The Business Travel Magazine Feb/Mar 2019

THE REVIEW
I N T H E A I R
MARGINAL RISE IN AIR FARES
FORECAST FOR 2019
BA upgrades
premium economy
BRITISH Airways is rolling out enhancements to its World
Traveller Plus premium economy product as part of its wider
£6.5billion investment programme.
Changes will be introduced over the coming months and
include new furnishings, enhanced service and, from
February 1, an improved dining experience. It will feature a
third main meal option and a more substantial hot second
meal later in the flight. The airline will also be adding
amenity kits, quilts and pillows.
“This latest tranche of our £6.5billion investment is set to
improve World Traveller Plus and customers will see a real
change to the cabin,” says Carolina Martinoli, Director of
Brand and Customer Experience.
THE cost of flights within the UK
and Europe are expected to rise by
2% in the year ahead but could
drop to some global destinations,
according to a new report from
American Express Global Business
Travel (GBT).
GBT’s Air Monitor 2019 forecasts
a 2% rise across both economy
and business class cabins, as well
as similar rises in both cabins for
fares to Asian and North American
destinations. Economy fares to
Central and South America are set
to fall 1% while business class
fares show no change. Business
FLYBE TO BE BOUGHT OUT BY
VIRGIN-LED CONSORTIUM
class fares to the Middle East,
meanwhile, will drop 1% and
remain unchanged in economy.
Demand for flights are outpacing
capacity, says the report, while
airlines are renewing aircraft to
improve efficiency rather than to
expand volume.
As a result, it continues, flights
from the UK and Europe are set to
generally increase across the
board. GBT examined five years’
worth of flight transaction data
and factored in variables such as
oil prices, economic projections
and airline strategies.
FLYBE is to be acquired by Connect Airways, a
consortium comprising Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group
and Cyrus Capital. The three organisations have
committed a £20million bridge loan to support Flybe
until completion of the acquisition. Up to £80million of
funding will be provided after the deal goes through.
Flybe will continue operating across the UK and Ireland
and is likely to be rebranded under the Virgin name.
[ TAKING OFF ]
>> FINNAIR will increase capacity on its schedule between
London Heathrow and Helsinki this summer by over 20% with the
addition of another daily departure and a change of aircraft on
some services >> NORWEGIAN will launch new flights from
London Gatwick to Rio de Janeiro, Miami and San Francisco as part
of its summer 2019 schedule >> ROYAL BRUNEI AIRLINES has
announced a non-stop flight between Brunei and Brisbane. The
route will open up the Australia market for UK travellers flying the
daily non-stop service from Heathrow to Brunei >> ETHIOPIAN
AIRLINES is now operating flights from Machester, its second UK
destinations, with a four-times-a-week service to Addis Ababa.
£10M
Cost to easyJet of the Gatwick
Airport drone incident
EasyJet suffered a
£10million cost impact
because of the drones
incident at Gatwick
Airport in December.
The disruption affected
around 82,000
customers and led to
over 400 flights being
cancelled. The figure
was revealed in its Q4
2018 financial report.
52 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM