Business Traveller magazine: relevant articles

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This weeks' articles - 17 February

Security delays at Heathrow

Passengers flying from Heathrow must allow extra time to complete pre-flight checks following the introduction of new security measures.
Airport operator BAA introduced the measures a couple of weeks ago and readers have reported severe delays; in a couple of cases it has taken over an hour to clear the security checkpoints. It's especially problematic at Terminal 4 which handles mainly British Airways' flights.

All airlines are now advising passengers to turn up earlier than usual until the new system beds down.

Says a spokesperson for BA: "We suggest passengers arrive two hours before and carry a minimum amount of hand luggage. It's advisable to use online check-in where possible. This situation is not within the control of British Airways."

According to a BAA spokesperson: "The new procedures are ongoing and we're looking at implementing them on a wider scale once we get the infrastructure right.

"I admit we had difficulties last weekend because it coincided with school half-term. We've also found it is taking longer to scan hand luggage because travellers are tending to take bulkier items on board."

The spokesperson added: "The situation is getting better as we work hard to fix it and now we're asking that once passengers check in, they go straight to the security checkpoints rather than hang around. We're hoping it won't be a long-term problem.

"To speed matters up we suggest that travellers get ready to take their laptops out of their bags, that they minimise hand luggage and that they consider taking off their belts."

The new security checks are currently operated only at Heathrow. They do not affect BAA's other UK airports.

For more information go to BAA website.

Report by Alex McWhirter


Business class fares to India tumble by 50 per cent

What a difference a year makes. Last year UK executives heading for India were paying high prices for their business class flights – always assuming they could get a seat.
Rigid governmental controls on the number of airlines and flights allowed to fly between the UK and India created a seat shortage. Which was good news for the limited number of carriers plying the routes to Mumbai and Delhi (because high fares mean healthy profits) but bad news for the travelling public because ticket prices were kept high.

But liberalisation last spring allowed existing carriers to add extra flights. It also enabled newcomers like Bmi, Jet Airways and Air Sahara to enter the market. The resulting seat glut has led to business class fares, both by direct and indirect carriers, tumbling by 50 per cent.

When Business Traveller checked fares to Mumbai and Delhi for travel in the next few weeks, we discovered that business class tickets can cost as little as £782 return.

That deal was being offered by Airline Network and included flights with Air Sahara between Heathrow and Delhi. But other options included KLM for £1,240, Lufthansa for £1,494 or Qatar Airways for £1,520.

Online agent Travelocity had rates of £1,214 with Air France or £1,218 with Alitalia. Non-stop flights with Jet Airways were on offer at £1,418, which is great value when you consider that Jet provides fully lie-flat beds.

Similar savings were available on the Mumbai route with Swiss having a mouth-watering rate of £1,162 while Bmi's website quoted around £1,730. Jet Airways was priced at £1,394 through Airline Network.

Their stronger brand identities enable BA and Virgin Atlantic to continue charging the normal rates of around £3,000 return. But if you can book 21 days ahead (and no later than March 10) and depart by March 31 then you'll qualify for Virgin Atlantic's current £1,277 seat sale offer.

For more information go to Airline Network, Travelocity UK, Swiss, Fly Bmi, Virgin Atlantic.

Report by Alex McWhirter


Emirates to serve Perth double daily

Emirates is making it easier and cheaper for premium fare passengers to reach Perth in Western Australia. The Dubai-based carrier already flies once a day between its home and Perth. But from March 2 it will operate an additional four flights a week, rising to daily from September 2.

The additional flights are being operated by an Airbus A340-300 with 12 first, 42 business and 213 economy class seats. Flight EK424 will operate every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday departing Dubai at 09.25 and arriving into Perth at 00.10 the next day. The return service EK425 departs Perth every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 06.30 to reach Dubai at 13.45. From September 2, the A340-300 will be replaced by a B777 with similar capacity in first and business class.

The new services have good connections for UK passengers. Emirates' overnight flights to Dubai from Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham and Manchester link with EK424. Once flight EK425 lands in Dubai there are onward transfer possibilities to Birmingham, Gatwick and Heathrow.

Overall flight times with Emirates via Dubai are only a little longer than if you were to take the main alternatives: SIA, British Airways or Qantas via Singapore. But Emirates more than compensates with keener pricing.

For travel in March, agent Airline Network is charging £2,378 for a return business class ticket with Emirates compared with prices of £3,746 with SIA and £3,852 with BA and Qantas. When it comes to first class, Airline Network quotes £3,778 with Emirates as against £6,398 with BA/Qantas (the agent has no first class deals with SIA).

The extra flights to Perth strengthen Emirates' grip on the kangaroo route. The carrier currently operates 42 flights a week between Dubai and the Australian gateways of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.

In other news, Emirates is wooing premium fare passengers departing Sydney and Perth with upgraded airport lounges. It has just splashed out A$4.5 million (£1.89 million) on new first and business class lounges at both airports. Both are modelled on the existing facilities at Dubai. Of the two, the Sydney lounge is more spacious being 880 square metres in size with room for 160 guests. The Perth facility is 582 square metres with space for 106 passengers. Both provide a business centre with individual workstations along with a dining room.

For more information go to Emirates.

Report by Alex McWhirter


Cathay Pacific postpones Manchester-Hong Kong

Aeropolitics have caused Cathay Pacific to postpone its much-awaited Manchester to Hong Kong route.
The three times weekly direct service had been scheduled to start on March 27 with flights making an en route stop at Moscow. Cathay Pacific had decided on this routing in order to spread its risks; the carrier maintains that a non-stop Manchester-Hong Kong would not have been profitable.

Business people in the Northwest of England had welcomed the new service, which would have been Manchester's sole direct link with Moscow and Hong Kong.

Says a spokesperson for Cathay Pacific: "We've had to delay the route launch because we continue to await the completion of regulatory formalities regarding Manchester which are taking longer than originally anticipated. Cathay Pacific hopes to begin the service later in the year."

Industry insiders believe that Cathay Pacific hasn't been able to obtain traffic rights between Manchester and Moscow. Countries exchange traffic rights on the basis of equal opportunity and, as an airline of a third country, Cathay would have to persuade the aviation bodies in the UK and Russia for the right to fly customers between Manchester and Moscow.

Cathay Pacific says that passengers who have already made bookings for the new service will be accommodated on alternative flights via London. It says that passengers flying between Hong Kong and Moscow or vice versa can use existing code-shared flights. But bear in mind that these are operated by Aeroflot (using a B767) rather than Cathay Pacific.

Air routes between Moscow and Southeast Asia are currently under-served, with Thai Airways the only Southeast Asian carrier flying to Moscow. It operates a number of flights to Bangkok with onward regional connections. However, SIA will begin flying Moscow-Dubai-Singapore three times weekly from March 1 (see Online news, January 17).

For more information go to Cathay Pacific.

Report by Alex McWhirter


Kempinski opens in St Petersburg

Luxury German hotel group Kempinski has found a replacement property for the hotel it used to manage in St Petersburg, Russia.
The five-star European chain once managed the Grand Hotel Europe, now an Orient-Express Hotel, and now has the new 183-room Kempinski Moika. The hotel is located on the Moika River, opposite the famous Hermitage Museum and close to other major sites. Nevsky Prospect, the city's main commercial street, is a two-minute walk away.

The Kempinski is constructed around a 19th century building dating back to 1852. Only the facade has been retained; the rest of the building is totally new. Introductory room rates are being offered (subject to availability) when the hotel opens next week (Wednesday, February 22), lasting until the end of March.

Business rooms (20 square metres in size) are on offer for the promotional price of Euros 132 as against the usual price of Euros 235. Superior rooms (26 square metres) will cost Euros 150 (Euros 275 normally) while Deluxe rooms (30 square metres) are priced at Euros 204 (Euros 320). Atrium suites (42 square metres) cost either Euros 291 or Euros 312 (Euros 455 to 485 usually).

Contact Kempinski Hotel Moika, Moika River Embankment 22, 191186 St Petersburg, tel +7 812 3359111. For more information go to Kepinski.

