Birmingham Airport - General Thread

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there Ian, is that right, that slots at Birmingham Airport cost nothing... Andyc

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there all, is that true about Virgin at Gatwick Airport, if it is , well that will severely affect Gatwick Airport after this has finally gone, also with BA may do the same, how will the airport recover from this shock announcement... Andyc

 

[JENNYJET]

Gatwick will have to manage with what is left, just like the other airports without the LONDON prefix, scratching around for what they can get. It is the new reality and not just for civil aviation. Local bus services are being culled, theatres will close and hospitality venues will disappear.

My own airport at Birmingham has suffered the loss of MONARCH, FLYBE and Thomas Cook in recent times but till recent events managed to adjust and continue with those other carriers that offered to fill the gaps.

I just hope that management remain positive and continue with the loyal people that make everything that is good about the flying business!

 

[Coathanger16]

Spain to quarantine international arrivals from 15 May

Spain to quarantine international arrivals from 15 May

Spain’s government has decreed that all visitors entering the country from abroad must go into quarantine for 14 days from 15 May, potentially scuppering attempts by airlines to restart Spanish summer holiday flights. Spain’s government has decreed that all visitors entering the country from...

www.flightglobal.com

Wonder how long this will last? Will surely decimate the Spanish Tourism industry (which accounts for just over 10% of Spains GDP).

 

[Seasider]

I know it's silly, but if you book all inclusive for 2 weeks you should be OK.

If they strictly operate this then the hoteliers etc will be up in arms.

 

[LichfieldBlue]

I see Mr Walsh from IAG has said BA might not pull out from Gatwick after all and that he prefers it to Heathrow in many ways

 

[JENNYJET]

If Virgin pull out then BA can fill their boots since IAG have a financial edge over most others in the business. But business models will be changed for everyone so let us hope airlines recover some of what has been lost.

 

[hay677]

I wonder if an airline which delivers a Covid-infected person into another country could be held liable, and maybe sued out of business? Perhaps Jennyjet will comment.

 

[JENNYJET]

I believe the key word is Knowingly, but who would launch an action against an airline, as costs are awarded the winning party and are not inconsiderable and often punitive and corporate lawyers tend to be the best available and expensive. Then the question of liability, what is the mischief and can any damage be both proven and quantified? Worse, if a death results, would a criminal charge preclude a civil action? I cannot comment upon US law as I did English law and that was hard enough folks!

 

[hay677]

I don't imagine any airline would knowingly do that, but if, say, a person or family in quarantine at the other end were to develop symptoms or otherwise indicate (eg pass it on) they had carried the virus over with them, could the airline be found negligent? The way things are at the moment probably not, but if a government were to make it plain that airlines should carry out checks first then who knows?

All we've heard about so far is medical and economic things, but I shudder to think what may happen once the lawyers start to get their teeth into all this.

 

[JENNYJET]

And I note the concern. I also note that there will always be someone looking to have their say in court even for good reason but I fear an explosion of PPI type claims generated by the dark elements of the legal profession. Once someone has successfully brought a test case and a precedent has been set and case law established, then it will be a frenzy and especially in USA, class actions will generate huge payouts and bring some people to ruin or worse.

An interesting question hay677 and thank you for raising it.

 

[JENNYJET]

Further to above, negligence has to be measured against a standard not being met, and since virus checking is not a current standard required of transportation providers, it will need another avenue for a clever or dubious law practitioner to unearth and to test in a court of law. But if it can be demonstrated that immigration were negligent in allowing entry to an obviously ( note the word ) sick person unchecked and that person can be shown to have infected others, then both can be sued, and immigration would be treated as a person in law.

 

[hay677]

Thank you Jenny, interesting stuff there. I suppose as the situation regarding testing develops, and if we have future 'waves' of infection, blame could in principle be attached to an airport or the individual concerned (and probably others I haven't thought of) in addition to those mentioned above.

 

[JENNYJET]

On the question of blame, I think we need to see how far the Donald will go after the Chinese State and the master of the world is notoriously litigious and has allegedly unlimited funds to pursue a case as far as the UN criminal court, a court that the US are not signatories to. Fifty shades comes to my mind as I think more on this matter, does one seek out the vendors at the wet market in Wuhan, or the Chinese officials at the airport, and who were the airlines that permitted boarding and transported the persons carrying the virus, and since English and US law does not permit ignorance as a defence, how many people are you going after, some lawyers will be orgasmic in delight at the prospect of marshalling so many cases through the system and those lovely fat fees generated!

I am really pleased this question was raised, it has exercised my brain and helped remind me why I chose law as an academic pursuit, thank you hay677.

 

[nancledre]

Which, he said with tongue in cheek, will Donald accept responsibility for the death of my ancestors from Spanish flu? Keep smiling everyone.

 

[JENNYJET]

Responsibility? The Donald? Does that man not need his attorney to explain big words?

 

[HPsauce]

It's very frustrating to see carriers that we normally have at BHX continuing to use MAN regularly while we have nothing!!. These are not repatriation flights either as flight numbers are their regular ones. Qatar and PIA for example. Surely our catchment area is, at the very least, equal to Manchester's?.
Maybe this will all end when the 14 day quarantine comes in shortly. We shall see.

 

[Seasider]

I don't know about PIA but a lot of Qatar flights have been repatriation flights to Karachi and Lahore. I think they are operating 3 /week at the moment that are scheduled.

 

[A330]

It's very frustrating to see carriers that we normally have at BHX continuing to use MAN regularly while we have nothing!!. These are not repatriation flights either as flight numbers are their regular ones. Qatar and PIA for example. Surely our catchment area is, at the very least, equal to Manchester's?.
Maybe this will all end when the 14 day quarantine comes in shortly. We shall see.

Good point HPsauce. If I'm correct the UK arranged repatriation flights from India used BA to Heathrow, while the Pakistan flights were with Qatar split between Heathrow/Manchester.

It would have been nice if some had been arranged to BHX but then these are not normal times.

 

[HPsauce]

Very true A330. Qatar and PIA were definitely regular flight numbers. QR27 for example. QR8868 is a repatriation flight. Both to Doha.