The Week In Travel

The CEO of Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has urged the UK to divert household waste towards SAF production, citing its environmental benefits. A study carried out by MAG, which operates Manchester, London Stansted, and East Midlands airports, has found that SAF from waste significantly reduces emissions, potentially aiding UK aviation’s net zero target. CEO Ken O’Toole stresses the importance of efficient waste use to combat carbon emissions, claiming increased use of the method could help the country develop a local SAF industry.

In mainland Europe, Copenhagen Airport is aiming to become the ‘architect of future airports’, having successfully implemented combined IT and operations systems across the entire “ecosystem” using AIRHART technology. The technology is the result of a £43m joint venture between the airport and Danish tech firm Netcompany, which launched in 2023 after a decade-long overhaul process.

In technology news, Airbus has unveiled a prototype for its new eVTOL aircraft, CityAirbus NextGen ahead of its maiden flight scheduled for later in 2024. Developed to tap into the urban air mobility (UAM) market, the unveiling coincides with the opening of a new test centre in Donauwörth, Germany.

Elsewhere, the future is looking bright for Spanish airports group, Aena. The group has brought forward its target of serving 300 million passengers annually by a year due to a significant surge in traffic. Operating 47 airports in Spain, Aena recorded 283 million passengers in 2023, with growth particularly notable at tourist hubs. Aena now aims to hit the 300 million mark by 2025.

And finally, Mark meet Mark! 58 year old Mark Garland got quite the shock ahead of a flight from London to Bangkok, when airport staff informed him he had ‘already checked in’. The issue was eventually untangled when staff figured out there were actually two Mark Garlands on the same flight – but the fun didn’t stop there! The two boarded the plane (sat next to each other no less) and it turned out their shared name wasn’t the only thing they had in common. They looked remarkably similar, each sporting an identical shaved head, lived 15 miles apart and even had mutual friends. The pair spent the entire 11 and a half hour flight chatting, and you can be sure this flight left a ‘mark’ on both of them.