Report by Alex McWhirter


SkyEurope to set up shop in Prague

Prague is poised to receive a boost in low-cost air service. Starting in spring, Slovakian budget airline SkyEurope will base two planes in the Czech capital and launch flights to seven destinations in mainland Europe.
The new services starting on April 10 cover Amsterdam (daily), Barcelona (four times a week), Paris Orly (daily), Milan Bergamo (daily) and Rome Fiumicino (daily). In addition, there will be a three times weekly service to Nice on April 11 followed by a twice weekly flight to Naples on April 13.

Tickets are priced in Czech Koruna and are extremely inexpensive in comparison with rates in Western Europe when you consider they include taxes and charges. Lead-in prices for return tickets from Prague to Paris start at £40 (Czk 1,682) with tickets to Amsterdam at £42 (Czk 1,781) and Barcelona just £29 (Czk 1,208).

Local airlines currently operating out of Prague are Czech airline CSA and budget carrier Smart Wings.

But it's not all good news. SkyEurope is making room for these new services by withdrawing from the competitive Polish market. From the end of the winter timetable it will scrap flights from Warsaw to London Stansted and Bratislava. It will also abandon plans to operate from Krakow to Stockholm and Bologna.

For more information go to SkyEurope. For a review of SkyEurope, see the upcoming March edition of Business Traveller magazine.

Report by Alex McWhirter

 

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This weeks' articles - 24 February

Bmi on the up again

Nigel Turner, CEO of Bmi has answered the airline's critics in emphatic terms this week. Speaking exclusively with Business Traveller, Turner hit back at critics – both in the media and a small but vocal core of Bmi's customers, who have found fault in the airline's new direction, first unveiled last year.

"Bmi is on the up again," he says. "We recovered last year and we're recovering more this year as we refine our business model."
The latest modifications to Bmi's offering came in January with the carrier introducing online check-in. "Online check-in has taken off," says Turner, "without any publicity we're now finding that three per cent of passengers check-in online and by the end of the year we reckon that 20% of passengers will be using this service."

The airline also has a new "fare families" price display where passengers can see all the different fares available on a chosen flight. The carrier's first business model launched in August last year was unpopular with many passengers, who resented the scrapping of business class on most short-haul routes to and from Heathrow and the loss of free food and drinks on most services within Europe. They also disagreed with Bmi's new policy of refusing to through-check baggage at Heathrow when passengers were travelling on separate tickets as a cost-cutting ruse.

Nigel Turner believes that the airline's motives have been misunderstood. "We surveyed our passengers and they told us what they wanted from a short-haul airline. Besides wanting to speed through the airport, they wanted an efficient, friendly, safe and punctual carrier. They also wanted choices, in other words the choice of whether or not to buy food on board."

"Food is no longer free, but for those who do want to buy food, there's now a wider choice. People assumed that we'd become a low-cost airline simply because we had stopped serving free food. But the differences between us and the low-cost carriers are immense, not least since 50% of our flying [short and long-haul] retains business class and we have lounges. We also give passengers the choice of whether or not you want to through check baggage depending on the ticket or tickets you buy. Through baggage checking costs money particularly when connections are missed and the luggage has to be sent on separately."

It is on punctuality that Turner is most proud. "We've invested millions of pounds in pre-planning and systems and I can now say our performance is head and shoulders above our main rival."

The changes haven't finished for the airline: "It's a competitive world so we will introduce the next business model in April with further enhancements allowing passengers to buy more frills." Though Turner said there were no plans for charging passengers for baggage checking for "the foreseeable future."

In other news, Bmi says it will scrap Heathrow to Milan Linate and Madrid from the start of the summer schedule because the once daily flights can't compete with rivals' more frequent schedules.

Bmi is also keen to start flights to Moscow. Bmi has received UK government approval but approval from the Russian end is also required and so far this hasn't been forthcoming.

A new three times a week Heathrow-Jeddah service gets under way on May 18. It will complement the existing Heathrow-Riyadh service. Both cities will be served by a B767 (leased from the Dutch airline) configured for business and economy class. The Premium (economy) cabin will be dropped from the Saudi services owing to lack of demand.

Other long-haul developments include the Heathrow-Mumbai service upgraded to daily from April with a new Heathrow-Doha link launched this summer in conjunction with Qatar Airways.

For more information go to Bmi website

Report by Alex McWhirter


Easyjet launches online check-in

Easyjet has pipped Ryanair to the post by becoming the first budget airline to offer online check-in [Ryanair's online check-in system begins on March 16 - see Ryanair takes low-cost travel a step further]. It means that passengers can check-in from their home or office, print their own boarding passes and if carrying hand baggage can go straight to the gate once they reach the airport. Easyjet claims that online passengers needn't reach the gate until 15 minutes before flight departure.

Until now passengers have usually had to stand in line even if they had no bags to check-in. The online system has been trialled since early February. So far it's available on all routes from London Stansted, London Gatwick and Edinburgh airports, and Easyjet is in the process of rolling-out the service to customers across the UK. By April, 90% of Uk passengers should be able to take advantage of online check-in.

Other recent innovations of interest to business travelers include: no weight limit for hand baggage [although a size limit applies], self-service check-in kiosks and "early bird transfers" where passengers who arrive early can be switched to an earlier flight.

These will soon to be followed by a 'speedy boarding' trial, where Easyjet will charge passengers a small fee should they wish to be amongst the first to board the planes.

For more information go to Easyjet website

Report by Alex McWhirter


SAS begins fitting new business class seats

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has begun rolling out new long-haul business class seating on various routes from Copenhagen to Asia and the US.

Manufactured by UK firm Contour, the lie-flat style seating provides 61 inches of seat pitch, a 74 inch bed and 79 inches of living space. By comparison the existing seats feature 50 inches of seat pitch and only 50 inches of living space. And, of course, there's no bed feature.

Seat cushion width is roughly the same at 20 inches (it extends to 23 inches between the armrests when the seat reclines) but the angle of recline is far more generous at 170 as against 135 degrees for the current model. There's a 10.4 inch seat back video screen with video and audio on demand some two inches larger than the present one attached to the centre console.

Because the new seating is more spacious, SAS is having to reduce the business class seat count. On the four-engined A340s (which tend to operate to Asia) the number of seats is being cut from 60 (formerly 54 regular and six sleeper seats) to 46 of the new seats. With the twin-engined A330 (which usually serve the US) the seat count falls from 54 to 34.

SAS says that one plane already has the new seats and it's currently in service on the Copenhagen-Seattle run. The second plane with the new seating is expected to enter the Copenhagen-Beijing route later this week. During March, the new seats will begin to appear on flights linking Copenhagen with Tokyo, Shanghai, Bangkok and Singapore.

Smart travel agents can identify the relevant flights by checking the business class layout on any particular service. But bear in mind that airlines are known to make last minute plane changes (and replacement craft may not have the new seating).

SAS offers connections at Copenhagen for UK passengers departing London Heathrow, City, Birmingham and Manchester. In particular its Asian flights provide competitive journey times as Scandinavia is located on the "Great Circle" route.

For more information go to SAS website

Report by Alex McWhirter


Lufthansa adds Stuttgart from LCY

Lufthansa is expanding at London's convenient City airport. On March 26, the German airline is launching a new route to Stuttgart and increasing flight frequency to both Dusseldorf and Frankfurt.

Stuttgart and its surrounding region is an economic success story with multi-national firms and pioneering SMEs. It's also the gateway to the Black Forest region.

Flight LH2725 departs City at 14.40 to reach Stuttgart at 17.45. The inbound service leaves at 12.50 and arrives in City at 14.10. Services are operated by Lufthansa partner Contact Air using an ATR turbo-prop. These timings may not be ideal for everyone but passengers can mix and match flights with existing schedules to and from Heathrow. Tickets start at £75 return.

In addition, Lufthansa will operate new Saturday morning and Sunday lunchtime services to Frankfurt. It will also add an afternoon service to Dusseldorf. These will compliment the existing early and late schedules on both routes.

Lufthansa's announcement follows the recent launch of two other new routes from City. On January 30, regional carrier Eastern Airways inaugurated a four times a day domestic service to Newcastle while on February 13 SAS began a twice daily service to Stockholm Arlanda.

In other news, London City says that its shuttle bus links to Liverpool Street and Canary Wharf will cease from Friday March 3 because of falling demand. The airport says that the new DLR rail service (with journey times of 14 minutes to Canary Wharf and 22 minutes to Bank in the City of London) has proved very popular with passengers.

