Meanwhile, a British Airways passenger was allegedly charged £250 for the return of an iPad left on her seat after being refused permission to retrieve it.

There are also hopes of a breakthrough on the forthcoming rail strikes.

Here is our final round up of the key travel headlines making national headlines of the week (Friday 2 December).

BA passenger ‘charged £250 for iPad return’

A British Airways passenger who left her iPad on a plane claims she was charged almost £250 to have it  returned - despite it being metres away from her at the airport. Janice Gordon arrived at Heathrow from Montreal and realised she had left her iPad on her seat. Staff barred her from retrieving the item for security reasons and passed the matter to its handling agent Bagport, which levied the fee. (The Daily Mail)

Branson speaks of Covid loan failure regret

Virgin Atlantic’s failure to secure a cheap government loan during the pandemic means it is operating in a “tilted” market, Sir Richard Branson has said. Branson said other carriers had secured 1% loans, but Virgin had to opt for “an extremely expensive private loan”. (The Telegraph)

Rail strike talks to begin

Rail minister Huw Merriman will meet unions today after calling for a Christmas train strike truce. Merriman will ask unions to compromise over plans for strikes on December 13, 14, 16 and 17. There will also be a ban on overtime from December 18 to January 2 and further walkouts on January 3, 4, 6 and 7, which will in effect close the railway for a further week. (The Times)