Also, Northern Ireland is set to ditch day-to-day Covid rules and Heathrow has appealed to airlines to stomach a passenger fees increase.

Here are the travel headlines on Wednesday 16 February.

British Airways staff to receive bonuses

British Airways will award bonuses of thousands of pounds each to pilots, cabin and ground crew as chief executive Sean Doyle tries to restore morale. Cabin and ground crew will receive a “gesture of thanks” worth 10% of annual salary. Pilots will receive a 5% pay-out. (Daily Telegraph)

Inflation rises again in January

Inflation increased to 5.5% in January as the impact of rising energy bills and higher pay fed into a wide range of goods and services. With inflation predicted to hit more than 7% in April, there will be further pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates again. (The Guardian)

Northern Ireland to ditch Covid restrictions

The remaining Covid restrictions in Northern Ireland are to be moved from legal requirements to guidance from Tuesday. It means the end of mandatory masks in public places and Covid passes for nightclubs. With no functioning executive, it is unlikely any restrictions can be reintroduced. (Sky News)

Heathrow calls for airlines to work with it over fees

Heathrow chief John Holland-Kaye says the best way out of the pandemic is “to work with airlines to recover as fast as we can”. His comments came amid carriers’ anger that passenger fees increased on 1 January from £19.60pp to up to £30.19pp. Heathrow had pushed for the cap to be as high as £43. (City AM)

Trains in Scotland to halt as storm approaches

Almost all train services across Scotland will shut down at 4pm today as the country braces for the first of two storms. Thousands of commuters will have to leave their workplace early or stay at home as the Met Office issued an amber weather warning. (The Times)