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Holidays4U, a tour operator based in Brighton, has collapsed, leaving over 12,000 tourists abroad.

The company, also trading as Aegean Flights, sold package holidays and flights to Turkey (many with the budget airline Onur Air). The company had an annual turnover of £35 million but in common with much of the travel industry had been hard hit by the recession over the last two years.

As well as this being bad news for travellers currently in Turkey, the company also had 50,000 bookings for holidays in the future, leaving many people’s travel plans in disarray just as the school holidays get under way.

According to ABTA there should be no problem with people currently in Turkey getting back to the UK at the right time but just whether they will end up where they started from is another matter.

Holidays4U operated out of numerous UK airports including Belfast, Cardiff, Bristol, Gatwick, Edinburgh and Glasgow but, according to ABTA, the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) may experience difficulty getting passengers on flights back to their airport of departure.

It is a distinct possibility, as has happened in the past with tour operators going bust, that hoteliers will ask holiday makers to pay for their accommodation again and travellers are advised to keep all paperwork and submit a claim to the CAA for their consideration.

All future bookings with the company are now cancelled but passengers should get their money back through ATOL. This will come as scant consolation for people looking forward to their holiday, in particular those due to fly out tonight from Manchester airport to Dalaman.

The Air Passenger Duty (APD) is hampering efforts by regional hubs to attract new airlines, according to a consortium of airports, including Birmingham, Bristol, and Kent. Jonathan Bailey, chief of external affairs at Manchester Airport Group (MAG) said that the tax means that small airports have “no future”.

Civil Aviation Authority figures have revealed that passenger numbers at the MAG-owned Bournemouth Airport have fallen from 200,000 for the first quarter of 2007, to just 60,000 for the same period this year, a slump of 70%. Exeter, Prestwick, and Doncaster’s Robin Hood airports have also reported an exodus, with the South Yorkshire hub experiencing a 58% reduction in visitors over the last three years. The culprit, claim airport bosses, is a steady rise in APD, coupled with the bourgeoning success of Heathrow and Gatwick.

Representatives from the UK’s regional airports say that driving business away from Heathrow and Gatwick, via a ‘congestion tax’, would allow smaller hubs to attract more and larger carriers.

“If passengers and airlines want to fly out of airports which are congested then they should pay a premium for doing so”, explained Kent Manston boss, Charles Buchanan. Mr. Buchanan likened the situation at Heathrow Airport, which operates at (or close to) 100% capacity, to the problems experienced by motorists on London’s busiest roads. Motorists in England’s capital, noted the Kent Airport chief, pay a “premium” for the privilege of attending the 5 o’clock crawl through Piccadilly Circus.

Manchester and Birmingham airports operate at 57% and 41% capacity, respectively, which, in layman’s terms, means that they are essentially, half-empty. The two hubs have expressed a readiness to alleviate the pressure on Heathrow Airport, by requesting that willing airlines are plucked from London, and deposited in the North and the Southwest of England. However, the plan would require the construction of a high-speed railway network in order to be a success.

The congestion charge is being touted as a replacement for APD. The tax would scale according to the number of occupied aeroplane slots at an airport. Overloaded hubs would pay more, while the smallest airports could well become exempt from the punitive levy.

A new six-times-weekly flight to Lisbon in Portugal is now available from Manchester Airport. The route, introduced by European flag-carrier TAP Portugal earlier this month, has already attracted more than 15,000 bookings, according to the Manchester Airport website.

Carlos Paneiro, vice president of sales at TAP, said that the route from Manchester was “an important part” of the carrier’s global expansion plans. “The UK is the number one market for Portugal, in terms of inbound tourism,” Mr Paneiro explained.

TAP is primarily an intercontinental airline, providing flights from Lisbon Portela Airport to Miami in the US, Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre in Brazil, and the Cape Verde Islands among others. The introduction of a route from England to Portugal is ostensibly a way of driving traffic towards TAP’s long-haul routes from Portela Airport.

