THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE I 39


 Aviation under scrutiny THE REVIEW ›› IN THE AIR


LORD Adonis, the Labour peer who served as Transport Secretary under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is optimistic that the Sir Howard Davies commission report due at the end of this year will prove fruitful in stopping govern- ment paralysis over aviation policy. Speaking in the opening plenary


session of the ITM Conference in April, Lord Adonis said: “I’m hoping this review will work. We will get there but it takes us a long time – 18 years for T5. But I’m a professional optimist.” He referred to 'Boris Island' as a “barking” idea and that none of the three political parties had ruled out expansion at Heathrow, explaining that the subject of airport expansion makes politicians unpopular. “It’s a grubby issue of winning votes” that gets in the way, he explained. In contrast, he was able to pontificate on the subject from the safety of the Lords. He estimated that the economy


was losing “a large number of billions of pounds” every year that


IN BRIEF


• KENT'S Lydd Airport has been given government approval for a multimillion- pound project to develop it into a competitive regional airport. After a six-year wait, the airport has been given permission to forge ahead with a £25million development plan that includes a runway extension and new passenger terminal. On completion, the airport will be capable of handling up to 500,000 passengers a year, and hopes to attract low-cost carriers operating to nearby European destinations.


airport capacity isn’t expanded. Co-panellist, British Airways


CCO Drew Crawley, was equally vocal, adding that the issue was more about hub capacity than airport capacity: “London as a hub will become less and less relevant and Dubai will take over from London as the biggest airport in the world in passenger numbers." He added that business would


innovate around the government paralysis, citing BA's merger with


DELTA UPS THE ANTE AT HEATHROW


DELTA Air Lines has stated its intent to grow its presence at London Heathrow and “level the field with competitors” thanks to its proposed joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Between them, the two airlines


expect to offer 21 daily flights from Heathrow to the US by the year’s end – including Delta’s third daily flight to its Atlanta hub which begins at the end of March. The joint venture, which will see


Delta acquire a 49 per cent stake in Virgin from Singapore Airlines, will give them around 36 per cent of seats between Heathrow and New York as the carrier bids to take on the American Airlines and British Airways transatlantic partnership. As of the first quarter of 2013, the latter two airlines have 62 per cent seat share between Heathrow and New York. Delta’s president Ed Bastian


says, “Since 2008, Delta has doubled its presence at Heathrow but our partnership with Virgin will allow us to expand it even more while allowing Virgin access


to our domestic network. Heathrow is the most important access point for corporate travellers and that was the driving force behind our decision to invest in Virgin Atlantic. “Given the constraints on growth


at Heathrow, our partnership will enable us to expand our presence at this airport and level the field a little with our competitors.” Bastian adds, “I’m optimistic


that we’ll have a good influence compared to Singapore Airlines, as our passenger flow into London is 20 times what Singapore’s was.” Delta, which also flies from


Heathrow to Detroit, Minneapolis- St Paul and Boston, posted a $1.6billion net income in 2012 – up 30 per cent on 2011 – and has invested heavily in its fleet and product in recent years. It will have flatbed business


class seats on board 85 per cent of its international aircraft by the end of the year – including all its services between London and the US – and also intends to launch onboard wifi access.


Iberia and acquisition of bmi. On the subject of APD, Adonis


warned that because of the UK's £120billion deficit, it wasn’t a question of APD being cut or abolished but "whether it stays at this level or rises with inflation." BA's Crawley pointed out that


the travel industry’s fragmented lobbying efforts didn’t help the cause, while Lord Adonis said that the business community must unite in this endeavour.


'SUPER ROUTES' REVEALED


JUST 300 global 'super routes' attract 20 per cent of all air travel – according to global distribution system Amadeus – each of which carries over one million passengers a year. Seven of the world's ten busiest routes are in Asia, with Seoul-Jeju and Tokyo-Sapporo topping the bill. Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo is third, Beijing- Shanghai fourth and Sydney- Melbourne fifth. In other findings, Asia was named the largest, fastest- growing and most competitive market for air travel in the world; the Middle East is a rapidly growing hub, with traffic between Europe and Asia via the region growing by 20 per cent in 2012; and low- cost carrier penetration is highest in Europe at 38 per cent. Global air traffic volumes rose five per cent in 2012.


• KLM is increasing its daily fl ights between Edinburgh and Amsterdam from fi ve to six this summer, and from four to fi ve between Glasgow and Amsterdam.


• PASSENGERS passing through 11 Scottish airports can now enjoy free wifi access courtesy of operator HIAL. Highlands and Islands Airports Limited began rolling out the new service in February and it is now available at the majority of its airports. Last year the publicly owned company handled 1.3 million passengers across its airports, which include Dundee, Inverness, Kirkwall, Stornoway and Wick.


• VIRGIN Atlantic passengers can now enjoy 'gate to gate' infl ight entertain- ment, with AVOD systems available before take-off and during landing.


• SAS Scandinavian Airlines is changing its fare types this June with the introduction of two new options on its European fl ights. The previous service classes will be replaced by SAS Go, ‘for customers who want to have a lot’, and SAS Plus, ‘for customers who want to have more’. SAS Go fares include one checked bag and tea or coffee onboard, while SAS Plus fares include two checked bags, lounge access and meals and drinks onboard.


• TAM Airlines is set to leave Star Alliance in 2014 and join oneworld following its merger with LAN Airlines, an existing member of the latter alliance.


• VIETNAM Airlines is expanding its summer services from London Gatwick with the addition of a fi fth weekly fl ight, increasing its Ho Chi Minh schedule to three weekly departures. It will also fl y twice weekly to Hanoi.


50 THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE


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