28 TRAVEL TRADE NEWS


EasyJet Holidays Will Increase Agent Commission in 2021


EASYJET Holidays has announced that it will boost agent commission in 2021 after being ‘blown away’ by support since launching through the travel trade in August. The operator will offer an additional 2% to all trade agents for two weeks from 4-19 January. The commission will apply to holidays with departure dates from 1 April 2021 to 26 March 2022 and will be paid on invoice. There are no targets or minimum sales volumes needed in order to receive the commission.


EasyJet Holidays Head of Distribution Brad Bennetts said: “It’s been a tough year for the travel industry, and we recognise the challenges our trade partners have faced. “We only launched to trade in August and we’ve been blown away by the response and support we’ve seen so far. We want to support trade agents at a time when it matters most, so we’re delighted to offer an extra 2% commission during the key turn of year period.”


Support Package for Travel Agents and Homeworkers


THERE’S light at the end of the tunnel for the travel industry in Northern Ireland as the Stormont Executive have today (December 18) agreed to put in place two schemes to help the sector – one for High street agencies and one for home workers.


In a statement, the ANITA committee said: “We are


pleased to announce that the Northern Ireland Executive have agreed to put in place a scheme to help our industry. “They have not yet supplied precise details but the scheme will be in two parts – one for High street agencies and one for home workers. They are currently deciding which department will look after this and further details will be announced in January.


“Of course we are delighted with this news but we will reserve further comment until we have all the details.”


ANITA Calls on All Airlines to “Play Fair” Over Refunds


THE Association of Northern Ireland Travel Agents (ANITA) is calling on airlines to “play fair” over refunds. A spokesperson for the industry body said: “The


length of time taken by a lot of airlines (I hasten to add not all) including some of our major uk airlines has been totally unacceptable. “We accept that when the pandemic first hit they needed time to re-group and quickly come to terms with the scale of what was happening and no-one really expected the refunds to be returned as quickly as they normally would but we are now into the 10th month of Covid and some airlines are still not playing fair and refunding customers.


“I know that several travel agencies in Northern Ireland have decided to go ahead and refund customers and wait for the money to be refunded to them. Given the current financial climate and the fact that travel agencies are already financially stretched – it is just not acceptable that our members have been put in this position. “ANITA are calling on all airlines to play fair when government advise prohibits all but essential travel- customers should be allowed to cancel their flight free of charge and receive a refund within the set timescale. When a flight is cancelled by the airline for any reason the same applies and refunds should again be made promptly.”


January 2021 Travel News


BTA Members’ professionalism, personal service and passion for travel – and why customers can book with confidence through them – are at the heart of the second phase of ABTA’s Travel with Confidence national advertising campaign, which has launched across social media channels.


A full video advert for Facebook and a shorter version


for Instagram have been created from a series of ‘selfie’ videos submitted by a range of ABTA Members – from retail travel agents, homeworkers, and tour operators – talking about the support, expertise and protection that comes from booking with an ABTA Member. From taking the very best care of their customers


every step of the way, to using their extensive knowledge and travel experience to ensure every customer has the best holiday, the videos use real quotes from Members to explain how important it is for consumers to book their long-awaited holidays with travel professionals they can trust.


In addition to the launch videos, which will be promoted on Facebook and Instagram until the end of February, ABTA has created six-second-long ‘bumper’ adverts and gifs which show the extra benefits, added value and peace of mind that ABTA Members offer their customers. These adverts and animations will be running across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube during January and February. All Members who responded to ABTA’s call out for videos will be featured as part of the Travel with Confidence campaign in 2021, either as part of social media advertising or as organic content on ABTA’s social media channels.


