Flybe to quit Gatwick - company statement

Flybe is to axe all of its Gatwick flights, having sold its arrival and departure slots at the London airport to easyJet for £20 million.

Airline halts Cross-Channel trips

Flights from Shoreham to France are to be suspended just two months after they launched, following a dispute with the French authorities.

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The Queen Mother and HMS Ark Royal

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother meets the crew of HMS Ark Royal
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother meets the crew of HMS Ark Royal Credit: Chris Ison/PA Archive

The Queen Mother launched HMS Ark Royal when she was built in the Swan Hunters Shipyard, Wallsend in 1981. She maintained a close relationship with the ship and its crew, serving as the company's patron until her death in 2002.

In November 2001 at the age of 101 she joined the twelve hundred crew members and their families to rededicate the ship after a major refit.

Nine years later her daughter the Queen would also visit Portsmouth to say goodbye to the ship before it was decommissioned

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother greets the crew of HMS Ark Royal
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother greets the crew of HMS Ark Royal Credit: Chris Ison/PA Archive

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Ark Royal bound for Turkey

Farewell to Ark Royal
HMS Ark Royal Credit: ITV Meridian

The Royal Navy's former flagship, the HMS Ark Royal is expected to leave her Portsmouth home for the last time tomorrow. The decommissioned light aircraft carrier is heading for a Turkish scrap merchant.

The ship was left unused at the city's Naval Base for the last two years. She'll be transported to the shipyard in Turkey, where she'll be recycled. Although orginally due to retire in 2016, she was instead decommissioned as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2010.

Keel of Britain's largest cruise ship is blessed

The keel is blessed in Italy. Credit: P&O

A ceremony has been held to mark the keel laying of the largest cruise ship ever built for the British market.

The blessing of the new P&O liner took place yesterday at the Monfalcone shipyard of Fincantieri near Trieste, Italy.

The 141,000 ton ship will begin operating in Southampton in 2015.

The gigantic keel moves into place. Credit: P&O

Virgin Atlantic's new Chief Executive vows to return the airline to profit

Virgin Atlantic planes at Heathrow Airport as Virgin Atlantic's new boss vowed to get the airline back in profit within two years Credit: PA Wire

Chief executive Craig Kreeger said weak economic conditions and the Olympic Games in London, which dented demand for business travel, were factors in the airline's latest loss of £93 million for the year to February 28.

New chief executive of Virgin Atlantic Craig Kreeger who has vowed to get the airline back in profit Credit: Andrew Milligan /PA Wire

It has also suffered from high fuel costs, strong competition on transatlantic routes and taxes on UK air travel, although the figures showed it still increased revenues by 5% to £2.9 billion. It carried 5.5 million passengers in the period, an increase of 188,000 on a year earlier.

Mr Kreeger, who took over from Steve Ridgway as chief executive in February after a 27-year career at American Airlines, recently announced a staff pay freeze as part of a wider cost-cutting programme at the airline's Gatwick HQ and across the company.

Virgin hopes that its ties with US operator Delta, which acquired a 49% stake in the airline last year, will help it compete more forcefully with the British Airways-American Airlines alliance in the lucrative transatlantic market.

Today's airline loss contributed to a pre-tax deficit of £69.9 million for the wider group, which includes** **Virgin Holidays. The previous year's group loss was £80.2 million, with the airline deficit being £98.6 million in 2012.

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Atomic weapons plant admits failings

by Kate Bunkall

An atomic weapons plant has been accused of failing to protect its staff during a fire at the Berkshire base three years ago.

In a prosecution brought by the Health & Safety Executive, the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston today pleaded guilty to one charge of not ensuring the safety of employees.

One worker suffered burns to his face and arm in the fire which broke out in the building where explosives were being manufactured, in August 2010. Kate Bunkall sent this report from Reading Crown Court.

Anti-fracking campaigners step up protests in Sussex

An energy company says it'll start test drilling for oil and gas at a site in Sussex this summer.

The firm called Cuadrilla plans to drill an exploration well near the village of Balcombe. But environmentalists say it could lead to "fracking", where underground rock is broken up.

The company says the process is safe, but others, such as Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith of the National Toxics Network disagree.

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