Welcome

29th June 2009

In this issue:

• Travellers' Freind early closing
• USA ESTA reminder
• Airlines criticised for mis-selling insurance
• Airline news
• New travel community website from virgin
• Airport news
• Traffic statistics
• Rail news
• Hospitality news
• Tourism news

 

On 6th July, we shall be closing the our office at 1700 due to a staff function.

Over 8 million register under US Visa Waiver Program using ESTA The United States has announced that eight million international travelers have successfully applied to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Programme using the Electronic System of Travel Authorisation (ESTA). ESTA become mandatory on January 12 and allows VWP travellers to apply electronically for visa-free travel to the USA. A reminder that there is no cost to apply and individuals should go to the official government site at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov to apply online and should not be misled by unauthorised companies claiming to be able to “facilitate” registration for a fee.

Which? Four airlines have come under fire for automatically charging for travel insurance during the booking process. A report by consumer magazine Which? Holiday claims that Easyjet, Jet2, Monarch and Air Berlin are ignoring an EU ruling which states that they cannot automatically add extras such as insurance at the time of booking. It says Easyjet, Jet2 and Monarch all automatically add travel insurance policies, costing between £7 and £10.49 per passenger, while cancellation insurance for flights returning on the same day is added automatically by Air Berlin, costing €12. Consumers have to un-tick a box to opt out of the insurance. The magazine has also criticised British Airways, Ryanair and Wizz’s websites.

British Airways has said 800 workers have volunteered to work for nothing for up to a month, following the airline's request to cut costs. Another 4,000 workers are taking unpaid leave for varying amounts of time, while 1,400 people have volunteered to work part-time. Volunteers represent 17% of the airline's workforce.

British Airways is beefing up its Caribbean services from Gatwick but dropping six short-haul routes from the airport. The winter schedule will include extra frequencies to Bermuda, Barbados, St Lucia and Port of Spain but is scrapping Gatwick services to four Spanish destinations – Alicante, Palma, Madrid and Barcelona – as well as to Malta and Krakow and the airline will only fly to Varna in Bulgaria from Gatwick during the summer months. Pisa, Malaga and Gibraltar services will also move from Gatwick to Heathrow for winter 2009.

Staff of Virgin Atlantic are to be given a two-week bonus to celebrate the airline's 25th anniversary, Sir Richard Branson has announced. The 8,500 employees are also to get two free tickets to fly anywhere on the airline's network as a 'birthday bonus' for loyal service after quarter of a century.

On its 25th anniversary, Virgin Atlantic revealed that it has placed an order for new long-haul aircraft with Airbus. The deal involves the acquisition of 10 Airbus A330-300s, at a value of more than $2 billion. Five of the 270-seat planes will be delivered in 2011, and the remaining five are scheduled for 2012.

Ryanair is considering banning check-in luggage as part of a new system where passengers would have to carry their bags all the way to the tarmac beside the aircraft. CEO Michael O'Leary detailed proposals where customers would pass all of their bags through security checks, currently used just for hand luggage, and then carry them through terminals to their flight. The budget airline says the plans could save €20m, through not paying baggage handlers, which would then be passed on to consumers. However, there is no timeline on when the plans could be introduced, nor what airports the system could operate in.

Lufthansa has paid Sir Michael Bishop £175 million for his 50% plus one share stake in BMI, ending a long-running dispute between the airline and the BMI chairman.

Air France and Delta Air Lines are pleased to offer business travellers who fly on their non-stop flights from Heathrow and Edinburgh to New York a complimentary chauffeur service to and from both airports until 31 August 2009

This summer you can experience the beautiful islands of the archipelago, for free! You willl receive an Island Hopper Card, valid for 5 days, to enjoy the beautiful sandy beaches, quaint restaurants and captivating landscapes. The Stockholm archipelago is one of the world's most spectacular. Stretching 80 kilometres east of the city, the archipelago comprises 30 000 islands, islets and rocks.
An ideal summer break. All you need to do is book a return SAS ticket to Stockholm to travel between 1 Aug and 30 Sep 2009. When you arrive at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, the SAS ticket/ itinerary must be presented at The Visitor Centre in Terminal 5 and you will receive the free card. The Visitor Centre is open 7 days a week, from 6am to Midnight. A deposit of SEK 40 must be paid when you pick up the card. The deposit is reimbursed when the card is returned to any of the boat company terminals or onboard the boats or at the Arlanda Visitor Centre.

