You have to watch the bad BA review on their Club World Business Class flight on A380 Heathrow to San Francisco. My god, the food looked like something you would feed to an animal and presentation was appalling!
Sunday, 17 September 2017
British Airways terror fears: Plane held on Paris tarmac & evacuated after 'DIRECT THREAT'
A BRITISH AIRWAYS plane as been held on the tarmac at a Paris airport following a security threat.
Police surround British Airways flight following security alert
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Armed police and fire vehicles have reportedly surrounded the Airbus A320 following reports of a "direct threat" while the flight has been evacuated at the Charles De Gaulle airport.
Passengers were evacuated at around 8am and ordered to move "single file" onto the runway.
Passengers tweeted their ordeal from the tarmac.
James Anderson tweeted: "On British Airways flight BA0303, currently being held on tarmac at Paris due to security threat, surrounded by police and fire vehicles.
"Apparently an individual has made a direct threat to this aircraft. We will all be led off the aircraft & baggage searched in due course."
Mr Anderson, 20, said armed officers are searching passengera and luggage with sniffer dogs.
He wrote: “Everybody’s been individually searched by armed officers and given all clear. Now hold luggage being searched by dogs.”
Amichai Stein reported on Twitter that passengers and luggage have now been cleared.
The flight heading to London Heathrow airport was delayed for more than three hours.
TWITTER
British Airways terror fears: The plane has been held on the tarmac of a Paris airport
Everybody’s been individually searched by armed officers and given all clear. Now hold luggage being searched by dogs
James Anderson
The plane was due to depart the airport at 7.25am.
Passengers were reportedly informed shortly before take off that a "direct threat" had been made against the aiport.
British Airways wrote on its website: “We’re very sorry, this flight has been delayed significantly".
Mr Anderson told Express.co.uk: "Initially the pilot told us there were technical issues. We were waiting on the plane for around an hour.
"We were then told the aircraft had to move to another part of the airport. That’s when we noticed police and fire vehicles quickly surround the plane and dozens of armed officers and firefighters got out.
"The pilot then said there had been a direct security threat involving our flight specifically.
TWITTER
A British Airways bound for London Heathrow was held on the tarmac following a security threat
"We had all our carry on bags searched (given all clear), we’re now going through the body scanners and x-rays, and then we will have to identify any hold luggage that belongs to us.
"They need to make sure everybody and everything has been searched. They’re being extremely thorough and we’re being escorted by armed officers."
British Airways has assured passengers they will be able to board another flight later today.
A spokesperson said: "The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority.
"Additional security checks are being carried out as a precaution. We would never operate a flight unless it is safe to do so."
An airport official confirmed passengers were evacuated on Snday morning "for a security reason".
The official added: "The incident is being dealt with."
British Airways terror fears: Passengers were pictured dragging their suitcases across the tarmac
Police said the security alert was a false alarm after sniffer dogs checked the plane and found no threat.
Mr Anderson tweeted: "After having completed the search, appears the incident has now been stood down and everybody is getting rebooked on next available flight."
At around 11.10am, a British Airways spokeswoman confirmed the flight had taken off.
The airline did not state the nature of the alleged threat.
The budget carrier is the first to take action over links to an illness long denied by airlines
Andrew Gilligan
The Sunday Times
EasyJet said ‘health concerns’ led it to design a new air filtration system for testing on aircraft next yearALAMY
EasyJet is to fit filters to stop toxic fumes entering its passenger cabins and cockpits in a move seen as the industry’s first acknowledgment of “aerotoxic syndrome”.
The condition, long denied by airlines, is feared to be responsible for several deaths of pilots and crew and hundreds of incidents where pilots have fallen ill, sometimes at the controls. Frequent flyers and young children could also be affected, it is claimed.
EasyJet told The Sunday Times that “health concerns” had led it to work with a commercial supplier, Pall Aerospace, to “develop and design a new cabin air filtration system” for testing on the company’s aircraft next year.
It can also be revealed that the NHS has set up a “care pathway” for victims of aircraft…
British Airways has announced proposals to close its main defined-benefit pension scheme in an effort to tackle what it says is a "significant and growing funding deficit".
BA said that if the plans went ahead, employees would no longer be able to make further payments into its New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS).
It said this would protect the benefits that members had already earned.
But unions Unite and GMB have expressed "dismay and bitter disappointment".
BA said the proposals were part of a consultation that would be getting under way "in the coming weeks".
The airline said it had injected £3.5bn into NAPS since 2003, but the deficit had risen to £3.7bn by March this year.
Retirement 'uncertainty'
"It is the largest of all UK company pension deficits relative to the company's overall financial value," the airline said.
"In 2017 alone, the airline will pay £750m in pension contributions and has already committed to provide between £300m and £450m a year till 2027 to address the NAPS deficit.
"If NAPS remained open to future accrual, the cost to the company of providing future benefits to NAPS members could rise to 45% of individuals' pensionable pay in 2018 - more than four times the typical employer contribution of UK airlines."
There are about 17,000 people in NAPS and more than 20,000 in the airline's defined-contribution pension scheme, known as BARP.
In response, Unite and GMB issued a joint statement expressing, "on behalf of our members and in the strongest possible terms, both our dismay and bitter disappointment at the news that British Airways has announced its intention to close its main pension scheme".
"Thousands of loyal and long-serving staff, who have helped build British Airways into a world-class flag-carrier for this country and one of the most recognisable global brands, now face uncertainty in their retirement."
