Corporate Travel Analysis Reports

Asian carrier Scoot faces some critical decisions in the coming months as the Singapore Airlines LCC subsidiary begins long haul operations. The carrier recently took delivery of its first Boeing 787 configured for long haul flights and is about to take its second long haul configured aircraft, followed by two more in the current fiscal year. But, it has currently only announced just a single long haul destination.

AirAsia X is planning to resume services on the Kuala Lumpur-London Gatwick route -perhaps as early as late this year if it decided to acquire 777s but at the latest in 2018 as it takes delivery of new A330-900neo aircraft.

Whether it be to advise new products or services, promote fare sales or purely a simple branding exercise, airlines invest a great deal of money into ensuring you notice it. But are the campaigns really delivering? The airlines definitely seem to think so.

UK airport operator Highlands & Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) is an excellent example of the essential role hub airport connectivity plays in supporting regional airports and developing economic trade. It controls a plethora of small airports across Northern Scotland, its largest being in Inverness, the most northerly city in the United Kingdom and the main gateway to the highlands region in Northern Scotland.

The CAPA Americas Aviation Summit, which occurred in Apr-2017, delivered some of the most incredible discussions from a wide range of expert speakers.

Australia has been the testing ground for the long haul low cost model over the last decade and the market has benefited from a disproportionate amount of long haul low cost capacity. Australia still accounts for more than 20% of global long haul low cost capacity even though the sector continues to expand and make inroads in other regions such as Europe and the Americas.

SAS Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has secured a lot of publicity from the launch of its new weekly winter flight between Stockholm and Miami, its fourth US route from Arlanda Airport in the Swedish capital after New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The carrier already serves Miami from Oslo and Copenhagen, so this growth was not unexpected and is actually being facilitated by the reduction of its existing Stockholm - Los Angeles route from six to five times weekly from the end of October 2017 so there is no real growth in terms of its capacity in and out of the US. So why the big interest?

This month the Blue Swan Daily road tested the US based ultra-LCC, Spirit Airlines, on two sectors - Newark-Orlando and Orlando-Houston. For those travelling to the US and needing to get around domestically, or to/from Latin America, Spirit can be a good (and inexpensive) option, as the carrier offers a surprisingly extensive network.

On 2-May-2017, the Blue Swan Daily reported that Sydney Airport Group decided it would not develop and operate the Western Sydney Airport (WSA), Badgerys Creek. We said "let the games begin" and they certainly have.

Air freight is often seen as a barometer of global economic activity and latest data from global airline grouping International Air Transport Association (IATA) for March 2017 is painting a very positive picture. Latest data shows global air freight markets showing demand growth of 14% in freight tonne kilometres (FTKs) compared to the same period last year. This was the fastest pace of growth recorded since October 2010.