There have been several surveys into travellers’ gripes on flights, one of which was children on flights. A Business Meetings & Travel show survey found that 74% of business travellers were annoyed by children on flights, suggesting sections for adults only. A similar survey by Skyscanner in 2010 found similar results with 59% wanting a ‘families only section’.

These results have not gone unheeded, with Malaysia Airlines confirming that it is to ban children from the top deck of its A380 aircraft on its London to Kuala Lumpur route. It also plans to implement the adult only sections on flights to Sydney from September.

The top deck of the aircraft holds 70 economy and 66 business class seats, passengers must now be 12 years and over to sit in this section. The airline said the decision follows many complaints from passengers regarding noisy children on flights.

What do you think to this change? Is it welcome? Or are you a parent that feels this is segregation too far? Comments below please.

Industrial action by pilots in SEPLA union is to cause much travel disruption on flights to Spain and Portugal. Strikes will be held every Monday and Friday until 20th July in protest against Iberia parent IAG‘s decision to launch a new low-cost airline Iberia Express.

Iberia were forced to ground 150 flights on Monday. British Airways is giving passengers booked to travel to Spain on these dates the option of cancelling or switching dates to fly.

Tomorrow there will be a strike by air traffic controllers in Portugal between 7:00hrs and 9:00hrs, further strikes will be held between these times on 19th, 20th,26th April.

Check the status of your flights with your airline  if they are during these times.

As part of Etihad Airways‘ global expansion and 28% rise in revenue of the first quarter of 2012, the United Arab Emirates airline is to increase capacity to London Heathrow and Kuala Lumpur, as well as starting services to Basra and Lagos.

The airline now has a global network spanning 84 cities in 54 countries with passenger numbers increasing by 500,000 to 2.4 million since the same time last year.

Chief Executive Officer, James Hogan, commented on Etihad’s strategy for growth in passenger numbers: ”We are flying with fuller planes across the network and our codeshare partnerships played a major role in this growth, accounting for 18 per cent of our revenues in the quarter.”

GMB union has announced the suspension of proposed strikes at Stansted Airport this Easter weekend, after agreeing to begin talks with conciliation service ACAS.

Baggage handlers employed by Swissport had voted in favour of strikes over proposed changes to shift patterns a couple of weeks ago. Swissport said the changes were to avoid job losses as revenues had fallen, but GMB official, Gary Pearce, said the union had offered several alternatives, and that its members “consider that Swissport is attempting to make savings at their expense and they are not willing to agree to this.”

A US pilot appeared to suffer a mental breakdown during a JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas earlier in the week.

Captain Clayton Osbon reportedly ran through the isles of the plane ranting about a bomb threat, Iraq, Afghanistan and al-Qaida before being taken to the back of the plane to be calmed down by cabin crew. When he attempted to re-enter the locked cockpit, he was pinned down by four passengers until the plane was safely landed in Texas.

An off-duty pilot who happened to be a passenger on board helped the co-pilot to land the plane safely.

One news report said Mr Osbon shouted: “They’re going to take us down. They’re taking us down. They’re going to take us down. Say the Lord’s prayer.”

The airline issued a statement to say that there had been a “medical situation” involving the captain, who has since been taken to hospital.

Chief executive of JetBlue, David Barger, told NBC News that there was nothing in Mr Osbon’s records that suggested he could be a risk. He told reporters: ”I’ve known the captain personally for a long period of time and there’s been no indication of this at all.”

The pilot has now been charged with interfering with cabin crew, while the FBI coordinates an investigation with the airport police, Amarillo police, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Safety Administration.

You would think that you would feel safe from robbery on a plane, but unfortunately this is untrue for a flight from Jakarta to Singapore on Sunday.

According to the Straits Times, two Chinese nationals are alleged to have attempted to steal from sleeping passengers carry-on luggage. The pair rifled through bags stowed in overhead cabins, in one case they found US$5,000 in a laptop bag.

They were caught in the act by a crew member on the Singapore Airlines flight, and once they landed in Changi Airport, police were there to make the arrests.

According to the newspaper, there have been several incidents such as this in the last month. Police, airlines and crew have been alerted.