For more information go to www.lufthansa.co.uk]LH UK website[/url] or LCY website

Report by Alex McWhirter


Lower transatlantic business class fares from Air France

Air France has rejigged its transatlantic business class fares and brought in lower prices for travellers prepared to book well ahead. The deals are now available for online booking.
Return prices from London and UK regional airports via Paris CDG start from £1,226 for Boston, £1,516 for Chicago, £1,526 for Detroit, £1,626 for Los Angeles and San Francisco, £1,226 for New York JFK and Newark along with £1,226 for Washington DC. These rates are keenly priced compared with rates offered by rival airlines.

A particular advantage is that regional passengers flying Air France can depart from their local airport. So in addition to London Heathrow (and a once daily link from London City to CDG) the French carrier offers connections from Southampton, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Air France's new lie-flat style seating (now fitted to many B777s and a number of A330s and A340s) features on selected flights on all these routes with the exception of New York JFK and Washington DC.

But passengers must book weeks ahead to get the best prices. When Business Traveller tried booking a return ticket from Southampton to New York over the next few weeks the cheapest fare available was £1,826. Only when we specified dates in April did the price fall to £1,226.

If further encouragement to use Charles de Gaulle as your hub were needed, the security queues at Heathrow Terminal 4 show little sign of improving. Reports from readers this week continue to highlight delays of up to an hour clearing security. Once again one of the four scanning machines was not in use, with BAA security staff confirming that though it was working, there were not enough staff available to operate it.

BAA told Businesstraveller.com "Supervisors are monitoring the situation constantly, and making decisions with regard to resourcing. Machines can be out of action for a short time, but we are doing everything we can to minimise delays.". The advice for business travellers for the moment is that even if you are checking in online and have hand luggage only, allow plenty of time.

For more information go to AF UK website

Report by Alex McWhirter


Marriott Rewards get personal

US chain Marriott is seeking to provide a more personalised experience for the 22 million members of its Rewards' loyalty scheme. The mammoth global company hopes to offer the sort of attention they might expect to receive when staying at a boutique or a property tied to a smaller hotel chain.

Says Ed French, Marriott's senior VP customer relationship marketing, "We recognise that our guests want their personal preferences met when they stay with us [so the chain is now storing guest preferences on its data base] but this information is only what our members input themselves and we only record things that both we and our guests believe will benefit them."

Rewards' members have the possibility of earning points and making stays at 2,600 branded Marriott properties around the world. Guest preferences logged in the system might include features like room or bed type, whether or not extra pillows or towels are required and even the choice of daily newspaper.

In addition at 400 of the more important Marriott hotels around the world, Rewards' members are offered use of a "Virtual Concierge" after making their booking. It enables them to fine tune their visit in advance by, for example, ordering room service ahead or making a dinner reservation. Members could also arrange for car service while guests travelling on leisure could order a roll-away bed or request a connecting room.

Marriott Rewards is free to join. Members earn points or airline miles when staying at eight Marriott brands. Besides the core brand, these include JW Marriott, Renaissance and Courtyard.

For more information go to Marriott Rewards website

Report by Alex McWhirter

 

[BlacKnox]

This weeks' articles - 24 February

Bmi on the up again

Nigel Turner, CEO of Bmi has answered the airline's critics in emphatic terms this week.

Go get 'em Nigel :wink: .

Speaking exclusively with Business Traveller, Turner hit back at critics – both in the media and a small but vocal core of Bmi's customers...

Sounds like Aisle Seat H and a few other FTs .

Lindsay Wilson would you consider making a part II of this thread - it's getting longer than the toilet lines at Flemington on Cup day :idea: .

 

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This weeks' articles - 3 March

Added options at ba.com

British Airways (BA) has finally added an "open jaw" and multiple flight function to its booking website ba.com.
It means that passengers can now book two one-way flights when returning from a different destination (for example, fly out to Hamburg and return from Berlin) and still benefit from the best available price. It also means that passengers wishing to book a multi-sector trip can now book all the flights simultaneously.

"Customers have been asking for these features for some time," says a BA spokesperson, "and we've been working on it. We expect them to be very popular."

So BA has finally solved the anomalous situation where passengers could book BA open jaws and multiple sectors when using online agents like expedia.com and Travelocity.com but not direct with ba.com.

The multiple flight booking function will assist passengers based in the regions heading overseas because a change of plane is usually required in London. It will also help passengers flying, say, from London to Sydney who wish to break their journeys in Bangkok or Singapore.

But the airline points out that all flights must bear a pure BA or BA code-share flight number. The multiple flight function cannot handle non-BA flights even if the airline in question is a member of the Oneworld alliance.

For more information go to BA website

Report by Alex McWhirter


New business class seat for Finnair

Finnair has begun installing more spacious and comfortable business class seats throughout its long-haul fleet. The Helsinki-based airline has already fitted the new lie-flat style seating to a couple of its seven-strong fleet of MD-11 tri-jets. The entire fleet is expected to acquire the new seating by early June.

Spacing between the seats will increase from the current 50 inches to 63 inches and passengers can stretch out even if they are six feet, seven inches tall. But although the French-made seats have a steep angle of recline they are not of the flat bed type featured by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand. To find the space for the new accommodation the seat count is being reduced from 42 to 36 seats.

Finnair says a further benefit is that the seat back doesn't tilt back into the next passenger's space. Instead it adjusts into positions for work and rest. There is storage space for a laptop (a power point is provided) and for magazines.

The airline says its MD-11s are used across its long-haul network so you can expect to find them on any route. Finnair's long distance network is biased towards Asia. New York is the sole US city it serves. Other destinations in the Far East served from Helsinki are: Tokyo, Osaka, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Bangkok and Singapore.

According to a Finnair spokesperson, "Passengers who are keen to try the new seats have to check one or two weeks ahead. That is when our planning department will have decided on which route(s) each MD-11 will be rostered."

UK passengers can depart Finnair from Heathrow, Manchester and (from next month) Edinburgh and make good connections in Helsinki. The Finnish capital lies on the "Great Circle" route to Asia and so overall flight timings are as good as, if not better than, other European hubs.

For more information go to AY website

Report by Alex McWhirter


Hilton London Tower Bridge

Regular users of London Bridge station can't have failed to notice a newly-built Hilton hotel on adjacent Tooley Street. But you will have to wait until next July before sampling it.

The Hilton London Tower Bridge will provide another first class option for this up-and-coming area with its improved links to the capital's West End, the City and Docklands. It forms part of the More London Place development on the South Bank which faces the Tower of London and lies close to both London Bridge and Tower Bridge.

There will be 245 rooms including 54 executive rooms plus an executive lounge and concierge service. Other features include facilities for fine dining, a business centre, wireless broadband, conference facilities for 400 people and a Living Well Express health club.

London Bridge overground station is served by frequent trains to Kent and Sussex. In addition there are up to four Thameslink trains an hour running through to Gatwick and Luton airports. London Bridge Underground station is served by the Jubilee and Northern lines linking the area with the West End and City. A simple change between the Jubilee and the DLR at Canning Town will quickly deliver you to London's City Airport. The Eurostar terminal at Waterloo is just over a mile away although note that it will be moving to St Pancras sometime during 2007.

Bookings for this new Hilton cannot be made yet but room only rates are expected to lead-in at £179 plus tax. Introductory offers may be available during the summer months so check at the time of booking.

Contact Hilton London Tower Bridge, Tooley Street, London SE1 2SZ, tel +44 (0)20 8828 2118, Hilton website

Report by Alex McWhirter


Gulf airlines arrive in South Africa

Gulf region's airlines are moving into South Africa. As some European carriers either scrap or scale back their flights there, the likes of Emirates, Gulf Air, Qatar Airways and Etihad are stepping in to fill the void.

It's a sobering thought that Emirates now links Dubai with Johannesburg twice a day, the same frequency you would find with British Airways out of Heathrow. Equally Qatar Airways now flies once daily from Doha to Johannesburg which is as often as Lufthansa does from Frankfurt.

Flying between Europe and South Africa means a lengthly side trip, but the routing makes sense because of keen business and first class prices and the ability to break your journey in that region should you wish to do so.

