For the past 30 years, Mark Gregory’s Air Salvage International (ASI) has been assessing, chopping up, disassembling, and recycling planes at the private airfield, which sits two miles from Kemble in Gloucestershire
Where do planes go when they die? For the past 30 years, Mark Gregory’s Air Salvage International (ASI) has been assessing, chopping up, disassembling, and recycling planes at the ends of their lives at the private airfield, which sits two miles from Kemble in Gloucestershire.
Armed with redundancy money in the early ’90s, Mark bought his first plane and spent six months breaking it down into sellable bits. More than 1,400 aircraft later, the business is thriving and employs dozens of people to meet the growing demand of the ever-expanding aviation industry.
And there are big bucks at stake. The equivalent of a commercial jet’s MOT costs around £1 million, which is why many plane owners decide to send their ageing aircraft to Mark instead. Sometimes, as much as £12 million can be salvaged from them, either as reusable parts or as recyclable materials.
There are a few other strings to the business’s bow, Mark explained as he took me on a tour around the facility. ASI puts on dramatic training scenarios for organisations including the SAS, helping them practise plane-related emergencies. One mock-up situation had Mark and his team crush a van with a plane fuselage, creating a tricky day out for the special forces, who also had to deal with hijackers and “injured” passengers on board.
One particularly interesting aircraft that ended up with Mark is a VIP-fitted Boeing 727 that was once part of Saddam Hussein’s fleet, after he instructed Iraqi Airways to steal all of Kuwait Airways’ planes during its 1990 invasion of the country.
Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com
Passengers travelling with checked luggage face stricter deadlines from November 10
12:51, 29 Oct 2026Updated 12:53, 29 Oct 2026
The budget carrier is enforcing the new one-hour rule to streamline airport operations(Image: Getty)
Budget airline Ryanair has confirmed it is making a major change to one of its luggage rules. The upcoming change, set to take place from next month, is expected to affect millions of people who fly with the airline.
Ryanair announced it is changing its airport check-in and bag drop rules, starting November 10, giving passengers less time to drop off their luggage before a flight. The change is hoped to give passengers more time to clear airport queues before takeoff.
Under the new policy, Ryanair will close all airport bag drop desks and physical check-in counters strictly 60 minutes before the scheduled departure time. This is a significant shift from the airline’s previous rule, which allowed passengers to drop off their checked luggage up to 40 minutes before takeoff.
The airline has stated that the extra 20-minute window is being introduced to help operations run more smoothly. If your flight is at 10am, you used to have until 9.20am to drop your bags. Starting November 10, you must have them dropped by 9am.
According to Ryanair, the change is designed to give passengers more time to successfully navigate airport security lines and passport control queues. Ryanair says this should help reduce the number of travellers who miss their flights due to airport delays.
Who is affected by the new rule?
The rule change specifically impacts the estimated 20% of Ryanair passengers who travel with checked luggage or require physical check-in assistance at the airport desk. If you have paid for a 10kg or 20kg checked bag, you must ensure your luggage is fully processed at the bag drop kiosk or desk at least 1 hour before your flight is scheduled to depart.
Ryanair CMO, Dara Brady, said: “From Tues, 10 Nov, bag drop services at all Ryanair airports will close 60 minutes before scheduled departure, instead of the current 40 minutes. This small change will give the 20% of Ryanair passengers who check in a bag, more time to clear airport security and passport control queues and get to their departure gate before boarding begins, particularly during busy travel periods when airport queues can be longer.
“We remind passengers using airport bag drop services to arrive at the airport in good time and ensure they have checked in and dropped their bags before check-in and bag drop closes 60 minutes before departure. The remaining 80% of passengers who check in online and do not check in a bag are unaffected by this change.”
Who can skip the queue?
The vast majority of Ryanair passengers will see no change to their travel routine. Roughly 80% of the airline’s customers travel with cabin baggage only and check in via the official Ryanair app or website. If you are travelling with hand luggage only and have already downloaded your digital boarding pass, you do not need to visit the check-in desks.
You can continue to bypass the counters and head straight through airport security as normal. Ryanair’s standard online check-in timelines remain completely unchanged. Passengers can still check in online via the app or website up to two hours before their scheduled departure.
Ensure our latest travel headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click hereto activate or add us as a Preferred Source in your Google search settings.
What happens if you arrive late?
Passengers are being urged to double-check their airport arrival times ahead of the November 10 deadline. Ryanair is known for its strict enforcement of cut-off times. If you arrive at the bag drop desk less than 60 minutes before your flight, the airline will close the desk, and you will not be allowed to check your luggage.
Missing this deadline will likely result in you being denied boarding, and Ryanair does not offer refunds for missed flights. To ensure a stress-free journey, holidaymakers and business travellers alike are advised to arrive at the airport well in advance of the new one-hour cutoff.
A commercial airline pilot told the Mirror that falling asleep in the cockpit was common due to the long hours that aviators are required to work, following a damning European Cockpit Association report
Pilots have reported micro-sleeping in the cockpit(Image: Getty Images)
Pilots are falling asleep in the cockpit because they’re so overworked, a damning new report claims. A survey of 7,200 pilots commissioned by the European Cockpit Association (ECA) warned of tiredness leading to “micro-sleeps in the cockpit”. One pilot told the Mirror that falling asleep while flying was common, but claimed that aviation insiders ‘do not care’.
