Travellers to the UK face the prospect of airport disruption if staff from the government’s new border force carry out a threat to strikes, reports the UK's Sunday Times. The two unions representing all 4,100 immigration officials who check passports at the UK’s air and sea ports object to plans to require them to carry out intimate body searches and other duties that have traditionally been the work of customs officers. The first of several strikes could come as early as next week, targetting the 5th of August for the start of a two-day walkout.

Flying with RyanAir, here's a tip 360travelguide.com to actually make some money when travelling on the no-frills carrier. According to the site, Ryanair’s weakness, is its on-board pricing structure: a cup of coffee, for example, costs €3 or £3, and passengers can ask for their change in either currency. The trick, therefore, is to pay for your coffee with a €50 note and ask for your change in sterling. Instead of getting back €47 — worth less than £42 — you receive £47, making a profit of £5 and cancelling out the online check-in fee.

Aer Lingus will start a daily service from Heathrow to Shannon on October 25.

Hellenic Imperial will start a weekly service from Birmingham to Athens this weekend, aiming to make it twice weekly next month.

Air Pacific will start a twice-weekly service from Hong Kong to Fiji in December.

Icelandair will start a daily service between Glasgow and Reykjavik from August 27 with fares as low as £180 return. Likewise Icelandair will start services between Reykjavik and Brussels from June 2010 - perhaps prompted by Iceland's application to join the Common Market.