Sitting
comfortably? Airlines are continuing to
invest in amenities for the business traveller…
British Airways’ original Club World flat bed
Delta One suite on Airbus A350
, you could be forgiven for thinking that airlines are in a collective race to the bottom.
Not so, because at the premium end, things are definitely looking up. Every once in a while, a business cabin design is unveiled that puts down a marker for the industry. In the early 2000s, it was the original Club World fully-flat bed that gave British Airways an advantage for many years until its rivals caught up. Flat beds became the norm, then came seats with guaranteed aisle access throughout the cabin, but
Last year, Aer Lingus added the US insurance centre Hartford to its network along with New York’s Newark. It also restored a Los Angeles route after an eight-year absence. With other increases in frequencies, notably to New York, it marked the airline’s biggest transatlantic expansion in 58 years and moved the carrier’s North Atlantic seat capacity above two million for the first time. This month, delivery of a 12th Airbus A330 will enable it to introduce a Dublin-Miami service. More will come, with nine new-generation A350 widebodies on order for delivery from 2018, although some will be replacements. Aer Lingus, however, does see some storm clouds, warning even a 30 per cent increase in fuel costs could halve the Ð233 million operating profit it made in 2016. All new Aer Lingus long-haul routes will head west, aided by a feeder network of 18 UK routes to Dublin and pre-clearance of US customs and immigration there. “We are en route for pretty much everyone travelling from the UK or Europe to North America; the pre-clearance is a bonus,” says an Aer Lingus spokesman. This tactic is working. Although it will not release exact figures, Aer Lingus says the number of UK passengers transiting through Dublin en route to the US has risen by one-third in 12 months, with Manchester and Birmingham the most popular starting points.
Norwegian is also mainly heading west and by next March will have broken British Airways’ monopolies on direct routes to Austin and Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires. Austin is a significant move as BA has a European monopoly on the route, which is home to computer giant Dell and a host of other technology brands in the ‘Silicon Hills’ surrounding the city.
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