Corporate Travel e-Newsletter - October 07

Congratulations to Mike Conolly of Kent College Canterbury, who won our eNews subscribers' prize in our 2007 3rd Quarter draw. Every quarter we draw a winning name. The odds are much better than winning the lottery, so anyone who has not subscribed to our free eNews, now is the time to be in with a chance of winning the subscribers' prize draw for the 4th Quarter 2007!

The voucher certificate will have a value of £100, redeemable against any form of holiday (combination of travel and accommodation) booking made through us to the value of £500 or more, and will be valid for a period of 18 months from the date of issue. It will be transferable, providing the winner advises Medway Travel of the name of the eventual recipient.

From a City break to a Cruise, from an all-inclusive package to a tailored holiday, the choice is yours. We have a massive range of outstanding holidays to offer and a team of consultants highly qualified to research and advise on all aspects of your trip. The chances of your being the lucky winner in the next 12 months are better than 1 in 500, so the very best of luck!

A new airport transfer service between Heathrow and Gatwick and central London hotels aims to undercut the cost of taxis. 

National Express group is to run the dot2dot service from November 1, which will be pre-bookable by our consultants at Medway Travel.

The company claims that the price of £22 one-way from Heathrow to central London (£35 return) will be half the price of taxis and will offer a maximum of four stops on any route for each shuttle.

The service from Gatwick will operate in conjunction with the Gatwick Express, with shuttles running transfers from Victoria Station. 

Shuttles will pick up from Heathrow's terminals every five minutes and a separate service is planned for when Terminal 5 opens next spring.

The company plans to have 76 vehicles operating by Christmas. Each will have 10-12 leather seats with extra legroom. 

The vehicles will be able to use bus lanes to help speed journey times to and from central London. 

As a shared ride service it is also a more environmentally friendly choice, National Express claims. 

Help desks, where travellers can get further information and book a transfer, will be sited in all the terminals at Heathrow and Gatwick.

The initiative brings together the experience of National Express and Hotelink in the UK and Go Airport Shuttle, an international consortium of airport shuttle providers operating in North America, of which dot2dot is a network partner.

Satellite navigation equipment, congestion tracking systems, fully trained and experienced drivers and a range of specially configured shuttles will make the dot2dot service a simpler journey, the transportation group claims. 

Whitfield said: "Building further on the success of the recently purchased Hotelink airport transfer service, dot2dot offers a very attractive option for business and leisure travellers between Heathrow, Gatwick and central London.

"The service is very comfortable with extra legroom, extremely cost effective, compared with some of the other modes of transport and very reliable. 

"It's ideal for those looking for someone to take the strain of getting to and from the airport from them, whilst saving money with discounted fares for groups and return journeys.

If you prefer the idea of getting to LHR or LGW by train rather than having to face the uncertainties of the M25, please discuss the options available with our consultants

Virgin to double premium economy seating on 747s

Virgin Atlantic is to add another 30 seats to premium economy cabins on each of its 747 aircraft – nearly doubling the current capacity of 32 seats. The move follows a 20 per cent increase in passengers flying in the carrier's revamped premium economy cabin in the last ten months.

The new seats will be added by the end of this year, and will equate to a 10 per cent increase in premium economy seating across Virgin's entire fleet. The airline says it has flown around 950,000 passengers in premium economy since its redesigned offering was introduced last year.

And it's not just the carrier giving its premium economy seating the thumbs up – a recent survey voted the offering the Best Premium Economy Class at the recent Business Traveller Awards, ahead of BA, Air New Zealand and SAS.

Virgin's premium economy seat includes a 38' seat pitch and a 21' wide leather seat, while passengers enjoy dedicated check-in, and a separate cabin and meal service.

 

First A380 service confirmed

Singapore Airlines has confirmed October 28 as the date for the inaugural scheduled flight by the mega Airbus A380.

The aircraft will fly from Singapore to Sydney, replacing one of three Boeing 747s on the route.

The 471-seat aircraft is configured in three classes: 12 Singapore Airlines Suites (on the main deck), 60 Business Class (on the upper deck) and 399 Economy Class seats (on both decks).

United offers first class upgrades

United Airlines is offering business travellers free upgrades to first class on London-US routes this autumn. The promotion is valid for those travelling on full fare (class A) business class tickets before December 14.

