The UK economy is lagging behind the major players in continental Europe, according to an airline chief executive. Oman Air boss Peter Hill said he was pleased with the manner in which the European economies had come out of the recession, but lamented the fact that Britain was playing catch up to Germany and France.
“In general there is evidence to suggest that people are spending again,” he said.
“Our business class is doing very well, and more often than not flies at full capacity.
“There has been a big uptake in leisure from the German and French markets, and bookings are looking bullish beyond Christmas, too.”
“But we are not seeing the same in the UK, its recovery has not been as quick.”
Before joining Oman Air Hill was one of the original six businessmen who founded Emirates Airlines in the 1980s.
After leaving the Middle Eastern carrier, he joined Sri Lankan Airlines where he spend a relatively successful eight years before having his work permit cancelled by the government for refusing to remove more than 300 passengers from a flight to make way for the country’s president and an entourage of friends.
Hill is in year one of a five-year plan, after which the airline is expected to return to profit. Speaking to ABTN at the World Travel Market, he said he hoped the airline could start repaying government investment by 2014/15.
But as airline consolidation across the globe steps up, Hill said his airline would not be succumbing to the lure of the alliances.
“It’s not an accident that Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines have not been involved [in alliances],” he said.
“We always invested in product, and it’s the same at Oman Air. We are a boutique carrier, and our focus is on our point-to-point services to and from Muscat. We target both the inbound leisure and business traveller, and the Omani traveller flying out to visit the rest of the world.
“At the moment we have no need to be part of an alliance, and it will remain that way certainly in the coming years.”
Hill said he had more interest in potential code shares as a way of increasing connectivity.
“I do see synergies between Emirates (for connections between Dubai and Muscat) and Malaysian Airlines (for its connections through Kuala Lumpur),” he said.
“If you’re a small carrier and you want to have a widespread network then you need to be part of an alliance, but the dominant carriers inevitably rule the roost.
“We will be more inclined to seek out further code share opportunities in the future.”
On the controversial topic of the UK’s air passenger duty (APD) stealth tax, Hill was furious that politicians persist in targeting aviation.
“Why are the airlines always the whipping boys for the government?” he asked.
“It’s happened in Germany, the UK and last week the Austrians joined in. I recently took a cruise, and when I looked at the invoice, there were certain charges [in addition to the basic fare], but when it comes to taxes they [the cruise lines] get off scot-free.
“I’m not saying they should be lumbered with it too, but where is the parity?”
Oman Air flies daily to Muscat from Heathrow, and four-times weekly from Paris, Frankfurt and Munich. From December 1 it will add Milan to its expanding European network.
Hill said the biggest challenged he faced next year was managing growth. He said average load factors were up by more than 10% year-on-year.
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