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# Monday, 17 March 2008
Ryanair has increased check in charges in an effort to encourage customers to use its online services. The online fee for putting items in the planes hold has increased from £5 to £6 per bag whilst the cost of checking in luggage at the airport will be double the cost of the internet fee, going up from £10 to £12 per item. In addition to this passengers who check in at the airport will have to pay an extra £3. The increases are designed to encourage customers to travel with carry on luggage only and should help the airline cut airport and handling costs.

posted on Monday, 17 March 2008 21:48:08 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback

blogoftheweek Today's Travel Blog of the week is Boedus Travel, its one of my favourite types of travel blogs - one with a lot of pictures. One of my favourite articles on this blog is that depicting a photo album of Yemen, it has some amazing pictures of this beautiful country and its people.

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Another article in a similar vain is Ethiopia Photo Raid an article where the author prefers to show his experience of this African country in photos and like the Yemen article the photos are truly stunning.

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posted on Monday, 17 March 2008 00:25:27 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Saturday, 15 March 2008
Travellers on the East Coast Mainline will face disruption over Easter as services are hit by strike action. Services on the line have already been hit by gales which caused the track between York and Doncaster to be blocked by fallen power lines. This led to a reduced service being run between Scotland and York and Leeds and London. The planned strikes will last for five days starting next Wednesday 19th March and continuing until the morning of Easter Monday. During this time The Rail and Maritime Union members will not work any shifts. Network Rail has said that some services will still continue despite the strike action. The action is in protest to proposed job cuts at the North Yorkshire site and comes after a vote in favour on industrial action.

posted on Saturday, 15 March 2008 15:32:36 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Friday, 14 March 2008
The Queen has officially opened Terminal 5 at Heathrow today. She was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and addressed 800 guests, most of who have been involved in the project. The terminal will begin operating on the 27th March and will offer increased customer capacity. The terminal will be used by British Airways for international flights and journeys to and from Manchester, Newcastle, Belfast and Scottish airports.

posted on Friday, 14 March 2008 16:30:22 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Wednesday, 12 March 2008
BAA has put up airport landing fees for Heathrow and Gatwick meaning a rise in ticket prices of about £2. The Civil Aviation Authority has allowed then to increase fees to help pay for better facilities and increased security measures. Although the increases have been criticised by airlines including British Airways BAA have said that the measures do not go far enough and that he increase will not be enough to pay for £6.5bn rebuilding work at Heathrow and ageing facilities at Gatwick.

posted on Wednesday, 12 March 2008 17:03:40 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Monday, 10 March 2008
Essex County Council is taking part in discussions about the possibility of taking over the running of post offices which have been earmarked for closure. The council is negotiating a buy out price from the Post Office and hopes to save 15 branches. They hope to make a profit out of the post offices by combining postal services with council services but have not yet said which branches they hope to save.

posted on Monday, 10 March 2008 19:01:25 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Sunday, 09 March 2008

 

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This weeks Travel Blog of the Week  is The Brel Chronicles written by Brendan and Mel (Brel). The blog charts their travels over a 10 month period and although it is still relatively new with the first post in January of this year, it already contains a number of interesting articles.

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I have always loved monkeys so was interested to see their pictures from Costa Rica where they have come across Howler Monkeys, Capuchin M2249010677_2da90d99c1_monkeys and Squirrel Monkeys all of which are really really cute. Much of the couples time in Costa Rica was also spent stalking the local bird population with Mel spotting an impressive 75 bird species including toucans, trogons, kingfishers and parrots.

They have also set up a foundation that is designed to try and give something back to the communities they visit. It is called The Brel Drop in the Ocean Foundation and the idea is that they will select a cause in each country that they visit and try offer what help they can, whether it is donating money or some of their time by volunteering on a local project. So far they have helped address the problem of stray cats in Placencia by helping  to reduce the population with a neutering program. They also have plans to contribute to an organisation that provides monkey bridges to help Titi monkeys avoid being electrocuted by electric wires. This blog is certainly off to a promising start despite being only three months old, I am looking forward to reading more of this great content over the coming months.

posted on Sunday, 09 March 2008 17:21:33 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Saturday, 08 March 2008
When Heathrow’s Terminal 5 opens later this month, it will become the first airport to introduce mandatory fingerprinting for domestic passengers. All domestic passengers leaving the terminal will now be subject to biometric checks and it is expected that other UK airports will introduce fingerprinting as within the next few years. All domestic passengers who go through Terminal 5 will have four fingerprints taken, as well as being photographed when they check in. BAA says that the move is necessary to prevent criminals and terrorists bypassing border controls and that the biometric information will be destroyed after 24 hours and that it will not be passed onto the police.

posted on Saturday, 08 March 2008 12:40:42 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Wednesday, 05 March 2008
If you are planning on taking a holiday in the Mediterranean this summer you might want to be cautious when you visit the beach. This article suggests that large numbers of jellyfish are likely to be washed ashore this summer. Scientists studying the mauve stinger have noticed massive numbers of the jellyfish in deeper waters off the Costa Brava which are likely to be washed ashore with the summer tides. Although this jellyfish does sting, it does not seriously harm people.

posted on Wednesday, 05 March 2008 13:22:11 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback