — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:04:14 +0000

A new pay offer from BAA has put the strikes planned for 6 UK airports later this month on hold. Members of the Unite union last week voted to go on strike over a proposed pay increase of up to 1.5%, following last year’s pay freeze. However, after negotiations held late into last night an agreement has been reached and the new offer will be put to a ballot, with the results set to be known within the next 3 weeks.

The proposed strike had threatened to close down airports including Heathrow, Stansted and Edinburgh over the bank holiday weekend after fire crew and other ground staff voted to reject the initial pay offer from BAA. Although no details of the new deal have been released yet, the Unite union is confident that any further strikes can be avoided and it urged it’s members to accept the new terms.

Airport Tax-Free Discounts are Disappointing

Andy Aspden — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:16:22 +0000

A new report published by online shopping comparison website Kelkoo has discovered that despite the public’s perception that airport stores are considerably cheaper than the high street, the amount saved is not as big as it could be and is in most cases bettered by shopping online. Consumers still believe that they are purchasing goods duty-free, which is free of both VAT and excise duty, in airport, but this was abolished by EU member states in 1999 and has been replaced with tax-free shopping for those travelling within the EU.

Departure lounge retailers, on average, save consumers 6.2% off the high street price for goods. However, they could be saving more by purchasing on the internet, up to a further 6% off the in-airport stores. With over £2.5 billion being spent in “tax-free” stores in airports last year, consumers could have saved a further £156 million off that total.

The mystery shopper exercise used 22 different products, ranging from health and beauty to electrical goods and confectionery, to compare the average high street RRP against 10 airports in Europe and the best price available online. People in the UK have a mix of the best and worst deals available, Heathrow Airport offered the worst value out of the airports tested with only an average discount of 3.1% possible. However, when it came to shopping online, Brits could look forwards to shaving 15.4% off the high street price.

Free Upgrade or Sat Nav for Rentals over 4 Days at Heathrow

Andy Aspden — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:07:14 +0000

To celebrate Sixt’s new in-terminal desks at London’s Heathrow Airport we are offering our retail customers a free vehicle upgrade or free Sat Nav to our retail customers who book a car for more than 4 days. The offer is running all the way up until 31st May subject to availability.

Sixt only offer rental vehicles which are made by the leading manufacturers including international brands like BMW, Mercedes, and Volkswagen. The modern technological equipment that is available to various Sixt vehicle models include modern sound systems and state of the art navigation systems.

The new Sixt desks really stand out from the crowd in Terminal 4

The new desks opened up for the public on 16 March within terminals 1, 3 and 4 with additional access to a free phone telephone in terminal 5, with a direct link to the Sixt Heathrow car hire centre or UK Reservations Team. Car hire facilities at terminal 5 will be developed in coming months to offer customers a fully interactive touch screen booking system, which links directly into www.sixt.co.uk.

Customers arriving at Heathrow Airport will have three options to collect their car. They can choose to complete all rental paperwork at one of the new desks in terminal before taking the regular courtesy coach service to the car hire centre. Having already completed the necessary paperwork, they simply proceed to the rapid pick up point to collect their car keys.

Alternatively customers can head straight from ‘arrivals’ to the car hire centre, using the courtesy coach, to complete the required paperwork before collecting their car. The third and quickest option is for customers to use the Sixt online check-in and go straight to the car hire centre.

Sixt Heathrow is open 7 days a week throughout the year from 6:00 – 23:00. Customers have access to a free phone telephone at each desk which immediately connects them to the Heathrow car hire centre. Outside of the normal operating hours customers can still speak to a member of the Sixt team in the UK reservations centre using the free phone service.

Cheap Cars Available for One Way Hire to Germany

Andy Aspden — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:13:47 +0000

As the UK slowly attempts to recover from the fallout of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption, finally opening up flight paths and airports to passengers still trying to get back home. Unfortunately the knock on for the airlines means that the effects could still be being felt for the next few weeks as they try to resume a normal service. Even with the ban on flights being lifted last night, some flight operators are still keeping their fleets grounded until later on this evening.

Sixt have dealt with an extraordinary number of passengers wanting to drive cars between countries desperate to get back home over the last week. However, now that things are appearing to return to normal it leaves the company having to find ways to return the cars back to the branch they were originally hired from.

At the moment Sixt Rent a Car in the UK have a limited number of vehicles that need to be returned back to Germany after customers have brought the cars over to the UK before finally getting home. The cars that need returning are currently at the Manchester and Heathrow Airport branches and are being offered at a highly reduced one-way rental rate.

For anyone trying to find a way back to Germany from the UK and are considering using a hire car then give Sixt a ring on 0844 499 33 99 and ask for Adam, Mark or Lee quoting ‘one-way German rental’.