BAA has lost its appeal against the ruling that it must sell Stansted. The first ruling was made four years ago by the Competition Commission, which ordered the airports operator to sell Gatwick, Stansted and Edinburgh.

So far, BAA has sold Gatwick and is in the process of selling Edinburgh, but lodged the appeal to argue that Stansted did not serve the same market as Heathrow (which it also owns), therefore it was not anti-competitive to operate both. However, the Competition Appeal Tribunal rejected BAA’s argument.

Ryanair, which was in favour of the ruling, said that BAA had doubled passenger charges since the first ruling, and as a result, reduced passenger numbers from 24m to 18m during that time.

Ryanair’s head of communications Stephen McNamara said: “During this four year period Ferrovial (BAA’s parent) and BAA Stansted have doubled passenger charges, slashed traffic and have now announced that BAA will pay a divided of €240m to Ferrovial and its other shareholders in 2012.

“Ferrovial and the other owners of Stansted are unfairly enriching themselves at the expense of UK passengers/visitors who are suffering higher charges and third-rate service at Stansted while the CAA’s “inadequate” regulatory regime does nothing to protect airport users.”

BAA said it would consider the ruling carefully before making any official comment.

American Airlines is to cut around 15% of its workforce by getting rid of 13,000 jobs.

It’s Parent, AMR, had filed for bankruptcy in November and said it needs to cut staff costs by 20%, restructure debt, aircraft leases, and ground older aircraft.

It hopes to start negotiations with unions shortly as it also plans to change contracts, health benefits and pensions. Unions have responded by saying that the plans are worse than expected and they plan to fight the proposed changes.

In a letter to employees, chief executive Thomas W Horton said: “We are going to use the restructuring process to make the necessary changes to meet our challenges head-on and capitalise fully on the solid foundation we’ve put in place.”

Over 20,000 passengers have been left stranded after Barcelona-based airline, Spanair cancelled 647 flights due to financing problems.

Options are being offered by UK based low cost airlines, Easyjet and Ryanair to passengers hit by the cancellations. Spanair also said it was working with Vueling, Iberia and Air Europa to find alternatives for passengers.

The airline made the decision to cancel flights when applications for government-backed loans fell through and talks with Qatar Airways about taking a stake in the company ceased.

The airline said it was finalizing an agreement with IATA to get refunds for those with tickets that had yet to travel; and a statement on its website advised customers with reservations to contact their credit card company, insurance company or travel agency.

The Spanish government says it is taking legal action against the airline for suspending its flights without proper warning, a case which could result in a 9million euro fine.

Spanair was the country’s fourth largest airline, and this situation has led to suggestions that Europe’s debt crisis may spark airlines from the Mediterranean to the Baltic to consider mergers or risk failure.

A plane which damaged runway tarmac lights in severe weather conditions caused 35 flights to be cancelled from Abu Dhabi yesterday, and delayed hundreds more.

The Etihad Flight EY045 to Dublin veered off its line in dense fog as it prepared to take off from the southbound runway at 3.19am. The Airbus A330-200 was carrying 208 passengers and crew, but none were injured, however there was some damage to the aircraft’s tyres.

According to flightstats.com, at least 35 flights were cancelled and 150 were delayed by over an hour.

There is growing opposition to the European Commission’s Emission’s Trading Scheme (ETS), which came into force at the beginning of the year.

China has already threatened legal action and declared it will not cooperate with the scheme. The most recent opposition has come from India, who has warned retaliatory measures are being considered. A meeting between delegates from the countries against the ETS is to be held in either New Delhi or Moscow in the near future, the result of which could affect flights to hundreds of destinations.

Chris Goater, a spokesman for the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said: “Retaliatory measures have been mentioned, and they must be avoided. It could result in a patchwork of different taxes on aviation, with airlines being taxed by two or three different governments. Airlines already have incredibly thin profit margins, so they could certainly result in higher air fares.”

The cost of the tax is being passed onto customers, as this month, Ryanair introduced a fee of 21p (€0.25) per person per flight to cover the cost of the ETS. A spokesperson for the airline, Stephen McNamara, warned that if other airlines hold off doing this, then they will be forced to raise their prices sharply when they finally do, which will impact more so on customers.

Lufthansa said it expects the scheme to cost it around £109 million this year, and has increased its fuel surcharge on European and long-haul flights by £2.50 and £8.40 respectively.

Flights have become much more expensive already with the introduction of the Air Passenger Duty Tax, billed as an environmental tax when it was introduced in 1994. There are calls for this to be lowered to offset the new ETS.