EasyJet will launch three new routes from Manchester this winter. On October 29, it will start flying three times a week from Manchester to Marrakech and on November 6 it will start a six-times-a-week service to Copenhagen and a four-times-a-week service to Munich. In the meanwhile, Easyjet claims that travellers using Gatwick are being ripped off. The airline has been told that its application has been rejected for a judicial review of the 50% increase in take-off and landing fees at Gatwick. The carrier, which has said it will appeal the ruling, argued that the CAA acted unlawfully in granting the rise in fees to Gatwick's operator, BAA. The ruling came as BAA admitted it will make £73 million more in profits than expected from Gatwick this year because it has so far failed to sell the business as instructed by the Competition Commission.

A new airline launches at London Luton Airport on Thursday, operating flights to Forli in Italy. Wind Jet will fly twice weekly to and from Forli Airport which provides access to Ravenna, Rimini and San Marino and flights are timed to provide onward flight connections to both Catania and Palermo in Sicily.

Edinburgh-based premium passengers looking to fly on Emirates’ service from Newcastle to Dubai can now take advantage of the free chauffeur drive option. The service has now been extended to business class passengers living or working within “EH” Edinburgh postcodes. Emirates operates daily flights from both Glasgow and Newcastle to Dubai.

Israeli flag-carrier El Al is to be among the beneficiaries of an agreement between the Israeli Government and Elbit Systems to supply laser-based anti-missile equipment for commercial aircraft.

Virgin Atlantic has launched a website aimed at creating an online community of passionate travellers. The site, www.vtravelled.com features a series of widgets aimed at convincing travellers to contribute ideas and reviews to the site, including guidance on how other travellers’ experiences match their own, and Google Maps mashups. It also features guides on hundreds of cities, beaches, ski resorts and national parks, as well as attempting to make it easy to create, plan and share travel ideas.

Over two thirds of business travellers believe the customer experience at Heathrow is improving, according to a recent survey. With T5 having settled down after its chaotic unveiling, and refurbishments continuing at Heathrow’s other terminals, nearly seven out of ten business travellers said that they felt the customer experience at the airport is improving. The news comes as BAA unveils a new “brand identity” for Heathrow, aimed at promoting the airport as “Europe’s hub of choice”. The new branding focuses on Heathrow’s global connections, as well as the shopping and eating experience at the airport, and will be accompanied by an advertising campaign with the strapline “Making every journey better”.

Figures released by OAG, a leading aviation data business, show a startling fall in the number of flights and available seats on services to and from the UK. Airlines have severely cutback both frequencies and destinations served in a bid to survive the current economic downturn. Frequencies and capacity within the UK for April were down year on year by 13% and 14% respectively, representing a drop of 5,078 flights and 476,000 seats. Airlines scheduled 33,783 domestic UK flights in April; the last time the April figures for the UK were lower than this was in 2001. International services to and from the UK were down by 10% (11,237 fewer flights) with a 9% fall in capacity, or 1.6 million fewer seats. The UK low cost sector is not escaping the cutbacks, with a 16% drop in domestic services and seat capacity. Internationally, no-frills airlines have scheduled 4,887 fewer flights to/from the UK with 12% reduction in capacity or 853,000 fewer seats.Globally the world’s airlines scheduled 6% fewer flights in April 2009 compared with the same month last year, with a 3% drop in seat capacity.