The run up to the Easter holidays are going to be problematic for travellers going abroad to Europe. Strikes at airports in Germany, Italy and Spain are likely to cause severe disruption all this week.

Lufthansa had to cancel dozens of flights today, including services between London and Frankfurt as ground handlers at German airports went on strike this morning.

Easyjet were also affected as it cancelled a flight between Luton and Schonefeld and warned passengers travelling from Berlin to London to travel with carry-on luggage only, if possible. British Airways advised passengers to check their flight’s status before going to the airport. BA also advised passengers travelling to Milan to do the same as there are also strikes at Milan airports.

There is a general strike in Spain on Thursday which is likely to lead to widespread delays and cancellations.  BA is giving passengers the option of re-booking to travel today, tomorrow or on 3rd-6th April inclusive. Easyjet and Ryanair have advised passengers to get the latest information on their websites  as the situation develops.

A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 has been forced to return to Singapore after a problem with one of its four engines meant it had to be shut down.

The aircraft was bound for Frankfurt when it had to turn around almost three hours into the flight. The aircraft landed safely and all 430 passengers were transferred to another plane.

SIA stressed that passenger safety was not at risk as the aircraft was ”capable of flying safely on three engines”.

In a statement SIA said: ”Singapore Airlines flight SQ26 from Singapore to Frankfurt turned back to Singapore about 2hr 55mins into the flight after the crew reported a problem with one of the aircraft’s four engines.”

It added: “the crew reported an engine surge in the Number 3 engine and the engine was shut down… a surge is typically a disruption of airflow which affects the normal operation of the engine.”

The airline said that the engine will undergo a thorough inspection in consultation with the makers of the engines, Rolls-Royce.

This is not the first incident involving a Rolls-Royce engine, towards the end of 2010 a Qantas A380 made an emergency landing following a mid-air explosion of one of its engines; and last July a SIA A380 from Singapore to Hong Kong was forced to turn back after an engine shut down.

Cash-strapped Indian airline Kingfisher will suspend international operations to eight overseas cities, including London Heathrow, as well as reducing domestic flights on 10th April.

Earlier this month British Airways announced that it was suspending its codesharing agreement with the airline, but had refused to comment fully on its reasons.

The suspension of these operations are to give Kingfisher Airlines time to come up with a rescue plan.

India’s aviation authorities have decided not to suspend the airline’s licence following a meeting with the owner Vijay Mallya, but are continuing to monitor the situation. However, India’s aviation minister appeared doubtful when he spoke to reporters in New Delhi yesterday: ”The problem is in the last two to three months, he’s given so many plans and he’s not adhered to any of them.”

The level of debt run up by the airline is believed to be £900m, and since banks have refused to lend it more money it has been struggling to keep flying. Kingfisher will tackle this by reducing its domestic operation to no more than 125 flights a day, less than half the number in October. Mallya admitted that this was only “a holding plan”.

The news provoked a 5.5% fall in Kingfisher shares, their lowest level since it began trading. This is good news for rival airlines Jet Airways and IndiGo as they increase their market share and pricing power.

Ryanair is being investigated by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) over concerns that emergency exit seats have been left empty after it introduced an extra £10 charge for passengers to sit there.

The seats provide extra leg room, which is popular with many customers, but this extra room is primarily for the exit doors in the case of an emergency, and anyone who sits there is expected to follow directions and, if necessary, open the doors in the event of an emergency.

The extra charge has meant that these rows have been known to be left empty on take off, with passengers on surrounding seats asked to familiarise themselves with the evacuation procedure. Some passengers expressed doubts about being able to fully understand the instructions without sitting next to the exit itself.

This has also raised health and safety concerns from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA), who are keeping a watch on the situation.

A spokesperson from the CAA said: ”Our guidance to UK-registered airlines is that whoever is sitting next to the emergency exit must be briefed about what to do. If that person says they are not willing to do it, then someone else must be found who is happy with that role.”

He added: “It’s an important task. It’s not easy to open the doors and they must be physically strong enough to throw them from the plane.”

A spokesman for Ryanair said it will cooperate with the IAA, but also added: “Ryanair complies with all mandatory safety directives. All passengers are provided with the same safety and evacuation information.”

(Please note that there are other airlines registered in Britain which also charge passengers extra to sit next to the emergency exit.)