4 NOVEMBER 2019
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- ON THE SOAPBOX: Eurostar CEO Mike Cooper
- Air Transat on growth path
- Anniversary honour for Concorde Fleet
- Aspire doubles up at Edinburgh
- Aviation focus at World Travel Market
- BA boss for Air League
- Belfast gets aviation boost
- Bristol – Frankfurt on the way
- BTA hails bid for second flag carrier
- Dundee – London route extended
- Emissions-free vehicles for Heathrow
- Gatwick in boarding trial
- Inclusivity campaign gets a lift from BA
- IndiGo places giant Airbus order
- Inflight wi-fi coup for Vueling
- Liverpool welcomes Lauda arrival
- London City bonus from Flybe
- Mainland Europe debut for Yotel
- Stansted celebrates Amritsar launch
- Sunclass arises from Thomas Cook
- United on environmental trail
- ON TOUR: NBAA-BACE
- NOVEMBER CRUISE NEWS: First impressions count
- AND FINALLY: Cruise ship takes a cruise
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Dundee – London route extended
Flights between Dundee and London are to be extended throughout 2020, aviation minister Paul Maynard announced last week, with Loganair operating 11 services a week between the Scottish airport and Stansted.
ON THE SOAPBOX: Eurostar CEO Mike Cooper
25 years of Eurostar
Mike Cooper became CEO of Eurostar in March 2018, having been CEO of Yodel and deputy CEO and MD Mainland Europe at Arriva, where he led the European transport business with responsibility for rail, bus and trams across 13 countries. Before Arriva, Cooper was chief commercial officer for easyJet from its flotation in 2000 until 2005 and before that he was MD of Portland Travel, part of the Thomson Travel Group.
Air Transat on growth path
Named the world’s best airline in its class at the 2019 Skytrax Awards, Canadian carrier Air Transat is expanding services between the UK and Ireland to Toronto and Montreal next summer.
Aviation focus at World Travel Market
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, World Travel Market (WTM) London opens today, 4 November, at ExCeL in Docklands and continues tomorrow and Wednesday.
BA boss for Air League
The Air League will be meeting one week today, on 11 November, for the 2019 Sir Andrew Humphrey Memorial Lecture at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London. British Airways chairman and CEO Álex Cruz is the guest speaker.
Belfast gets aviation boost
What was once Short Brothers, the world’s first aviation production company, is about to have a new owner.
Emissions-free vehicles for Heathrow
Autonomous emissions-free baggage vehicles have gone on trial with British Airways at Heathrow in a move the airline says will help it to improve punctuality further and “depart every flight on time”.
Gatwick in boarding trial
A new boarding technique to find ways to avoid queues and congestion at gates is under a two-month trial at Gatwick with digital screens and staff at Gate 101 showing passengers the order for getting on their aircraft.
Inflight wi-fi coup for Vueling
Spanish carrier Vueling is celebrating after becoming the first low-cost carrier to offer high-speed inflight wi-fi powered by Inmarsat’s European Aviation Network (EAN). The announcement was made by chief customer officer Calum Laming.
London City bonus from Flybe
Demand from business travellers has spurred Flybe to increase peak-time capacity on flights to London City (LCY) from Edinburgh from 1 December. The enhanced service will use a 98-seat Embraer E190 from partner Stobart Air.
Stansted celebrates Amritsar launch
Bollywood came to Stansted last week as a troupe of dancers and drummers greeted passengers to mark the inaugural flight of a new Air India three-a-week service to Amritsar.
United on environmental trail
The industry-wide campaign to protect the environment took another step last week with United Airlines committing US$40m (about £31m) toward a new investment vehicle focused on accelerating the development of sustainable aviation fuels and other decarbonisation technologies.
ON TOUR: NBAA-BACE
It is billed as the world’s biggest business aviation show. As promised last week, Alison Chambers of Emerald Media looks at some of the highlights from the 2019 NBAA-BACE extravaganza and finds even the UK getting a look-in.
NOVEMBER CRUISE NEWS: First impressions count
“Fantastic”. The one-word description used by Harry Sommer, soon to become president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), as last week somewhere between Bremerhaven and Southampton he introduced Encore, all 167,000 tons of her, to the world’s travel trade and media.
Anniversary honour for Concorde Fleet
The BA Concorde Fleet was handed a perfect excuse for celebrating the 16th anniversary of the last scheduled flight by the supersonic airliner last month when it was awarded the Brackley Memorial Trophy from the Honourable Company of Air Pilots (HCAP).
Aspire doubles up at Edinburgh
The surging popularity of airport lounges was reflected at Edinburgh last week with Aspire opening its second facility. The original model is to close for a short period for refurbishment and is scheduled to reopen next year.
Bristol – Frankfurt on the way
A new direct flight between Bristol and Frankfurt is being introduced by Lufthansa on 30 March as the airline further strengthens its commitment to the UK market with a twice-daily service six days a week and once daily on Saturdays.
BTA hails bid for second flag carrier
Support for Virgin Atlantic’s campaign to be named as the UK’s second flag carrier at Heathrow was voiced last week by the Business Travel Association (BTA). CEO Clive Wratten said the idea should be welcomed “with enthusiasm”.
Inclusivity campaign gets a lift from BA
British Airways has become the first airline to partner with the Department for Transport on a new government-backed initiative to make transport more inclusive and help people with disabilities travel with confidence.
IndiGo places giant Airbus order
In one of the largest orders placed by a single operator, Indian carrier IndiGo last week signed a firm order for 300 Airbus A320 family aircraft. The deal includes A320neos, A321neos and A321XLRs and takes Indigo’s total on order to 730.
Liverpool welcomes Lauda arrival
Austria's revived airline Lauda, which claims to be the greenest cleanest airline group in Europe with the lowest CO2 emissions, began new twice-weekly direct flights last week between Liverpool and Vienna with an Airbus A320.
Mainland Europe debut for Yotel
Quirky hotel brand Yotel, which features what it calls cabins instead of rooms and communal all-day social gathering places known as Komyunitis, opens its first property in mainland Europe today, Monday, in Amsterdam.
Sunclass arises from Thomas Cook
Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia, the Nordic subsidiary of the collapsed Thomas Cook Group, is assuming a new identity as Sunclass Airlines.