The savings are substantial. Anyone needing to book a London-Johannesburg business class return with British Airways next week would pay upwards of £3,375 with first class priced at £5,997. By contrast, travel agent Trailfinders can sell return business class flights with Emirates for £1,722 in business and £2,486 in first class.

Not all the Gulf carriers can quote through first class fares (because they may not offer first class on the Gulf to South Africa sector) but Trailfinders quotes return business class fares with Etihad (via Abu Dhabi) of just £1,131. It also has a business class companion fare offer (two persons must travel together) of £1,299 with Qatar Airways.

So far all the Gulf carriers, with the sole exception of Qatar Airways, serve only Johannesburg. But Qatar also operates to Cape Town at similar fares to those it charges on the London-Doha-Johannesburg route.

But the Gulf airlines aren't interested solely in the European market. Glance at a map and you'll see the region plays the role of a gateway for the Middle East, Russia, India and the whole of Asia. So if you were flying to Shanghai, Emirates will take you there as efficiently as SIA could via Singapore. Likewise if bound for Delhi, you will find Qatar offers faster connections via Doha than Air India does over Mumbai.

For more information go to: Trailfinders, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Gulf Air

Report by Alex McWhirter


More international flights from Edinburgh

Scottish travellers are set to benefit from new direct links from Edinburgh to the US, Scandinavia and Central Europe this summer.

The most significant new service will be Delta's non-stop link to Atlanta, Georgia which gets under way on June 6. The US carrier will operate a daily service with a B767-300. Flight DL 97 will depart Edinburgh at 13.45 arriving in Atlanta at 17.40. Inbound flight DL96 will leave Atlanta at 20.35 to reach Edinburgh the next morning at 09.45.

Delta's big selling point is the huge range of connections available at Atlanta. It will provide Scottish travellers with onward flights to some 200 US destinations (especially southern states like Florida, Texas plus Phoenix and California to the west) plus other links to Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America.

Starting yesterday (March 1) Danish budget carrier Sterling started a useful service to Copenhagen. For most of March, flights will operate three times a week but from March 27 the service will be stepped up to a six flights a week service. Until now Bmi has been the sole carrier on this route and fares have been costly. When Business Traveller checked the cost of a two day midweek trip between March 7 and March 9 the cheapest Bmi fare was £363. Sterling pledges to undercut these rates.

Sterling will launch another new route. This time it will be a link from Edinburgh to Helsinki which will start on March 27.

Finnair currently routes passengers to Helsinki via Manchester or Heathrow (using BA for the domestic sector) but from April 12 it will begin flying twice weekly non-stop. And on one or both days there are onward connections available to Asia and, in particular, Guangzhou (Canton), Beijing, Shanghai, Osaka, and Bangkok.

From March 27, Polish budget carrier Centralwings begins a three flights a week service to both Gdansk and Katowice. The airline already serves Warsaw from Edinburgh. Finally on April 13, the Slovakian carrier Skyeurope inaugurates a three times a week link to Krakow in southern Poland.

In other news, there are two new business routes soon to get under way from rival Glasgow. Easyjet says it will begin flying to Berlin Schonefeld from Glasgow's main airport on May 3. Meanwhile from Prestwick (30 miles southwest of Glasgow) the Dutch budget carrier Transavia will begin flying to Amsterdam on March 26.

For more information go to: Delta, Stirling, Central Wings, Sky Europe, Easyjet, Transavia, Finnair

Report by Alex McWhirter


MAS poised to cut routes

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is poised to unveil big changes to its network and in-flight product.

In a bid to return to profitability, government-owned MAS says it will scrap poorly performing routes and consider charging for in-flight food. At the same time it will accommodate more passengers on its planes by cutting the size of the business class cabin and squeezing in more economy class seats.

The moves are part of the carrier's new business turnaround plan in which it freely admits its failings. "If nothing is done," claims MAS management, "we are likely to run up losses of £259 million (RM 1.7 billion) this year. Although the government is committed to MAS it will not bail us out."

According to the report presented by managing director Idris Jala, "Government influence has restrained MAS from adopting market disciplines. So although we have award-winning products and services we face rising costs and low productivity. For example, our aircraft have relatively few seats and this drives up costs. [Because we provide more legroom] it means that our B777s seat 247 passengers as against 293 with Singapore Airlines (SIA)."

"MAS loses money on the bulk of its network. Of our 114 international routes (covering Asia, Australasia, the Middle East, Europe plus North and South America) only 48 make a profit. Out of 118 domestic routes only four are in the black."

Although MAS' flights can run heavily booked the carrier isn't earning enough because of weaknesses in the carrier's revenue management and sales divisions.

The airline says that it struggles to attract profitable long-haul business class passengers. Its Kuala Lumpur hub is overshadowed by rival Singapore which has captured the lion's share of the local market. And because MAS isn't a member of an alliance it doesn't benefit from feed traffic (from other alliance members) in the same way as regional rivals SIA, Thai and Cathay Pacific.

Airline sources say that MAS is expected to cut 20% of its international routes including services to Europe and India where it faces stiff competition not just from other European and Asian carriers but also from the emerging Gulf airlines.

From Kuala Lumpur there are MAS services to 12 European cities including London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt and Munich. But not a single one of these routes is profitable. Indeed, the Vienna service alone loses £4.5 million (RM 30 million) a year.

MAS' London office says that timescale and details (of the routes to be cut) is not yet available.

For more information go to MAS website

Report by Alex McWhirter

 

[BlacKnox]

Re: This weeks' articles - 24 February

Lindsay Wilson would you consider making a part II of this thread - it's getting longer than the toilet lines at Flemington on Cup day :idea: .

Ummm, guess that is a no then...

 

[QF WP]

BlacKnox, if I could control when a new page was created (or understood anything about BB's), then I'd have it wrapping to a new page every month. As you were the only one who asked, I was waiting to see if anybody else had similar concerns. Is it worth doing if only one person complains??

If it transpires that it is popular choice, then I'll start a new one for 2006 stories.

 

[BlacKnox]

BlacKnox, if I could control when a new page was created (or understood anything about BB's), then I'd have it wrapping to a new page every month.

That would be great - but so would a Red Rooster in Sapporo.

As you were the only one who asked, I was waiting to see if anybody else had similar concerns. Is it worth doing if only one person complains??

Personally I believe so, IF it has become so long that it takes significantly longer (for everyone) to load/ view/ edit etc than other threads.

If it transpires that it is popular choice, then I'll start a new one for 2006 stories.

Understood, and I appreciate the feedback. It's possible only my (mac & pc) computers are slow. Cheers!

 

[BlacKnox]

It's possible only my (mac & pc) computers are slow. Cheers!

Lindsay Wilson I've just tried loading this thread on a different pc at work - no problems. So probably only me .

 

[QF WP]

That would be great - but so would a Red Rooster in Sapporo

So I shouldn't tell you that I have a local one at Kelvin Grove that I frequent...

Glad to see that you located the problem. Keep me informed if it continues to cause yuo consternation in the future...

 

[BlacKnox]

That would be great - but so would a Red Rooster in Sapporo

So I shouldn't tell you that I have a local one at Kelvin Grove that I frequent...

Yep, know that one too :wink: , but usually visit the one at Sufferer's Paradise.

Glad to see that you located the problem. Keep me informed if it continues to cause yuo consternation in the future...

Yep, sorry about that. Will speak to a techie to try and sort it out .

 

[JohnK]

BlacKnox, if I could control when a new page was created (or understood anything about BB's), then I'd have it wrapping to a new page every month.

Simple mathematics Lindsay. :roll:

There are 25 replies (the length of the reply is irrelevant) per page, including OP, to a thread.

 

[QF WP]

This weeks' articles - 10 March

World exclusive - First review of Etihad's new Boeing 777-300ER cabins

Etihad today introduced its new Boeing 777-300ER two class planes on the Gatwick to Abu Dhabi route. The first of these planes was introduced three weeks ago on the Abu Dhabi to Frankfurt route, so we got onboard to see what UK travellers have in store.

The first surprise when boarding Etihad's new Boeing 777-300ER planes is the seat and its configuration. The formation comprises a total of 378 seats in a two class configuration, business (Pearl) in 1-2-1, and Coral (Economy) in 3-3-3 (as opposed to ten across in Emirates). The business zone has 28 seats made by French company Sogerma, transforming into a 1.85m bed. Most refreshing is the staggered layout, which means that even in a window seat you have direct access to the aisle without having to disturb or step over the person sitting next to you, since they are some way in front and have their own cocoon which does not move forward or back. If you want to sit with a colleague, then it would be best to request seats either side of the aisle, though the footstool doubles as a seat allowing chats during a flight.

At first, the seats feel narrow, partly because of this staggered effect, and partly because there is a gap of several inches between the straight edge of the seat and the curved fuselage of the plane. The seat has a permanent foot rest / seat with some storage space underneath (though not for landing or take off), a permanent 38cm screen in front and very clear quality. Below the TV screen is a sliding hatch containing an Ethernet port for Connexion by Boeing as well as two USB sockets and the yellow, white and red audio and visual sockets. These permit 'Plug & Play', allowing you to plug several different devices (video camera, game console, still camera and portable DVD player) into the RCA plugs. The seat has three positions – upright, relax and bed, as well as the option of lumbar support and various massage options. It also reclines so that the seat area meets the footrest to become a fully flat 1.85m bed. This makes it only the second carrier to offer a horizontal (as opposed to lie-flat bed) to the Gulf region after British Airways, with Virgin Atlantic about to join the fray at the end of this month with its Upper Class product on the London to Dubai route. It also leaves customers waiting for the response from Emirates, which still has its 'old' seat on the London route (though its 'new' one in business is not lie flat or horizontal). Only in the new first class such as that on the Dubai to Sydney route will you be able to be fully horizontal.

Other improvements include mood lighting to create specific ambiences, supposedly to help jetlag, though on this occasion it was impossible to test, this being a daylight flight from Abu Dhabi to Frankfurt with a time change of only 3 hours. There is also a new entertainment system, which after initial confusion, proved useful, with a stated 30 films, 16 hours of TV programming, 24 hours of audio programming, 25 audio CDs and 26 interactive games. For business travellers the main attraction may well be the Connexion by Boeing throughout the plane, as well as the seat power for laptops requiring none of these fancy adaptors, and actually powering the laptop rather than just slowing the rate of discharge from the battery. For daytime flights, it is perfect since the Connexion by Boeing switches on automatically at above 10,000ft, and for a charge (£15.50 for 24 hours) you are fully connected. Several passengers in the business cabin were using voip phones, and I managed a couple of calls without any problems, though cabin noise can mean it is advisable to have headphones and a microphone for this in order to clearly hear the person you are calling.

There are a few teething problems. The table, which folds into the side of the seat in front, is too far away to be really useful for work, and this review was typed with the laptop on my lap, with the table used for holding notes. A steward confirmed that there have been customer comments about this, and perhaps Etihad will respond with a design alteration. The table position is fine for eating, since having to sit forward means avoiding the potential pitfall of rolling individual items of food, complete with sauce down your front. But for prolonged work – the sort envisaged by the seat power and the Connexion by Boeing service, the table is too far forward for comfort. Still, these are quibbles – if only more airlines offered the choice. And you wouldn't have this problem in economy, where the wifi works, and the table is easily close enough, though with a seating configuration of 3-3-3 and a generous seat pitch of 84cm it is hardly cramped.

The food on this flight was particularly good – the same style of menu as out of London, but with better quality and taste, perhaps a reflection of the food being boarded in Etihad's home and its hub? The wine list seems to be consistent, with the same choice on this Abu Dhabi to Frankfurt as we had on the London to Abu Dhabi leg a few days earlier.

Etihad currently has direct flights daily from London Heathrow Terminal 3 to Abu Dhabi, double daily on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It also flies daily from Gatwick North Terminal and, from March 27 will fly daily from Manchester.

Considering that from Abu Dhabi, all passengers, whether economy, business or first can have a complimentary transfer to and from anywhere in the UAE (if pre-booked), then the possibilities for this route are clear with regards to Dubai. At the end of this month Virgin will begin flying direct to Dubai, making a total of over 100 flights weekly from the UK to Dubai and another 24 flights with Etihad to Abu Dhabi. Price competition promises to be fierce, especially since Etihad, as well as purchasing five Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, has also ordered 24 Airbus aircraft – four A340-500s, four A340-600s, 12 A330-200s and, four double-decker A380s.

Report by Tom Otley


Qatar Airways unveils new first class upgrade at ITB

At the ITB travel trade fair this week in Berlin, Qatar Airways unveiled the latest upgrade to its first class product. For those of us wondering how you improve on first class once you've got a flat bed to sleep on and vintage champagne to sip during your waking moments, the new on-board lounge and bar for the new generation Airbus A340-600 may be one answer.

The lounge area means the loss of one row of first class seats so there will only be eight first class passengers, but it does serve to further differentiate Qatar from its high profile competitors in this fast expanding market. As well as having a stand-up bar the lounge has cream leather sofas for comfortable lounging, a teak wooden table for games or snacks and attractive detailing such as a lacquered wood bar, and the burgundy corporate colours of Qatar Airlines in the curtains, carpets and surround of the bar, There is also a brushed metal bar rail, partly for passengers to hold onto, and partly to protect the beautiful finish of the bar from passengers bags, I was told by Stephen Vella, Management Advisor to Qatar Airways.

Qatar, of course, styles itself as a five-star airline, and for first class passengers it certainly is. There's a separate check in, a BMW 7 series to take you directly to the plane, and in the new airport currently being built at Doha, a planned business and first class terminal for passengers, so they need never see economy passengers.

To see just how powerful these Middle East airlines are, consider the fact that immediately after the unveiling in Berlin, HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum and HE Dr. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saif Al Nahyan, the chairmen of Emirates (Dubai) and Etihad (Abu Dhabi) respectively, came over to break bread with Mr Al Baker. Boeing and Airbus executives would no doubt have loved to be sitting at one of the sofas, just to make a few sales pitches.

Qatar alone plans to more than double its fleet from 44 Airbuses (and 69 destinations from Doha) to 100 aircraft in the next 10 years. On order it has 60 Airbus 350s and 20 Boeing 777s with a list price of US$15.2 billion (£8.75 billion), not bad for a country with a population of 800,000. At the end of this month (March 26) it will start flying to Hong Kong, and for markets such as India, it already has 30 flights a week to Delhi, Mumbai, Trivandrum, Hyderbad and Cochin. Manchester is also moving from four flights weekly to daily on March 26.

Is this expansion possible, with Emirates, Gulf and Etihad all buying planes as quickly as they are, and all hoping to be the hubs of the future? I asked Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al Baker just how many Middle Eastern hubs he thought there could be. He smiled and shrugged. "Ten maybe, maybe less. I don't mind, as long as Doha is one of them. We are all growing, and importantly, not at the expense of our neighbours."

Mr Al Baker is also the head of Qatar's tourism authority, as well as several other aviation-related companies, so has a unique view of where both the airline – and his country is heading. The 10 A340-600s are arriving from this summer for the next two years, and are designed to operate long-haul flights into Europe, United States, the Far East and Australia. To take just one market, the number of extra flights going into Paris with Qatar (double daily from next year), Etihad (daily) and Emirates (12 weekly) must be a worry for incumbent Air France. What's sure is that the world is turning, and the new hubs look like they are going to be in the Middle East.

For more information visit Qatar website

Report by Tom Otley


SAS drops Singapore

SAS will no longer serve Singapore from April 1. The Scandinavian carrier currently operates the route six times a week using an A340-300 from Copenhagen via Bangkok. However, SAS' Copenhagen-Bangkok service will remain unchanged. It is only the onward sector between Bangkok and Singapore which is affected.

Says SAS President Lars Lindgren, "The reason for removing Singapore as a destination is that the Bangkok-Singapore leg has resulted in a considerable deficit for us. SAS has no plans to cancel other long-haul routes."

Routes between Europe and Asia are some of the most competitive in the world. Price competition is fierce and SAS is hampered by its high cost structure.

Many passengers disembark at Bangkok, and SAS would previously fill any empty seats (between Bangkok and Singapore) with locally joining passengers. SAS, in common with other European carriers plying this route such as Finnair and Swiss, would offer attractive fares seeing as they didn't have the market identity of local airlines Thai and SIA.

