p28-29 air mar6 3/3/09 17:01 Page 28
Air
Chris Gray
020 7921 8003
cgray@ttglive.com
For the latest news about flights, airlines and airports, visit ttglive.com/air
Air NZ interim
Carriers’ bag rules
profits fall 84%
AIR NEW ZEALAND will cut long-haul capacity by
hit RTW customers
14% this spring after unveiling an 84% fall in
pre-tax profits to NZ$26 million for the six
Chris Gray.
same bag throughout the journey rather than
months to December 31, 2008. CHESHIRE agency Travel by Design has claimed being told they can have two going out and one
However, operating revenue rose by 3.7% on customers buying round-the-world tickets are coming back. I suspect the scheduled airlines see
the same period last year to $2.4 billion. losing out because of a change in how BA and it as a chance to make some money in excess
Chief executive Rob Fyfe said capacity would Qantas handle baggage allowances. baggage charges.”
be cut by 14% between April and June compared Partner Irene Hulme said two of her Hulme said one of her round-the-world
with the same period last year to ensure the customers departing the UK last week found customers was allowed two bags in BA’s World
airline’s supply matched demand. that one carrier would not honour the other’s Traveller Plus cabin, but just one in Qantas’s
Fyfe confirmed that about 100 long-haul cabin baggage allowance. premium economy.
crew would be made redundant but other strate- Hulme said the carriers used to observe a Another customer was told she was allowed
gies were being adopted to avoid more job cuts. system which meant the first airline’s allowance one 32kg bag on BA but two 23kg bags on Qantas.
They included pilots taking leave without pay, would be honoured by all the subsequent A BA spokesman said there had been a change
offering staff the chance to reduce their hours, carriers on a round-the-world ticket. in how oneworld alliance members, including BA
introducing part-time hours for cabin crew, not But the end of the arrangement meant her and Qantas, dealt with baggage allowances.
filling some vacancies, not renewing temporary customers faced paying excess baggage charges He said customers would find there were dif-
contracts and freezing executive salaries. for the second carrier because they had packed ferences in what they were allowed and advised
Air NZ chairman John Palmer said the period to meet the requirements of the first, she said. them to check directly with airlines to be sure
had been one of the toughest airlines had faced. “It never used to be an issue but BA and they did not have to pay excess baggage charges.
“Fuel costs reached unprecedented levels in Qantas are not working together any more,” she A oneworld spokesman said the alliance’s
2008,” he said. “This, combined with the deteri- said. “It’s the client that suffers, and the agent policy was to advise passengers to stick to the
oration in both passenger and cargo demand, as who is getting the headache because they are most restrictive baggage policy of any airline on
the global credit crisis intensified, has seen the telling us to sort it out. their itinerary, and that that advice had not
airline deliver an unsatisfactory financial result, “The client wants to know they can have the changed recently.
despite the management team’s best efforts.”
BAA’s passenger
total drops 4.2m
ABOUT 4.2 million fewer passengers flew from
BAA’s seven airports last year, as the operator’s
profits fell by a fifth.
Total passenger numbers dropped by 2.8%
from 145.8 million, with Heathrow, Gatwick and
Stansted suffering a combined drop of 2.6%, or
3.4 million passengers. However, Heathrow saw
the smallest percentage drop, falling 1.4%.
The operator reported an operating profit of
£582 million for the 12 months to the end of
December 2008, down from £713 million for 2007. THE MOODY NEWS: England international rugby stars Lewis Moody (pictured) and Ben
However, revenues for 2008 rose by 14.5% to Foden spent a day at East Midlands and Manchester airports for the first airport-specific
£2.1 billion across the group, and by 16% to £2.2 edition of Thomas Cook’s Holiday Hotspots online magazine. It allows readers to browse
billion for the London airports, bolstered by a and select destinations, enter competitions and even book holidays. The Manchester
rise in shopping income and higher landing fees. Airports Group edition will contain Thomas Cook offers from all the group’s airports.
28 06.03.2009
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