The routes from London included in this offer are to United's "gateway cities" of Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington. New York is also included, although the city is no longer served non-stop by the carrier since the route was scrapped in 2006. The offer follows BA's similar promotion although the United upgrade applies to both legs of the journey, rather than just one way with BA.

United is also offering upgrades to selected non-gateway cities for full-fare business class return tickets, although these only apply on one leg. The carrier recently unveiled its new fully-flat business class product and United anticipates that the product will be available on a UK route before the end of the year. So even if you don't qualify for the current promotion, you might just find yourself in an upgraded seat anyway.

Continental offers free Manhattan helicopter transfers

Business travellers flying transatlantic with Continental Airlines to Newark are being offered free helicopter transfers to Manhattan.

The eight-minute shuttle service runs between its New York hub and the Downtown Manhattan Heliport at Wall Street and the East 34th Street Heliport in Midtown.

The service is provided by US Helicopter Corporation which runs scheduled connections on weekdays.

The offer applies to BusinessFirst passengers on Continental travelling to New York on fares booked in the airline's J and D class and originating from any of the 29 cities in 16 countries in the airline's transatlantic network. 

Passengers travelling on return tickets qualify for complimentary fares for helicopter transfers in both directions between Newark and Manhattan; those on one-way tickets qualify for a one-way transfer. While the fare is waived, customers are liable for applicable taxes, the airline said.

Jim Summerford, the airline's vice-president Europe, Middle East & India, said:  "Thanks to our partnership with US Helicopter, getting to Manhattan is now even quicker – and at no extra fare to our highest-yield customers."

 

EasyJet adds Luton-Hamburg service

EasyJet will add two more routes this winter, bringing the total number of new services for the season to 46.

A daily Luton-Hamburg service will start on November 5, with one-way fares starting at £20.99.

 

SAS introduces London City to Oslo

SAS has introduced a twice-daily service from London City Airport to Oslo. This is the third operation by SAS from the Docklands airport, as the Star Alliance partner already serves both Copenhagen, three-times daily and Stockholm with morning and evening flights.

Flight time is 2h15min and the airline emphasises that passengers can be in the London City DLR station within ten minutes of actually landing. Canary Wharf and London’s new financial centre is just 18min away and the Bank of England, 22min.

Commenting recently on the new service from London City to Oslo, S A S general manager UK & Ireland, Lars-Ove Filipson said:  "SAS’ new London City route to Oslo is the next logical step following the positive performance of the London City to Copenhagen and Stockholm services. These routes have proven exceptionally popular among London business travellers, especially those working in the Canary Wharf and City districts.

SAS will operate with a three-class layout, unique at London City. Besides the traditional business and economy cabins, Economy Extra provides customers with an efficient service, which includes business class check-in facilities and fully flexible fares with no restrictions.

Economy Extra passengers are seated in a dedicated area between the business and economy sections, receiving a complementary meal with drinks.
 

Lufthansa adds Berlin to London City network

Berlin is to become the seventh Germany city served by Lufthansa from London City Airport.

The airline will run two flights a day operated by regional partner Eurowings from the Docklands airport to Berlin Tegel from January 14.

The route will be served by BAe 146 aircraft carrying up to 89 passengers with a flight time of around 100 minutes.

Lufthansa already serves Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldrof, Hamburg and Nuremberg from London City, with flights to Stuttgart being launched next month.

The Berlin service will bring the number of weekly flights offered by the German carrier from the airport up from 66 to 78, rising to 84 from March, 2008.

One-way fares to Berlin start at £45 with returns leading in at £79.

 

Dubai debut for Silverjet

All-business class carrier Silverjet has chosen Dubai as its second destination.

The airline is to begin the service in November with prices starting at £1,099 return. A saver fare of £999 will be available for flights departing between November 18 and December 18.

Daily flights will leave Luton at 21.00 and arrive in Dubai at 08.30 with the return leaving at 10.30 and arriving in Luton at 14.45 UK time. This will connect to Silverjet's 16.45 departure to New York.

Silverjet will be the first and only commercial airline to use the executive terminal at Dubai International Airport.

Aircraft on the Dubai route will offer a tailored service including a Halal menu, Arabic menus, Qibla service and a females-only toilet.

