Almost 60 international as well as domestic flights are being affected every day for the past one week in Pakistan&#39;s Punjab province to smog, causing low visibility levels to touch zero, officials confirmed.&nbsp;

&quot;At least 60 international and domestic flights have been affected in Lahore and some other cities of Punjab since the last week. Despite rescheduling of the flights the dense smog or fog is hampering the flight operation of both Pakistan International Airlines and foreign airlines,&quot; PIA Lahore spokesman Athar Awan told PTI today.

The Punjab Environment Protection Department (EPD) has stated that there exist an alarming level of dangerous pollutants in the the air in Lahore.&nbsp;

People have expressed their thoughts on Lahore being the dirtiest in the world, PTI reports said.&nbsp;

Moreover, on Sunday, several road accidents took place - leaving two dead and injuring dozens in Kasur, reports said.&nbsp;

This has lead to the imposition of Section 144, which states banning the burning of crops, tyres, and garbage - by The Punjab government, until further notice.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Metrological Department has predicted rain in Karachi, parts of Punjab, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa, FATA, Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, reports said.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Metrological Department has predicted rain in Karachi, parts of Punjab, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa, FATA, Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, reports said.?

Almost 60 international as well as domestic flights are being affected every day for the past one week in Pakistan's Punjab province to smog, causing low visibility levels to touch zero, officials confirmed. "At least 60 international and domestic flights have been affected in Lahore and some other cities of Punjab since the last week. Despite rescheduling of the flights the dense smog or fog is hampering the flight operation of both Pakistan International Airlines and foreign airlines," PIA Lahore spokesman Athar Awan told PTI today. The Punjab Environment Protection Department (EPD) has stated that there exist an alarming level of dangerous pollutants in the the air in Lahore. People have expressed their thoughts on Lahore being the dirtiest in the world, PTI reports said. Moreover, on Sunday, several road accidents took place - leaving two dead and injuring dozens in Kasur, reports said. This has lead to the imposition of Section 144, which states banning the burning of crops, tyres, and garbage - by The Punjab government, until further notice. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Metrological Department has predicted rain in Karachi, parts of Punjab, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa, FATA, Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, reports said.

Flights affected due to smog in Pak's Punjab province

British Airways (BA) said it would take steps to ensure there was no repeat of a computer system failure that stranded 75,000 passengers over a holiday weekend and turned into a public relations disaster.

BA had been forced to cancel all its flights from Heathrow, Europe&#39;s busiest airport, and Gatwick on Saturday after a power supply problem disrupted its operations worldwide and also hit its call centers and website.

The airline was returning to normal on Monday, planning to run more than 95 per cent of flights from London Heathrow and Gatwick, with only a handful of short-haul flights canceled.

BA Chief Executive Alex Cruz said the root of the problem, which also affected passengers trying to fly into Britain, had been a power surge on Saturday morning which hit BA&#39;s flight, baggage and communication systems. It was so strong it also rendered the back-up systems ineffective, he said.

&quot;Once the disruption is over, we will carry out an exhaustive investigation into what caused this incident, and take measures to ensure it never happens again,&quot; Cruz said.

Over the weekend, some stranded passengers curled up under blankets on the floor or slumped on luggage trolleys, images that played prominently online and in newspapers.

&quot;Apologises all well and good but not enough. BA has lost another loyal customer #disgraceful,&quot; tweeted Tom Callway, who had been due to fly to Budapest.

The company was left counting the cost of the disruption, both in terms of a one-off impact to its profit and the longer term damage to its reputation.

Spanish-listed shares of parent company IAG, which also owns carriers Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling, dropped 2.8 per cent on Monday after the outage. The London-listed shares did not trade because of a public holiday.

Flight compensation website Flightright.com said that with around 800 flights canceled at Gatwick and Heathrow on Saturday and Sunday, BA was looking at having to pay around 61 million euros ($68 million) in compensation under EU rules. That does not include the cost of reimbursing customers for hotel stays.

