The problems with the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow have left BA with losses of around £16 million so far. The costs have mainly been incurred because of the cancellation of 300 short haul flights. The problems are likely to continue and some analysts predict the losses could eventually run to as much as £150 million.

This weeks travel blog of the week is steveislost.com. The blog is written by Steven Kazuo Nakano and charts his travels over the last couple of years. After selling off all of his stuff including his prized car back in 2005 Steve has already been to Argentina, Chile, Egypt, Israel, Peru and Venezuela, just to name a few places. The most recent entries find him in India where he purchases a motor bike in order to see more of the country. Steve talks about the complexities of dealing with the local police and paperwork issues and the fact that the best way to deal with them is just not to stop at the checkpoints.

One of the more humorous posts from his time in India also mentions what Steve describes as "the number two worst room I stayed in". Whilst this is not surprising, after reading the post you probably like me will be left wondering what the worst room he has stayed in was like, perhaps Steve can enlighten us here? Firstly he says the room was very close to a pig sty which gave it a beautiful spring smell, but the wildlife inside the room was slightly more irritating. One thing is for sure his post will certainly have you scratching as you read about the population of bed bugs he shared the room with. You can see what he calls his first nights catch pictured left. He says of the room and the number of bedbugs:
"I have stayed in places before where I have seen a few, but not a major infestation like this. At the joining of the wall to the ceiling was thousands of little droppings where they pooped. After the first night I finally realized where they were coming from and could see them sticking their heads out of the cracks waiting for me to go to sleep" and he resorts to staying awake most of the night as the bugs come out to feed. It sounds lovely. On a more cheerful note he also posts this cute picture of a family of monkeys . ahhh.

PC2Paper has increased its UK prices this weekend to reflect the recent increases in postage prices from Royal Mail. The increases mean that a UK letter will now cost 56p to send via first class mail and 49p to send second class. Prices for letters sent to overseas destinations from our UK based printing station have also increased accordingly.

Just when it was looking like things were getting better at Terminal 5 there have been yet more problems. Once again the baggage handling system has caused more problems and the recent snow in the UK has added to these problems. More than 60 flights have been cancelled as a result and passengers are advised to check the BA website before travelling.

Nearly a week after the new Terminal 5 opened at Heathrow it is finally ready to operate a full schedule of flights making it the first day of normal operation. Until today flights have been cancelled every day to take pressure off the overloaded baggage handling systems.

BA has called in international couriers to help return customers bags. The airline has chartered planes from FedEx to take luggage back to the US and BA flights are also taking bags back across the Atlantic when there is spare space in the hold. Some bags have also been taken by road to Milan where they will be sorted and flown out to their owners.

CrossCountry Trains will run a high speed summer service between Manchester and Newquay and Newcastle and Newquay. The service will operate on Saturdays between May and September and is aimed at encouraging holidaymakers to the county. The trains will have large luggage compartments so will be able to easily accommodate surfboards. They are likely to prove popular with the hundreds of surfers who regularly visit Cornwall.

Plans to introduce fingerprinting for passengers travelling from Terminal 5 were suspended only 24 hours before they were due to open. BAA says that the measures are needed to distinguish domestic passengers from international ones but the data protection watchdog has said the plan may breach British law. Talks are now being held between the Information Commissioner and BAA which wants to bring in the checks in the future.

There is likely to be more disruption at Terminal 5 as BA struggle to sort out the problems that hit the opening week. BA is still struggling to clear the backlog of luggage and is still cancelling some flights and there are now reports that it could take months for things to get back to normal. BA has now postponed the switch of long haul flights to the terminal which was due to happen on the 5th of April and there could also be a threat of strike action which would hit service further.

The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) has plans to build 97 airports before 2020. The plan will see the number of airports in China increasing to 192 in 2010 and to 244 by 2020 meaning that most people will live within 90 minutes drive of an airport by 2020. The new airports will cost around 450 billion Yuan ($64 billion) and are being built to meet increasing demand.

If your flight has been delayed or cancelled you might want to have a look at this article. It has lots of useful information about what compensation you could be entitled to. For example if your flight is delayed for two hours on a journey of up to 1,500km you should be able to claim free meals and refreshments and two phones calls, whereas if you are delayed overnight you are entitled to hotel accommodation. Its definitely worth a read before you travel.

According to BA the baggage handling system at Heathrow is now working well. However there is a huge backlog of bags at the airport. BA has a team of 400 volunteers who are working to clear the backlog of around 15,000 bags which have now built up at the airport although reuniting passengers with their luggage is likely to take some time because the bags need to go through enhanced security screening This is now being done manually because BA has been unable to use the Terminal 5 baggage system to process the bags. 

The Post Office has announced 53 branches in Norfolk that are facing closure. Despite the closures The Post Office says that the cutbacks are necessary to make the service sustainable and that most people will still be within a mile of a post office.

The full list of proposed closures:
•    The Crown, Colby Road, Banningham
•    Barney, The Street, Fakenham
•    Beeston Village Stores, Beeston, Kings Lynn
•    Beresford Road, Great Yarmouth
•    The Post Office, Castle Rising, King's Lynn
•    Village Hall, The Street, Caston, Attleborough
•    Clint Green, Norwich Road, Clint Green, Dereham
•    65 Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich
•    Cromer Road, Sheringham
•    East Runton Stores, Cromer
•    The Post Office, East Walton, Kings Lynn
•    Village Hall, Church Road, Wretham
•    4 Harvey Estate, Gimingham, Norwich
•    Church Road, Great Plumstead, Norwich
•    Textile Centre, Great Walsingham Barns
•    Church Road, Griston, Thetford
•    The Pleasure Boat Inn, Staithe Road, Hickling
•    Ancient House, Wells Road, Holkham
•    Lichfield Road, Southtown, Great Yarmouth,
•    Post Office Road, Little Plumstead, Norwich
•    98 London Street, Swaffham
•    Chapel Road, Longham, Dereham
•    47 Lynn Road, Downham Market
•    High Street, Marsham, Norwich
•    Lovells, Market Place, New Buckenham
•    308 Bowthorpe Road, North Earlham, Norwich
•    North End, Loke Road, Kings Lynn
•    East View, Mill Road, North Tuddenham, Dereham
•    Northgate Street, Great Yarmouth
•    Norwich Road, Watton
•    Nuns Bridges Filling Station, Bury Road, Thetford
•    Downham Market Railway Station, Railway Road, Downham Market
•    Ringstead, High Street, Hunstanton
•    Rosary Road, Norwich
•    Sporle Community Centre, Kings Lynn
•    Springfield Road, Gorleston, Great Yarmouth
•    Bungalow Stores, Stokesby, Great Yarmouth
•    Norwich Road, Tacolneston, Norwich
•    Tittleshall Village Hall, Tittleshall
•    The Street, Trowse
•    Church Road, Upton
•    Suffolk Square, Norwich
•    Wells Road, Fakenham
•    Staithe Road, West Somerton, Great Yarmouth
•    The Street, Wattisfield, Diss
•    The Street, Scole, Diss
•    High Road, Bressingham, Diss

Several British airlines are facing increased costs which could amount to hundreds of millions of pounds after expansion plans have been set back because of problems with the new 787 Dreamliner plane. British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and First Choice Airways have ordered 97 of the planes between them making them an essential part of the UK aviation industry’s new fleet. There are likely to be delivery delays of more than a year because parts of the plane have needed to be redesigned.