Manchester Airport previously offered just three flights to Portugal, namely Ponta Delgada in the Azores, Funchal on Madeira, and the city of Porto on the Portuguese mainland. However, Lisbon was on many travellers’ wish lists, as evidenced by the success of TAP’s inaugural flight to the ancient city, which achieved a load factor of 75%.

Airport boss Andrew Harrison was convinced of the route’s success even before the first TAP plane had departed the Ringway hub. Angie Robinson, chief at Manchester’s inward investment firm MIDAS, was equally optimistic, referring to the new flight as “fantastic”.

Tickets for the trip to Lisbon begin at £55, taxes included. Carriage of up to 15kg of golf equipment, for passengers interested in the Paco do Lumiar and Golfe do Estoril courses, and “generous” baggage allowances, are included in the price of the flight.

The promise of tax-free shopping is irresistible for some travellers, and many airports boast retail outlets to accommodate the most diverse of passenger needs, from groceries to sunglasses.

Opening new stores is just as important to airport business as finding new routes, so operators will often undertake multi-million pound renovation projects to create more space for restaurants and bookshops. Manchester Airports Group, the largest airport operator in the UK, is a good example. The company recently invested £2m in the renovation of its namesake’s third terminal, with four new stores and an Italian café the most notable additions.

Andrew Harrison, director at Manchester Airport, said that the refurbishment addresses five “areas of concern”, including a perceived lack of seats in the departure lounge, and an insufficient number of information screens within Terminal 3. The improvements reflect the results of a customer satisfaction survey, according to Mr. Harrison. However, the director intimated that staff had “more to do” to bring the terminal into line with customer expectations.

The new café, Trattoria Milano, offers the staples of Italian cuisine, namely, pizzas, pasta dishes, and salads. The other new outlets are Swiss wristwatch manufacturer, Swatch, men’s accessory store, Tie Rack, Dixons Travel, and Rolling Luggage, which sells exactly what its name suggests, suitcases and other bags. Online news source, North West Caterer, claims that an existing branch of Costa Coffee will receive a facelift later this year, to create a “relaxing area” in the busy airport.

Prior to the renovation, Manchester’s Terminal 3 had just four shops (excluding duplicate stores) and an equal number of cafés and restaurants. In comparison, the airport’s Terminal 1 has more than thirty different retail outlets.

Since 2007, Manchester Airport has spent more than £80m on improvements to its three terminals.

The area to the northeast of Manchester Airport is to become one of George Osborne’s new Enterprise Zones.

Loosely defined, an Enterprise Zone is an area of land that stimulates growth via the provision of ‘luxuries’ to developers. For example, a company that wishes to build an office block within an Enterprise Zone may be afforded tax breaks, less stringent planning regulations, or other bonuses, such as super-fast broadband. The Chancellor hopes to develop 21 such zones in the UK, with the first few to be located in northern areas, such as Leeds, Sheffield, and Liverpool. So far, the only Enterprise Zone in the south of England is at the Royal Docks in Newham, London.

The Enterprise Zone in Manchester will take the form of a 60-acre ‘Airport City’, essentially, a hub for logistics, manufacturing, and freight distribution. The City, which could cost up to £600m, and create 7,000 new jobs, will emulate similar developments in Spain, Germany, and Holland. Stephanie Mullenger, chief at Manchester Airports Group (MAG), the current owner of the Ringway airport, said that the City would be like “a city centre, which has the fantastic connectivity of an international airport". Mrs. Mullenger intimated that the project was already attracting potential investors, but that some “seriously sexy marketing” had to be done if the City is to become more than a developer’s dream.

MAG was quick to note that plans to build the City were already underway before the airport was designated an Enterprise Zone. However, John Atkins, director at MAG Developments, welcomed the Chancellor’s recent announcement, as “underlining the importance of making quick progress on the site”. MAG was invited to consult on the topic with Manchester councillors earlier this month. The operator, which is the largest in the UK, hopes to begin the construction phase during early 2012.

The Airport City will be located a few hundred metres north of Manchester Airport, in the area of open land between Ringway Road West and Hilary Road, close to the town of Wythenshawe.

New and innovative ideas at British airports are nothing new. Numerous innovations have been tried and tested over the years with the rapid advances in the technology and aviation sectors, with some failing miserably and others becoming part of the normal routine of your average summer holiday. However, officials at Manchester Airport have taken this process one step further, with the airport all set to introduce something that perhaps seems more suited to the science-fiction movie industry.

Manchester Airport has installed two figures at Terminal 1, whose sole purpose for existing is to welcome passengers and inform them of security regulations regarding liquid restrictions. This all sounds quite normal, until you realise that the figures have been formed using holographic technology.

The technology makes use of real-life film of airport staff John Walsh and Julie Capper, with the virtual equivalent of the pair designed to ease the burden on their human equivalents at check-in and security. With airport staff still having to waste precious time and energy on reminding passengers of the up-to-date liquid restrictions for flights departing from Manchester Airport, the hope remains that imparting the knowledge in an instant and memorable way will make the message stick for longer than usual.

Whether or not the hopes for the holographic technology are adequately fulfilled at Manchester Airport does, of course, remain to be seen, but it is undoubtedly a creative employment of the sorts of advances in technology that all industries should be able to take full advantage of.

Officials at Manchester Airport have voiced concerns over the use of Chinese lanterns near the Ringway hub. The lanterns, which are essentially miniature hot air balloons made from paper and wire, can travel upwards of a mile into the atmosphere. While seemingly harmless, the lanterns, much like flocks of birds, can be sucked into aeroplane engines, resulting in disaster. The airport says that more than 60 extinguished lanterns were retrieved from its runway over the festive season alone.

“You don’t need to be an engine specialist to know that a piece of metal getting into an aircraft engine can’t be good news,” explained Tim McDermott, operations director at Manchester Airport. The lanterns have also been blamed for the death of livestock, as curious cows are likely to eat them, and false emergency callouts involving the UK coastguard. Lifeboat operators have mistaken the lanterns for distress flares, especially when the glowing orbs travel over bodies of water.

In Asia, the lanterns are believed to bring good luck to those who release them on Chinese New Year. However, Manchester Airport is concerned that one man’s prosperity could spell another man’s doom. The hub has urged lantern users to “think through” their decision to release the tiny airships, or contact their local airport for advice. Unfortunately, there may not be a ‘safe’ location to release the lanterns in urban areas, as many large cities, such as London, have multiple airports.

The lanterns are wind-driven, much like the balloons raced by primary school children, meaning that the paper devices could theoretically have come from tens, or even hundreds, of miles away from Manchester Airport. The hub’s efforts to preserve its passengers could therefore, be in vain, and dependent on a complete ban on the lanterns, a course of action recommended by the National Farmers’ Union. In Europe, Germany and Austria have already made the lanterns illegal.

Equally concerning is the chance that a pilot could be dazzled or otherwise distracted by a passing lantern at a “critical moment,” to quote Tim McDermott. The issue is reminiscent of an ongoing situation at Manchester Airport involving so-called “laser louts,” people who shine laser pens at approaching aircraft, temporarily blinding pilots.

Budget airline, Ryanair, in typically dramatic fashion, has helped to secure hundreds of jobs at Manchester Airport, by introducing a series of new routes to Europe. The carrier will begin flying to Alicante and Madrid in Spain, Faro in Portugal, and Tenerife in the Canary Islands from April 14 2011, and boost the frequency of flights from Manchester to Dublin by two flights per day.

The move will be seen as penance by many observers. Ryanair famously axed 44 flights on nine routes out of Manchester in 2009, resulting in the loss of 600 jobs during the height of the recession. The blue-and-yellow carrier had previously held the airport to ransom, offering an extra 28 flights, or 400,000 new passengers, in exchange for reduced landing fees. The request was denied by airport bosses, and flights to Bremen and Frankfurt in Germany, among others, were pulled on October 1 2009.

