British Airways has insisted that it is not taking business travel for granted despite not having a stand at the Business Travel Show.
Speaking in a debate at the event, BA’s head of UK and Ireland sales and marketing Richard Tams said consolidation such as BA’s proposed takeover of Bmi did not mean it and other carriers were “arrogant enough not to be here”.
“The reason we are not here is because our marketing budget would not extend to it,” he said.
In a discussion on consolidation, Tams said it was necessary to ensure carriers were profitable and because customers were becoming more global in their outlook.
“It is a critical factor in making a deeply dysfunctional industry slightly more functional,” he said.
However, Virgin Atlantic’s general manager of sales Paul Wait, said alliances now controlled 83% of capacity across the north Atlantic and 58% globally and said US travel buyers were concerned about the effects on their purchasing due to consolidation stateside.
“If we were talking about GDSs, there are only four and I am sure BA would be talking about how there were too few and prices were too high,” said Wait.
Toni Goth, head of global travel management for insurer Allianz, said alliances brought a larger network but said the disadvantages often outweighed the advantages for buyers.
“There is an increasing dominance of take it or leave it deals in some major markets already,’ he said. ‘The bigger they are, the less willing they are to work with you on a programme you have designed.”
However Peter Glade, Star Alliance’s director of sales and marketing development, said alliances and consolidation had allowed carriers to offset the effects of airport fee and oil price rises, air traffic control costs and increasing taxation. Competition authorities were also vigilant, he added.
“The element of competition does not go away through joint ventures and alliances, this is what we pay regulators for,” said Glade.