BA would fully honor its compensation obligations, Cruz said. Of the 75,000 passengers who missed out on flights, around two-thirds would have been flown to their destinations by the end of Monday, he added.

Cost cutting

BA has been cutting costs to respond to competition on short-haul routes from Ryanair and easyJet and recently faced criticism for starting to charge passengers for their in-flight snacks.

Ireland&#39;s Ryanair was quick to seize on the marketing opportunity, tweeting &quot;Should have flown Ryanair&quot; with a picture of the &#39;Computer says no&#39; sketch from the TV series &quot;Little Britain&quot; to poke fun at BA.

Ryanair said it had seen a spike in bookings over the weekend but gave no further details.

The GMB union said that BA&#39;s IT systems had shortcomings after they made a number of staff redundant and shifted their work to India in 2016.

&quot;This could have all been avoided. BA in 2016 made hundreds of dedicated and loyal IT staff redundant and outsourced the work to India,&quot; Mick Rix, GMB National Officer for Aviation, said.

Cruz rejected the union criticism.

&quot;They&#39;ve all been local issues around a local data center, which has been managed and fixed by local resources,&quot; he told Sky News.

Several passengers complained about a lack of information from BA staff at the airport. Others said their luggage had been lost.

The airline said it was working to get reunite passengers with their luggage after many items were left at Heathrow over the weekend, although staff on Twitter warned this &quot;could take some time&quot;.

While other airlines have been hit by computer problems, the scale and length of BA&#39;s troubles were unusual.

Delta Air Lines canceled thousands of flights and delayed many others last August after an outage hit its computer systems.

Last month, Germany&#39;s Lufthansa and Air France suffered a global system outage which briefly prevented them from boarding passengers.

(Reuters)

The airline is returning to normal, planning to run more than 95 per cent of flights from London Heathrow and Gatwick

British Airways (BA) said it would take steps to ensure there was no repeat of a computer system failure that stranded 75,000 passengers over a holiday weekend and turned into a public relations disaster. BA had been forced to cancel all its flights from Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, and Gatwick on Saturday after a power supply problem disrupted its operations worldwide and also hit its call centers and website. The airline was returning to normal on Monday, planning to run more than 95 per cent of flights from London Heathrow and Gatwick, with only a handful of short-haul flights canceled. BA Chief Executive Alex Cruz said the root of the problem, which also affected passengers trying to fly into Britain, had been a power surge on Saturday morning which hit BA's flight, baggage and communication systems. It was so strong it also rendered the back-up systems ineffective, he said. "Once the disruption is over, we will carry out an exhaustive investigation into what caused this incident, and take measures to ensure it never happens again," Cruz said. Over the weekend, some stranded passengers curled up under blankets on the floor or slumped on luggage trolleys, images that played prominently online and in newspapers. "Apologises all well and good but not enough. BA has lost another loyal customer #disgraceful," tweeted Tom Callway, who had been due to fly to Budapest. The company was left counting the cost of the disruption, both in terms of a one-off impact to its profit and the longer term damage to its reputation. Spanish-listed shares of parent company IAG, which also owns carriers Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling, dropped 2.8 per cent on Monday after the outage. The London-listed shares did not trade because of a public holiday. Flight compensation website Flightright.com said that with around 800 flights canceled at Gatwick and Heathrow on Saturday and Sunday, BA was looking at having to pay around 61 million euros ($68 million) in compensation under EU rules. That does not include the cost of reimbursing customers for hotel stays. BA would fully honor its compensation obligations, Cruz said. Of the 75,000 passengers who missed out on flights, around two-thirds would have been flown to their destinations by the end of Monday, he added. Cost cutting BA has been cutting costs to respond to competition on short-haul routes from Ryanair and easyJet and recently faced criticism for starting to charge passengers for their in-flight snacks. Ireland's Ryanair was quick to seize on the marketing opportunity, tweeting "Should have flown Ryanair" with a picture of the 'Computer says no' sketch from the TV series "Little Britain" to poke fun at BA. Ryanair said it had seen a spike in bookings over the weekend but gave no further details. The GMB union said that BA's IT systems had shortcomings after they made a number of staff redundant and shifted their work to India in 2016. "This could have all been avoided. BA in 2016 made hundreds of dedicated and loyal IT staff redundant and outsourced the work to India," Mick Rix, GMB National Officer for Aviation, said. Cruz rejected the union criticism. "They've all been local issues around a local data center, which has been managed and fixed by local resources," he told Sky News. Several passengers complained about a lack of information from BA staff at the airport. Others said their luggage had been lost. The airline said it was working to get reunite passengers with their luggage after many items were left at Heathrow over the weekend, although staff on Twitter warned this "could take some time". While other airlines have been hit by computer problems, the scale and length of BA's troubles were unusual. Delta Air Lines canceled thousands of flights and delayed many others last August after an outage hit its computer systems. Last month, Germany's Lufthansa and Air France suffered a global system outage which briefly prevented them from boarding passengers. (Reuters)

