Author: Shawon Hannan

London Heathrow Airport is launching a new initiative to improve its competency, decrease flight delays, and improve flight punctuality, for its passengers. The airport is debuting its Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) concept to partner with its airlines, ground handlers, air traffic control and airport employees, for increased knowledge sharing and informed and consistent decision-making. The airport, which is currently operating at 99.2 percent capacity, has recently been severely criticised for its operational ineptitude, due to its increased workload. Tim Hardy, the director airside of BAA Ltd, owner and operator of London Heathrow Airport, said, ‘With more than 1,300 flights…

The duty free and travel retail industry is set to grow, as more and more travellers opt for shopping at retail outlets based at airports, according to the Tax Free World Association (TFWA). The TFWA is an association of duty free and travel retail companies, and provides a platform between suppliers and organisers. At the TFWA Asia Pacific & GATE ONE2ONE 2012 event held recently in Singapore, the association reported that around 50 percent of the revenues of most of the world’s international airports are generated from duty free, travel retail and other non-aviation transactions. While Paris Charles de Gaulle…

Airbus, an aircraft manufacturer, is offering extra-wide seats on its A320 family of aircraft, predominantly as a consideration for overweight passengers. The company has announced that it is considering replacing some of its standard A320 Family seats, measuring 18 inches in width, with new extra wide aisle seats, having a width of 20 inches in total. The new seats will be offered in rows where the regular seats will need to be reduced to 17 inches in width. The new seating is expected to be popular with over-weight passengers for whom the extra width will provide added comfort, although the…

A large percentage of Airline passengers are keen to pay for their airline tickets using mobile devices, according to the results of a study that have just been released. The Perfect Passenger Payment report, which was undertaken by WorldPay, a payment processing company that provides payment services for mail order, Internet retailers and point of sale transactions, involved 4,500 global consumers who had purchased an airline ticket online in the past twelve months. The views of 50 airline merchants were also included in the study. Key to the report’s findings was the fact that 50 percent of those consumers questioned…

British Airways, a UK-based air carrier, has launched an offbeat promotional campaign for the London 2012 Olympics, under the heading, ‘Don’t Fly. Support Team GB’. The airline described the campaign heading as ‘tongue-in-cheek’, while saying that it was intended to encourage Britons to stay in the country during the Olympic and Paralympic games to support their team. It also stated that the campaign is linked to research that indicated the benefit of home advantage for athletes that perform on home soil. However, the outbound industry, which has already been angered by a recent British government-funded domestic tourism campaign that was…

British workers that are keen to start a new life in Australia have had their chances of doing so improved by an announcement that the Australian government is ready to ease the country’s immigration requirements. The Australian government has announced that the current pass mark in its visa application process will be reduced. Such is the need to attract more skilled workers from Britain, that the government is reducing the pass mark from 65 to 60. The reform will come into place from July 1, as part of a raft of measures designed to improve Australia’s skilled workforce. Another of…

A Showpiece cable car that should provide visitors with spectacular views of the UK’s capital city is expected to be operational in time for the 2012 Olympic Games. There had been doubts over whether the £50m structure would be available in time for the opening of the Olympic Games on July 27, but according to the Daily Mail, Justine Greening, the transport secretary, has received an application for final approval. If the cable car gets the expected go-ahead, visitors to the games will be able to use it to travel between the O2 Arena and the ExCel exhibition centre, two…

Easyjet, a UK-based low-cost airline, has announced that it is to partner Unicef, a worldwide charitable organisation with its headquarters in New York, that provides long-term humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries. Easyjet is set to launch the ‘Change For Good’ campaign aboard its aircraft on July 2, and all passengers will be invited to donate spare change to Unicef in pouches that will be handed out by the crew during flights. With the initiative operating during the main summer and winter travel seasons, it is expected that 55 million passengers will be given the…

Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), a British-based, multinational hotel company, has announced the opening of two new hotels located in Chestnut Plaza, adjacent to the London 2012 Olympic Park. The two new properties, the Holiday Inn-branded London Stratford City, and the Staybridge Suites-branded London Stratford City, are owned by a joint venture between Cycas Hotel Partners and Patron Capital, and Cycas Hospitality will operate them under a franchise agreement with IHG. The hotels are part of Westfield Stratford City, a major retail complex, and have rail and underground transportation links via Stratford International railway station, underground and DLR. The two hotels…

Caribbean Airlines, an airline company that has its base and hub at Piarco International Airport, Port of Spain, Trinidad, has commenced flights between Trinidad and Gatwick Airport in the UK. The Gatwick service, which started on Saturday June 16, will be non-stop, twice weekly to Piarco International Airport. Commenting on the inauguration of the new flights, Guy Stephenson, the chief commercial officer at Gatwick Airport, said, ‘We are delighted to welcome Caribbean Airlines and its passengers to our airport today. This non-stop service will not only be welcomed by business travellers with links to the economic hub of Trinidad but…