Quantas and Emirates Partnership

Australia's competition watchdog has given final approval for a partnership between Qantas and Emirates. 

Under the alliance, the two airlines will collaborate on pricing, sales and flight scheduling. 

It will also see Qantas switch its hub for European flights from Singapore to Dubai. 

"Qantas is an Australian icon and the future of its international business is much brighter with this partnership," said Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce. 

"Customers are already responding very strongly to the joint network that Qantas and Emirates have built, and to the frequent flyer benefits that extend across it, with a significant increase in bookings." 

This is a fantastic partnership which has been created. Both Quantas and Emirates are large and very well respected airlines with millions of passengers a year. This partnership will make them as a brand stronger, they will be able to fight off competition. As the article said they will be able to fly more routes, as well as bringing together their frequent flyer benefits, which will be a very big positive for the customer. I think this is a great opportunity and i hope that these airlines work together well and bring the best out of the current situation. I think this will be a partnership to watch!

American Airlines to Provide Refunds after Tech Failure

All American Airlines’ US flights were put on hold for several hours yesterday after a fault with the carrier’s reservation system.

At least 670 flights were cancelled before its systems were fully restored at 4.30pm local time.

But the airline warned travellers to expect “continued flight delays and cancellations throughout the remainder of the day”.

The carrier initially said its reservation system, managed by Sabre Holdings, a ticket distributor, was offline, but American later clarified that the problem was with its own access to the system, not with Sabre itself, the Financial Times reported.

The airline said passengers who needed to travel on Tuesday could rebook their flights, even on other airlines, and it would pay any fare difference.

American also said it would waive change fees and provide full refunds to customers who chose not to travel on Tuesday.

Earlier in the afternoon, the carrier had said its system was “experiencing intermittent outages”.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that American requested a “ground stop” of all flights at US airports.

I found this article on Travel Weekly which was released in the early hours of this morning. It is interesting to see that such a large airline can face a large problem such as the reservation system going down. The airline will have had to reassure their customers so that the brand reputation does not get severely damaged. Another interesting fact was seeing that American Airlines would refund any customers who decided not to travel, whilst stating they would also pay the additional cost for customers to swap airlines. This sort of incident does not happen very often but when it does, and airline needs to have a contingency plan in place to protect the airline and its customers. Personally i feel that American Airlines coped with the situation very well which has lead to customers being disappointed but accepting. 

Cathay Pacific Upgrading

Cathay Pacific Airways will change over to a new passenger reservations system the weekend of 11 and 12 February. The new technology will replace an in-house system introduced in the 1980's. This will ensure Cathay Pacific can continue to meet passengers’ needs in the future.

During the transition, it will be necessary for the airline to temporarily suspend certain customer facing technology. This includes Cathay Pacific’s Web site, www.cathaypacific.com, and its mobile sites.

The airline’s flight schedule over the weekend, however, will be unaffected by the changeover.

Cathay Pacific Chief Operating Officer Ivan Chu said: “Our current system has served us well. However, just as we upgrade the products and services our customers can see and touch, we must also update our technology behind the scenes so that we can support the continued growth of our airline and the expanding expectations of our customers.”

The new Altéa reservation and inventory system is provided by Amadeus, the same reservations system used by the majority of oneworld alliance carriers. Cathay Pacific is a founding member of oneworld.

Mr Chu continued: “Preparations for this change began several years back as it is quite a massive undertaking. For example, as just one part of the process during the cutover, we will migrate more than 1 million passenger bookings between systems. Unfortunately, as we modify the reservations system and more than 40 down line systems, we’re forced to temporarily suspend some of the conveniences that our customers appreciate and count on. We appreciate their understanding and patience for these necessary measures.”

The Cathay Pacific Web site will be taken offline worldwide at approximately 3 pm Hong Kong time on Saturday, 11 February. Functionality will be brought back online in stages throughout the day on Sunday, 12 February. The majority of the site will be available by 8 pm on Sunday Hong Kong time.

Online check in and self-service kiosks at airports will also be unavailable throughout much of the weekend. Additional information on which services will be unavailable along with potential alternatives is provided on the attached “appendix.”

Cathay Pacific will be unable to sell or modify Cathay Pacific tickets from approximately 3 pm Hong Kong time on Saturday, 11 February, until the system comes back online Sunday, 12 February. Travel agents will be able to put new reservations on request, but those bookings will not be confirmed until the system resumes service. Accordingly, passengers needing to buy or change tickets or make special requests for travel on 11 or 12 February are encouraged to do so prior to that weekend.

