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British Airways has temporarily suspended all flights to Sierra Leone and Liberia due to the Ebola outbreak. The airline confirmed all its flights to and from the respective capitals of Freetown and Monrovia have been suspended until August 31 because of the "deteriorating public health situation" in both countries. “The safety of our customers, crew and ground teams is always our top priority and we will keep the route under constant review in the coming weeks. Customers with tickets on those routes are being offered a range of options including a full refund and the ability to rebook their flights...

Chicago (AFP) - A French family who came to the United States for medical treatment said they were stranded in Chicago after British Airways determined their son was too fat to fly. Kevin Chenais, 22, spent a year and a half at the Mayo Clinic for treatment of a hormone disorder which led him to weigh 500 pounds. His mother was near tears as she described the family’s problems to the local CBS affiliate. "We blame British Airways because now they just leave us, and they brought us here,” Christina Chenais told the station. "If they could bring him here...

The Polonium Diversion At least a dozen people have been contaminated by the rare radioactive isotope Polonium 210. The list includes Alexander Litvinenko, the ex-Lieutenant Colonel in the KGB who died from a dose of Polonium 210 in London on November 23rd; Andrei Lugovoi, a former colleague of Litvinenko in the KGB, who met with Litvinenko at the Pine bar of the Millennium Hotel in London the day he became ill, November 1st; Dmitry Lugovoi, Lugovoi’s business associate, who also attended that November 1st meetings; 7 employees of the Millennium Hotel; Mario Scaramella, an Italian security consultant, who dined with...

British Airways bosses fear having to scrap lucrative flights because of mounting complaints about raucous cabin crew parties at luxury hotels. Topless air hostesses and champagne-fuelled pool parties have prompted a flood of protests about wild behaviour. Now BA has warned its captains to control their crews during overnight stops – or the airline may be forced to abandon at least one route. The problem is particularly acute on routes crewed by young recruits – so-called ‘mixed fleet’ which was at the heart of the recent BA industrial dispute. A BA source said: ‘Mixed fleet crews are basically kids of...

Secret documents reveal that the three Qatari men conducted surveillance on the targets, provided “support” to the plotters and had tickets for a flight to Washington on the eve of the atrocities. The suspected terrorists flew from London to New York on a British Airways flight three weeks before the attacks. They allegedly carried out surveillance at the World Trade Centre, the White House and in Virginia, the US state where the Pentagon and CIA headquarters are located. Ten days later they flew to Los Angeles, where they stationed themselves in a hotel near the airport which the FBI has...

It just seems like a bad time for any firm with the word "British" in its title. We know all too well the various setbacks experienced by the oil giant once known as British Petroleum; now British Airways has drawn much unwelcome attention to itself with a photo touting its new mobile-boarding pass system as it appears to expedite the air travel of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, the world's most wanted man.

APRIL 25, 2010 2:02 AM SNIPPET: "MONTREAL — A British Airways flight bound for London was reportedly held up for almost two hours on the tarmac at Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport Saturday night as officials questioned a passenger who exhibited suspicious behaviour just before the plane was scheduled to take off." SNIPPET: "Fellow passengers reportedly told the cabin crew that the man had been behaving oddly and was in possession of a small quantity of clear liquid. "It was more than what you would normally be allowed to have, and passengers said he was doing something suspicious with it,"...

LONDON—A British Airways computer expert was charged Thursday with plotting suicide bombings—including one he allegedly planned to carry out himself. Prosecutor Colin Gibbs alleged that Bangladesh-born Rajib Karim deliberately sought a job with the airline in order to further an unspecified terrorist conspiracy. Mr. Gibbs told the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court that the 30-year-old plotted with unidentified contacts in his home country, Pakistan, and Yemen over the past four years. He said that Mr. Karim shared information about his work, including British Airways' security measures. Mr. Gibbs also said that Mr. Karim had offered to join the airline's cabin...

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LONDON - A union representing British Airways cabin crew said Monday it will hold a strike vote in a dispute over pay, job security and working conditions. The Unite union said it would continue to negotiate with the airline while the vote by 13,000 cabin crew goes ahead starting next week. Cabin crew represented by the Unite union had voted overwhelmingly in favor of striking in December, but the airline won a court order to prevent a walkout. "In notifying the company of this, I have reiterated that we want talks to continue, and that the union is prepared to...

