Travel businesses are set to face higher borrowing costs with the Bank of England expected to increase interest rates to their highest level for more than a decade.

Airports continue to be in the firing line from consumers unhappy about long queues, while aviation giant Air France-KLM expects to return to profit this summer as demand for travel soars.

Here are the headlines that the travel industry woke up to on Thursday (5 May).

Virgin aborts flight over ‘untrained’ pilot

A Virgin Atlantic flight to New York was forced to return to Heathrow after it was discovered that one of the aircraft’s pilots had not completed their training. The airline blamed a “rostering issue” for the disruption to the flight which had to turn around as it flew over Ireland on Monday (2 May). (Sky News)

Bank of England expected to raise interest rates despite faltering economy

Interest rates in the UK are expected to be raised to 1% by the Bank of England on Thursday (5 May) – their highest level since the recession caused by the 2008 financial crisis. The increase comes despite mounting concern that the economy is weakening amid the cost-of-living crisis. (Various)

Air France-KLM set to profit this summer on travel demand surge

The European airline group is forecasting that surging demand for travel this summer will help it to return to profit. Both Air France and KLM have been rapidly adding capacity and restarting routes as bookings and passenger numbers increase. (Bloomberg)

Travel restriction map of Europe becoming a sea of green

Covid-19 restrictions in Europe are becoming a thing of the past with 25 countries across the continent having now scrapped all travel rules. Croatia and Greece have become the latest countries to end Covid-related travel rules this week. (Daily Telegraph)

Long queues and flight delays continue as airports remain short of staff

Passengers have continued to complain on social media about long queues and delays getting through several UK airports, with Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol airports in the firing line from frustrated consumers. (Metro/Daily Mail)

Ryanair passengers furious after being left behind at airport

A group of 14 Ryanair passengers were left stranded at Palma airport in Majorca despite the fact they had checked in for the flight and arrived at the gate on time. (The Independent)