News last week that Delta Air Lines has finally revealed its plans for a Heathrow launch, has fired the starting gun ahead of Open Skies next year.
A raft of airlines ” mainly US ” is now expected to start jockeying for position ahead of the EU-US agreement that will allow any carrier to operate point to point services within both regions from March, 2007.
The business jewel in the crown of course, is Heathrow and although other carriers have signalled an interest in Paris with its generous runway capacity at both Charles de Gaulle and Orly, it is the London airport that is provoking a frenzy of activity.
Heathrow accounts for a mind-blowing 40% of transatlantic business traffic, but surely this is historical legacy rather than demonstrating what a fantastic hub it is?
The myriad delays, nightmare construction work at T3 ” which will be small beer compared to plans to develop a Heathrow East by the way, security problems and the not-inconsequential and infuriating one piece of hand baggage policy ” are all combining to provide BAA with its very own annus horribilis.
So why on earth are airlines falling over themselves to rush to Heathrow? The established incumbents ” the legacy of the Bermuda II deal that saw BA, Virgin, American and United - all enjoy a cosy arrangement, have significant capacity ” and crucially slots ” allowing them, BA in particular to offer substantial business product across the Atlantic.
And despite Delta”s announcement, it is only as a result of the carrier”s SkyTeam alliance partner, Air France, leasing some precious Heathrow slots ” itself a result of intense pressure from Eurostar competition between London and Paris.
Eking out small number of slots will not establish the new carriers firmly in the business eye ” unless they are significantly competitive on price. BA and Virgin offer high frequency, while the latter continues to raise the business bar ever higher ” witness its dedicated security lane launch for Upper Class passengers last week for example.
So is this simply US perception that Heathrow remains the choice of business? Anecdotal evidence would suggest that passengers are voting with their feet.
While in the Air France Lounge at Charles de Gaulle last week for the Delta announcement, ABTN fell into conversation with a US hotel executive, who was transiting back from Beijing to the US. Interestingly, he resolutely preferred to travel via Paris rather than London, and, despite having a meeting that day in the UK capital, was more than prepared to return to Paris rather than endure the increasingly difficult Heathrow.
The UK has a perfectly good other international airport at Gatwick, but the Sussex site”s star appears to have endured a meteoric fall. BA is falling over itself to transfer its ”gold standard” services back to Fortress Heathrow, while other carriers appear happy to leave a rump of holiday destinations to Florida and the Caribbean back at Gatwick.
Whatever happened to the BA notion of ”Waltzing through Gatwick North Terminal” with all the notion of calmness and serenity it conjured up? Now it”s rather plough through Heathrow with two left feet.
Air France has enjoyed stellar performances these last few years ” in no small part due to the power of the twin hubs of Charles de Gaulle and Atlanta ” but even it has been lured by the siren voice of Heathrow and will launch a Los Angeles service next April.
It”s entirely possible also that Lufthansa is eying bmi”s slots, especially now that the UK carrier has ruled out operating US services until it has fully absorbed Bmed into its operation. As the second largest carrier at Heathrow after BA, bmi”s value must be rising by the week.
One slight moan and not just another excuse to stick the boot into BAA, but why on earth have the trolleys with baskets on the front been done away with? Leaving an aircraft, passengers accumulate any number of smaller items, newspapers, knick knacks etc, not to mention lap tops, that used to go into them easily.
Every other airport in the world seems to have them ” why is BAA making the travelling public”s life ” yet more ” difficult?