Whether Manchester finally acquiesced to Ryanair’s demands is debatable but unlikely, given that reduced fees for one airline would set a precedent for similar concessions for Flybe, Monarch, and the other carriers residing at the airport. Manchester’s director, Andrew Harrison, said that a “mutually beneficial agreement” had been reached with Ryanair, but gave no other insights into the airline’s sudden change of heart.

Ryanair chief, Michael O’Leary, claimed that the airline’s expansion would bring an extra 600,000 passengers into Manchester, equating to a 5% traffic boost “in one stroke.” The Irishman went on to say that there would be a “mix of jobs saved and jobs created,” returning the carrier’s workforce to pre-2010 levels.

Tickets for Alicante and Faro begin at £29.99 for a one-way trip, including all taxes and charges. Madrid and Tenerife come in slightly more expensive at £39.99. A price comparison table on the airline’s website indicates that Ryanair’s flight from Manchester to Tenerife costs almost £30 less than travelling the same route with Monarch, and £25 less than with bitter rival, easyJet. Tickets for Dublin are on sale at £15.99.

The city of Montpellier, France, is the latest route to be added at Manchester Airport, courtesy of sky-blue airline, bmibaby. The flight, which is the only way of getting there by air from the north, will enter circulation on Saturday July 2 2011, and operate twice a week for the duration of the summer season.

Montpellier, located in the south of France, to the west of Marseille, is the capital of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, roughly equivalent to an English county. The city was founded in the tenth century, and developed quickly over the ensuing years. Today, Montpellier is the eighth largest settlement in France.

Known for its Mediterranean climate, Montpellier is a peculiar amalgam of contrasting architectural styles, hilly terrain, and both wide and narrow streets. Popular sights include the Place de la Comédie, arguably the most famous square in the city, the Tour de la Babotte, which is one of two medieval towers in Montpellier, and the impressive gold archway, Port du Peyrou.

Tickets for Manchester-Montpellier are being sold by bmibaby for around £40, one way, with taxes included. The airline’s UK boss, Julian Carr, said that bmibaby was “very excited” about the upcoming launch later this year, while staff at Manchester Airport expressed unreserved “delight” at the addition. Montpellier is Manchester’s sixteenth route to France, joining Avignon, Grenoble, and Brest on the departures board.

Bmibaby’s planes will fly to Méditerranée Airport, located around five miles east of Montpellier, in the town of Mauguio. Cyril Reboul, chairman at the French airport, intimated that local travellers were eager for the opportunity to visit Manchester, “one of the most exciting cities of the UK.”

Earlier this year, security at Manchester Airport had more holes in it than a pound of Swiss cheese, according to an independent inspector for the UK Border Agency (UKBA). The inspector, John Vine, discovered two locations in which new arrivals could “walk out of the airport”, entirely ignoring customs and immigration checkpoints.

The news was a major blow for Manchester Airport, which is widely revered as a champion of novel security techniques, such as the full-body scanner and, more recently, an innovative iris-scanning device. Officials have been left pondering whether or not the security flaws have been exploited in the past, and what heinous villains could be residing illegally in the UK as a consequence of these security slips.

John Vine intimated that the UKBA knew about security problems at Manchester Airport, but had done nothing to remedy the situation. The main issue concerned “a handful” of transfer passengers, who were able to leave the airport without boarding their connecting flight (if they were so inclined). "It was considered serious enough to have been discussed (with the) Home Secretary”, Mr Vine said.

Manchester claims that its border controls were “strengthened immediately” after publication of the report, but the final document reads like a comedy of errors. Facial recognition gates, another of Manchester’s hi-tech toys, broke down five times in just one week, and even trapped a passenger in one particularly humiliating instance.

Inspectors were largely unimpressed with the Ringway hub’s reliance upon new technologies, describing the facial recognition device as unreliable. UKBA representatives in the North of England say that many of John Vine’s observations were valid, and efforts have been made to rectify the issues.

The BBC News website notes that the inspection took place between the 5th and 7th of May 2010, but the results have only just become known.