But that price weapon is no longer so attractive following the arrival of new budget carriers on this route. Thai Air Asia, Jetstar Asia and Tiger Airways are all competing against SAS on price.

SAS is a member of Star Alliance. It hopes to put a code-share arrangement in place (possibly with Thai or SIA who are also Star members) to provide its Singapore passengers with an easy connection in Bangkok and a through fare.

Otherwise, the main alternatives from Scandinavia to Singapore include SIA (who flies three times a week non-stop from Copenhagen) and Nordic airline Finnair via Helsinki. The latter takes the Great Circle route so passengers starting from Gothenburg, Oslo, Stockholm or Copenhagen need not backtrack. Finnair will increase its Helsinki-Singapore service from the current four flights a week to a daily frequency from May.

Other options include routings via hubs such as Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London Heathrow or Paris CDG.

For more information go to SAS website

Report by Alex McWhirter


Maxjet delays Stansted-Washington DC launch

Maxjet has put back the start of its service between London Stansted with Washington DC. The US all business class carrier had been expected to begin flying on March 15. But the start-up date has been postponed until April 4 with Maxjet saying it will now operate five flights a week with a 102-seater B767.

Says CEO Gary Rogliano, "The extensive re-fit of the aircraft has led to a slight delay in delivery. However, we now have possession of the aircraft and are carrying out the final inspections. Our priority is to ensure we go beyond customers' expectations for our low-fare business class service."

Westbound flights will depart Stansted at 13.00 arriving at Washington Dulles (the city's international airport) at 16.30. The inbound service departs Dulles at 19.30 to reach Stansted the next morning at 08.30.

Maxjet's business class seating is configured six across (2-2-2) with 152 cm of legroonm and a 160 degree angle of recline.

Stansted is convenient for passengers living and working to the north and east of the capital as well as those in the East of England. Thanks to a good road network the airport is also easily accessible from the Midlands.

Passengers who buy their tickets by April 3 will qualify for a £599 introductory fare which compares with the standard rate of £999 return. Maxjet's existing Stansted to New York JFK service (which operates six times a week) continues as before.

For more information go to Maxjet website

Report by Alex McWhirter


AF's new business class now available on 39 key routes

Air France's new L'Espace Affaires (business class) seating is now available on 39 key long distance routes. The new seats, which are lie-flat style (rather than the fully lie-flat beds offered by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand) are 54 cms (21 ins) wide and feature 155 cm (61 ins) of legroom. They are currently found on all Air France's B777-300s and are being installed on the carrier's B747s and Airbuses.

At the present time, the new business class product is fitted to these plane types operating over the following business routes:

North America

New York – Newark (A340-300) , Philadelphia (A330-200), Chicago (A340-300), Detroit (A330-200), Miami (B747-400), Boston (A340-300) , San Francisco (B747-400) and Toronto (A340-300). Note that the new seats are not yet available on flights bound to or from New York (JFK).

Asia

Singapore (B777-300) , Osaka (B777-300), Bangkok (A340-300), Hanoi (A340-300), Ho Chi Minh (A340-300) and Hong Kong (B777-300).

Latin America

Rio de Janeiro (B747-400), Bogota (A340-300), Caracas (B747-400) and Havana (B747-400).

Africa and the Middle East

Luanda (B777-300), Conakry (A330-200) , Niamey (A340-300), Ouagadougou (A330-200), Cotonou (A340-300), Douala (A340-300), Yaounde (A340-300), Kinshasa (A330-200), Lome (A330-200), Tehran (A330-200), Jeddah (A330-200) and Djibouti (A330-200).

In other news Air France says it will offer 11% more seats to Asia this summer with a significant increase in flights to mainland China. In conjunction with partner KLM from Amsterdam, Air France will add Chengdu, a fifth destination in China, and will increase flights to Beijing. There will also be more flights to Shanghai and Hong Kong. In addition there will be extra flights to Dubai, Tehran and (subject to government approval) Riyadh.

For more information go to AF website

Report by Alex McWhirter


Travelodge creates a room with a view

Hemmed in by train lines, busy roads and industrial estates, Travelodge guests are accustomed to uninspiring views. The UK budget chain usually sites its properties in such locations in order pare costs. But now Travelodge hopes it can brighten up its guests' overnight stay by providing a more uplifting view.

At the chain's new London City Airport property (where rooms offer views such as a railway viaduct, the runway or distant industrial wasteland) guests can ask for one of ten of the world's most scenic views which were chosen from a Travelodge survey.

Each view comes in the form of a transfer which you request when you check-in. You can choose any one of ten views, each of which is free of charge and Travelodge staff will fix it to your room window. So instead of seeing a Docklands Light Railway train passing close by by you'll get a view of India's Taj Mahal, the Yorkshire Dales or the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Wayne Munnelly, sleep director of Travelodge says, "97% of Britons said that a wonderful view is uplifting and makes them feel happier and we always like to keep our customers happy. So we thought it would be a nice idea to give our guests a choice of their favourite view whilst staying at a Travelodge."

Travelodge surveyed more than 2,500 people to discover the nation's favourite view from a hotel room. The other seven views nominated were: a Caribbean beach, Northern Lights in Greenland, Niagara Falls, Blue Skies and Sunshine, Lake Windermere, the Manhattan Skyline, Ayres Rock and the Sphinx and Pyramids.

The scheme is being trialled at the London City Airport Travelodge over the next six to eight weeks. If successful it will be rolled out to all Travelodges. Rooms at London City cost £56 for a Flexible or £26 (book at least seven days ahead) for a Saver rate.

For more information go to TRavelodge UK website

Report by Alex McWhirter

Thanks for the technical tip, JohnK. I I'll run this thread until end of March and then do quarterly threads thereafter (therefore between 12 and 15 posts per subsequent thread). Of course, comments on posts would make the wrap of pages quicker :wink: :roll: ...

 

[QF WP]

Oneworld at LHR

British Airways will monopolise Heathrow's new £4.2 billion Terminal 5 (T5) when it opens in March 2008. It had been thought that some or all the Oneworld members would have shared T5 along with BA which would have meant easier transfers. But there simply isn't the space to accommodate all the Oneworld members under one roof.

So carriers such as Aer Lingus, American, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, and Qantas will either stay put in T3 or move there from either T1 or T4. Future Oneworld members such as JAL, Malev and Royal Jordanian will also be based at T3.

It means that Oneworld passengers making transfers between BA and other member carriers will have to switch terminals. T3 is closest to T5 but bus transfers will be required with baggage moving underground along a new tunnel network.

But confusion could arise with code-share services. Currently every Qantas, Iberia and Finnair flight from Heathrow also carriers a BA flight code. So passengers will need to make absolutely sure they know which airline will be operating their flight otherwise it's all too easy to arrive at the wrong terminal.

In other news, BA Connect (BA's low-cost regional division) has announced a new route between London City (LCY) and Milan effective May 2. It will also book boost its LCY-Edinburgh service from five to seven flights a day.

But the Milan service operates only once daily (except Saturday) so day trips aren't feasible. And its timings (out of LCY at 09.30 and back from Milan at 13.40) may not suit. In addition, the flights are using Milan Malpensa (46 km from the city centre) rather than the more convenient Linate (10 km away).

For more information go to Oneworld or BA websites

Report by Alex McWhirter


BA improves Indian ground handling

Premium passengers flying with British Airways from India are being offered a more relaxing airport experience. Government-owned Indian airports are renowned for crowds and confusion. And although there are moves afoot to privatise the facilities and spend lots of money on bringing them up to scratch this process will take time.

Ever stiffer competition from the likes of Virgin Atlantic, Bmi and Jet Airways has prompted BA to set itself apart with superior ground handling. BA has employed a team of facilitators to greet and assist first and business class passengers plus those who are Executive Club members. Passengers are met as they arrive at the airport and smoothed through the various formalities.

Says a spokesperson, "We are the only international airline to provide passengers with a door-to-door service. Customers are escorted through the airport and right to the boarding gate."

Adds Pankaj Mehta, BA customer services manager for North and East India, "We believe that the experience on the ground for our customers is an important as their experience in-flight. It is our endeavour to ease and simplify customers' travel process." Online check-in is another time-saving facility.

Meanwhile, another reason for flying BA to India this month is the carrier's offer of an upgrade from business to first class on the London-Mumbai route. The deal covers either the outbound or return flight and is valid for travel until March 31.

