THE MAJORITY OF CORPORATE travel buyers are expecting their spend to be higher or the same during 2013 compared to last year. A survey carried out by the Business Travel Show of 178 buyers from across Europe found that 37 per cent were expecting their travel budgets to rise this year. Another 37 per cent said budgets would stay the same as 2012, while only 19 per cent of buyers said that their travel spending would be cut this year. The survey also found 47 per cent of buyers would be managing more trips in 2013 than last year, while 23 per cent thought there would be fewer trips and 22 per cent said they would remain at the same level. The number of buyers who said they would be booking more of their travellers into a lower grade of hotel in 2013 was 17 per cent, down from 25 per cent for 2012. Commenting on the survey, Jafles Pacheko, head of global
travel and global commodity manager for Oerlikon, stressed the importance of monitoring hotel prices. “We monitor the availability of hotel rates frequently and challenge the hotels with our findings,” he said. “We also audit the rates in order to check if our so-called hotel partners are offering us competitive prices.” ■ Business Travel Show preview, p99
HEATHROW UNVEILS LINE-UP FOR NEW TERMINAL 2
HEATHROW AIRPORT HAS announced which carriers will use the new Terminal 2 when it opens 2014. Star Alliance members will move into the terminal, along with Aer Lingus services and Virgin’s forthcoming domestic flights (which will launch in 2013 at Terminal 1 before moving into the new terminal). The airport said the decision followed a nine-month consultation with airlines, prompted by the sale of BMI to BA’s owner IAG. When Terminal 2 opens, Star Alliance carriers will move from a mixture of Terminal 1, Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 into the new facility, and it is understood the existing BA (ex-BMI) services currently operating from Terminal 1 will consolidate into Terminal 3 and Terminal 5 where the rest of BA’s services are based. Aer Lingus will also operate from the new Terminal 2, as will
Virgin Atlantic’s forthcoming domestic services to Manchester and Scotland. It means Virgin passengers connecting to or from long- haul services will have to transfer between Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, although Heathrow says it will “continue to work with Virgin Atlantic on how its services might be co-located in the future”. The airport also said it is “still in discussion with those airlines which currently operate from Terminal 1 and are not members of the Star Alliance [El Al, Icelandair, Cyprus Airways, Germanwings and Transaero] about their future location when Terminal 1 closes”.
AIR ROUTES GTMC’S PRIORITY ROUTES FROM HEATHROW
THE TOP TEN MOST urgently needed new direct air routes from Heathrow have been identified by the Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC).
The list of key business travel
routes include two in China and five in Latin America. Most of these destinations already have direct services from Paris, Amsterdam or Frankfurt but not from the UK’s hub airport.
The list includes Bogota in Colombia, Chengdu in China, Saudia Arabian city Dammam and Douala in Cameroon (for a full list see Databank, p24). The top routes were identified
through a survey of business travellers and an analysis of TMCs’ sales data from emerging economies around the world. The report into these routes will be submitted to the Davies Commission, which is currently
looking into the future of airport capacity in the south-east. The GTMC is calling
for capacity to be added immediately through allowing controversial mixed-mode operations at Heathrow, and also for the government to insist that these ten new business routes are introduced as part of a capacity increase. GTMC chairman Ajaya Sodha said: “Any discussion about
increasing airport capacity in the south-east hinges on its link to growth. It is business travellers that do the deals that will mean more exports, investment and jobs for the UK, and they need to be able to access target markets easily and speedily. We urge the government to insist that any decision on allowing mixed-mode or night flights is dependent on these routes being added to the roster at Heathrow.”