British Airways vows 'never again' after costly IT collapse

A strong typhoon struck near Tokyo today, with heavy rain and winds grounding more than 400 flights as officials warned of landslides and flooding. 
 
Typhoon Mindulle made landfall at about 12:30 pm (0330 GMT) in Tateyama city, roughly 80 kilometres (50 miles) southeast of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. 
 
As of noon, the storm was packing gusts up to 180 kilometres per hour and heading north at a speed of 20 kilometres per hour, the agency said. 
 
There were no immediate reports of casualties or significant damage. 
 
&quot;In Tokyo... please exercise caution for landslides, flooding in low lying areas, surging rivers, violent wind and high waves,&quot; the weather agency said. 
 
Downpours across the greater Tokyo region caused rivers to swell, with television footage showing gushing waterways close to overflowing but staying within their banks. 
 
The storm has caused airlines across the country to cancel a total of 425 flights, mostly to and from Tokyo&#39;s Haneda airport, national broadcaster NHK said. 
 
Japan Airlines said it cancelled 185 domestic flights, affecting 33,692 customers, while All Nippon Airways cancelled 112 domestic flights, affecting 26,500 passengers. 
 
Most major commuter train services in Tokyo and its surrounding region operated normally, including bullet trains, according to East Japan Railway, the region&#39;s biggest railway operator. 
 
Some lines, however, suffered from temporary delays and stoppages. 
 
Separately, typhoon Kompasu, which hit Japan&#39;s northern main island of Hokkaido on Sunday, was downgraded to a temperate depression by early today as it moved away into the Sea of Okhotsk, according to the weather agency. 
 
Heavy rains since Saturday caused high waves and rivers to flood on the island, where rescue workers found a male body today morning. 
 
Police did not immediately link the death to the storm, but local media said the body might be the owner of a vehicle that was stranded due to heavy rains. 
 
The local Hokkaido government has so far said the storm has caused only three minor injuries. 
 
(AFP)

The storm has caused airlines across the country to cancel a total of 425 flights, but train services remained unaffected

A strong typhoon struck near Tokyo today, with heavy rain and winds grounding more than 400 flights as officials warned of landslides and flooding. Typhoon Mindulle made landfall at about 12:30 pm (0330 GMT) in Tateyama city, roughly 80 kilometres (50 miles) southeast of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. As of noon, the storm was packing gusts up to 180 kilometres per hour and heading north at a speed of 20 kilometres per hour, the agency said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or significant damage. "In Tokyo... please exercise caution for landslides, flooding in low lying areas, surging rivers, violent wind and high waves," the weather agency said. Downpours across the greater Tokyo region caused rivers to swell, with television footage showing gushing waterways close to overflowing but staying within their banks. The storm has caused airlines across the country to cancel a total of 425 flights, mostly to and from Tokyo's Haneda airport, national broadcaster NHK said. Japan Airlines said it cancelled 185 domestic flights, affecting 33,692 customers, while All Nippon Airways cancelled 112 domestic flights, affecting 26,500 passengers. Most major commuter train services in Tokyo and its surrounding region operated normally, including bullet trains, according to East Japan Railway, the region's biggest railway operator. Some lines, however, suffered from temporary delays and stoppages. Separately, typhoon Kompasu, which hit Japan's northern main island of Hokkaido on Sunday, was downgraded to a temperate depression by early today as it moved away into the Sea of Okhotsk, according to the weather agency. Heavy rains since Saturday caused high waves and rivers to flood on the island, where rescue workers found a male body today morning. Police did not immediately link the death to the storm, but local media said the body might be the owner of a vehicle that was stranded due to heavy rains. The local Hokkaido government has so far said the storm has caused only three minor injuries. (AFP)

