Expect delays at Terminal Five – HRG
Business travellers can expect delays when Heathrow Airport's new Terminal Five opens today (March 27), Hogg Robinson has warned.
Mike Platt, group industry affairs director at HRG, said there were a number of "pressing issues" which had not been given sufficient consideration.
"A primary concern is that the smooth operation of Terminal Five relies on fundamental changes in the behaviour of air travellers and it is unrealistic to expect this to happen over night.
"The result in the short-term is that we expect possible delays and strongly advise business travellers to factor this into journey times," he said.
He said the assumption was that most passengers would check-in online and print their own boarding cards.
The Terminal is equipped with 100 fast baggage drop off points.
"If passengers don't take advantage of this new system, the limited number of check-in desks will result in long queues.
"There will also be no dedicated desks for club or Executive Club silver card holders which will mean they will have to allow a little more time in case there is initial confusion.
"Only First Class, Premier or Gold card holders have their own check in area," he added.
Mr Platt also warned that with passenger number at Heathrow expected to grow by 27m in the next year, there were problems regarding transport to and from the airport.
"Again, the effective running of the new terminal relies on a shift in behaviour, with passengers moving from private to public transport.
"Roads surrounding Heathrow are notoriously congested and the expected two-fold increase in traffic will only make the situation worse particularly as the Terminal Five access road is on an already busy stretch of the M25.
"In addition, short term parking spaces appear to be limited in comparison to the predicted number of travellers," Mr Platt said.
Two of the major airline alliances are also gearing up to the opening of the new Terminal.
BA will switch 70% of its operation at Heathrow to the new £4.3bm building today with a further 20% being switched on April 30.
BA's remaining operations will be in Terminal Three along side its fellow oneworld members.
Star Alliance members will start their move into Terminal One in June after the building has been re-furbished.
The move is scheduled to be completed by 2012.
VLM reports tenth year of profit
Niche carrier VLM Airlines reported a tenth consecutive year of profit with an increase of 13% in post-tax earnings to €3.6m.
The carrier which was bought by Air France KLM last December said that during the year, turnover rose by 12.6% from €99.9m to €112.5m and passenger numbers rose by 9% to 745,781.
Its pre-tax profit rose by 24% from €4.4m in 2006 to €5.4m last year while operating profits were up 34% to €5.7m.
John Vanneste, VLM's managing director, said: "We are delighted to unveil our tenth consecutive year of profitability, set against a backdrop of continuously growing competition, heavily subsidised rail operators, rocketing fuel prices, increased government taxation and an increasing focus on the environment.
"Our recent change of ownership to Air France KLM will allow VLM Airlines and our passengers to benefit from numerous extra advantages and benefits, whilst still enjoying the entrepreneurship and flexibility of a small regional airline focussing on the business traveller."
VLM operates out of London City Airport serving a number of UK and continental destinations.
CWT acquires new Nigerian partner
Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has signed up with a new partner in Nigeria Jubilee Travel Limited.
The company will trade as Carlson Wagonlit Travel Nigeria.
CWT Nigeria, which has just bought up another agency Transcap Travel Bureaux, has offices in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Ibadan.
Olumide Idowu, executive chairman of Jubilee, said: "As a Carlson Wagonlit Travel partner, we are now in a position to deliver many of the same travel management services CWT offers around the world."
Hotel talks collapse
Merger talks between the UK's two largest budget hotel chains, Premier Inn and Travelodge have collapsed.
Whitbread, the leisure group which owns Premier Inn, said that while the two companies had been in "preliminary conversations" these had now ended.
Dubai International Capital paid £675m to Permira to acquire Travelodge in 2006, outbidding Whitbread.
Travelodge is now estimated to be valued at £900m.
Aer Lingus raises fuel surcharge
Irish national carrier Aer Lingus has raised its fuel surcharge on long haul routes.
It had increased its surcharge on flights to Orlando by €5 to €60 and to San Francisco and Los Angeles by €10 to €75.
It has also increased the surcharge on flights from the US to Ireland. It will go up on flights from New York, Boston, Washington and Chicago by €5 per sector.
The surcharge on flights from Ireland to these destinations remains unchanged.
Enda Corneille, the airline's corporate affairs director, said: "The price of oil has risen significantly in recent weeks and continues to be extremely volatile. Today's increases reflect the continuing high price of oil and its effect on our long haul operations."
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GTMC and ITM team up
The UK's Guild of Travel management Companies (GTMC) and the Institute of Travel Management (ITM) are to stage a joint conference on travel in May.
The forum, entitled “the Buyers Right Arm will be held on May 21 as part of The Travel Distribution Summit 2008 on May 20-21 at the Business Design Centre in London.
Speakers already booked for the event include Robert Daykin, a partner in the Corporate Travel Partnership, Mike Platt, industry affairs spokesman for Hogg Robinson Group and Caroline Strachan, international travel manager for Yahoo and chair of ITM.