This latest phase of the campaign is in addition to 30-second radio adverts which have been running across streaming services and commercial radio stations Capital and Heart since 14 December, letting consumers know they can book with confidence when they see the ABTA logo. ABTA is also encouraging consumers to get excited about their travel plans for the year ahead with a new competition which launched on 1 January 2021. Using the hashtag #MakeMoreMemories, consumers are encouraged to comment on ABTA’s social media posts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with details of where they are planning to book a holiday to in 2021 to be in with a chance to win a pair of Apple Airpod Pros. ABTA’s ‘Six trends for travel in 2021’ report recently predicted that travel professionals will play an important role in helping people to feel more confident to travel this year, as research shows people are 20% more likely to use a travel professional now than before the pandemic, with two in five citing the security of a package holiday (41%) and the travel professional’s up- to-date advice (40%) as the main reasons. Graeme Buck, Director of Communications at ABTA – The Travel Association said: “After a tough 2020, many people are really looking forward to taking a break. Those thinking about their holiday plans for the


Good news for early bookers in Belfast - looking to the future of travel


year ahead will be keen to turn to travel professionals they can trust to help them find the best holiday for them.


“We wanted to invite our fantastic Members to


explain in their own words why their personal service, incredible breadth of knowledge, and tireless support


NORWEGIAN Cruise Line (NCL), the innovator in global cruise travel with a 53-year history of breaking boundaries, has successfully launched “Norwegian Central”, a new and exclusive trade portal aimed at helping travel agents learn, market and sell NCL holidays more easily and seamlessly.


By logging in to Norwegian Central, partners gain


direct single log-in access to NCL’s agent booking engine Seaweb, as well to a complete relaunch of NCL’s award-winning training platform NCL University (NCLU). The all-new knowledge hub provides refreshed course content, new achievement levels and a reimagined reduced rate programme that allows agents to book reduced cruises for module course completion.


Also included in Norwegian Central is Marketing Headquarters, which gives agents the opportunity to create their own marketing materials for selling NCL from an extensive toolbox of flyers, banners, videos and more. In addition, travel partners can stay-up-to date on all NCL news via Norwegian Central, which features access to the cruise lines’ exclusive Partners First Facebook Page and provides for updates and registration to upcoming webinars, ship visits and


means their customers return to them each year to book their holidays.


“We’ll be reminding the public that they can book


with confidence when they see the ABTA logo, knowing that they will have access to the support and expertise provided by ABTA Members.”


Norwegian Cruise Line Launches Exclusive Trade Portal events.


Eamonn Ferrin, V.P. and Managing Director of


NCL UK&I and MEA said: “In line with our Partners First Philosophy, it has been our utmost priority this year to provide our valued travel agent partners with the support they need, and we will continue to build on this going forward. We see a great demand for NCL cruises, especially for 2021, 2022 and 2023, and we are increasing our efforts to ensure we equip agents with the best tools possible to help them capitalise on this opportunity. We are excited to launch Norwegian Central, which brings all our key tools together in one convenient place and look forward to introducing further initiatives very soon.”


Commenting on the launch, Mark Godden, Product Manager at Cruise Circle, said: “Norwegian Central is a great tool – there’s relevant content for everyone within our business, be it marketing, sales, customer care or product teams. I can’t think of another cruise line tool that offers access to such a wide range of clearly marked, easy to find information, all with just one log- in. This, combined with the recent launch of NCL Air, is yet another reinforcement of NCL’s readiness to innovate in all aspects of its business.”


GLOBAL aviation data firm Cirium released its new Airline Insights Review 2020 which reveals the shocking impact on aviation of worldwide Covid-19 travel restrictions.


21 Years of Airport Growth Wiped Out Due to Covid Says New Aviation Data Survey this year is dramatically


“Whereas this time last year we were celebrating the on-time performance of global carriers,


The report shows that the pandemic and its consequences wiped out 21 years of global aviation growth in a matter of months, reducing passenger numbers this year to levels last seen in 1999. Passenger traffic was down 67% in 2020. At the peak of the disruption in April, scheduled passenger flights dropped significantly to just 13,600 globally on April 25, compared to 2020’s busiest day on January 3 when Cirium tracked over 95,000 scheduled passenger flights. This marks an extraordinary 86% reduction in flights. From January to December airlines operated 49% fewer flights in 2020 compared to 2019 – down from 33.2 million flights to just 16.8 million (to December 20). Domestic travel was down 40% this


year, from 21.5 million flights in 2019, while international flights suffered an even more precipitous drop as they were 68% below the 11.7 million flights tracked the year before. Jeremy Bowen, CEO of Cirium, said:


“This severe setback shows the true extent of the challenge faced by the struggling aviation sector as it has sought to reset itself in the new post COVID-19 era.


different. Most global airlines were largely on time in 2020; it’s just a shame that the traveling public, airlines and aviation firms worldwide didn’t benefit.


