BUSINESS NEWS
Barclays Travel Forum: Impact of Middle East crisis dominates London event. Ian Taylor reports Keir
‘Policy can drift with government in survival mode’
UK politics is becoming increasingly “fractious”, with the government in “survival mode” and policy stalled. That is according to Barclays
director for government relations Sophie Wheeler-Traherne, who identified three “core pressures” on the government, saying: “The fragmentation of the party system
with the surge of Reform UK and the Green Party adds to the uncertainty. Labour’s huge majority is itself a destabilising factor – managing 400-plus MPs was always going to be a challenge – and there is the pressure on government spending. Layered on top of that is the Mandelson affair, the geopolitical situation and the war.” Wheeler-Traherne suggested:
“As a general rule, when politicians are in survival mode and responding to crisis situations, policy can drift [and] the mood in Westminster is fractious. It’s quite a combination.”
Starmer
UK ‘has a clear vulnerability on jet fuel supplies’
She argued: “There are rumours
in Westminster on whether the PM will stay on beyond May 8. [But] the timing is tricky. There is the international situation, an election is still a way away, and there is no unifying candidate.”
‘Airline policies are terrible for industry’s reputation’
Travel to the Gulf and via its airports “will come back” but will remain “extraordinarily soft” for the rest of this year even if the war in the Middle East ends quickly. That is according to Travcorp
Holdings group chief executive Andy Freeth, who told the Barclays Travel Forum: “The Gulf will come back, absolutely. The question is when. We need airlines to fly and then we can try to restore consumer confidence.” He argued: “Price overcomes fear.
People will go, the question is when and what will the price point be? We expect [demand for] the rest of this year to be extraordinarily soft.” Freeth said the war had hit
consumer confidence and added: “If the crisis goes on much longer, we’ll need to take action.” He noted: “We had thousands of
customers [in the Gulf] on February 28 and the airlines all had different policies. Other people were due to go, others panicking about whether to go
travelweekly.co.uk
business because the money is with airlines and hotels.” Freeth suggested: “It would
Andy Freeth
in six months – all wanting answers. Giving customers the confidence you know what you’re doing is difficult.” Freeth said Travcorp followed four
principles: “Protect your customers and get them back. Protect your team, who are getting calls from customers wanting their money. Protect your reputation. And protect your cash.” He argued: “We’re not going to
make much profit this year, but we want to be here. If we give everyone their cash back, we won’t have a
be helpful if what airlines did was consistent. But airline policies were all different. It’s terrible for our reputation and the reputation of the industry. We tried to communicate effectively, but we would communicate something at 10pm and two minutes later it changed.” He added: “We want to give
consumers their money back. But when there are wholesale cancellations, the impact is massive. “Refunding within 14 days is
ridiculous. Some customers will put in a chargeback before they phone you.” Industry lawyer Farina Azam,
partner at Fox Williams, agreed: “Fourteen days is a really short period.” She noted the problem is that “an
airline may cancel because it can’t fly, but the hotel won’t because the room is there” and suggested: “You need strong contractual terms in place.”
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The UK has a “clear vulnerability” on jet fuel to which the government has so far responded with “cautious, targeted measures”, Barclays’ Sophie Wheeler-Traherne told the forum. “In the short term, it means
contingency planning and sourcing alternative supplies,” she said. “Over the long term, it means accelerating sustainable aviation fuel production.” Wheeler-Traherne noted
that, unlike after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, “we’ve not had big, blanket, industry-wide measures”. She said: “There is a clear
vulnerability for the UK on jet fuel. The government is saying to business, ‘Talk to us’. Right now, it is talking about cautious, targeted measures rather than blanket subsidies. We would expect more targeted interventions.” Wheeler-Traherne also noted
“political pressure mounting” over the queues facing UK travellers at EU airports due to the new Entry/Exit System. She told the forum: “I would
expect a lot more debate in the Commons. Ministers will have to start to address this, but I’m not sure what the government can do in practice.”
PICTURES: Shutterstock/UkrPictures, aapsky, Plane Photography; Tui AG
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