 

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced international scheduled traffic results for May showing passenger demand declining 9.3% compared to the same month in previous year while freight demand was down by 17.4%. International passenger load factors stood at 71.2%, down from 74.5% recorded in May 2008. International passenger demand weakened from the -3.1% recorded in April to -9.3% in May. May was the first full month to feel the impact of the Influenza A(H1N1) on travel. Mexican carriers saw their traffic fall almost 40% in May. Latin American carriers saw their traffic decline by 9.2% in May compared to the previous year.

Asia Pacific carriers recorded a 14.3% fall in demand.

North American carriers posted a 10.9% fall in passenger demand.
European carriers, in additional to weak long-haul markets, saw some loss of market share to European low cost carriers whose traffic grew by 2.1%, while the network carriers reported a 9.4% decline.
African carriers saw a slight improvement of a 6.0% fall in demand in May, compared to a 7.1% decline in April.
Middle Eastern carriers bucked the declining trend with 9.5% growth in demand and a 14.5% expansion of capacity.

East Midlands Trains has opened a new lounge for passengers travelling in first class from Nottingham train station. The First Lounge provides free wifi internet access, newspapers, drinks and snacks. East Midlands Trains is also to refurbish its High Speed Train (HST) fleet, including new interior decor and seat power points in first class. The £9m refurbishment programme will see seat covers and carpets being replaced throughout the operator’s fleet of 11 HSTs, as well as seat power points in first class, a new “fresh and bright” interior decor, and exteriors painted in the East Midlands livery. The trains will also have “extensive modification work to ensure they are running as efficiently and reliably as possible”. East Midlands Trains operates high-speed long distance services from London St Pancras to Sheffield, Derby and Nottingham. A total of 94 carriages will be refurbished and the programme is scheduled to take 13 months to complete.

Holiday Inn Express is to open its largest hotel in Europe in 2011, with the announcement of a part conversion / part new-build property close to Heathrow’s T5. The Holiday Inn Express London Heathrow Terminal 5 will see the redevelopment of the existing 128-room Quality Hotel Heathrow located on London Road, close to junction 5 of the M4 and around 4.5 miles from the terminal. The hotel will open in two phases, with 125 rooms due to be completed in May 2010, and a further 175 rooms to follow by May 2011. Once finished the 300-room property will be the largest Holiday Inn Express hotel in Europe.

Hyatt Hotels and Resorts has opened its first property in Saudi Arabia, the Park Hyatt Jeddah – Marina Club and Spa.

The 142-bedroom five-star property is set amid landscaped gardens on the Corniche of Jeddah, with views of the Red Sea and the 1,000-foot-high King Fahd fountain.

Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal is to open his first London restaurant next year, at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park.

Hotel group City Inn is to open a 333-room propety in Leeds next month, its sixth UK hotel. The 13-storey new-build property overlooks the River Aire and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Room features include floor to ceiling windows, Apple iMacs in every room, free wifi, and an air-conditioning system which City Inn says pumps 30 per cent more fresh air than standard systems. There will be canal side dining at City Cafe, as well as meeting rooms on the same level, and the Skylounge, offering 360-degree views of the city and a rooftop terrace.

Demand for hotels in London last month was among the highest in Europe, the latest figures have revealed. London was one of the only European cities in May to see growth in occupancy of 1.5% year-on-year, exceeding the 80% mark.

Concerns about the economy and personal finances have European workers rethinking holiday plans, according to a recent survey. Thirty-six percent of employed workers in Europe reported they are not planning to take a holiday in 2009, similar to findings reported by US workers in a separate survey. Of those not planning to take a holiday, 41 percent of European workers said they simply can't afford it, while another 10 percent are worried about taking days away from the office in an economy where so many jobs have been lost.

Tourists flock to see 1,500 Philippine inmates perform Jackson tribute More than 1,500 Philippine inmates at a maximum security prison on Saturday performed a Michael Jackson tribute for the public with a dance routine that has become a global Internet hit. Hundreds of spectators arrived at the jail to see the convicts, including murderers and drug-traffickers, put on the show two days after the music icon collapsed and died.