“The factors which usually cause delay,


such as congested airspace, taxiways and late connecting passengers simply did not exist in 2020.”


The Cirium Airline Insights Review 2020 replaces Cirium’s annual On-Time Performance Review which for more than a decade has identified the world’s best performing airlines and airports for on-time flight operations.


NEW AIRLINE INSIGHTS REVIEW: FLIGHTS FLOWN DRAMATICALLY DOWN


Global passenger traffic figures reveal a


plunge of over two thirds (67%) versus the previous year, with Asia-Pacific continuing to handle over a third of world passenger traffic. The majority of the scheduled passenger


flights flown this year have been domestic – totalling 13 million (77%) with a mere 3.8 million (23%) flying internationally, due to closed borders and limited business travel. Cirium data analysis recorded Southwest Airlines operating the most flights globally


(and in North America), with 869,800 flights in total. Meanwhile, China Southern Airlines (500,700 flights) topped the tables in the Asia-Pacific, Ryanair in Europe (207,000 flights), Azul in Latin America (138,500 flights) and Qatar Airways (84,100 flights) in the Middle East and Africa. On the ground, Atlanta was the world’s


busiest airport, handling over 250,800 arriving flights during 2020, while the world’s busiest air route in both directions was within South Korea, between Seoul and the island of Jeju with 71,900 flights operated.


Forward planning for airlines has dramatically contracted from six- to 12-months for flight scheduling to just six- to eight-weeks – forcing carriers to be more nimble and adapt with greater speed to the rapidly changing rules and travel restrictions around the world.


FLEETS IN STORAGE (BUT NOT THE A320)


As airlines have been forced to drastically reduce the number of aircraft still in service, those still flying are operating significantly fewer hours. For example, narrowbody aircraft operated just six to seven hours a day in Q3 2020 compared to nine to 10 hours a day in the same period last year. While up to 30% of the global passenger


fleet remains in storage there are signs of recovery on the horizon, with only 10% of short-haul Airbus A320neo aircraft currently in storage showing narrowbody aircraft leading the revival with domestic and short-haul travel returning first. With domestic and short-haul services ruling the day, the world’s most used aircraft type was the Airbus A320 with Cirium tracking 6.07 million flights throughout 2020.


SEVEN TRENDS IDENTIFIED BY CIRIUM


“Airlines will have a long way to go before returning to 2019 levels particularly as international travel is significantly down and showing only slow signs of recovery, mainly in China and Southeast Asia,” Jeremy Bowen added. “But Cirium is confident aviation will


weather this difficult and terrible year and emerge in better shape – with younger more fuel-efficient aircraft and right-sized fleets – and will gradually navigate its way to recovery in the years ahead.”


The seven key trends outlined by The


Cirium Airline Insights Review 2020 for next year include:


Consolidation: There will be greater consolidation of airlines, particularly in Asia- Pacific where more domestic competitors will merge or be acquired.


New generation aircraft: New- generation aircraft like the A320neo, and the return of the 737 MAX, will provide reduced operating costs. Aircraft retirement and reconfigurations: Surplus aircraft will be retired, such as the Boeing 747 and other, newer aircraft types which are projected to support the rising demand in denser leisure markets. More aircraft will also be reconfigured for carrying cargo only.


Forecasting demand in new ways: In


Q4 we saw a 78% plunge in flight bookings compared to the same period last year – this will naturally change the way the industry forecasts demand, we are seeing on-line search and sentiment becoming the primary indicators to calculate demand. Airline operational flexibility: Airlines will need to deploy more dynamic scheduling with the increased volatility of flight scheduling, as the booking window has fallen from between six to 12-months to just six to eight-weeks. Automated traveller experience: The implementation of AI technology will accelerate to automate the traveller experience and real-time proactive information will become more critical. Rise of aircraft leasing: Aircraft leasing


will push past the 50% becoming the major manner in which aircraft are financed.


ABTA Members Take Centre Stage in Second Phase of new Travel with Confidence Campaign A


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