Cathay Pacific plans to operate its normal flight schedule on the 11 and 12 February as the upgrade does not impact aircraft systems. As Cathay Pacific has always suggested, it will be necessary for passengers travelling on electronic tickets to bring a copy of their eTickets to the airport. While no expanded queuing is expected, passengers may wish to arrive at the airport earlier than normal.

In the week following the transition, Cathay Pacific’s worldwide call centres may experience higher than normal call volumes. Should that be the case, the airline will do all possible to minimise inconvenience and passengers’ patience is appreciated.

I found this article a little while ago and i believe it is very interesting, especially to see how an airline of that size copes with a situation which has to occur to meet their customers demands. 
Cathay Pacific has recently joined the oneworld alliance, so by updating their systems they are competing at the same level as all of the other competitors. It was fantastic to hear that even though the systems were all being chnaged over there was no disruption to flights, and the customer journey was still of a high standard. 

New Air Platform Vindicates Travelport Stance, says GDS Boss

Travelport chief executive Gordon Wilson hailed the company's new platform unveiled yesterday as a first for global distribution systems (GDSs).

Speaking at the World Travel and Tourism Council summit in Abu Dhabi, Wilson said: "Everything will be on one screen."

Wilson told Travel Weekly: "We are working with easyJet, British Airways, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, KLM. There will be so much content."

Travelport, parent of GDSs Worldspan and Galileo, argues the platform will let airlines distribute however they choose and differentiate services while aggregating everything on a single screen for agents.

Wilson said: "We don't want customers worrying about the plumbing."

Travelport is working to incorporate American Airlines' direct connect technology into the platform after the companies signed a new distribution agreement and dropped their competing legal claims in the US last month.

Wilson said: "We reached a long-term agreement acceptable to both parties, with a guarantee of access to all existing and future content.

"American Airlines will plug their technology into our Universal Desktop. We are working on the plans with American at the moment.

"The capability is in place and should be available within months."

Wilson said the deal "vindicated" Travelport's stance through the dispute with American, transatlantic partner of British Airways.

"We always said it was never a question of technology," he said. "We were not the logjam."

He declined to discuss the duration of the deal with American, but the agreement is believed to be for a minimum five years. Wilson said 70% of Travelport customers moved to one of the company's new desktops in the past year.

Travelport rules out Iata NDC Pilots

Travelport has told Iata that it is too busy with its existing production schedule to be able to pilot any airlines through its New Distribution Capability platform.

The GDS is still working closely with Iata on the development of NDC which promises to turn the distribution system on its head.

In a statement this week Travelport issued three questions it said needed to be answered by Iata over the intentions of NDC.

These sought to ascertain whether Iata intends to preserve transparency, balanced governance and the involvement of all stakeholders, including agents.

Having launched its new air merchandising platform this week, Travelport's focus was on bringing more carriers into the GDS fold, particular the growing number of low-cost airlines.

"Travelport is currently in implementation with a number of additional carriers using XML technologies which will further extend the list of carriers present within the Travelport GDS without them having to use existing industry standards.

"If an Iata airline wishes to use NDC schema to distribute products to production then we are happy to work with such an airline but at this time our production workload means that we cannot partake in pilots for NDC."

The statement continued: “To date our concerns [about NDC] have not been fully addressed. We call on Iata to demonstrate a commitment to meaningful, transparent governance among all the interested parties."

Security Review, after Boston Bombs Kill Three

Security is being reviewed for the London marathon on Sunday after two bombs exploded killing three people and injuring more than 130 at the end of the Boston race.

FBI special agent Richard DesLauriers, who is in charge of the investigation, said the blasts close to the finishing line of the  Boston marathon were being treated as a "potential terrorist" attack.

The twin explosions put police on alert in major cities across the US, including in Washington DC and New York City, sites of the September 11 attacks in 2001.

There was heavy security around the area of the explosions and outside the hospitals where the injured were being treated. A no-fly zone was in place above central Boston.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office warned of possible travel disruption in the wake of the explosions at 2.50pm local time yesterday.

“At least two explosions took place close to the finishing line of the Boston marathon, causing many injuries,” the FCO said.

“You should exercise vigilance and caution, monitoring local media and following the advice of local authorities. If in the affected area you should let family and friends know you are safe. Additional information can be obtained through the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.”

Boston police set up an emergency hotline for friends and relatives: 001 617 635 4500.

A spokesman for the Fairmount Copley Plaza said yesterday: “An explosion was reported at the finish line of the Boston marathon, two blocks away from the hotel.

“At this time, only guests and colleagues are being allowed into the hotel, and per the direction of the Boston police those already in the building are encouraged to stay inside.”

A room was set up for people to relax and get in touch with loved ones.

“All hotel colleagues are safe and our thoughts are with those affected by this tragic incident,” the spokesman added.