BA currently operates 35 flights a week from Heathrow to Delhi, Mumbai. Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore. From May, there will be 42 flights a week following the introduction of extra services to Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore.

For more information go to BA website

Report by Alex McWhirter


Paris Sofitel becomes a Marriott

Marriott has taken over the 782-room Sofitel Paris Rive Gauche. The US chain plans to undertake extensive refurbishment with the property being rebranded as a Marriott in late 2007.

The programme calls for additional suites, a three-storey executive floor including a lounge, revamped food and beverage outlets and an extended health club.

In the meantime, the four star property (originally built in 1972) will continue for business. It's located along the Boulevard St Jacques near the St Jacques Metro station and a 15 minute walk from Montparnasse.

The new Marriott will fill a gap in the chain's Paris portfolio. Weekday room rates currently start at Euros 200 with executive rooms at Euros 225 and suites priced from Euros 270. At weekends the rates are Euros 175, 200 and 270 respectively.

In other news, Marriott recently opened a Courtyard (its value-for-money brand) in Berlin City Centre. The property is situated on Axel-Springer-Strasse and the nearby Stadtmitte U-Bahn (underground) station provides speedy links to Potsdamer Platz and Alexander Platz. It's a five minute walk to Checkpoint Charlie.

Here you'll find all the features of the "new generation" of Courtyards such as quasi four-star rooms with air-conditioning, in-room safe, trouser press, empty mini-bar (either bring your own drinks or buy them from the "grab and go" lobby shop), affordable broadband and a good bath and shower. There is also one restaurant and a bar. Business Traveler stayed there last week, and found the hotel to be excellent value, with weekday rates at Euros 119 room only. At weekends you pay Euros 109 room only or Euros 119 with breakfast for two.

Another Courtyard, this time in the northern area of Zurich, is set to open next September. With similar features to Berlin this property will be opened on a development area at Max Bill-Platz. Oerlikon station is a short walk away and it's located roughly midway between the city's airport and the Hauptbahnhof (central station). Frequent suburban trains serve the airport and downtown. Room rates are not yet finalised.

For more information go to Marriott website


Emirates expands in Germany and Switzerland but drops Copenhagen

Hard on the heels of its inaugural flight from Hamburg (see Online news, January 24) Emirates has announced additional services from Dusseldorf and Zurich. The Dubai-based carrier will add a second daily flight from Dusseldorf starting on May 1, while from Zurich the additional flight will begin on October 29.

Both services will be operated by an A330 with more popular timings such as an overnight departure from Europe (providing executives with a day in the office) and a mid- to late-afternoon return from Dubai (allowing a morning's work in the UAE).

Like Hamburg there are few long-haul services operating from Dusseldorf. Says Henry Hasselbath, Emirates' VP for North and Central Europe, "We have an advantage over Lufthansa as [with the exception of Chicago] they don't fly long-haul from Dusseldorf. But we offer connections over Dubai for India, South Africa, Japan, China and Australia. Already 50% of our passengers are continuing beyond Dubai."

And Dusseldorf has a good catchment area. Besides the Rhine-Ruhr region the city's airport is also convenient for areas of Belgium and Holland.

Emirates' business class fares from Dusseldorf are keen. Typical return fares in May start at Euros 2,033 (£1,383) for Dubai, Euros 2,198 (£1,496) to Singapore, Euros 2,202 (£1,498) for Hong Kong, Euros 2,473 (£1,683) for Osaka and Euros 3,022 (£2,056) for Sydney.

Meanwhile, Emirates has launched deals for passengers using the Hamburg service between now and June 29.

First class passengers breaking their journey in Dubai are being offered two free nights at the luxury Ritz Carlton or a week's free car rental. Those booking business class can opt for one night's free stay at the five star Habtoor Grand Resort and Spa or four days' car rental.

In other news, Emirates has announced upgrades for business class passengers booking flights from Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow and bound for selected destinations beyond Dubai. The latter cities vary according to UK airport of departure but include Bangkok, Delhi, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Singapore, Shanghai and Osaka.

Passengers departing from Gatwick get upgraded to first class throughout ; those departing the other UK points go first class on the sectors beyond Dubai. Flights must be booked by April 14 but you can travel until June 30.

Finally, Emirates has postponed plans to begin a new Copenhagen-Dubai service (see Online news, January 24) this autumn. Officially Emirates says that the route has been put back to 2007 "in order to meet the sharply higher frequency requirements of existing destinations." Bookings were known to have been healthy, however.

For more information go to EK website

Report by Alex McWhirter


New American Airlines business class seat

American Airlines is set to become the first US carrier to offer a lie-flat seat in business class from next month. The next generation product, which will be lie-flat style rather than the flat bed version offered by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, will first be installed on American's fleet of B767-300s.

Seating with be configured six across (2-2-2) with 59 inches of legroom and a nine degree angle of recline. Says a spokesperson, "The first B767 will be fitted next month and then it will fly around the network while we conduct a product shakedown."

If all goes according to plan, the rest of the B767s will be refitted by early next year. Readers wishing to sample the new seats will find the B767s operating transatlantic flights out of various gateways including Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt and Manchester. They also operate a number of flights from Gatwick.

But it will be some time before passengers flying on American's flagship B777s get to sample the new seats. These planes ply American's most important routes including every flight from Heathrow and many from Gatwick. Says a spokesperson, "We will begin fitting the new seats to the B777s in the summer of next year. The B777 refit will be complete in early 2008 and the seating configuration is yet to be announced."

The new seats come from German manufacturer Recaro. They incorporate personal in-flight entertainment and video and audio on demand. There's also an innovative tray table design with two tables which can be used separately or together to create one large working or dining surface.

For more information go to AA website

Report by Alex McWhirter

 

[QF WP]

This weeks' articles - 24 March

MAS cuts flights to Europe

Manchester, Vienna and Frankfurt are all affected by Malaysia Airlines' (MAS) decision to cut underperforming flights. The move is the first stage of MAS's business turnaround plan (see Online News, March 1) which aims to reduce losses by £46.83 million (RM 303 million) this financial year.

Kuala Lumpur-based MAS says it will withdraw its four times a week B747 service to Manchester on May 1 followed by its three times a week B777 service to Vienna on June 1. MAS's daily B777 service to Frankfurt will still continue but flight frequency will be cut to a five flights a week operation from May 31.

Europe is a problem area for MAS. The airline serves 12 destinations in this region and the management admits that not a single one is profitable. MAS says that the Kuala Lumpur-Vienna service alone runs a hefty annual £4.5 million (RM 30 million) deficit.

The decision to drop Manchester is a blow to the UK's Northwest as MAS provided Mancunians with connections to destinations throughout Asia and Australasia. Says Tim McDermott, the airport's development director, "We're obviously disappointed to see the route withdrawn. However, we will continue to work closely with MAS towards the reinstatement of the service."

With the starting date for Cathay Pacific's Hong Kong service (from Manchester) now placed on the back burner and Thai not sure when or if it should start services, SIA is the only SE Asian carrier to fly from the UK's Northwest.

Other MAS routes being withdrawn from Kuala Lumpur include Xian (China) along with two Indian cities, namely Kolkata and Ahmedabad.

There are also service cutbacks on other routes. The ones most likely to affect Europe-based travellers are Penang-Singapore (where the number of B737 flights is cut from 14 to seven a week) and Kuala Lumpur-Auckland where B777 flight frequency reduces from seven to five flights a week.

But there is some positive news too. Several flights to Bangkok, Singapore and Brisbane will be retimed to improve flight connections for international passengers transitting Kuala Lumpur.

For more information go to MAS website

Report by Alex McWhirter


Gulf Seat Glut

A seat glut on routes linking the UK with the Gulf is leading to a ferocious price war, and as a result, deeply discounted business and economy class tickets are now readily available.

Both existing and newcomer airlines are adding extra seats and these can only be filled by cutting prices. Outside the Easter period (when planes are full of Europeans seeking Gulf sunshine) you will typically pay around £300 for an economy return ticket with business class offered for around £1,000. The best deals are found when flying to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The price cutting has intensified following the arrival of Etihad. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier flies both from London Heathow and Gatwick, while from March 27 Etihad will launch flights from Manchester. Passengers arriving in Abu Dhabi are offered onward transfers to other UAE destinations including Dubai.

