Corporate Travel News For Europe/MEA

Emirates Group divisional senior VP corporate communications marketing & brand Boutros Boutros said the company will end its decade long partnership with the Australian Open (Golf) and may withdraw from Victoria's Spring Racing Carnival altogether, as it examines the value of its key Australian sponsorship arrangements in 2018 and beyond (The Australian, 28-Dec-2017). He noted that the airline had built such strong brand awareness in Australia, it no longer needed the same number of dedicated sponsorships here. Mr Boutros said: "When we first came, nobody had heard of Emirates... Definitely, our research says our brand recognition in Australia is now very high. [The sponsorships] are no longer necessary". Instead, Emirates plans to rely more on sporting partnerships with global exposure, and less on those catering to specific ­markets. On its sponsorship of the Australian Open, Mr Boutros said: "We don't need it anymore... If I have a deal with the (European) PGA, why do I need another side deal?". Mr Boutros said Emirates could not simply "keep spending and spending" on hundreds of sponsorships around the globe. "You need to be smart", he said. "When you look at Emirates' sponsorships, we cover the globe. Every Australian who follows golf will continue seeing Emirates around the world. Same with horse racing. Same with soccer. At the end of the day, I have a budget every year. You have to follow your research and outcome".

easyJet forecast (27-Dec-2017) the following milestones for 2018:

• Passenger numbers are expected to reach 90 million, a 10 million increase on the 80 million passenger record set in 2017;
• A new easyJet base in Bordeaux will open in Mar-2018 marking the airline's sixth French base, creating 110 direct jobs, with three A320 aircraft to be based there and more than five new routes to be launched;
• By Jan-2018 half of easyJet's fleet will be A320 aircraft following a programme of upgrades from 150 seat A319 to the larger aircraft, which can seat up to 186, as well as a number of aircraft acquired from Air Berlin coming into operation. By spring, the airline's fleet will surpass 300 aircraft;
• easyJet expects to take delivery of its first A321neo in Jul-2018. Further deliveries in 2018 will bring the number of Neo aircraft in the fleet to 28;
• The airline also expects to link around half of its network to long haul services through its connections product 'Worldwide by easyJet' in 2018;
• easyJet will also continue to work alongside US based start up Wright Electric on their development of the all electric commercial aircraft and is expected to launch the first flight of a hybrid nine seat aircraft within the next 12 months. [more - original PR]

Flughafen Zurich AG will reportedly commence operation of Florianopolis Hercilio Luz Airport on 03-Jan-2018, under the Floripa Airport brand (portaldailha.com, 26-Dec-2017). Floripa Airport also plans to commence construction of a new passenger terminal in Jan-2018.

flydubai and Emirates expanded their codeshare network to include flydubai's services from Dubai to Ahmedabad, Amman, Baghdad, Bahrain, Basra, Beirut, Chennai, Colombo, Dar Es Salaam, Entebbe, Hyderabad, Karachi, Khartoum, Kilimanjaro, Kochi, Male, Mashhad, Multan, Port Sudan, Sialkot, Tehran and Thiruvananthapuram, effective 18-Dec-2017 (Airline Route, 25-Dec-2017). Emirates is flydubai's only codeshare partner and Emirates codeshares with 22 other airlines, according to OAG.

easyJet MD Thomas Haagensen confirmed easyJet has been approached by other airlines to provide feeder services from Berlin Tegel Airport (Reuters, 23-Dec-2017). Mr Haagensen stated: "We have already had very many enquiries from other airlines that want to use our flights as feeders".

Emirates, via its official website and Twitter account, announced (25-Dec-2017) the suspension of Dubai-Tunis service, effective 25-Dec-2017, "as instructed by the Tunisian authorities". Tunisia's Ministry of Transport, via its official Facebook account, stated (24-Dec-2017) it decided to suspend Emirates' service "until the airline is able to find the appropriate solution to operate its flights in accordance with international law and agreements". The suspension was implemented after the carrier reportedly denied boarding to female Tunisian passengers (Reuters/BBC/Al Jazeera/Gulf News/Khaleej Times/AFP/CNN, 24/25/26-Dec-2017). UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash, via his official Twitter account, confirmed (25-Dec-2017) a meeting with Tunisian representatives regarding security information.

Zambia Airways will be owned 55% by the Zambian Government's Industrial Development Corporation and 45% by Ethiopian Airlines, according to Zambia's Minister of Home Affairs Stephen Kampyongo (Lusaka Times, 23-Dec-2017). The new airline will receive a USD16.5 million grant to cover the first year of start up and operational costs. Mr Kampyongo said: "We have learnt lessons on how Zambia Airways failed to conduct business and going forward, there will be no interference with the running of the new face Zambia Airlines". He also noted the Government has invested USD1 billion in aviation since 2012.

Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde GebreMariam confirmed the airline ceased negotiations with Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria on taking over the management of Arik Air, stating: "We decided to stop the negotiation due to financial and legal complications" (AINonline, 26-Dec-2017). Mr GebreMariam said Ethiopian remains interested in developments in Nigeria, commenting: "At least there are two initiatives that we are closely following. The first initiative is the national airline that the government of Nigeria is undertaking with Lufthansa Consulting Services. We have submitted our expression of interest. On the other hand, we are discussing with private carriers in Nigeria. We may pick one of them and work with them".

Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths, in an opinion piece, said the 'DXB Plus' programme is designed to add 28 million passengers p/a at Dubai International Airport (DXB), stating: "Technology and process will boost DXB's capacity to 118 million by 2023" (Arabian Business, 24-Dec-2017). Mr Griffiths commented: "This approach flies in the face of traditional thinking. Historically the industry's approach to expansion has been all about investing in bigger facilities to accommodate more passengers. Current legacy thinking has also produced a series of vertical solutions for our customers to pass through horizontally - during which they are massed together into queues. This is not modern thinking". He added: "What is needed across our sector globally is breakthrough thinking with the customer at its centre, and that is at the top of Dubai Airports' agenda".

Viva Air signed (22-Dec-2017) a purchase agreement with Airbus for 50 A320 family aircraft. The 35 A320neo and 15 A320ceo aircraft will be operated by the group's airlines VivaColombia and Viva Air Peru, allowing the carriers to modernise their fleets and capture growth opportunities across Latin America. [more - original PR]