Lotus to invest £2bn in switch to electric and revamp of UK plant April 28, 2021 Sports car maker Lotus will build electric vehicles in the UK as part of a £2bn investment push aimed at massively increasing its production capacity. The Hethel-based firm yesterday announced that it would switch to selling only electric cars by 2028. Its last combustion engine car, the Emira, will launch this summer. As part of [...]
Vaccine passports: Key to normalisation but many obstacles remain April 27, 2021 Following the UK’s roadmap for the lifting of restrictions, those living in England could be allowed to embark on a foreign holiday as early as 17 May. Europe plans to launch a digital health pass scheme in June to save this summer’s holiday season from the pandemic, but technical and political obstacles are showing just [...]
Space race: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos go head to head April 27, 2021 The space race between the world’s two richest men catapulted into hyperdrive today.
Heathrow bid to raise £2.6bn through higher passenger charges blocked April 27, 2021 The UK’s aviation regulator has today ruled that Heathrow’s bid to raise passenger charges to repair the damage of the coronavirus pandemic was “not in the interest of consumers”. The airport had asked the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to increase its regulatory asset base to £2.6bn in order to recover its losses. But the watchdog [...]
Jet2 on course for £385m loss due to holiday cancellations April 27, 2021 Package holiday provider Jet2 said that it would make a loss of up to £385m for the full year after it cancelled all trips until 23 June due to Covid-19. The firm took the decision to scrap all holidays up to that point due to the “uncertainty” regarding the resumption of international travel. As a [...]
Elon Musk’s Tesla beats expectations on record deliveries April 26, 2021 Tesla has reported a record quarterly profit, beating Wall Street estimates after a huge rise in deliveries in the three months to March. Total revenue soared 74 per cent year-on-year to $10.39bn in the first quarter, generating a $438m net profit. Tesla said this was primarily achieved through “substantial growth” in vehicle deliveries. The auto [...]
Airline shares jump on hopes of Europe-US travel by the summer April 26, 2021 Airline shares jumped today on the back of hopes that travel between the EU and US would open up again this summer. Over the weekend, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that all US citizens who had been vaccinated should be able to travel to Europe by the summer. Her comments sent shares [...]
Opponents hit out at Khan over pledge to scrap higher Congestion Charge April 26, 2021 Sadiq Khan has pledged to attempt to scrap the “temporary” £15 congestion charge if he is reelected as Mayor of London in May, prompting a wave of criticism from his opponents. The Labour Mayor raised the charge from £11.50 last June in order to secure a government bailout for Transport for London (TfL) amid the [...]
Hong Kong and Singapore to open travel bubble in May April 26, 2021 Hong Kong and Singapore will open a travel bubble allowing quarantine free travel between the two countries from 26 May. The plan was meant to come into effect in November but had to be delayed due to a surge in Covid-19 cases in the former. It will be the second such arrangement to open, following [...]
Ministers to run £1bn auction for phone lines along UK railways April 26, 2021 The government will run an auction of phone lines running alongside Britain’s railway lines in a move that could raise up to £1bn. Thousands of miles of phone lines will be sold off in a bid to improve train services and boost broadband speeds. Bidders will both be responsible for upgrading the cables and building [...]
