This week, BTE reports on the first bout of consolidation in 2007 with the BCD purchase of Talking Point, the lively row between Ryanair and a UK government minister over carbon trading and the launch of another all business class transatlantic service.
The environment or rather attitudes in the travel industry towards climate change seem to have dominated the week. Not only was there the row between Ryanair and the UK government there was also the initial findings of an ACTE/KDS poll which looked into these attitudes.
The Ryanair row was still reverberating yesterday (January 10) at a specially called Ryanair press conference at which Mr Michael O'Leary, the airline's ceo, re-iterated his claim that his was Europe's greenest airline.
The Ryanair-UK government row is looked at more closely in BTE Analysis.
The initial findings of the ACTE/KDS poll must make for depressing reading for the proponents of a more active stance on carbon emissions.
While it must be stressed that these are initial findings, considerations on environmental impact of travel do not appear to play a high part in corporate decisions.
The issues which take to priority are traveller security and cutting costs. There should be no real surprise here – both are vital to successful and continuing business travel. But it may dishearten some of the environmental lobbyists who may have flet they would have made more of an impact by now.
They still clearly have a long way to go to do so. But it is early days yet.
Stanley Slaughter
Editor
Business Travel Europe
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