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Branson tops travel rich list

VIRGIN BOSS Sir Richard Branson’s fortune has more than doubled in the last year. Branson’s wealth is now £2.6 billion – up by

£1.4 billion on last year due to a rebound in the value of his Virgin empire, according to The

Sunday TimesRich List.

Branson’s fortune earns him 18th place in the 2010 UK list. It puts him well above other travel giants such as Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, whose family is reckoned to be worth £820 million, a rise of £276 million on 2009. Former Saga owner Roger De Haan and brother Peter are worth around £800 million, while Bourne Leisure founders Peter Harris, John Cook and David Allen are valued at £380 million, £320 million and £160 million respectively. Travelex founder Lloyd Dorfman is worth £520 million. Abercrombie & Kent’s Geoffrey Kent has a

fortune of £213 million and former BMI boss Sir Michael Bishop £200 million. Internet entrepre- neur Simon Nixon, who co-founded Moneysuper- market, has assets worth £344 million. Other notable travel names on the list include

Trailfinders owner Mike Gooley (£195 million), Airtours founder David Crossland (£130 million) and Gold Medal founder Ken Townsley (£115 million). Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary is ranked 15th richest in Ireland, with assets of around £376 million.

Costa: we’re not abandoning UK

COSTA UK managing director Marco Rosa has insisted the Italian cruise line is committed to the UK, despite making all eight posts in its London marketing department redundant. Rosa, who is returning to Italy as part of the

shake-up, said: “We will soon have 15 ships, and will be the third-biggest cruise line in the world. How can we walk away from the UK? It is the biggest cruise market in Europe.” The company said it would retain a dedicated UK sales team after the changes take place on May 1. It is also recruiting three marketing staff in the UK to work in Genoa. The announcement came as Costa said it was

strengthening its Middle East presence by opening an office in Dubai. The line hopes to use the office to increase the number of local customers and expats.

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30.04.2010

Branson asked a Virgin director to “sound out contacts at BA”

ANOTHER CABIN crew strike looms for British Airways after the Unite union asked members to reject the airline’s latest offer in a ballot next week.

Unite, which represents 12,000 BA cabin crew,

has recommended that its members reject the offer in the long-running dispute over pay and working conditions. The two sides have been negotiating for several weeks but hit a stumbling block over the with- drawal of travel perks from cabin crew who went

ttglive.com

BA fuel surcharge ‘leaked to agents’

Sophie Griffiths.

BRITISH AIRWAYS leaked news of a fuel surcharge increase to a select group of travel agents in a “horrible mistake” that scuppered a planned collusion with Virgin Atlantic, a court heard this week.

The leak was revealed by prosecutor Richard Latham QC, in a trial of one present and three former BA executives for allegedly conspiring with Virgin Atlantic to fix fuel surcharge price increases.

The collusion, which started in July 2004 and

generated an extra £64 million revenue in its first year, was brought to the attention of the Office of Fair Trading by Virgin Atlantic in exchange for immunity from prosecution. But Latham named Sir Richard Branson several times, saying Branson asked a Virgin director to “sound out contacts at BA” and that prices were

discussed during a cricket match between the airlines at Branson’s house. The passenger fuel surcharge started at £2.50 each way in May 2004. By June the next year, BA had decided to increase it to £48 return. Latham said the two airlines normally coordi- nated their increases but this time there was an “illuminating wrinkle”, when a member of the BA sales team, then led by head of consumer and agency sales Ian Heywood, notified a group of travel agents an announcement would be made the following week.

Latham said it was a “horrible mistake” by a member of staff. The accidental leak scuppered the chances of collusion with Virgin and meant agents could encourage customers to purchase their tickets earlier. The increase, which was the biggest yet, was subsequently announced by BA a week earlier than planned. “The best they could do was to warn Virgin of

the increase and encourage them to follow and match it, rather than seek competitive advantage with a lower fee,” Latham said. One of the defendants, ex-UK sales boss for

BA Alan Burnett, later sent a letter to Heywood, reprimanding him for the leak. Three ex-BA employees – Burnett, former commercial director Martin George, and former head of communications Iain Burns – and current sales and marketing director Andrew Crawley are charged with conspiring with Virgin Atlantic to fix fuel surcharges between July 2004 and April 2006.

If found guilty, they could face up to five years in prison.

British Airways faces new strike

on strike during the seven days of industrial action in March.

The union said it would not call further strike dates at this stage while passengers remain stranded abroad after last week’s volcanic ash crisis.

Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley said: “Despite important progress made in a number of respects, management has refused to budge on victimising cabin crew who had their travel concessions withdrawn.” 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