The travel industry was among the first to express its concern and disgust at what happened in Boston.

Cheapflights has an office in Boston and UK employees tweeted they hoped their US colleague was safe.

Travel Counsellors’ chairman David Speakman said the agency had already got a list of customers in Boston and was checking to make sure all were well.

Abta chairman and Advantage Travel Centres chief executive John McEwan said: “Dreadful news coming from Boston with bombs set off at the marathon. My thoughts are with everyone involved.”

There are 2,000 people due to fly to Boston from Heathrow on six flights today.  British Airways is allowing passengers to switch US destinations over the next three days.

The travel industry was starting to get itself back on track since 9/11 and the London bombings, until it was hit with this disaster yesterday in Boston. I believe this came as a large shock to the travel industry as they have worked so hard to make sure a disaster does not occur again. The next challenge they face is the London Marathon. From reading the article and listening to the news, i heard that competitors will be contacted on a daily basis with an update as they do not want competitors dropping out due to worry. I hope that this does not affect the London marathon, as it is a fantastic event with thousands lining the streets every year. It was also interesting to read that British Airways will be allowing passengers to switch destinations, this is a very large step for the worlds leading airline, this will create positive brand recognition and reassurance in their customers. A very smart move i believe. 

Low-cost Flights Now the Majority, Amadeus Research Finds

More than half of all flights from the UK (52%) are now operated by low-cost carriers (LCC), a rise of 4% on 2011, new research out today reveals.

Spain has the highest share of departing LCC traffic in Europe at 57%, followed by the UK. Meanwhile, 65% of all air travel in the Philippines and 61% of all air travel in Thailand is made on low-cost carriers.

LCC penetration is highest in Europe at 38% and North America at 30%

The new analysis from Amadeus Air Traffic Travel Intelligence shows that worldwide air traffic grew by 5% between 2011 and 2012, with Asia being the largest, fastest-growing and most competitive market.

Asia saw year-on-year growth of 9%, followed by Latin America, at 6%.

The study also highlights that 22% of all global air travel is concentrated on just 300 ‘super routes’, each of which carries more than one million passengers a year.

Furthermore, 69% of all global air travel is made on major routes with 100,000 annual passengers.

The Middle East is a strong performer for connecting traffic, with the three key airports of Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai all showing high traffic volumes, serving about 15% of all air traffic between Asia and Europe and from Europe to the southwest Pacific.

Europe-Asia traffic routed via the Middle East is growing at roughly 20% a year.

Asia is the world’s most competitive aviation market with 75% of routes served by three or more airlines and just 25% of routes by one or two carriers, according to the study.

Analysis of the busiest routes in the world by passenger volume shows that seven out of the top ten world’s busiest air travel routes are in Asia.

Jeju-Seoul in South Korea is the world’s busiest route, while Beijing-Shanghai has risen from seventh-busiest route to fourth-busiest in 2012.

Sapporo-Tokyo has overtaken Rio de Janeiro-Sao Paulo to second-busiest route ranking, and Okinawa-Tokyo has entered the top ten table, as ninth-busiest route in the world.

Globally, the airline industry has become consistently more competitive over the past three years. The percentage of air traffic served by just one or two airlines has fallen by 2% each year from 39% in 2010 to 35% in 2012.

Concurrently, the percentage of air traffic with four or more competing airlines has also risen consistently from 35% in 2010 to 38% in 2012, the research shows.

Amadeus head of travel intelligence Pascal Clement, Head said: “The rapid pace of change and increasing competitiveness of the global airline industry, as evidenced by this data, means airlines and the wider travel industry increasingly need to base operational decision-making on data insights and analytics, in order to identify opportunities and risks as they emerge.

“This data provides good news for the airline industry, showing that passenger air traffic has increased in every region of the world from 2011 to 2012. As in 2011, this growth is led by Asia, however, the data points to a further opportunity in the region, where the majority of traffic is on a small number of busy routes.”

I found this article on travelweekly.com which was released earlier this morning. I found it very interesting to see that even with the recession hitting the world more people are now choosing to go away, increasing the traffic in the air. But now with more people choosing to fly with lost cost airlines, will this lead to large airlines such as Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines and British Airways facing a shortage of passengers? I believe it is essential that the larger airlines look closely at meeting their customers demands and needs so that they can stand out and keep loyal customers returning. 

I recently went for an interview at British Airways, and they said within the introduction to the job that it is essential they employ graduates and apprentices as they need the younger generation to promote the airline, as well as bringing in new ideas. I found this very interesting as it shows that they can clearly see the competition, and are now looking at other approaches to tackle the issue. Apprentice jobs go live on their website in May/June so keep looking if your interested!