Feature: Business Class Cabins
➔ While new aircraft will offer carriers a chance to inch the product bar up another level, HRG’s
Adrian Woodward believes space in the air will always be a problem and a more significant battle could be fought out on the ground. “The challenge for airlines is that many ancillary services where business travellers would like to see improvement are out of their hands,” he said. “It is about getting to the airport, how quickly they get through security and how soon their bags are on the carousel. “Those sort of things offer an opportunity for airlines to improve their product but often it is not under their control.” Virgin Atlantic is one airline that was able to
steal a march on competitors with innovative ground product that gives Upper Class passengers their own security from Heathrow Terminal 3 check-in through to the lounge, along with Drive-Thru check-in at Heathrow, Gatwick, Lagos and Johannesburg. Bob Schumacher, UK and Ireland managing director for the newly merged United/Continental, agreed that services on the ground are as important as those in the air, but noted that some carriers were better placed than others to achieve innovations. “If you are a home carrier and have a certain part of the building to yourself, then you can call a few more tunes,” he says. “For us, in Heathrow Terminal 4, which is being
used by 36 or so different carriers, it is a little bit more difficult to get that niche with the kind of volumes we put through.” Schumacher added that while United had the power to continue improving its in-flight product and ground services such as lounges and concierge assistance, it needed to work with airport operators and government agencies to see advances in other areas of the traveller’s ground experience. “To the credit of the UK airports, and partial
credit to the government for at least focusing a bit more on these issues, I think they are getting the message that if they are to be a successful business and one that has a licence in the future to ask for expansion, they have to get their ground facilities right,” says Schumacher. While the airline industry continues to lobby the government for a smoother immigration process, and the airports for better facilities, carriers press forward with those elements that they can control, including new lounges. “In the last two years, we have invested significantly in our product by opening dedicated lounges in Manchester and Birmingham and by adding to those at Heathrow and London Gatwick,” says Emirates vice-president UK and Ireland, Laurie Berryman. “Emirates is a keen supporter of regional business travel and the deployment of our A380 aircraft on to the Manchester route and the introduction of a third daily Manchester service reinforces this.” Etihad is another to see expansion outside London, with plans to double frequencies from Manchester to its Abu Dhabi hub from a daily to double daily service, effective from August 1.
Cathay Pacific
Chief commercial officer Peter Baumgartner
says: ”This latest development is a response to the increasing business and leisure travel demand in and out of the region, improving connectivity to far-flung destinations such as Australia, Asia and Southern Africa through our Abu Dhabi hub.” Etihad confirmed its commitment to Manchester in December when it opened its latest premium lounge in the airport’s Terminal 1, a move that followed the roll-out of premium lounges in Abu Dhabi, London and Frankfurt. Competition in Manchester is looming from Qatar Airways, which also plans the addition of a second daily flight to its hub in Doha from June 1, offering travellers further choice over a network that spans the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, the Far East and Australia. TAM’s confirmation as a full member of the Star Alliance and its subsequent move from Heathrow Terminal 4 to the alliance’s heart in T1 also has a significant impact for regional business travellers. Now serving Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro direct from London, TAM’s move into T1 opens the door to easy connections from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester via Star Alliance partner bmi. And with growing activity in the Brazilian oil industry based in Rio, TAM says it expects to increase capacity on the route from Heathrow with extra flights this year. This confidence seems justified by returning traffic, with HRG’s Adrian Woodward quoting average Guild of Travel Management Companies growth in business class transactions last year of 11.6 per cent.
United’s Bob Schumacher says, “We are certainly recovering pretty well in the front cabin. “It’s a much, much stronger market in the business class cabin, building on the growth we saw last year. We are getting into a better place all the time.” ATPI trends saw an overall increase in business
class bookings of 14.5 per cent in January compared with the same month last year. “Within that increase were higher figures,
“If you are a home carrier and have a certain part of the airport to yourself, then you can call a few more tunes when it comes to ground product”
particularly in discounted business class inventory, with more than 40 per cent in Z class and 50 per cent-plus in I class,” says director Gary Hance, director of IT & yield. “However, the majority of seats continued to be sold in the highest yield J class, with around 40 per cent of overall sales.” Although February saw business class sales slide by some 26 per cent over February 2010, the class patterns remained the same with over 40 per cent of revenue coming in high yield J class. “Even the companies in our market sectors that are allowing
business class travel are often still choosing the best fare on the day rather than committing to targeted route deals,” says Hance. “There is no substantive evidence of clients combining business and premium economy in the one journey,” he adds. So, with business travel apparently back on
track and populating the right part of the aircraft – at least as far as the airlines are concerned – carriers will be encouraged in their battle to attract these high-paying customers and that, it seems, means even more luxury and innovation in the air and on the ground.
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