Royal Jordanian CEO Stefan Pichler, speaking on CAPA TV, said (Oct-2017) the airline has "a lot of room for improvement" but reported "strong recovery in the last four months". The airline is implementing a new turnaround recently approved by the board and Mr Pichler forecast "a strong rebound" in the carrier's 3Q2017 results. Mr Pichler said the airline will become "profitable in a sustainable way" and may return to operational profitability by the end of 2017. [more - CAPA TV]
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Ghana to create opportunities for more domestic airlines, reduce costs for carriers
19 October, 2017
Ghana's Minister of Aviation Cecilia Dapaah said the Ministry aims to create opportunities for more airlines to operate domestic services (citifmonline.com, 18-Oct-2017). The Ministry will also work to reduce operating costs for airlines. Adding more domestic carriers is expected to increase competition, increase passenger numbers and expand the country's transport sector. Africa World Airlines and Starbow Airlines are currently the only operational domestic airlines in Ghana.
Thomson Airways re-brands as TUI UK
19 October, 2017
TUI UK announced (18-Oct-2017) the Thomson Airways brand ceased to exist as of 18-Oct-2017, completing the leisure carrier's re-branding to TUI. Details include:
- Thomson established in 1965;
- More than 600 UK retail stores have re-branded from Thomson to TUI;
- Extensive national TV, bus sides and out of home site campaigns to raise consumer awareness of re-branding.
TUI UK and Ireland marketing director Jeremy Ellis commented: "The foundations for our re-brand are firmly in place and we are primed ready to become TUI. We want to ensure our customers are ready to take this exciting journey with us so it's really important that we communicate the transition clearly". [more - original PR] [more - original PR - II]
Emirates to receive 100th A380 in Nov-2017
19 October, 2017
Emirates stated (18-Oct-2017) it will receive its 100th A380 aircraft on 03-Nov-2017. The airline recorded more than 80 million passengers on A380s in the nine years since the type entered its fleet. The carrier operates A380s to more than 45 destinations. [more - original PR]
Thomas Cook Group Airlines to launch Thomas Cook Airlines Balearics, applies for Majorca AOC
19 October, 2017
Thomas Cook Group Airlines launched (18-Oct-2017) Thomas Cook Airlines Balearics, a new Majorca based carrier to supplement its existing operations in Germany, UK and Scandinavia. Details include:
- Airline Operator Certificate applied for in Majorca with the aim of scheduling services from early 2018;
- New carrier to commence operations with at least three Airbus A320 aircraft, previously operated by Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium;
- Aircraft to initially take over short and medium haul services for Condor to replace third party aircraft leases.
Thomas Cook Group chief airline officer Christoph Debus commented: "The new airline and base will provide us with the right platform to better manage the seasonal demand in our business, giving us more control at lower cost as we continue to expand the choice of destinations we offer our customers. With more than one million Thomas Cook customers flying into Palma every year, we have a strong existing infrastructure on which to build". [more - original PR]
Flybe to increase London Southend capacity, bases fifth aircraft to counter easyJet expansion
18 October, 2017
Flybe announced (18-Oct-2017) plans to increase capacity by 80% at London Southend Airport for summer 2018. Highlights include:
- Relaunch of Dubrovnik and Zadar services;
- Launch of four times weekly Antwerp service operating with 70 seat ATR 72-600 aircraft;
- Fifth aircraft to be based at the airport from franchise partner Stobart Air, following easyJet's decision to base a fourth A320 aircraft at Southend from 25-Jul-2018;
- 15,500 additional seats on France services including Rennes, Caen and Lyon;
- 15 routes in total.
Stobart Aviation CEO Glyn Jones commented: "There's a correlation showing travel demand is driven by airline capacity. We've added hundreds of extra flights... But what is helping London Southend Airport go from strength to strength is our promise to deliver a better way to travel - more comfort, faster access, fewer queues and a friendlier experience than larger airports in the South East". [more - original PR]
Guestlogix publishes study on learned helplessness and airline revenues
18 October, 2017
Guestlogix published (18-Oct-2017) an academic report entitled 'The Empowered Passenger: Break the Cycle of Learned Helplessness to Drive Customer Satisfaction and Higher Revenues' identifying the psychological concept of "learned helplessness" which inhibits airline passengers from enjoying their experience and negatively impacts airline revenues. Main findings include:
- Since airline deregulation, airlines have cut back on service quality to meet the demand for lower fares, and passengers have agreed to the tradeoff;
- Even as airline passengers become increasingly frustrated - and vocal - about the quality of service, they have no choice but to accept the situation, which leads to a "learned helplessness";
- Learned helplessness has a direct impact on airline business as air travel becomes a joyless affair and passengers interpret ancillary selling as "nickel and diming;"
- One study found that after just one negative experience, customers were 20% more likely to switch brands and 25% more likely to complain about the company. By contrast, after just one memorable experience, 19% of delighted customers said they purchased more products/services;
- While carriers are under pressure to offer ever lower ticket prices, they need to recognise the substantial upside of pursuing higher customer satisfaction at each touch point, as well as satisfaction with the overall journey, typically measured in the form of Net Promoter Scores;
- Empowering passengers to specify what they want, how and when, benefits both passengers and airlines. Mobile devices can empower passengers while giving airlines access to vast amounts of real time data, which they can use to meet and anticipate passenger needs, leading to more revenue generation opportunities.
The report notes that ancillary revenue grew from 10% to 33% of overall airline revenue, which means that airline business models are changing and airlines can no longer afford to accept the cycle of "learned helplessness" that inhibits ancillary selling. [more - original PR]
Air New Zealand adds six Auckland-Wellington frequencies for FIFA qualifier
18 October, 2017
Air New Zealand announced (18-Oct-2017) it will deploy additional capacity between Auckland and Wellington over the weekend of 11/12-Nov-2017, to provide additional seats for the New Zealand-Peru match in the FIFA World Cup - Intercontinental Playoff. The airline has seen significant demand for bookings to and from Wellington over the match weekend since the playoff announcement was made earlier in Oct-2017. The carrier will operate six additional services on the weekend, all with A320 equipment. The airline is continuing to monitor demand and to explore the possibility of further additional services. [more - original PR]
IASC grants Virgin Australia renewal for 180 seats per week to the Cook Islands
18 October, 2017
Australia's International Air Services Commission (IASC) issued (18-Oct-2017) a determination allocating Virgin Australia a capacity of 180 seats per week in each direction to the Cook Islands. The determination is valid for five years from 12-Sep-2018. In accordance with the Australia-Cook Islands air services arrangements, 3000 seats per week of passenger capacity in each direction may allocated to designated airlines of Australia. Virgin Australia has a total capacity allocation of 900 weekly seats in each direction, while Qantas has a total allocation of 540 weekly seats. This leaves 1560 seats of passenger capacity per week in each direction available for immediate allocation to designated airlines of Australia to the Cook Islands. [more - original PR]
Visitor arrivals to Fiji up 8% in Aug-2017
18 October, 2017
Fiji Bureau of Statistic reported (18-Oct-2017) total visitor arrivals to Fiji for Aug-2017. Details include:
- Visitor arrivals: 82,316, +7.8% year-on-year;
- Australia: 32,908, +6.3%;
- New Zealand: 23,106, +11.9%;
- US: 7165, +13.8%;
- China: 4816, -3.4%;
- UK: 1296, -12.1%;
- Canada: 1290, +14.4%;
- Japan: 836, +6.1%;
- South Korea: 672, +6.3%;
- India: 404, +27.4%;
- Hong Kong: 91, +225.0%. [more - original PR]