and Kuwait, with further routes to be added this summer. These 747s are known as the High J
type, as they have a large proportion of premium seats. The new Panasonic EX3 entertainment system includes more than 130 movies and 400 TV programmes on larger, hi-resolution screens, while World Traveller Plus now offers a universal power socket at every seat, as well as USB socket to power phones and tablets. Towards the end of 2016, Qantas will
Swiss’s new first class
throughout to power all those laptops and tablets will take some time. More enhancements by other carri- ers will be visible throughout the year. For example, the Boeing 747 is no longer British Airways’ flagship, but it still has 40 in service and 18 of these are being refitted with a refreshed interior. Five are now in service on some flights to New York JFK, Chicago, Lagos, Dubai, Boston, Riyadh
The Boeing 747 is no longer British Airways’ flagship, but it still has 40 in service and 18 of these are being refitted with a refreshed interior
finish refitting its Airbus A330s, which are used mainly on routes to Asia and China plus longer domestic routes. These will have the new Business Suite seat design, and new entertainment systems throughout. Swiss has received the first of its new Boeing 777-300ERs with the latest business cabin, one that is to be standardised among Austrian and, from 2020, Lufthansa, albeit with dif- ferent soft furnishings. The Swiss 777s will also boast a new first class cabin in a 1-2-1 layout that will feature 32-inch TVs and wardrobes incorporated into dividing screens.
Looking ahead: premium air trends
ALL THIS GROWTH AND INVESTMENT seems dandy – so surely there must be some black clouds on the horizon? Yes, says John Grant, industry analyst at OAG, who points to the slowdown in the global economy and predicts a softening of demand for travel later in the year. Grant believes the strong dollar will lead to problems for companies travelling and exporting to the US and adds that, despite falling oil prices, air fares are unlikely to follow suit.
He explains: “The benefits of oil prices are being absorbed by currency movements and this is the first time in 30 or 40 years airlines are providing returns that a normal business would expect. Plus capacity
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
has been prudently managed, so there is no rational reason why carriers would reduce fares when they have such high load factors.”
OAG has also picked up on the move towards premium economy. “More investment is being put into premium economy,” Grant says. “I think there’s a risk of some judicious downgrading.” He adds, however, that this investment is having a knock-on effect on business class rates. “There are some great deals out there.” Some believe we will see
more of the buy-what you- want approach. “The UK is years behind the US model; airlines there were bundling up products to produce nuanced offers to large
corporates years back,” says Adrian Williams, partnership and marketing director at Business Travel Direct (BTD). He is clear about the appeal of this approach: “If you’ve been downgraded by your travel policy but have the opportunity to bundle it up with things like lounge access you can make that jump and, having it bundled, you see less leakage to expenses than if you go through the upsell just before the flight.” Williams says this trend “is a one-way street”, with, for example, British Airways now adding an option to upgrade economy meals. He adds that the challenge for the buying sector is to manage things
like this through the global distribution systems. The new premium economy cabins are attracting plaudits and Williams is not a fan of the United/KLM approach that at its most basic just gives more legroom. “Customers see this as an inferior choice,” he says. Ruediger Bruss, global category manager for travel mobility services at German automotive firm Continental AG, is not a fan of premium economy at all. “It is not a product that makes sense for a business traveller,” he asserts. “It is usually much closer in terms of characteristics to economy class than business class and pricing outside of promotions is usually not attractive. With
BBT MARCH/APRIL 2016 69
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