Action at last against train baggage bastardry

Don't you hate it when people put their bags on the seat next to them on a busy train?

And don't you hate it even more when they look the other way, or pretend to be asleep, when you need a seat? 

 
Dutch rail operator NS is striking back at the baggage bandits, introducing new luggage rules prohibiting passengers from placing bags on seats, even when trains are largely empty, news hub Travel Mole reports.

Travellers could previously use an empty seat for hand luggage but were expected to move their belongings if another passenger needed the seat. But people behave badly.

Under the revised policy, bags must now be kept on passengers’ laps or stored in the train’s luggage racks at all times.

The rail operator said the initial focus will be on educating passengers rather than enforcement. Posters will be displayed across the network, and conductors will remind travellers of the new rules. No fines will be issued for violations. For now. 

NS said the move is intended to tackle the growing problem of passengers occupying seats with luggage, particularly during busy commuting periods when available seating is limited.

The operator also noted that travellers are increasingly reluctant to ask others to move their bags, citing rising levels of aggression on public transport and in society more broadly.

Passenger advocacy group Rover welcomed the change, describing bags on seats as one of the most common complaints from rail users.

“It ranks among the top three frustrations for travellers,” Rover director Daan Zieren told Dutch broadcaster NOS.

He said passengers previously tended to remove their bags when trains became crowded, but that behaviour has become less common.

“Many people now pretend not to notice other passengers by looking out the window, while some simply refuse to move their bags,” he said.

London Heathrow just gets busier and busier

If you dislike busy airports then London Heathrow might not be the destination for you.. 

Heathrow has just reported it had its best full year ever for passenger traffic volume. 

London's leading airport handled nearly 84.5 million passengers during 2025, it said. 

The airport set records in nine out of 12 months and also recorded its busiest ever single day on August 1, with more than 270,000 fliers, news hub Travel Mole reported.

Aircraft movements was also a record high with 477,883 during the year.

“December’s record-breaking performance shows the strength of demand for Heathrow and the benefit to passengers of the great service our colleagues are providing,” said Heathrow CEO Thomas Woldbye.

“Last year, there was no hub airport in Europe that was more punctual than Heathrow.”

London Stansted Airport also enjoyed its busiest ever year in 2025.

Passenger traffic numbers surpassed the 30 million milestone for the first time with a number of new route launches and seat capacity increases. 

The airport completed the record year with its busiest ever December, driven by strong demand festive season demand.

Air Canada gets it wrong. Again.

Air Canada is a classic case of a business without a contingency plan.

It consistently alienates its customers and when the blowback becomes fierce it then changes tack.

It was chaotic during Covid with lost bags and cancelled flights the norm. It was sadly under-prepared and passengers paid the price.

And now, after rorting its staff so they went on a five-day strike, Air Canada is again playing catch-up after leaving passengers stranded and refusing to pay their food and hotel costs.

Oops! But finally the airline realised the publicity it was getting was dire.

Suddenly Air Canada has announced “enhanced compensation” after several days of leaving thousands of travellers broke and anxious

The comedy capers airline will now cover ‘reasonable’ hotel costs, meals, ground transport and other related expenses for travellers who had cancelled or heavily delayed flights in the past week, news hub Travel Mole reported.

“We deeply apologise to all customers whose travel plans were disrupted, and we’re committed to making things right for all customers — particularly those who were stranded during their trip,” Air Canada EVP Mark Nasr said.

“Earlier this week, we put in place a special commitment to reimburse out-of-pocket transportation costs, including on other airlines, rail, ground or ferries. Today, we are taking another step forward to make things right.”

Air Canada said compensation claims must include receipts for travel and hotel expenses and can be submitted online.

About 500,000 passengers had their flight plans upended due to the strike which started last weekend.

Qantas to pay up to customers it let down

Qantas will $100 million as a civil penalty for breaking consumer laws and make amends to 86,000 passengers it booked on flights that it cancelled or failed to operate without adequate notice.

These included some so-called “ghost flights” that it did not have any intention of operating.

Under a settlement agreed to with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Australian national carrier will commence a projected $20 million remediation program for impacted passengers.

Affected passeners will receive payments ranging between $225 and $450.