Flights grounded as strong typhoon hits near Tokyo

Air France had to scrap 139 long and medium-haul flights today at its Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Roissy, near Paris, on the third day of a strike by&nbsp;flight crew, airport sources said.&nbsp; 
 
The weeklong stoppage began on Tuesday and today saw Paris&#39; other main airport Orly cancel 20 per cent of the carrier&#39;s flights with further medium-haul cancellations likely later in the day, the sources said. Roissy was maintaining more than nine out of ten long-haul and three-quarters of medium-haul flights. 
 
Management said in a statement the carrier would maintain 80 per cent of Saturday flights, the same figure forecast across today. Unions representing around half of the strikers called the stoppage after marathon talks failed to reach a breakthrough on renewing a collective labour accord on rules, pay and promotions that expire&nbsp;in October. 
 
Management want to limit the extension of the agreement to 17 months, whereas unions want between three and five years. The new CEO of the Air France-KLM group, Jean-Marc Janaillac, told daily Le Figaro on Thursday that the strike was &quot;regrettable and aggressive&quot;, coming at the height of the holiday travel period. Unions retorted that management was being &quot;obstinate&quot; in insisting on a shorter accord timeframe. 
 
Air France flights operated by low-cost airlines HOP! and Transavia, as well as KLM and Delta codeshares, were not affected by a stoppage which affected some 30,000 passengers on Thursday. The pilots&#39; last strike, which grounded around 20 per cent of flights on June 11-14 right at the start of Euro 2016, hit France as it was gripped by social unrest over the Socialist government&#39;s labour reforms. Air France estimated that the stoppage cost it some 40 million euros ($45 million). 
 
(AFP)

The weeklong stoppage began on Tuesday and today saw Paris' other main airport Orly cancel 20 per cent of the carrier's flights

Air France had to scrap 139 long and medium-haul flights today at its Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Roissy, near Paris, on the third day of a strike by flight crew, airport sources said. The weeklong stoppage began on Tuesday and today saw Paris' other main airport Orly cancel 20 per cent of the carrier's flights with further medium-haul cancellations likely later in the day, the sources said. Roissy was maintaining more than nine out of ten long-haul and three-quarters of medium-haul flights. Management said in a statement the carrier would maintain 80 per cent of Saturday flights, the same figure forecast across today. Unions representing around half of the strikers called the stoppage after marathon talks failed to reach a breakthrough on renewing a collective labour accord on rules, pay and promotions that expire in October. Management want to limit the extension of the agreement to 17 months, whereas unions want between three and five years. The new CEO of the Air France-KLM group, Jean-Marc Janaillac, told daily Le Figaro on Thursday that the strike was "regrettable and aggressive", coming at the height of the holiday travel period. Unions retorted that management was being "obstinate" in insisting on a shorter accord timeframe. Air France flights operated by low-cost airlines HOP! and Transavia, as well as KLM and Delta codeshares, were not affected by a stoppage which affected some 30,000 passengers on Thursday. The pilots' last strike, which grounded around 20 per cent of flights on June 11-14 right at the start of Euro 2016, hit France as it was gripped by social unrest over the Socialist government's labour reforms. Air France estimated that the stoppage cost it some 40 million euros ($45 million). (AFP)

Air France strike hits 140 Paris hub flights

flights

Flights, News on Flights, stories on Flights, articles on Flights, Flights stories at Wion, Flights news, Flights latest news