Etihad's routes from Gatwick and Manchester are being flown by its flagship B777-300s, but each plane has 378 seats to be filled. To sell its flights from three UK airports, Etihad is charging upwards of around £280 in economy class and has pitched business class at around £860 return. These fares come with no advance booking or Saturday night stay restrictions.

This is cracking value when you consider that Abu Dhabi is as far from London as New York and that Etihad's B777-300s feature the carrier's highly acclaimed fully lie-flat business class seating out of Gatwick and Manchester.

Rival Gulf Air's riposte was to offer Heathrow-Abu Dhabi seat sale rates of just over £300 in economy, £600 in business class and, wait for it, just over £1,100 in first class. Although this deal expired a few days ago, Gulf Air has told Business Traveller that the seat sale will be re-introduced soon. So check when booking.

Meanwhile, Dubai's Emirates hasn't been sleeping, though its response might make it easier for you to sleep on the flights. It had less need to discount as flights are always busy (although its £2,166 business class fare is cut to £1,106 when you book a few weeks ahead). But it has responded with upgrades to first class for business class passengers flying from Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow flying to selected destinations beyond Dubai. Book by April 14 for travel until June 30.

For now British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are prepared to cut their economy, rather than their business class tariffs. But book several weeks ahead and you can secure half-price deals.

Virgin Atlantic launches a Heathrow-Dubai service on March 27 with economy fares of £318 with business class at £2,059. But choose to fly a few weeks ahead and the price of your business class ticket falls to £1,179.

For its part BA is charging from £358 to Abu Dhabi with business class at £2,023 or £1,179 when booked weeks ahead.

In other news, Emirates says it is extending the minimum connecting time at its Dubai hub. From June 1, passengers must allow 75 minutes (as against 45 to 60 minutes currently) to change from one Emirates flight to another. The move is to enable more reliable passenger and baggage transfers between flights. But it may mean that Emirates will have to reschedule some arrivals and departures in Dubai because there are a number of flights arriving in the morning peak between 0700 and 0800 which will not now connect.

For more information go to: Etihad, Gulfair, Emirates, BA, Virgin atlantic

Report by Alex McWhirter


Birmingham adds more business destinations

Travellers based in the Midlands will find it easier to reach various business destinations from this summer. Existing carriers and newcomers are launching new routes from Birmingham and adding extra flights to existing destinations.

The first of the new services is being launched by BA Connect (BA's regional low fares division) on March 26 when it begins daily flights to Berlin Tegel and Geneva along with a four times a day service to Belfast's City airport.

On April 12, the Slovakian budget airline Skyeurope starts a twice weekly service to Krakow in Southern Poland, an increasingly important business destination. While on May 11, German budget carrier Hapag Lloyd Express inaugurates a five times a week service to Cologne which will be ideal for the football events taking place the following month.

Birmingham will get a link with Liege in Belgium on May 15 with the launch of a three times a week service by Irish airline Aer Arran. It's also the only air link to Liege (a city near Brussels) from anywhere in the UK. On June 25, Aer Lingus starts a useful three times a week link to Cork. The big news on the long-haul scene is the announcement that Air India is doubling flights from Birmingham to Toronto, Amritsar and Delhi on May 1.

But two airlines are quitting Birmingham this weekend. Budget carrier German Wings is abandoning its service to Cologne (Hapag Lloyd will take over in May) while CSA is scrapping its Prague route. But Prague remains served from Birmingham by budget airline Bmibaby.

For more information go to: BHX website

Report by Alex McWhirter


BA adds new routes from Gatwick

From next weekend, British Airways will be adding a number of new routes from London Gatwick which will include its first services to Tirana (Albania), Varna (Bulgaria), Izmir (Turkey), Reykjavik (Iceland) and Kiev (Ukraine).

Flights start on March 26 and will be operated by BA's mainline division. BA says the new services from Gatwick are aimed at holidaymakers as much as for the growing numbers of Britons who are buying property in some of these countries. Tirana, Kiev and Izmir will all be served three times a week. There will be five flights a week to Reykjavik and two flights a week to Varna.

Flights to Athens (from Gatwick) will be reinstated after a gap of several years while services to Riga (Latvia) will be transferred to Gatwick from Heathrow.

For other services from Heathrow, BA is reconfiguring a further four B767s from its short-haul fleet to operate longer distance routes. BA already has 10 of these B767s in its fleet and they'll be fitted out in a three class (Club World, World Traveller Plus and World Traveller) layout.

BA confirms that Club World (business class) on these B767s will be configured with flat bed seating. These aircraft will operate over various routes including a number of services to Africa, the Caribbean and selected flights to the US East Coast.

In other route news, BA says it will double flight frequency from Heathrow to Delhi (from one to two daily flights). From June there will also be an additional three flights a week to Montreal, Seattle and Vancouver along with a further four flights every week to Toronto. Lastly, the Gatwick-Bermuda sees an increase in flights from five services a week to a daily service from March 26.

For more information go to BA website

Report by Alex McWhirter


Business packages at Mandarin Oriental Tokyo

Affordable luxury accommodation is being offered in Tokyo by luxury Asian hotel Mandarin Oriental. Until June 30, the city's five star hotel which opened last December is marketing a Business Package provided guests stay two or more nights.

A two-night stay is priced at Yen 49,000 (£245) per night while guests staying three or more nights pay Yen 46,999 (£230). These rates include accommodation in a deluxe room (50 square metres in size), continental breakfast plus a choice of a) a spa treatment or b) express cleaning of a two-piece suit plus one shirt or blouse. Deluxe rooms are located on the 30 to 33rd floors and all feature broadband internet access.

The 179-room Mandarin Oriental is situated in Tokyo's financial district. It occupies the top nine floors of the Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower adjacent to the Mitsui Main building.

Ginza and the Imperial Palace are within walking distance. And the hotel is close to the main Tokyo Station (with its various rail links) from where the Narita Express runs directly to the city's main airport (Narita) in under an hour.

For more information go to Mandarin oriental

Report by Alex McWhirter


BA insists domestic passengers self check-in

From April 25, all British Airways domestic passengers must either check-in online or use the self check-in machines at the airport. BA is following rival Bmi which began to steer passengers towards similar check-in systems last January. There are differences however. Bmi's tiny and economy fare (two of the cheapest tariffs) passengers have to self-check, but those travelling on business or premium economy fares or who are high ranking FFP members can still use the conventional desks. In BA's case the new system will apply to almost all passengers.

The few exceptions are limited mainly to groups of six or more and passengers in transit (the latter may already have checked in at their origin airport anyway). BA's conventional check-in desks will be converted to "fast bag drop" desks for customers (who have already checked-in online or by machine) to hand over any luggage for tagging.

BA's commercial director Martin George says that "making the airport experience simpler and speedier is the cornerstone of our vision for Heathrow Terminal 5 and we want to introduce many of these improvements now."

The airline is investing heavily in automated check-in systems as it believes over 80% of its passengers will use these systems by the time BA moves into T5 in 2008. BA is cutting costs at the same time (because fewer staff and check-in desks are needed) as well as using space within the terminals more efficiently.

On the other hand, it is possible that there will be scenes of confusion. Not everyone is computer literate and the passenger mix of domestic flights tends to include elderly travellers, holidaymakers and overseas visitors.

A BA spokesperson says that the carrier will have dedicated staff on hand to help passengers with the check-in process. "Passengers will be guided through every stage of the process. Providing help for everyone is the key to making the new system a success."

For more information go to BA website

Report by Alex McWhirter

 

[NM]

Re: This weeks' articles - 24 March

BA adds new routes from Gatwick

From next weekend, British Airways will be adding a number of new routes from London Gatwick which will include its first services to Tirana (Albania), Varna (Bulgaria), Izmir (Turkey), Reykjavik (Iceland) and Kiev (Ukraine).

LGW-KBP (Kiev) is not a new route for BA. They used to operate 4 times a week before moving the service to LHR a few years ago. I flew from LGW back in 1999, while subsequent trips in 2002 and 2003 were from LHR.

It appears these LGW-KBP 737 services are in additon to the daily LHR-KBP A320 services.