Ian Taylor
Gatwick ATC issues ‘will improve’ 105
170k
The failure of air traffic control provider Nats to cope with staff going sick at Gatwick led easyJet chief Johan Lundgren to call for “a change of leadership” last week. Lundgren had previously
described delays and cancellations due to a shortage of air traffic controllers at Gatwick as “unacceptable” but had steered clear of joining Ryanair in calling for the replacement of Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe. However, a shortage of controllers,
allied to storms across the UK and Europe, led to the cancellation of 105 flights on September 8. In a letter to the Nats board, on which easyJet has a seat, Lundgren
Flights cancelled at Gatwick on Sept 8
expressed “deep concern” at “the ongoing failure to recognise the scale of the problem and to communicate honestly about it”. He noted “a repeated pattern of
the CEO not being transparent about what level of service Nats is able to provide, and of setting out misleading information. Nats can only move on with a change of leadership.” Gatwick suffered similar delays
and cancellations in June and had to limit flights last September and October due to the shortage of
Not Just Travel eyes £1bn annual sales in five years
Juliet Dennis
Not Just Travel expects to “knock on the door” of £1 billion annual turnover in the next five years if it continues to grow at its current pace. Co-founder Steve Witt said most of the homeworking agency’s sales growth would come from existing consultants rather than new recruits, following investment in supplier partnerships, training and technology. Speaking as the firm reported
triple-digit growth for the year to date on last year for sales of cruise line Virgin Voyages, he said: “In the next five years we reckon we’ll be touching
6 19 SEPTEMBER 2024
the billion-pound mark; we hope to be knocking on the door of that.” Witt declined to reveal the
agency’s current turnover, but said: “With the current growth trajectory, there is no reason to think £1 billion will not be achieved. Our growth is strong; we have doubled down on coaching, training, development and technology to help our consultants. “We do want to recruit more
consultants, but our biggest growth will come from existing consultants.” Key to this will be further
investment in working more closely with selected suppliers, Witt said. He revealed plans to replicate
the agency’s partnership with Virgin Voyages with airlines, hoteliers and tourist boards, adding that it had already achieved “fantastic” results with Beachcomber Resorts & Hotels, Hyatt and Constantinou Brothers. Not Just Travel and Virgin Voyages
have “invested heavily” in a closer relationship since 2022, with more than 300 agents boarding the line’s ships. Witt added: “We didn’t just take
agents on board, we had coaching and training sessions, plus we took a camera crew to create content for our agents. It’s not just ‘look and learn’.”
Flights handled at Gatwick so far this year
controllers. The CAA held weekly meetings with Nats and Gatwick from October through to March in an effort to “ensure resilience”. Nats took over Gatwick air traffic
control in 2022 and a spokesperson insisted: “The company has said there is no quick fix to fill the shortfall [in controllers] we inherited.” One problem is that controllers
need training to work at Gatwick, the world’s busiest single-runway airport. Gatwick confirmed the latest cancellations were “due to short-
notice staff absence in addition to restrictions due to adverse weather”. A spokesperson said: “Nats has
increased the number of air traffic controllers. Gatwick has handled more than 170,000 flights so far this year, a 4% increase on last year, and Nats’ service has been fully available 99.6% of the time.” Stewart Wingate, Gatwick chief
executive, insisted Nats’ performance “has dramatically improved” and said: “It’ll improve further as we go through September and October.” Nats reported a 5% increase in
total UK flight operations year on year in August. Kathryn Leahy, chief operations officer, said: “We’re very close to the record levels of 2019. We’ll soon be into record figures.”
Steve Witt: ‘Our biggest growth will come
from existing consultants’
This summer the companies held
their second Seminar at Sea and this month 130 Not Just Travel agents boarded Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady for an inaugural Platinum Get- Together, during which the agency announced multimillion-pound investments, including a new quotation tool, rolled out to agents this week. While cruise is the agency’s fastest
growth area, it plans to boost its focus on luxury and adventure travel. It also aims to recruit 250-plus agents, mostly new to travel, a year. It currently has more than 700 consultants.
travelweekly.co.uk
PICTURE: Not Just Travel
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