Welcome

8th February 2010

In this issue:

• Travellers' Friend news
• The latest on BA
• General airline news
• Win a million miles
• easyJet and the Pope
• Airplane makers see continued slump
•  Gatwick's new stakeholders
• The world's most expensive cities
• Visas for Burundi

Sally Cashman left us last Friday to begin her maternity leave.  Sally hopes to return in November.

Leah Stallion has joined our team.  Leah has been running her own home-based travel consultancy for the last year prio to which he was with Hogg Robinson and American Express with impant responsibilty for accounts such as Merrill Lynch and being part of the emergency travel team at Amex.

Biritish Airways has urged agents to “stick with us” rather than switch to other airlines because of uncertainty over a threatened strike by cabin crew. Agents have reported clients asking to fly with alternative carriers since the threat of a strike emerged before Christmas and the airline appealed for agents to stand by BA in the face of what was said to be was an attack on the whole industry by Unite, which was ignoring the airline’s financial difficulties. The appeal has had a mixed response from agents with the general vview being that some customers specifically asked not to travel with BA and agents must follow the customer's wishes. Premium customers were also now asking not to travel with the airline because strike fears were outweighing their desire to earn frequent flyer points. British Airways made a pre-tax loss of £50m in the three months to December 2009. This was down from the £122m it lost in the same period in 2008 and smaller than many analysts had expected.  However, BA's pre-tax loss in the nine months to December rose to £342m from £70m in the same period in 2008.  

Flybe, has handed over a cheque for £153,373 to Cancer Research UK representing the amount raised by its passengers and staff over the past year.

easyJet has launched its first new routes of 2010, including Gatwick to Hamburg and Dusseldorf. In the next six months, easyJet is set to launch over 70 new routes across its European network. This means the airline will now offer a choice of over 500 routes connecting nearly 120 key airports in 28 countries across Europe, North Africa and Middle East.

In December 2009, British Airways launched winter season flights to Innsbruck from Gatwick but because of its popularity, British Airways is already considering the possibility of flying to the city throughout the year.

British Airways is to make “tactical cancellations” on its service between London and Sydney via Singapore during the next few months, reflecting “weak demand” on the route. There has long been speculation over BA’s services to Australia with the route coming under increasing pressure with the launch of flights to Australia by Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways and with Singapore Airlines serving both Sydney and Melbourne with its A380 superjumbo.

Ryanair has announced that it will open three new sun routes from London Stansted to Fez (Morocco), Figari (Corsica) and Fuerteventura (Canary Islands) in May

Brazilian carrier TAM has added first class to flights between London and Sao Paulo ahead of its inauguration into Star Alliance later this year. The first class seat features a fully flat bed in a 1-2-1 layout, with a pitch of 81 inches, width of 18 inches, and a flat bed length of 75 inches. Other features include a 23-inch TV screen and laptop power points, while in-flight food has been devised by Brazilian chef Helena Rizzo of the award-winning restaurant Mani in Sao Paulo. Passengers will also enjoy complimentary chauffeur-drive transfer to and from Heathrow, within a 65 miles radius of the airport. It is believed that TAM will move from its current home at Heathrow T4, to join the majority of the other Star Alliance carriers at T1 when it joins the fold.

British Airways is offering one lucky Executive Club member the chance to win one million miles and a year’s Gold membership. The promotion be accessed at ba.com/bamillionaire.  To be in with a chance of winning you will need to be a member of BA's Executive club, be over 18 and based in the UK, and complete the form by midnight tomorrow. BA says that one million miles is enough for an annual flight in economy to the USA or Caribbean for the next twenty years, or six trips to the Far East in business class.

Easyjet has offered the Pope free return tickets from Rome to the UK for his forthcoming visit, following reports the trip is expected to cost the Vatican and UK tax payer £20m.  In a tongue-in-cheek press release Easyjet says that “his holiness will be able to check in online, take advantage of the airline’s generous hand baggage allowance, sit back and enjoy the excellent customer service from our friendly cabin crew”. The carrier adds that it “will also include free speedy boarding, to enable his holiness to be amongst the first to board the aircraft and have a choice of seats”.  Easyjet says that it has contacted “the Holy Press Office in Rome to extend the invitation and is currently awaiting a response”.

Airbus and Boeing, the world’s two biggest planemakers, agree that they expect a demand slump to continue for at least two more years as airlines pare growth following a record drop in air travel.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is to buy a 15 per cent stake in Gatwick Airport for £125 million. The purchasecomes in the same week as South Korea’s National Pension Service bought a 12 per cent stake in the airport for £100 million.

A new pay-as-you-visit business lounge has opened at Stansted. Located in satellite three, opposite the Ryanair departure gates, the lounge costs GBP17.50 per visit and offers all the traditional benefits of free Wi-Fi, a bar, freshly prepared food, business facilities, newspapers and magazines. The lounge is designed to accommodate up to 50.

According to survey conducted by HRG,  an international corporate travel services company, average room rates fell in most cities last year as hoteliers sought to entice travellers during the financial downturn with cut-price deals however for British travellers the falling value of the pound during 2009 meant that the cost of hotels in many cities actually increased. Average room rates in London fell by five per cent to £151.45, placing the capital in 29th position on the list of the most expensive cities.

Burundi has apparently changed their entry policy to the country for foreign visitors, now demanding that every visitor obtains a visa through a Burundi diplomatic mission first before flying into Bujumbura.