Flights to Ireland’s main airports are to be disrupted tomorrow after air traffic controllers announced they are to strike in a dispute over new working practices.

Members of the Impact union said they are to stage a walkout in protest against the decision by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) to suspend 15 air traffic controllers who refused to co-operate with new technology.

Almeria airport is to improve its security measures by introducing state-of-the-art scanning and surveillance technology, it was announced last week.

Eight million euros to be spent on improvements

Spanish airport authority, AENA, announced that eight million euros will be spent on the airport during 2010. The first improvement is designed to help control vehicles entering the airport’s restricted area, which gives direct access to the aircraft loading areas and runways. A guard room for security staff is scheduled for construction which will be equipped with a scanner system, allowing the contents of vehicles to be checked before they enter the restricted area.

Gatwick Airport has suspended all flights while it clears snow off the runway. It does not expect flights to resume until at least 4pm. Passengers should check with their airline before travelling to the airport.

Heathrow Airport is open but warning of flight delays and cancellations due to the weather. Passengers should check with their airline before travelling to the airport.

Stansted Airport and Luton Airport are open and operating as normal.

Britain’s major airports bore the brunt of last year’s “staycation” with figures showing that they carried 4.7 million passengers fewer than in 2008.

The 4.1 per cent drop, announced by BAA, reflected a year in which the recession saw demand for overseas holidays drop and a number of airlines ground planes to save money.

Worst hit was Stansted, with 2.3 million drop – representing 10 per cent of total as both Ryanair and easyJet cut back on capacity.

BAA, the owner of Heathrow and Britain’s biggest airport operator, said today that the number of passengers travelling fell by more than 4pc last year because of the recession.

The company, which also owns Stansted and recently sold Gatwick, saw passengers numbers travelling through its airports fall to 106.9 million in the year. However, the company said that the speed of decline eased in the final three months of the year to just 1.2pc compared with the same period in 2008.

Freezing weather is causing disruption to Britain’s roads, railways and airports.

ROADS

M25 Hertfordshire | Clockwise | Accident, 2 lanes closed, congestion – Delays of 20 minutes between J17 and J19 caused by congestion due to an accident closing two lanes between J19 and J20.

A5 Warwickshire | Northbound | Heavy traffic – Delays of 15 minutes from Harpenden towards Cannock, between junctions with the M69 and the A47 Hinckley, due to heavy traffic.

Gatwick Airport, Heathrow Airport, Stansted Airport, Luton Airport and London City Airport are all open but warning of some delays and cancellations. Check with your airline before travelling.

The Stansted Express, Heathrow Express and Gatwick Express are running as normal.

Southampton Airport’s runway reopened at approximately 10.30am. Flights have started to arrive but departures have been delayed as they clear the backlog. Passengers are being advised to check in as normal.

EU countries have been debating the use of body scanners at airports, in response to the Christmas Day attempt to blow up a US-bound jet.

The European Commission is holding talks with aviation security experts from the EU member states in Brussels.

Italy has said it will introduce the scanners for US-bound flights, alongside the Netherlands and the UK.

The 27 EU countries are free to use the scanners as long as the security checks do not contradict national or EU law.

The icy weather gripping northern Europe has disrupted flights at airports in the UK, France, the Irish Republic and the Netherlands.

Many flights were delayed or cancelled at Orly airport in Paris, Dublin airport and Amsterdam-Schiphol, as well as major UK airports.

A Eurostar train was stuck for about two hours in the Channel Tunnel on Thursday. It later reached the UK.

Four other Eurostar trains were cancelled, a company spokesman said.

Gatwick Airport is open and flights are operating, but the runway is subject to intermittent closure to enable clearance of snow and ice. Delays and cancellations are ongoing.

Heathrow Airport , Stansted Airport , Luton Airport and London City Airport are all open but warning of some delays and cancellations. Check with your airline before travelling.

The Stansted Express is subject to delays, cancellations and alterations. The Heathrow Express and Gatwick Express are running as normal.

Air passengers face body scans and more frequent searches under security guidelines unveiled yesterday in response to the Christmas Day bomb plot.

Full body scanners will be introduced at Heathrow within three weeks and the Government will consider profiling passengers. More sniffer dogs will be used and behavioural analysis will become commonplace under the revised code, Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, said.

News and travel advice following widespread airport closures, flight delays and flight cancellations due to snow.

Heathrow Airport is open but is advising passengers to check with their airline before leaving for the airport and leave extra time to get there. The live departures and arrivals board is showing some delays but minimal cancellations. The Heathrow Express rail link is operating as normal.

The EU will host talks on Thursday on the use of body scanners at airports, in response to the Christmas Day attempt to blow up a US-bound jet.

The European Commission will host the Brussels talks with aviation security experts from the EU member states.

The Commission says the 27 member states are free to use body scanners, provided the security checks do not contradict national or EU legislation.

Spain will only introduce such scanners when there is EU agreement

Spain has dismissed the idea of using whole body scanners at Spanish airports, at least until there is an EU-wide agreement on the matter.

The Detroit attack over Christmas has brought airline security back into the spotlight, and the U.K. is among the countries to say that it will be introducing the new scanners.

Full body scanners will also be introduced at Heathrow within weeks where they will be used for flights to all destinations and not just those bound for the United States.

The Department for Transport will instruct other airports across the country to install the scanners, costing around £100,000 each, as soon as possible.

As well as being searched as they pass into departures, new rules will allow staff to pat down passengers at the gate, immediately before they board.

Delays have been seen on flights to the Canaries, and Madrid is expected to be next

The Air Traffic Controllers Union, USCA, which makes up 95% of the 2,400 controllers who work in Spanish airspace, have said that the cause of delays seen on flights to the Canaries is a result of the ‘insufficient number of controllers programmed to work by AENA, the Spanish Airports Authority’.

The disclosure is among more embarrassing and sensitive information to have reached the public after guidelines issued to security officers at airports were posted online. The breach has led to five transport officials from the Transportation Security Administration which posted the document being suspended from duties while an investigation is carried out, the Guardian reports.

The call to ditch proposals to enlarge Stansted, has been made by the Transport Select Committee, in a report published today calling for a radical rethink of the Government’s airports policy.

While the Government supported plans for a second runway at Stansted, it ruled out extra capacity at Gatwick in the 2003 Aviation White Paper.

But, according to the MPs, a combination of the recession and the protracted Stansted planning inquiry has undermined the argument for a second runway at the airport.

Britain’s airport operators said this week that the Government’s justification for increasing Air Passenger Duty (APD) had no basis because new research showed that the aviation industry was more than paying for the environmental damage it causes.

Last month, APD, which is paid by every passenger flying out of the United Kingdom, rose from £10 to £11 per person on short-haul flights, from £40 to £45 or £50 on medium-haul flights, and from £40 to £55 on long-haul flights. Prices for passengers in premium-economy cabins will rise by up to £30.

Minister for Development, José Blanco, visit the works on Thursday

Alicante airport, El Altet, is undergoing a modernisation program with a new terminal now expected to be open at the end of next year.

The new 333,500 square metre terminal will be eight stories high and host 26 boarding gates, and will allow the annual capacity of the airport to be increased from 12.2 to 20 million users. There will be 14 baggage reclaim belts and as many as 96 check-in desks. The new terminal will in fact become the new airport for the city.