IN THE AIR ➔ Amadeus signs up LCCs
AMADEUS is pushing the envelope on the low-cost carrier front having signed or renewed agreements with nine such airlines this year. The GDS now features access to the inventory, schedules and fares of over 74million seats sold annually by the nine airlines, which takes Amadeus' line-up of low-cost carriers to around 70.
VUELING'S BUSINESS DUO
VUELING has launched a new seating option, Duo, enabling business travellers to enjoy a double seat in the front row at all times. The product also includes com- plimentary snacks and drinks on board. Duo is part of the low-
cost carrier's strategy to strengthen its proposition for business travellers, who currently account for 44 per cent of all Vueling passengers. Duo fares are now on sale from £52 and are available on all routes, including its services from London Heathrow to Vigo, La Coruna, Bilbao and Seville. The airline has doubled its daily Heathrow to Bilbao schedule in its winter schedule. It will also operate a shuttle service between Barcelona and Madrid with 13 flights a day.
Bookings for low-cost carriers through Amadeus have increased by 21 per cent in the first half of 2011 over the same period in 2010. Deals are now in place with flydubai, Air Arabia, Porter Airlines, Vision Airlines, Frontier Airlines and Air Méditerranée, while airberlin – Germany's second largest airline – and Norwegian Air
Shuttle have both extended their relationship with Amadeus and renewed their existing content agreements. Other low-cost carriers already working with the GDS include AirAsia, easyJet, WestJet and Virgin America. “We are committed to bringing and guaranteeing Amadeus’ travel agents worldwide access to the most comprehensive range of fares, schedules and inventory,” says David Doctor, director of airline and travel agency distribution at Amadeus. “Furthermore, airlines on
the Amadeus system can improve their margins by targeting higher yield business passengers and extending their reach into new segments – many low- cost carriers start distributing to travel agencies to pursue revenue growth,” adds Doctor. See the TBTC report (p.14-18) for more on LCC distribution.
EMIRATES ADDS DUBLIN
Five minutes with... Oliver Rait
PROFILE
Director, corporate development (Europe) TRAVELPORT
Oliver currently promotes to corporates the benefits of powering their travel programmes with Travelport technology. Before working for the GDS, he was on the supplier side of the business, working with luxury hotels, car hire and chauffeur drive in various leadership, marketing and e-commerce roles.
What is your most memorable business travel trip and why? My most memorable business trip was to meet the management team running my licensee partner in Poland at the time. They surpassed my expectations – great business and work ethic, productive, polite and professional. They were also great company, and introduced me to some fearsome “wild-dog” local digestifs.
What is your worst business travel experience and why? Booking super-cheap accommodation in Warsaw. It was too good to be true of course, and turned out to be in a red-light area. Funnily enough, red-light wasn’t mentioned in the location’s description – maybe booking tools could use an icon?
What is your favourite destination worldwide and why? Prague. It is a beautiful city to walk through, with magnificent architecture and views, and a good atmosphere. Like many in the region, the Czechs have been through the mill and are a proud people.
What three items do you never leave home without when on business? I’m happy if I remember the absolute basics, which shouldn’t be taken for granted when rising at an anti-social hour, trying not to wake the better half!
EMIRATES will launch daily flights to Dublin from January 2012, marking its first route to the Republic of Ireland. The daily service takes off on January 9th, with departures from Dublin at 12.55, arriving in Dubai at 00.25. The return flight departs Dubai at 07.00, landing in Dublin at 11.30. The route will be flown by an Airbus A330-200 offering First, Business and Economy class. ”Dublin will be our 29th
route in Europe and Emirates' customers in Ireland who
currently travel through some of our UK gateways will be able to fly non-stop to our industry-leading hub in Dubai and conveniently connect onwards to our broadening route network,” says the airline's chairman and chief executive, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. ”We see strong potential
in Ireland through its industry, technology, tourism and the huge number of Irish nationals living overseas,” he adds.
What single thing could be done to improve your business travelling life? Friendly security at airports. The security I experienced at Ashford International recently was a breath of fresh air – professional, efficient and friendly. It makes a huge difference.
What destinations would you like to visit next and why? At the moment I’m thinking of heading to Ashford International again...
WWW.THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM I 45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96