NEWS CONFERENCE REPORT
ITT Conference 2018: The Institute of Travel & Tourism held its annual conference in Sicily. Amie Keeley reports from Giardini Naxos
Speaker Lisa McAuley, dnata Travel
Gianni Onorato
Lord Adonis: Third runway could be complete by 2025
Former transport secretary and Labour peer Andrew Adonis said construction of a third runway at Heathrow could begin as early as 2021.
Addressing delegates at this
year’s ITT Conference in Sicily just hours before the cabinet approved plans, Lord Adonis estimated it could be complete by 2025. He said there was very strong support among a majority of MPs, especially those outside of London, because Heathrow was “the vital lifeline” in terms of passengers and business. “If it gets to Parliament in the
“You can’t have a strategy for Global Britain if you can’t get to parts of the globe”
next few months, construction can start in 2021 and open in 2025 or 2026,” he said. “It doesn’t actually take long to build, it’s just a piece of tarmac.” However, he said it was “essential” that roads surrounding the airport did not have more traffic after expansion and called
for a cordon [congestion] charge to be levied. Creating direct access for
rail companies including Great Western Mainline and Southern Rail was also “essential”, Lord Adonis added. “Once we have this piece of the
jigsaw in place, connectivity of Heathrow will be transformed,” he said. “Then we might have an airport that can compete with others in Europe.” Lord Adonis said it was more
vital than ever Britain had “first world” infrastructure after leaving the EU next March if the government wanted to fulfil its ‘Global Britain’ policy. “The irony is this might be the
Lord Adonis
only piece of infrastructure that goes ahead because of Brexit,” he said. “Our status as Heathrow having the world’s premier hub airport has already been sacrificed, but you cannot have a strategy in this country for Global Britain if you can’t get to parts of the globe and crucially new markets in Asia and Latin America that other airports in Europe are already flying to.”
16
travelweekly.co.uk 14 June 2018
Onorato warns ship influx could hit cruise yields
Cruise line yields could fall in the future due to the volume of new ships entering the market in the next decade, according to the boss of MSC Cruises. Between 2017-26, 106 ships will launch, including 12 from MSC Cruises. Royal Caribbean International has six ships on order and Norwegian Cruise Line has seven; 48 expedition and luxury ships are planned. Asked whether occupancy
levels were at risk of falling from so much growth, chief executive Gianni Onorato told ITT delegates: “In difficult times it can have an impact on yields. This will be more of an issue than occupancy levels.” Onorato said the slowdown
in growth of cruise bookings last year in the UK was due to a “lack of capacity” and said he was “optimistic” about the British market going forward. He said the biggest challenge facing cruise lines was future-proofing ships built to last 20 years. “Knowing what guests want in 2040 when you’re building them now is difficult to predict,” Onorato said.
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 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
