Corporate e-Newsletter - May 2008

Europcar claims to have opened the largest car rental location in Europe, close to Terminal 5.

Costing £1m, the new 3.4 acre site on the Perimeter Road has a fleet of 4,500 vehicles and resources to handle up to 190,000 check-ins and check-outs a year.

The new location supports customers from all brands in the Europcar UK Group – Europcar, National Car Rental, Alamo Rent A Car and Guy Salmon Prestige Rental.

For cars from here or anywhere, worldwide, contact us and our consultants will obtain best value for your trip, as we have access to all the better known car rental companies, and special rates with many of them.

Varig to drop its last European connections

Brazilian airline Varig will drop its last two remaining European destinations in the coming months. Flights from Madrid to Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro will cease on May 12, with flights from Paris CDG ending on June 9.
The move follows the suspension of flights from London Heathrow, Frankfurt and Rome last March. The carrier, which was a member of Star Alliance before its financial woes and considered to be the leading Latin American airline, blames the rising cost of fuel and fierce competition from rival carriers for the move to retreat from international routes.
Besides its European services, Varig has also announced it will drop flights to Mexico City with effect from May 11. This means that Varig’s revised route network will now be confined to South America.
A spokesperson for Varig says: “Operating costs in the highly competitive international market have increased substantially with persistent increases in oil prices. Fuel currently represents nearly 40 per cent of Varig’s operating costs.”
One major problem Varig faced was that its B767s, with older-style premium class seating, had to compete against the newer products of British Airways, Air France and Lufthansa.

Eastern adds domestic flights

Eastern Airways has increased frequency on four UK domestic routes.

The new schedule results in the Leeds/Bradford-Aberdeen schedule rising from three to four flights a day, Leeds/Bradford-Southampton  from three to four flights a day, Newcastle-Cardiff from two to three flights a day and Manchester-Stansted from three to four flights a day Mondays to Thursdays.

The move follows March’s increase of weekday flights to six a day from Aberdeen to Newcastle, four a day from Southampton to Aberdeen and four a day from Newcastle to Southampton.

Bmi regional increases capacity to Brussels

Bmi regional is now operating larger aircraft on its East Midlands to Brussels route to meet growing demand. The route is now being operated by an Embraer 145 aircraft, which offers 30% more capacity than the aircraft previously servicing this route.

The extra capacity came into effect for the summer 2008 timetable which was launched on March 30. In July and August, it will fly three times a day, adding more than 2,000 seats over the two months. Flights are timed to connect with Star Alliance partners at Brussels. In particular connections are available to Scandinavia with SAS, Germany with Lufthansa and Austria with Austrian Airlines.

Ryanair hikes bag and airport check-in fees

Ryanair is to increase further its fees for checking in at the airport and for carrying luggage in the hold.

The no-frills carrier has pledged to continue this process until half of all its passengers use the internet to check-in. Rates rose on May 5 from £6 to £8 for checking in baggage while the airport check-in fee went up from £3 to £4.

Ryanair encourages passengers to avoid these charges altogether by travelling with the full allowance of 10kg hand luggage allowance and checking in on-line.

A spokesman said: "Forty per cent of Ryanair passengers currently avoid queues at both check-in and boarding by availing themselves of our free web check-in service, and this increase in baggage fees will result in fewer checked in bags and more passengers changing to online check-in. Online check-in is faster, more efficient and costs Ryanair less,” he admitted. “There is no doubt that it is the future for air travel.

Stansted to gain Athens link

Twice daily flights from Stansted to Athens are to be introduced this summer. Aegean Airlines are starting to operate a 195-seat Airbus A321 in a two-class configuration on the route as from May 15.

One way tickets start at £59, inclusive of all taxes. Flights depart from Stansted at 10:20 and 20:00 and from Athens at 07:30 and 17:10.

The leading domestic carrier in Greece is adding the London route as part of international expansion, bringing its overseas destinations up to 12. It serves 17 points in Greece - Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Chania, Rhodes, Kos, Samos, Mytilene, Chios, Alexandroupolis, Mykonos, Santorini, Kavala, Limnos, Corfu, Ioannina and Kefalonia.