What do you think about the ETS? Please leave comments in the box below.

It’s unlucky for those of you planning to go to Belgium on Monday (30th January), as there is a planned general strike which will disrupt travel services. The strike of public and private sector workers coincides with the EU summit in Brussels.

Ryanair is advising passengers to check its website for information as it might have to cancel all flights to and from Brussels Charleroi Airport.

“If we are forced to cancel flights a list of affected flights will be published on our homepage on Friday 27th January,” it said.

Eurostar announced this morning that services to and from Brussels will be cancelled from 22:00 CET on 29th January to 22:00 CET on 30th January. Trains will only run to and from Lille Europe station, but there will be a limited coach service from there to Brussels Midi stations, however these are likely to be very busy.

Eurostar will allow exchanges free of charge regardless of ticket conditions, but subject to availability.

US domestic flights are to appear more expensive from tomorrow as airlines are forced to include all mandatory taxes, fees and charges in advertised fares.

Most fixed charges will be around £14 for a non-stop domestic flight, doubling on a one-stop flight. The new rules mean that a truer price will be shown on advertisements.

Passengers will also be allowed to cancel their reservation within 24 hours if they make their booking at least a week before departure,  without incurring a charge.

A lawsuit is pending in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia as some airlines challenge the US Department of Transport over their decision.

The Civil Aviation Authority is currently advertising for a Chair to a new consumer panel which will give feedback from passengers.

The panel is expected to provide oversight and advice on the CAA’s regulatory approach, and will be  sufficiently independent to hold the CAA to account and act in consumer’s interests.

CAA chair Dame Deirdre Hutton said: “The panel will provide a consumer perspective on all aspects of the CAA’s work. But its main focus will be on how regulation affects the everyday passenger experience.

“We want the panel to shine a light on the passenger experience of air travel and suggest practical solutions to problems they identify.”

The successful applicant will be expected to play a significant part in shaping their role and that of the panel, which will consist of seven consumer and aviation experts.

Last week there was a battle between Jet2.com and new start up airline JetXtra.com as Jet2 issued a solicitor’s letter to the other airline to warn that it would take legal action if JetXtra did not drop its name by last Thursday at 4pm. Jet2′s reasoning for this action is that it believes that members of the public might mistakenly believe that both companies were the same or related in some way because of the similarity in their names.

JetXtra was to launch flights from its Humberside Airport base to Palma and Malaga in June. Jet2 is based at Leeds Bradford Airport, 78 miles away.

JetXtra director Daniel Reilly said: “It is absolutely absurd that Jet2, a well known and generally respected airline is attempting to disrupt our services, I cannot believe they would resort to such dirty tactics to stop a new company which poses no threat to them from entering the market, especially at a time when our country is desperately in need of enterprise and job creation.

“The only similarity between our companies is the word ‘jet’, our logos and websites are completely different and Jet2 operate from Leeds Bradford Airport, serving and targeting a different market to that of jetXtra.com.”

In a twist to the situation, JetXtra has been ordered by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to stop selling flights to prevent the sale of unlicensed tickets. JetXtra had advertised that flights were covered under its partner company, CCT’s Atol. CTT holds a licence to carry just 620 passengers in the year to September and only 150 this summer, when JetXtra hopes to carry 9,000 passengers.

A CAA spokesman confirmed the reasons for stopping sales: “CTT sought permission to trade with JetXtra.com. We have not yet approved that and until we do it cannot sell holidays. We would not allow a company to sell seats it does not have a licence for.” The spokesman confirmed: “This has nothing to do with Jet2.”

However, JetXtra claimed on its website that they had stopped sales because of Jet2′s letter: “JetXtra.com have been told by the CAA . . . that until a decision is made by Jet2.com in relation to any legal proceedings, the JetXtra.com trading name will not be allowed on to the Atol licence of CTT Group.”

JetXtra’s director Daniel Reilly said: “Any customer who has already booked should not be concerned as this decision to temporarily halt trading will not affect their booking or financial protection offered under the CTT Group Atol.”

Lufthansa is to sell another of its budget carriers (last year IAG agreed a binding purchase of BMI), this time bmibaby. Lufthansa has started talks to sell the carrier to German turnaround specialist Intro Aviation, according to a report on Bloomberg.com, the chief executive, Peter Oncken, is looking at the business in detail.

Lufthansa confirmed talks were ongoing “with several interested parties”. It’s been agreed that IAG will get a discount on the agreed purchase price for BMI if Lufthansa fails to offload bmibaby.