The approximate US$100 difference in trip cost between unmanaged travellers and those booking within guidelines was comparable, said Gillespie, as both groups surveyed had similar proportions of domestic travel. The surveyed group of fully-mandated travellers had average trip costs more than US$1,000 higher than those who were unmanaged, but this included a higher proportion of international travel, so comparisons were not as clear-cut.
The pair said these findings showed the potential of a radical new approach they dubbed “Managed Travel 2.0”, and urged buyers to consider embracing it to some degree. In this brave new world, the
principles are: shop anywhere, and book via any platform and with any supplier – as long as the data is captured, the trip is within budget and the supplier meets all safety requirements. The principles underpinning the relationships between buyers and suppliers would also change – rather than discounts, buyers should negotiate incentives that will inspire “organic loyalty” in travellers, such as ancillaries and “elite status” benefits within loyalty programmes. Konwiser said this was a move from “contracting to collaboration” with suppliers.
Gillespie said the model
would not suit all organisations, but many could embrace varying degrees of it. He said steps towards 2.0 included piloting the model with a section of travellers within the company, and measuring results, such as productivity and average trip costs.
NEW PLATFORM Travel technology giant Sabre unveiled its Virtual Meetings booking tool at the GBTA convention. Sabre Travel Network president Greg Webb said the new platform gives travel buyers and their agents the ability to schedule and book videoconferences around the world.
“This helps our customers meet the challenge of making good decisions on whether to travel or do a virtual meeting instead,” he told BBT. He said features included combining a company’s private video facilities with the public ones on the system – launch partners are videoconference providers Regis and Tata – and the ability to override, or “bump” bookings based on the seniority of the booker, automatically informing by email all
participants affected. The system also takes into account the timezones of all attendees. Webb said he expected the technology to result in business travel generating more return on investment. “I spoke to a large manufacturing firm who invested in a number of high- end videoconference suites,” he said. “They originally thought they were going to cut their travel spend significantly. It hasn’t happened – instead they have eliminated almost all internal travel, and turned it all into customer-facing, revenue- generating travel.” The platform has been trialled by several firms, and will be available to corporate customers from September via the Get There website. Webb also dismissed comments made at IATA’s 2012 AGM claiming that the global distribution systems (GDSs) had failed to innovate. He said the criticisms were “silly rhetoric” and a “tired argument”. He said: “We’re processing almost one billion transactions a day – in total transaction volumes Sabre falls just below Facebook. The GDSs have been ready for a significant period of time to handle ancillaries; the airlines are trying to catch up. We have the ability to shop and book any ancillary today but it has to be filed correctly by the airline.” Webb added that he believed the most significant change in content distribution would be around more transparent fares, driven by consumer demand. ■
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker at the show
FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW
Boeing was back with a bang (with a little help from United) and the deals done indicated growth in the Asia/Pacific region. Gary Noakes reports
BOEING CAN CLAIM victory at this year’s Farnborough Air Show on two counts: the interest created in its 787 Dreamliner, displayed there in Qatar Airways’ colours, and a bulging order book. At the end of the five- day trade event at TAG Farnborough airport, Boeing revealed orders for 396 aircraft, worth US$37 billion, while rival Airbus mustered 115 commitments totalling US$17 billion. Aircraft leasing companies comprised about half of these, but the biggest single customer was United Airlines, which was Boeing’s prize. United placed an order for 150 Boeing 737s,
worth US$14 billion at list price. This included 100 of the new 737 MAX 9s, which can fly 400- 540 nautical miles further than the current 737-900ER type, bringing more city pairs within reach. These will enter service from 2018. Airbus’s rival aircraft, the A320 Neo, which, like
the new 737, is a version of the existing model with more efficient engines, contributed to its order book. The manufacturer also announced a variant of its A330 wide-body twinjet that will extend its range by another 400 nautical miles. Boeing’s European rival also got an order for a totally new type yet to be built, the extra wide- body A350, of which Cathay Pacific took ten. Another big Airbus customer, Air Asia, underlined the growth in the Asia/Pacific region by signalling a deal in the next few months for 50 A320s to add to its current fleet of more than 60. It is also considering up to 100 of Bombardier’s new mid-size CS300 twinjet, which is due to enter commercial service in 2014. Many of the aircraft ordered by leasing
companies will end up in the Asia/Pacific region or in China, where domestic aviation, in particular, is booming. Among Airbus’s Farnborough order book was a deal for 36 A320s from the China Aircraft Leasing Company. ■ Worldwide airlines round-up, p68