Flight data recorders from AirAsia aircraft retrieved The flight data recorder and voice recorder from crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 have been retrieved by divers. The Airbus A320 disappeared in bad weather on December 28 with 162 people on board. It could take two weeks to analyse the data, according to Indonesia’s National Committee for Safety Transportation.
Cyprus Airways ceases flying after state aid ruling Cyprus Airways ceased operations on Friday after the European Commission ordered the carrier to repay more than €100 million in state aid received in 2012-13. An administrator will be appointed and the airline’s operating
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Gary Lewis spells out Travel Network Group’s plan to grow
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licence revoked as it does not have the money to pay. Cyprus Airways operated a fleet of six aircraft and employed 560 staff. ❯ Full story, page 103
Norad Travel buys Howard Travel for undisclosed sum The Norad Travel Group has acquired Wiltshire-based Howard Travel. Full details of the acquisition have not yet been revealed, but the deal creates a group with a turnover of about £32 million and more than 50 staff. The addition of Howard Travel, which will continue to trade under that name, will increase Norad’s business in the luxury and niche markets.
Abta in talks with CAA over single agency agreement Abta is in talks with the Civil Aviation Authority to allow it to hold one agency agreement on behalf of all its members. Abta chairman Noel Josephides said the proposal followed feedback from members over problems claiming refunds after operator failures. Currently, each agency or consortium must, by law, hold an agency agreement with each of the operators it deals with for Atol sales. ❯ Letters, page 40
VisitEngland TV ad aims to convert in Rugby WC year A TV campaign first aired on Sunday aims to raise the profile of English destinations in the year of the Rugby World Cup. The VisitEngland ‘Discover Your England’ campaign features more than 16 destinations. It includes appearances by former England rugby captain Martin Corry, former England women’s Rugby World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi and official anthem singer, soprano Laura Wright.
Cook agents put wind in Royal sales
Royal Caribbean International’s Jenny Lyons (centre) is pictured with agents at Thomas Cook’s cruise specialist store in Darlington.
The agency is one of six Thomas Cook cruise stores being run in partnership with the cruise line. Lyons is pictured with her Club Royal poster, highlighting the line’s new incentive scheme. Royal sales director Ben Bouldin expects
more than 4,000 agents to be Club Royal members by the end of January. The scheme pays agents for every
Royal booking. This month, all bookings are worth £10 instead of the usual £5. Pictured with Jenny are, from left, the agency’s Jane Anderson, Charlotte Johnson, Laura Leigh and Debbie Newton.
Attraction World axes cruise excursion programme Attraction World has dropped its cruise excursion programme, blaming a “lack of support” from the trade. The attraction tickets specialist took the programme off sale last week and its call centre is contacting agents to cancel a “few hundred” summer 2015 bookings. Group sales and
marketing director Tony Seaman said the move was “disappointing” but no jobs were lost. The company stopped heavily promoting the product in December and bookings were averaging a maximum of two a day, added Seaman. The programme, which
Martin Corry features in TV ad
8 •
travelweekly.co.uk — 15 January 2015
accounted for 0.3% of the company’s revenue in 2014, was launched last April as a result of agent feedback that there was demand for cheaper commissionable cruise excursions. The programme initially focused
on the Mediterranean, but the Caribbean was later added. Seaman said: “The volumes are not massive; if they were, we would not be closing it. It is only through lack of support, and we didn’t want to run the business at a loss or annoy people [by cancelling at a later date]. We tested it and it didn’t work; there wasn’t the appetite for it.” Seaman said
CRUISEL
several factors could be to blame for the lack of trade support, including the decision by some lines to pay agents commission
for selling their own excursions. Meanwhile, seven Attraction
World staff took voluntary redundancy last month following a reorganisation. The shake-up was the result of a fall in sales from Thomson following the creation of an in-house ticketing operation. ❯ Letters, page 40
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