The airline carried 5.2 million passengers last year, an increase of 18% over 2006. Aegean Airlines is also a regional partner of Lufthansa providing passengers with access to Lufthansa’s global network.

 

Lord Soley, campaign director of Future Heathrow, has called for a fresh approach to the discussions on the future of Heathrow Airport.

Speaking to the Royal Aeronautical Society recently, he blasted a growing campaign to build a new hub airport and close Heathrow.

He said an airport in the Thames estuary was not the answer and had been rejected after careful consideration. "Those in favour of closing Heathrow seriously underestimate the cost and the environmental impact of creating a new hub elsewhere," he said.

Soley also highlighted the importance of rail and said it should play an important part in fully integrated airport expansion. "We have an opportunity to show that a modernised and expanded Heathrow can be developed as an inter-modal hub as has already happened in Europe.

"Rail and air may compete but they are also complementary if provided in a way that allows the passengers a choice that fits their needs," he said.

There seems to be a lack of understanding about the role of hub airports, which has led opponents of Heathrow to believe it can remain as it is, with other London airports or rail as alternatives to its expansion. "But, over 40% of the passengers flying from Manchester to Heathrow are transferring to international flights and around 30% from Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow.

"Do we really think these passengers are going to get the train to London, take their luggage on the tube before checking in to their onward flight at Heathrow? I think they are going to check into their final destination and fly straight there via Heathrow. And if they can’t go via Heathrow they will go via one of the continental hubs.

"Heathrow can now only fly passengers to 180 destinations compared with 227 in 1990. But Frankfurt can fly passengers to 307 cities and it lies at the heart of the emerging European market of 600 million people. It has a dynamic and expanding financial sector, which also contains the European Bank. Can we really allow the future of Heathrow to drift any further into decline?

 

Four Seasons is to open five new hotels in the next four months, with properties in Mumbai, Istanbul, Mauritius, Bora Bora and Florence.

May signals the beginning of one of the busiest periods in the group’s history, with a 202-room new-build hotel opening in Mumbai’s emerging Worli district at the start of next month. Located in a 33-storey glass tower the Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai will feature a two-floor spa, two restaurants and the largest presidential suite in the city.

Just a month later Four Seasons will open its second property in Istanbul, located on the banks of the Bosphorus (close to Kempinski’s Ciragan Palace) within a 19th-century Ottoman palace. The Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus will feature 166 rooms and suites, a spa with Turkish bath, as well as indoor and outdoor heated swimming pools.

Four Seasons will also provide a boat shuttle between the new hotel and its other Istanbul property situated in the city’s Sultanahmet district. Istanbul is experiencing a boom in business and leisure travel at the moment, with W Hotels opening its first European property in the city, and Turkish Airlines joining Star Alliance this month.

July will then see three further properties opening in Florence, Mauritius and Bora Bora. The Four Seasons Hotel Florence will be housed in the renovated buildings of the Palazzo Della Gheraradesca, Conventino and Church, with the oldest wing dating back to the late 1440s. Original frescos and sculptures have been restored, and the property will also feature a 3.5-hectare private garden.

The Mauritius and Bora Bora properties will both be resort hotels, with the former featuring 61 beachfront villas, a spa, PADI dive centre, and an Ernie Els-designed golf course. The Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora will have 100 over-water bungalows, with views of the mountain and lagoon.

When booking your trips, please don't forget our consultants will be pleased to research the best value and most convenient hotels for you, and that we do not charge any transaction fees on hotel reservations if they are made at the same time as you book your related travel.

As readers may know, British Airways and BAA, the operator of London Heathrow Airport, have announced the deferral of the planned move of the airline’s long haul services from Terminal Four to the new Terminal Five until June
.
The delay follows extensive ructions at T5 since its opening late last month including the loss and delay of tens of thousands of passengers’ bags.

BA ‘s CEO, Willie Walsh, said that while a normal flight schedule is now operating “we need to have confidence that good service can be maintained when the terminal is handling larger numbers of customers.”

Originally most of BA’s long-haul flights were planned to move to Terminal 5 on 30th April. The change in plan will have a knock-on effect on the plans of other airlines including Skyteam members Delta, Continental and Northwest, which are all going to move to T4.  Heathrow’s second largest airline, bmi, has also expressed outrage at the announcement.