Chief executive Lawrence Hunt said: "With premium air traffic growing at 20% year-on-year, this new route represents an exciting opportunity for Silverjet."

Dubai was chosen above several other short-listed destinations for the airline's second route due to its status as one of the world's fastest-developing commercial centres and its buoyant business relationship with the UK, a statement said.

"This announcement sees the airline become the first business class-only carrier to offer a non-transatlantic service and will further strengthen our exclusive business class credentials," said Hunt.

"With a letter of intent secured on two additional aircraft and several other routes under consideration, we look forward to continuing to expand our operation."

From 1 September , Deutsche Bahn (DB) has become completely smoke-free, while Germany’s railway stations are also to ban all smoking.
 
During 2007, smoking sections have been removed from DB regional trains and are now entirely smoke-free, while all InterCity, EuroCity and InterCity Express (ICE) trains will ban smoking from September.
 
In a sign of the times, around 8%-27% of DB seating is currently allocated for smokers – during the 1970s it was as much as 50% of all available space.
 
DB started to ban smoking at 54 larger German stations in 2002, with some 2,500 out of 5,370 now smoke-free. Stations will have designated smoking corners in public areas, but interestingly, DB says it will be unable to ensure no-one lights up in areas rented by shops and restaurants.
 
One other feature of the smoking ban will also be cost. DB maintains it will be cheaper to ensure trains and stations remain clean.
 
The German train operator will also help those who initially find the ban stressful; on InterCity and ICE services, DB is handing out free nicotine chewing gum on request.

 

 

Medway Travel has access to one of the largest portfolios of specially negotiated contract fares open to any travel agent in the country. This means we can - subject to availability at the time of booking - offer unusually low prices for many long-haul and certain European routes.

This month's examples are:

Eastern Europe, the Middle East and West Africa saw the biggest increases in hotel rates in the six months to the end June 2007.

HRG UK's 2007 Hotel Survey found that average rates in Eastern Europe climbed 18.7% compared with the same period in 2006, primarily driven by a 7% rise in Moscow rates to £236.06, the highest in the world.

Meanwhile, the Middle East and West Africa region recorded a 14% rise, spurred by the strong performance of Dubai and further investment in Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

The UK saw a slight increase in average room rates, up 4.3% or £4.40 per night, similar to the growth in 2006.

Africa was the only region not to see significant growth.

An HRG director said there had been a solid increase in commerce between East and West over the past 10 years and that demand in Eastern Europe particularly, has outstripped supply, pushing up room rates at a steady rate.

In Africa the lack of growth can be attributed to the GBP conversion rate against the ZAR (South African Rand). Room rates in GBP rose by 3% but when converted to the ZAR, rates rose by 30%, with the knock on effect of limiting local client bookings.

In Asia, Mumbai showed rapid growth, with an increase of 30% over the last six months following a climb of 49% for the full year 2006

In Europe, Barcelona rates grew by 18%, rates in Berlin were up by 17% and Stockholm by 10%.

London saw 5% rate growth, slightly down on the average rate growth of 7% in 2006. 

With rates going up in so many markets, it pays travellers to get the professionals – ie Medway Travel’s consultants! – to use their knowledge and connectivity to find the best value and most convenient properties for you. Remember we do not charge any fee for booking hotels, when we book your airfares at the same time.

Travellers in London moved one step closer to a cashless society this week, with the introduction of Barclaycard OnePulse. The 3-in-1 card includes the Oyster travelcard service, a credit card, and a cashless payment facility which can be used at participating retailers.
 
Many London-based travellers will already be accustomed to the Oyster travelcard, allowing users to purchase their bus, train and tube tickets on either a pay-as-you-go or season-ticket basis. But this is the first time that the card has been combined with non-travel payments, with Barclaycard licensing the technology following trials earlier this year.

As well as a regular chip-and-pin credit card, the OnePulse card also allows users to top up their card with "cash" that can then be used to make payments up to the value of £10 at various retailers in the capital. Cardholders simply pass their pre-paid card over the shop's "wave and pay" reader in the same way as they would when using Oyster on a train or bus.

The transactions are debited immediately, but also appear on the user's credit card statement for their records.Participating shops include Coffee Republic, Threshers, Yo! Sushi and Books Etc, with "thousands" of London retailers expected to sign up over the next few months.