Subject to the approval of the Federal Court of Australia, Qantas has agreed to pay the civil penalty.

Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said the agreement represented "another important step forward" as Qantas worked towards restoring confidence in the national carrier.

“When flying resumed after the Covid shutdown, we recognise Qantas let down customers and fell short of our own standards," Hudson said.

"We know many of our customers were affected by our failure to provide cancellation notifications in a timely manner and we are sincerely sorry. The return to travelling was already stressful for many and we did not deliver enough support for customers and did not have the technology and systems in place to support our people.

“We have since updated our processes and are investing in new technology across the Qantas Group to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

“We thank the ACCC for their co-operation in reaching this outcome, which means we can compensate affected customers much sooner than if the case had continued in the Federal Court. We are focused on making the remediation process as quick and seamless as possible for customers.”

Consumer organisation CHOICE said reimbursment in situations like this should be automatic. 

“Qantas agreeing to pay $120 million dollars and admitting it misled consumers after ACCC court action is a significant result,” CHOICE said. “The proposed settlement sends a very clear message to all airlines and travel service providers that misleading consumers about cancellations does not fly.

“CHOICE is pleased to see compensation included in the settlement. Over 80,000 consumers have had their travel plans derailed by Qantas’ behaviour over a number of years and these payments are already well overdue. We’ve heard from countless consumers about having to fight tooth and nail to receive refunds or compensation from airlines for delayed or cancelled flights.

“Consumers should not need regulator action to receive compensation when it’s owed.”

Details about how to lodge a claim: www.qantasremediation.deloitte.com.au

Heathrow wants passengers to stay away

London's Heathrow Airport - one of the busiest in the world - has an unusual message for travellers: Stay away.

Heathrow has told airlines to stop selling tickets for the remainder of summer and has plans to limit passenger numbers to a maximum 100,000 a day.

It is the airport’s latest desperate move to limit ludicrously long queues, baggage delays and flight cancellations, Travel Mole reports.

“Some airlines have taken significant action, but others have not, and we believe that further action is needed now to ensure passengers have a reliable journey,” CEO John Holland-Kaye said.

“We have therefore made the difficult decision to introduce a capacity cap to September 11.

“We recognise that this will mean some summer journeys will either be moved to another day, another airport or be cancelled and we apologise.”

Heathrow said the move potentially affects up to 4,000 passengers a day.

“There are some critical functions in the airport which are still significantly under-resourced, in particular ground handlers,” Holland-Kaye said.

Sounds like he should look for another job.

And sadly for Mr Holland-Kaye not all the airlines are willing to play ball. Emirates is one airline that has said it is not willing to cut its slots.

Emirates has rejected Heathrow’s demands for airlines to stop selling summer tickets, calling the move "unreasonable and unacceptable".

The airline accused the airport of having a "blatant disregard" for customers. Sounds about right.

Can you guess the busiest airport in the world?

The busiest airport in the world? London Heathrow perhaps? Los Angeles International? Charles de Gaulle in Paris?

Wrong. Wrong and wrong.

Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport was officially the world’s busiest airport in 2021.

It had been overtaken during the Covid pandemic by Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in China.

ATL handled 75.7 million passengers in 2021, up a massive 76% from 2020, official figures show.

The Airports Council International’s busiest airports by passenger volume rankings - released last week - show eight of the top 10 are in the US.

Dallas/Fort Worth was the second-busiest in 2021, with 62.5 million passengers.

The international airport in Denver, Colorado, ranked third, with 58.8 million passengers while Chicago's O'Hare and Los Angeles International rounded out the top five.

Guangzhou's airport dropped to No. 8 in 2021, with 40.3 million passengers. Another airport in China, Chengdu's Shuangliu International Airport, is ninth on the 2021 list, down from No.3 in 2020.

China's dominance in 2020 was because of the early rebound of domestic travel in China. The country still has not reopened to international visitors.

The list shows "an encouraging trend of recovery," Luis Felipe de Oliveira, ACI World's director general, said in a statement.

"Although we are cautious that recovery could face multiple headwinds, the momentum created by reopening plans by countries could lead to an uptick in travel in the second half of 2022," de Oliveira said.