AIRPORTS
IN CONVERSATION… Champa Magesh
Amadeus’ UK and Ireland MD talks to BBT about buyers’ concerns and travellers’ expectations, GDS fees and the future
Champa Magesh
LONDON CITY AIRPORT UP FOR SALE
LONDON CITY AIRPORT HAS BEEN PUT UP FOR SALE by US investment firm Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and could fetch £2 billion.
The airport, popular with business travellers for its location close to Canary Wharf, is appointing advisers to help with the sale, according to the Financial Times. GIP, which also has stakes in Gatwick and Edinburgh airports, is reportedly looking to sell by the end of this year. London City airport has seen traffic numbers soar over the past year. In February it saw a 33 per cent increase in passenger numbers compared to the same period the previous year. However, in March London mayor Boris Johnson refused planning permission for expansion at London City due to concerns over the increase in noise for local residents. GIP bought London City airport in 2006 for around £750 million from Irish businessman Dermot Desmond.
RAIL
OPEN ACCESS FOR WEST COAST MAINLINE
THE OFFICE OF RAIL REGULATION (ORR) has approved an open access operator to run six trains a day between London and Blackpool. Arriva-owned Great
North Western Railway will run the services on the West Coast Mainline from 2018. An open access operator
is a train company not subject to franchising, instead buying
10 BBT SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
individual mainline slots from the railway infrastructure company. ORR director of economic
regulation, John Larkinson, said: “ORR recognises the benefits competition between train operators can bring to passengers and welcomes applications for new train services where they meet required criteria and provide real benefits.” ¢ See rail feature, p90
You joined Amadeus from Amex GBT: what do you see as corporate buyers’ main issues? Controlling costs: getting better value for travel, putting approvals in place or looking at where you can cut discretionary travel. Justifying and showing the
value of the travel manage- ment programme to the rest of your organisation. Content and security
– knowing where their travellers are to fulfil duty-of-care obligations.
What’s your view on Lufthansa’s GDS fee? We don’t agree with Lufthansa’s calculations on the difference in cost between distribution channels. This decision is clearly from a position of controlling the distribution channel. For Lufthansa this is about direct connection to the traveller. Look at Lufthansa’s numbers: 70 per cent of global sales are on indirect channels, being delivered by travel agents and TMCs. Where is the value here for people who are delivering value back to Lufthansa? One concern is the technology options: what is Lufthansa offering? Its agent website is not fit for agents and corporate buyers, who are a significant part of that indirect channel.
Lufthansa and other airlines say that GDS technology is out-dated… We don’t accept that. Being a technology provider we have the capabilities. In fact, Lufthansa has had access to Amadeus’ direct connect technology for six years. The GDS is the most cost-efficient way of enabling travel commerce to happen. The model works. This is a huge priority, not just for airlines, for agents and TMCs as well. There’s a very strong commercial argument for GDS as the most cost-effec- tive way of connecting up the indirect channel. This is the best way to do it – it’s proven and continues to grow.
What will be significant travel tech game-changers in the next few years? I think some things will be clarified – such as what personalisation means in business travel? At the moment it’s very fuzzy. Three years from now, we’ll be in a much better position to articulate this. There’ll be a sliding scale between control and flexibility, but more of a common understanding of what that means.
While the majority of
transactions continue to move online, the critical role of the TMC in the supply chain will be clarified. Also, there is still huge
room for the mass adoption of duty-of-care capabilities. Technology will play a big part in all these areas, because tech is the reason disruption is happening. I think it’s also the most cost-efficient way to solve these issues. ¢ Full interview at
buyingbusinesstravel.com
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132