Sue Doyle, marketing director of TranSys (who developed the new card in partnership with Oyster and Barclaycard) said recently:"We developed an idea together with Barclaycard which could be dovetailed seamlessly with Oyster`s existing functionality to deliver additional value for Barclaycard customers. This is the first of what we hope will be many such successful technology partnerships, bringing Oyster to an even broader audience in the future."

A significant amount of business travel could be routed to other European cities due to congestion and delays at the UK's busiest airports, according to a new study.

Eighty percent of multinational companies participating in the poll are anticipating airport meeting travel to go elsewhere, such as Frankfurt or Amsterdam.

Sixty per cent of respondents to the research by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives blamed outdated facilities, volume of traffic and poorly conceived security measures for the delays at British airports.

ACTE has called on the business travel industry to put airport congestion at the top of its agenda.

"It's time for key segments of the travel management industry to work together and try to reach a consensus on airport congestion," an ACTE spokesperson said. "There may be no better time than the Leadership Summit at the ACTE Munich Conference in October.

"Whether the problem is with access roads, outdated infrastructure, parking or security, the issues have to be treated as simultaneous priorities. In addition, from a CSR perspective, the quantity of resources being consumed while waiting is staggering. Time and resources cannot be easily recovered once spent."

Simultaneously, world leaders and industry authorities will be meeting in a European Travel Summit, to resolve issues like congestion, as well as security matters and service concerns.

Our consultants will be pleased to research alternative routes for your trips, avoiding the worst congestion, to make your journey less stressful. Sometimes the longer route can take less time and be more dependable! So do consult our professionals.

If you or your colleagues have plans to visit any overseas trade fair in the future, please contact us as soon as possible about your arrangements for travel and accommodation, as the earlier we can make the bookings for you, the lower will be the cost of the airfares, and the greater the selection of hotel accommodation.

We would also suggest you take a look at our  website Trade Fairs page from time to time, to help with your forward planning.

Algeria - Algiers - SIAC: (Food & Technology)            17th - 20th November 2007
Algeria - Algiers - PLASTICS:                                    3rd - 6th May, 2008

Australia - Sydney - HOSPIMEDICA:                         13th - 15th May, 2008
Australia – Melbourne – AUSPLAS:                            6th – 9th October 2008

China - Guangzhou - ALL IN GLASS:                        21st - 24th November, 2007

Germany – Dusseldorf – COMPAMED:                      14th – 16th November, 2007
Germany – Cologne – IMM:                                   14th – 20th January, 2008
Germany - Dusseldorf - BOOT:                               19th - 27th January, 2008
Germany – Cologne – DOMOTECHNICA:                  18th – 21st February, 2008

India - Mumbai - WORLD OF FOOD:                       19th - 21st November, 2007
India – New Delhi – TUBE INTERNATIONAL:              14th – 16th February, 2008

Kurdistan - Erbil - ERBIL INTNL. FAIR:                     29th October - 2nd November 2007

Russia - Moscow - INTERPLASTICA:                       29th December, 2007 - Ist January, 2008

Saudi Arabia - Riyadh - SAUDIBUILD/STONE:          12th - 15th November, 2007

Singapore - ENVIROASIA:                                     27th - 30th November, 2007
Singapore - IDEM:                                               4th - 8th April, 2008
Singapore – ASEANPLAS:                                      26th – 29th May, 2008

Turkey – Istanbul – FOODTECH:                           24th – 27th October, 2008

Also, don't forget, if there are a number of you travelling together, there are major savings possible for groups of 9 or more, when we negotiate group rates with the airlines. Click here to see more about our Group travel services.

Air France-KLM has issued an update on developments at its Paris CDG hub, unveiling a trial of a new initiative, which takes self-service check-in one stage further by allowing passengers to 'self-board'.

Claiming a world first, AF-KLM said the trial would be open to regular users of its Paris-Amsterdam flights.
Volunteers will be able to board a flight using a special biometric boarding gate, which will take a fingerprint from the passenger and open the gate if it matches the print previously downloaded onto a 'smartboarding' card.

The card incorporates 'all the recent biometric, RFID and thermal-printing technologies'. The latter enables the information normally held on the boarding card to be printed on the back of the smartboarding card  when the traveller checks in. It can be reprinted up to 600 times.