The ECA has argued that there was “insufficient rest to prevent cumulative fatigue” and flight duties extended “beyond legal maximums”. The report suggests fatigue is “underreported across the industry”. “Airlines’ reporting systems are often seen as neither effective nor trusted, and a substantial share of pilots fly fatigued because of fear of a punitive reaction from their airline,” it noted, warning that the situation was particularly bad at low-cost airlines.
Ireland and Malta were identified as countries where the problem is particularly bad, but overall, more than three out of four pilots (77%) reported at least one microsleep while operating an aircraft in the four weeks before completing the survey.
One commercial airline pilot, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Mirror that he’d fallen asleep in the cockpit “many times”. “I have the responsibility of 234 souls, and I can legally work up to 14 hours straight, not including the repositioning. But after many years I realised nobody cares because, at the end of the day, no airplanes are falling from the sky,” he said.
“After many nights in-flight, you experience microsleeps from a few seconds up to two to three minutes, but you do not realise and it’s subtle because you might seem to be aware, but you are technically sleeping. It impairs your situational awareness and your judgment ability. But…as I said, nobody cares.”
Only 37% of those surveyed said that they report unfit when fatigued, while 24% confirmed flying when tired. Almost two in five reported a fear of punishment or a “retaliatory response” to reporting fatigue.
ECA president Captain Tanja Harter said: “The numbers in this report – and the lack of any meaningful improvement over the past three years – are a clear wake-up call for airlines, authorities and the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Something must change in the way Europe deals with pilot fatigue.”
BALPA, the British Airline Pilots Association, said the survey’s results were worrying and should lead to action. Joji Waites, BALPA director of flight safety, policy and regulation, said “The ECA’s survey of almost 7,200 pilots is a clear safety signal. That 24% of pilots usually continue flying rather than report themselves unfit due to fatigue is a concern. Aviation is the safest mode of transport through pilots’ expertise and professionalism in tandem with other aviation professionals; however, fatigue remains one of the most significant threats. Safety margins cannot hold if pilots are routinely rostered to the upper limits of their flight and duty time limitations (FTL).
“With almost half of pilots fearing repercussions for reporting fatigue, we fully support ECA’s call for EASA to strengthen fatigue rules and enforce non-punitive reporting and responsible calls on the use of commander’s discretion.
“BALPA thanks the ECA for the considerable work involved in gathering this data. We are still running our Realtime fatigue app to collect actionable intelligence on UK pilot fatigue, so combined with the ECA’s findings, we can create a clear picture of pilot fatigue, which will be fed into the CAA’s ongoing FTL review.”
There has been a significant update to a UK airport that closed its doors four years ago, with plans to reopen for passengers from 2028 following a £160 million project
Plans to reopen the beloved UK airport, which has been abandoned for four years, are underway(Image: Getty Images)
A UK airport that has been abandoned for the past four years has reached a ‘major milestone’ with plans to be under public ownership. There is hope that holidaymakers will be able to fly from the airport, which had provided routes to some of the most popular holiday hotspots across Europe, within the next few years.
Doncaster Sheffield Airport was forced to close in 2022 after its former owner, Peel Group, said it was no longer financially viable to continue operating. It came as a blow to travellers, particularly locals, who could conveniently fly from the airport to destinations such as Alicante, Palma, Amsterdam, Budapest, Dublin and Paphos, through Wizz Air, TUI or Ryanair.
Now, at a significant turning point for the airport’s future, the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) plans to purchase Doncaster Airport, thereby becoming the freehold owner and landlord under the City of Doncaster Council’s lease. The exact details of the planned proposal and its approval are set to be discussed next week, but the update, which would see the airport come under public ownership, has been hailed as a “major win”.
Doncaster mayor Ros Jones said: “This partnership proposal to bring the airport into public ownership is a major win for Doncaster and South Yorkshire. I pressed this proposal back in 2022 and the landowner declined. We are now in a different place and a different time. This proposal will end our lease with the current landowner. As a council, we need to enter into a contractual arrangement with SYMCA to agree how this progresses in a phased approach. The meeting of cabinet next week will take the decisions the council needs for this to take place.”
Previous reports estimate that the airport could reopen with flights available for passengers during the winter 2027-28 season, following a £160 million project. Currently, the airport stands eerily abandoned until a final decision is made about its future, but the latest update has sparked excitement.
South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard said the deal was a “major milestone”. He further commented: “I’m delighted to say that subject to formal approval of the MCA board next week and then Peel, we’ve agreed a deal that means we’re taking Doncaster Sheffield Airport and adjacent Innovation Quarter employment land into public ownership.
“This is a deal that puts the future of DSA back in our hands and finally gives one of the biggest and best growth opportunities in South Yorkshire the platform for long-term success that it needs and deserves. Four years ago, we were told that our airport would be closing. But alongside Ros Jones, I said I would do anything I could to save DSA, and I meant it.
“Which is why after months of negotiations and the growing flexibility afforded to us by the government’s devolution agenda, today we can announce that we have come to an agreement for SYMCA to buy the airport and Innovation Quarter employment land from Peel. Subject to the agreement of the MCA board next week, the airport and surrounding Innovation Quarter employment land will be owned and controlled by us, for us; the people of South Yorkshire. This deal means our future will be in our own hands again.
“When the airport closed, almost everything was against us; the owners did not want to sell, we had no legal powers to intervene or stop the airport from closing, and no backing from the government at the time. Today, the future for DSA is bright, with the airport back in our hands, the sky’s the limit.”
Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com