Nigel Turner, bmi chief executive officer, said, “It is an absolutely outrageous announcement by BAA and done with no thought, consideration or  consultation with any airline other than BA. BAA and BA have shown a total disregard for all other airlines and their passengers at Heathrow in coming to this decision because of their own shortcomings and their inability to implement an agreed plan. This is yet another clear example of BAA treating airlines and passengers with contempt giving no consideration whatsoever to a consultation process that took some considerable time to achieve an acceptable programme of terminal moves.”

These are pretty harsh words, but who can blame him, when the complex sequence of moves was initially agreed in joint consultation with all the 50 plus airlines that were geared up to undertake the moves as originally planned.

If you have any  doubts about which terminal your flights will be using at LHR over the next few months, please check with our consultants before you set off.

Three star hotels in Moscow have emerged as the most expensive in the world, while rates in Birmingham are the highest in the UK.

Analysis of overnight prices in three-star hotels in key world cities, shows that the average overnight stay in Moscow costs £125 and is often more expensive than the average rate in other world metropolises.

Only New York comes close to Moscow with an average rate of £122. In Tokyo and Sydney a similar night in a single room costs around £70. Compared with the Russian capital, this represents a price difference of almost 80%.

A comparison of British cities with more than 220,000 inhabitants saw Birmingham come out as the most expensive, although  Coventry, at £61and Wolverhampton at £60 are well down the UK league.

England’s second largest city with £80 compares unfavourably with Edinburgh (£76), Leicester (£75), Liverpool (£73), Kingston upon Hull and Leeds (£70 each).

London comes a close second at £79 while a night in Glasgow costs on average £61 in a three-star hotel - almost £15 less than in the Scottish capital Edinburgh.

Warsaw (at £66 per night) confirms the general belief that hotels in Eastern Europe (Moscow excepted) are comparatively cheap, according to the research.

Scandinavia has earned its reputation for high prices as Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki are amongst the ten most expensive cities in the world. Zurich in Switzerland is also amongst the top ten.

In Paris, Rome and Madrid a bed costs an average of £73 a night in a three-star hotel.

Don’t forget to ask our consultants to research your hotel requirements for you. They have tens of thousands of hotels, and details of their facilities and location at their finger tips and will be pleased to give you unbiased advice. Remember also that if booked at the same time as your airfares, there is no transaction fee for the hotel reservation and that we have many at better than standard corporate rates.

The Advantage Travel Centres consortium of 700 travel agents (of which Medway Travel is a member) has urged companies to review their travel policy in light of the introduction of the new Corporate Manslaughter Act effective from 6th April 2008.

The new laws will mean that all companies and corporate bodies in the UK will be responsible for the welfare and safety of their employees whilst traveling on behalf of the company. The Act sets out that an organisation can be convicted if it is proven to have shown a gross failure in the way activities were managed or organized, which results in a person’s death.

Under a new approach, courts will look at management systems and practices across organizations. This provides a more effective means for prosecuting the worst corporate failures. The fines are unlimited and the courts may impose a publicity order, forcing the company to publicise the case.

Many organizations will now have to look closely at health and safety policies and within that, at their travel policy and ensure that it outlines who is allowed to travel on company business, which airlines and hotels can be used and what emergency procedures are in place should anything go wrong. Travel insurances would also need to be checked to ensure that employees are covered against all eventualities.

In addition, whilst under the new Act judges can look at whether a part of a failure was at a senior level and under the new law senior managers cannot be prosecuted. However, individuals can still be prosecuted for gross negligence under the on-going health and safety legislation.

For further information and advice on the new laws and what it means to your company’s travel policy please contact us.

Avis has warned the car rental market and fleet operators that car rental costs are likely to rise during 2008 and into 2009.

The company says a combination of rising car costs from manufacturers, the strong Euro, the economic slowdown and falling used car prices are likely to force rental suppliers to pass on their increased costs to customers.

“Car costs to rental companies have risen considerably over the past 12 months and look set to rise further in 2008,” explained Paul Hainsworth, Avis fleet director.