A businessman is suing British Airways over a policy that bans male passengers from sitting next to children they don't know - even if the child's parents are on the same flight.

A businessman is suing British Airways over a policy that bans male passengers from sitting next to children they don't know - even if the child's parents are on the same flight. Mirko Fischer has accused the airline of branding all men as potential sex offenders and says innocent travellers are being publicly humiliated. In line with the policy, BA cabin crew patrol the aisles before take-off checking that youngsters travelling on their own or in a different row from their parents are not next to a male stranger.

Grounded By Val MacQueenFrontPageMagazine.com | February 4, 2004 At the beginning of January, BA 223 from London to Washington was canceled two days in a row due to “security concerns”.  On the third day, it was allowed to fly, but was held on the ground in DC for three hours after arrival before passengers were allowed to disembark.  Air France also had flights canceled at the 11th hour – specifically to Los Angeles -  probably at the demand of the American government, which had information that would have precluded allowing the flights to fly over American airspace. The truth dawned...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The State Department updated its travel warning for Saudi Arabia Wednesday, saying the U.S. government has received information about threats involving Western targets, including some directed at civil aviation.</p> <p>The suspension was also in response to a document seized in a car during anti-terror searches in Saudi Arabia that detailed the casing of the airport, a U.S. official told CNN.</p>

A British Airways passenger plane arriving from Amsterdam crash-landed at London's City Airport on Friday but all 67 passengers and four crew were safely evacuated, emergency services said. A British Airways statement said the nosewheel of the aircraft failed on landing. "As a precaution the emergency slides were deployed and the passengers were evacuated down the slides onto the runway," BA added. The London Ambulance Service said four people were treated for minor injuries, but no one was taken to hospital. A spokeswoman for the airport said flight BA8456 had landed on the runway despite the damage to the nosewheel.

WASHINGTON - A Lebanese-American businessman who acted as a conduit for a last-ditch peace offer from Iraq to the United States faces federal charges of attempting to bring weapons on a commercial aircraft. The charges were filed Nov. 6 against Imad Hage, months after he was stopped at Dulles International Airport outside Washington when a .45-caliber handgun, five ammunition magazines and four stun guns were detected in his checked luggage. Hage said by telephone Thursday from Beirut that he intends to return to the United States in a few weeks to fight the charges, which he suggested were only brought...

How The West Was Won The rapid and unexpected decline of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq was officially recognized this week, when Maj. Gen. John Kelly, commanding the Marine Expeditionary Force, turned operational control of Anbar Province over to the Iraqi army and police. Anbar, a vast expanse of desert the size of North Carolina, had been the stronghold of the Sunni insurgency. For years, foreign fighters loyal to al-Qaida had sneaked across Iraq's northwestern border with Syria, into Anbar and down a "rat line" of safe houses in Haditha, Ramadi and Hit. From Fallujah, the arch terrorist Zarqawi...

Excerpt - ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - British Airways has suspended its flights to Pakistan because of security fears after a bloody suicide truck-bomb blast at a hotel in Islamabad on the weekend, an airline spokesman said on Monday. ~ snip ~

An Afghan hijacker who forced an airliner to fly to Britain is now working at Heathrow, it has been disclosed. Nazamuddin Mohammidy, 34, was one of a gang of nine that threatened to blow up an internal flight in Afghanistan, along with 173 passengers and crew, unless they were granted political asylum. The Afghan hijackers forced the Boeing 727 to divert to Britain where they surrendered to police and the SAS after a 70-hour stand-off at Stansted Airport, Essex in Mohammidy, of Hounslow, Middlesex, is now working as an office cleaner for British Airways. The discovery came after he...

British Airways is facing fines of up to £5,000 per passenger for breaking European rules by misleading the hundreds of travellers stranded at Heathrow about their compensation rights. Chaos at Terminal 5, which forced the cancellation of 72 flights yesterday, will cause further disruption for thousands more passengers throughout the weekend. Last night BA confirmed that a further 54 incoming and outgoing flights will be cancelled today, blighting the holidays of thousands of families. The Times has learnt that managers at the airline were warned by unions a fortnight ago that baggage staff had not been properly trained to handle...