the new cabin, described by United as a “suite-like pod”, arrives on the San Francisco-Beijing route and a month later, on San Francisco-Frankfurt and New York Newark-Tokyo Narita.
United said it did not have a date for Polaris to appear on UK routes, but that
United is fitting Polaris pods
carriers, but its premium class fares should provoke some lowering of rivals’ tariffs in the mid-range cabin. Chief executive Kjos has made no secret of his ambitions for Norwegian to tap into the Asia-Pacific market. However, it is currently China’s carriers that are making the running. A significant change for travel buyers in the last 12 months has been the expanding choice of nonstop connections to China. Taiwan’s China Airlines is the latest to announce a UK service, resuming its Taipei flight after a five-year absence from December 1. It will offer four flights a week on a new Airbus A350 featuring the latest business cabin and offering the UK’s only nonstop flight to Taiwan. Once again, it is the economics of the new generation aircraft that is driving expansion.
China Airlines, which originally operated from Heathrow, will join the growing number of Chinese airlines at Gatwick, which is building its connections in the UK and Asia-Pacific. Gatwick’s portfolio includes Cathay Pacific’s return with an A350 Hong Kong service, launched last September, which moved from four flights a week to daily in June.
Since summer 2016, Tianjin Airlines has flown from Gatwick to the central industrial powerhouse of Chongqing, whose population exceeds 30 million, continuing on to its hub on China’s northern coast. In December, Tianjin Airlines will add Xi’an, in the east of the country, a centre for software and aerospace industries, to Gatwick’s China routes. More will come, according to Stephen King, Gatwick’s head of airline relations.
“We are actively in discussion with a range of international operators on growing our long-haul network to new destinations across Asia, including some of the largest cities in China and India,” he said. King believes the need for these connections is paramount in the light of Brexit.
“Given the current political climate, regular flights to these new destinations would provide UK businesses with fast access to some of the biggest non-European markets,” he adds.
Another potential candidate for a UK return could be Hong Kong Airlines, whose disastrous all-business class venture to Gatwick ended less than a year
Qatar Airlines’ QSuite
aspects of it, including bedding and dining, were now offered on all flights. BA passengers will have to wait until 2019 for its new Club World seat, almost 20 years after the original was unveiled. Meanwhile, a service upgrade from September promises more restaurant-style dining on board.
BA boss Alex Cruz has admitted that it is “falling behind some of our competitors” and promises aisle access for all with the new seat design.
It had better hope that by then, the disrupters and its more conventional rivals have not already stolen a march on it.
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