“In addition to the credit crunch restricting demand for new cars, the weakening of the pound sterling against the Euro, the currency of choice for many manufacturers, is significantly reducing margins for car makers.

“They are already increasing their prices and may look to restrict further supply to the rental market, which some car makers are already doing.”

The situation has been made worse by the recent Budget, which introduced new Vehicle Excise Duty bands for new cars, which rental companies will have to pass onto customers during 2008 and 2009.

“Avis is committed to keeping its prices as low as possible, but circumstances beyond our control will continue to put severe pressure on the entire rental industry,” added Hainsworth.

At Medway Travel, our consultants have immediate access to tens of car rental companies inventory and rates, so we are able to advise you about the best value offers at any destination. At a time of market discontinuity, it is all the more worthwhile to take a fresh look at your options, so please do contact us for unbiased information.

The Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR UK) has called on the Treasury to rescind its planned new Aviation Duty.

BARUK denounced the replacement for Air Passenger Duty in November 2009 as “ill-conceived”. It is the second industry body after the British Air Transport Association to criticise the new tax.

APD is structured on a per passenger basis but aviation duty would be levied per departing flight in the UK, structured around Maximum Take Off Weight (MTOW) and the distance flown, and BARUK has provided 11 reasons why this duty should not be introduced.

It believes the way forward is not via taxation but through a properly designed emissions scheme, linked to the major drivers of efficiencies through technology, operations, infrastructure and positive economic measures.

Chief executive Mike Carrivick said: “The proposal to introduce aviation duty is a very clumsy attempt to disguise a declared money raising opportunity as an environmental initiative; nothing could be further from reality. Money is continuing to be grabbed from airlines and their passengers, yet none of it is scheduled for any specific environmental purpose.

Apart from the many legal aspects that arise, this duty would impose competition distortions and drive business away from the UK. It also fails the Treasury’s own stated principles in so many ways.

BARUK claims that the practicalities of this duty fail the theory in devastating ways and that it should not be introduced.

In spite of the general storm of well reasoned protest, we wouldnt put bets on the Government changing its mind on this issue.

If you or your colleagues have plans to visit any overseas trade fair in the future, please contact us as soon as possible about your arrangements for travel and accommodation, as the earlier we can make the bookings for you, the lower will be the cost of the airfares, and the greater the selection of hotel accommodation.
We would also suggest you take a look at our  website Trade Fairs page from time to time, to help with your forward planning.

Medway Travel has access to one of the largest portfolios of specially negotiated contract fares open to any travel agent in the country. This means we can - subject to availability at the time of booking - offer unusually low prices for many long-haul and certain European routes.

This month's examples are:

 

Economy Fares

So if your next destination isn't on the above small list of examples, please do contact us. There is every chance we will have a real bargain to offer you!

Following announcements over the last couple of months, that 5 airlines have failed, and are either in Chapter 11, receivership or liquidation, the statement by Sir Adam Thomson, that “A recession is when you have to tighten your belt; depression is when you have no belt to tighten, but when you've lost your trousers - you're in the airline business” rings all too uncomfortably true.

From our readers point of view, the demise of Maxjet and now Eos close on the heels of Oasis, are probably the ones that will be the closest to their interests. Unless you have been caught up in the aftermath, you may feel sorry that, with the passing of each, a brave entrepreneur’s dreams and investments have been brought to naught, along with the hard work of a team of enthusiasts.

At least for our clients, there has been minimal inconvenience and no financial loss resulting from these failures, due to the Airline Failure Insurance we sell with every air ticket.

Meanwhile, Air France-KLM has claimed that the contractual arrangements announced on March 14 for its bid for Italian carrier Alitalia, were no longer valid. The Franco-Dutch carrier also added in a statement, that conditions that had to be satisfied prior to launching an offer, had not been fulfilled.

Air France had set several conditions to its offer for Alitalia, including the approval by Alitalia's unions to its plan. It had also asked the government to extend a 300 million euro credit line to Alitalia to allow the carrier to continue operations.

At the time of writing, the future for Alitalia is therefore very uncertain, as the bid from Air France-KLM was thought to represent its most likely and best (if not only) bolthole.