Sector Focus
Business Travel Sector Focus The latest news from the sectors that matter to business Airport claims
the top prize Birmingham Airport has beaten the country’s other leading airports to win a top industry award for the fifth time in six years. Birmingham claimed the UK
Travel Agents Star UK Airport Award, fending off competition from Bristol, London City Airport, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, London Stansted and Manchester. This award comes on the
back of major investment to improve the customer journey and the airport’s infrastructure. Tom Screen, aviation
director at Birmingham Airport said: “This accolade is hugely important to us as it is voted by the travel trade who listen to the requirements of our customers, selecting Birmingham Airport on the merit of its routes and customer service. “We have the biggest travel
trade team in the UK, comprising of four ‘gurus’, who cover a large catchment area to ensure that Birmingham is at the forefront of all of our travel trade agent’s minds when booking customers holidays and business trips. “The teams’ hard work, and
that of all of our terminal, security and operations staff, has meant that we have retained this very important award once again.”
‘Connect’ in bid to extend HS2 to East Midlands cities
An artist’s impression of the East Midlands Hub station at Toton
Midlands Connect is demanding that HS2 be extended to serve locations such as Nottingham and Leicester – but the Chamber says these plans won’t succeed unless the whole of the high-speed rail project is adopted. Last month, HS2 Ltd was told
not to clear any more ancient woodland sites while a review into the project’s viability – the Oakervee review – was carried out. At the same time, Midlands
Connect – the transport planning arm of Midlands Engine – has stepped in with demands that HS2 should be extended to cover the East Midlands. Much of Midlands Connect’s
plans revolve around making more
of the proposed East Midlands Hub at Toton, the only element in the current plans which involves the East Midlands. Midlands Connect also wants HS2
to make use of new trains which can use either high-speed or conventional tracks. The organisation has said it will put its case directly to the Oakervee review. Midlands Connect chairman Sir
John Peace said: “Now we have more clarity over the costs and timescales of HS2, is it time that the true benefits of high speed rail are also fully understood to make sure the project goes ahead in its entirety. “Our proposals are a genuine game changer for connections
Wizz off to Poland with new routes
Hungarian airline Wizz Air has launched two new flights from Birmingham, to Poznan and Krakow in Poland. Poznan is Poland’s fifth largest
city and used to have a direct Wizz flight to Birmingham, and this has been brought back by popular demand. The new Krakow flight has added
extra capacity to a destination that has seen a 24 per cent increase in passengers this year. The addition of these two new
routes complement the existing six routes that Wizz Air serves from Birmingham, which are to:
70 CHAMBERLINK October 2019
Bydgoszcz, Gdansk, Katowice, Warsaw Chopin and Modlin airports, and Wroclaw. Tom Screen, aviation director at Birmingham Airport said: “It’s great news that Wizz Air is now operating flights to Poznan and Krakow. These new services provide vital connections for friends and family as well as enabling travel to exciting city break destinations. We are grateful to Wizz Air for their continued commitment to Birmingham Airport and the Midlands. “Wizz Air also operates to Cluj- Napoca, Budapest, Bucharest,
Warsaw, and Wroclaw and now adds Poznan and Krakow to its route list. The new routes are a fantastic addition and we’re really looking forward to growing our offering with Wizz Air over the next few years.” Tamara Vallois, head of
marketing at Wizz, said: “We launched our very first Wizz flight to Birmingham in 2015 and today, we offer seven low-fare routes to Poland, Romania and Hungary. “With fares from only £17.99
hope to see many happy customers on routes to Poznan and Krakow as well as on all the other routes in the Wizz network.”
between the East Midlands and West Midlands and on to the north of England, revolutionising the way regions do business with each other and demonstrating that HS2 will spread the economic benefits far beyond the cities with a dedicated station.” “We are working closely with
HS2 Ltd and the Department for Transport to develop our compelling business cases, and submitting our findings to the HS2 Oakervee review. “We are sending a strong
message to the Government that delivering HS2 in its entirety is absolutely essential to the future economic success of the whole of the UK.”
Local coach firm partners with ESFA
A Birmingham-based coach company has become the official travel partner of the English Schools Football Association (ESFA). --, based in Orton Way, Castle
Vale, will provide transport for all of the teams run by ESFA, which is located at Staffordshire Technology Park, in Stafford. Bouden Coach Travel director
Adel Bouden said: “We specialise in sports team transport and are excited to begin transporting the football teams on board our coach hire and minibus hire services.”
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