The airport’s new terminal has now been open for three months. ROBIN SEARLE spoke to Bob Schumacher, chairman of Star Alliance’s UK Steering Committee, about a successful opening
Terminal 2 currently handles 23,200 passengers and 128 flights a day
Terminal 2: Star Alliance carriers hail Heathrow m
Turn back the clock just over three months and you could have forgiven the 23 Star Alliance members preparing to move into Heathrow’s new Terminal 2 for feeling a certain sense of trepidation. The teething problems
encountered during the airport’s previous big opening – Terminal 5 – had been well-documented. And nobody wanted a repeat. Wind forward to the present day, and with nine member airlines installed, and 14 scheduled to move in over the next two months, the sense of a job so far well done is palpable.
changer for Heathrow, for the alliance and for connectivity in the UK, and we feel like the cat that got the cream.” Schumacher says the decision
to stagger the introduction of the alliance’s 23 airlines in addition to Virgin Atlantic’s Little Red, Aer Lingus and Germanwings over a six-month period had proven to be a canny move.
“The new
T2 has been a game-changer for Heathrow,
for Star and for connectivity in the UK”
Bob Schumacher, chairman of the Star Alliance UK Steering Committee and managing director sales, UK & Ireland, for the terminal’s first tenant, United, is unequivocal in his praise. “It has been a triumph from a
United perspective and from a Star Alliance perspective,” he says. “The new Terminal 2 has been a game-
“The opening has been in the headlines for all the right reasons and it has helped to reposition UK plc,” he says. “The life of
hard knocks dealt Heathrow a tough
blow last time [during the opening of Terminal 5]
but the host of trials carried out before opening and the decision to implement a staggered approach has ensured there has been no repeat.”
Positive feedback Schumacher said feedback from United passengers had been overwhelmingly positive, and said the travel trade had also
14 •
travelweekly.co.uk — 11 September 2014
TERMINAL 2: BY NUMBERS
Terminal 2: United, Air Canada, Air China, ANA, Eva Air, Avianca, Aegean Airlines, Turkish Airlines, THAI
9 14
Star Alliance carriers to move in over the next
two months: in September, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore, Ethiopian Airlines and EGYPTAIR; in October, Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Air New Zealand, South African Airways, Asiana Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, TAP Portugal and Croatia Airlines.
responded well to the removal of many of the complexities of booking flights from and through Heathrow. He says: “We are seeing the
regeneration of Heathrow as a hub airport, and this has radically changed the perception of flying through Heathrow. It has removed
Star Alliance members now flying from
the confusion of airlines using different terminals and created a viable option from the regions. “Alongside Heathrow, we can
now go beyond the southeast and get this message out to the rest of Britain and Northern Ireland.” He adds: “This is a 21st-century
facility which has empowered our customers, and the trade’s customers, to make their own choices. If they choose, the first contact a passenger can have (with airline staff) can be on the aeroplane itself, but they can also have the full-touch service if that’s what they prefer.”
The power of alliances For Schumacher, the benefits of bringing the 23 members under one roof offer a compelling argument for the viability of airline alliances. “It [the future of alliances] is a current topic, but whatever happens, Star Alliance and the competing alliances will continue to be relevant,” he explains. “You can only achieve so much
organic growth, and that is where our partners come in. Terminal 2 demonstrates that alliances certainly haven’t had their day.”
SPECIAL REPORT
Heathrow’s T2 launch ‘has been a triumph’
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