Twitter complaint signals the start of a revolution for corporate reputations September 5, 2013 BRITISH Airways has just been exposed to the future of corporate communications. When one disgruntled passenger decided to complain about the quality of BA’s customer service, he ignored the traditional route of an angry call or email. Instead, he bought a promoted Tweet on Twitter – guaranteeing visual prominence for other users – to tell [...]
Gulf airlines get off to a flying start at air show November 18, 2013 GULF airlines announced $150bn-worth (£93bn) of plane orders on the first day of the Dubai Airshow yesterday, giving a big boost to manufacturers and showing the financial clout of carriers in the region. Boeing has taken an early lead in the fight for orders at the event, with Dubai-based Emirates placing an order for the [...]
A tropical triathlon paradise August 11, 2013 Tempted to give it a tri? Laura Williams discovers you could do a whole lot worse than St Lucia I USUALLY associate triathlons with unflattering wetsuits and cold, murky water, so it was welcome news that the Caribbean island of St Lucia will be hosting its first ever triathlon in November. Forget shivering changeovers – [...]
Any other business – 21/11 November 20, 2013 Airplane meals are not particularly tasty, but it seems a bit excessive to pack a lunch for your flight. When the cleaners of a Jet Airways plane stumbled across two lunch boxes stashed in the toilets they assumed they were bombs. However, on closer inspection the boxes turned out to contain 12 gold bars each. [...]
British Airways launches bond July 9, 2012 British Airways said yesterday it is looking to raise up to £250m by selling an innovative bond secured against 31 of its Heathrow landing slots. Investors in the bond, the final terms of which will be determined by market demand, will be given access to the assets of a BA subsidiary shell – including the [...]
British Airways shows firms can recover ground July 24, 2012 IN January, I wrote about how British Airways had recovered from the difficulties it faced in 2010 when strikes, snow and the Icelandic ash cloud all caused delays and cancellations. In 2011, crisis was avoided and the company overtook many of its rivals in terms of brand perception to sit in second place behind Virgin [...]
Rolex wins title of consumer superbrand for a second year February 24, 2013 LUXURY watch-maker Rolex has come top of an annual chart of consumer “superbrands” for the second year running, leaving Apple and Microsoft trailing in second and third place, a poll published today shows. The iPad and iPhone-maker jumped 16 places to clinch second place, missing out on the top spot to Rolex. Over 2,900 British [...]
British Airways owner expects Olympics to hit premium traffic July 4, 2012 BRITISH Airlines owner IAG reported a six per cent jump in like-for-like passengers numbers for June yesterday. But the firm, which is running an advertising campaign urging Britons to stay in the country during the Olympics, repeated its forecast that the Games will dampen premium traffic figures during the summer. IAG said it carried 5.05m [...]
IAG’s Iberia endures first day of strike action at its Madrid hub February 18, 2013 STRIKING union workers clashed with police at Madrid’s Barajas airport yesterday on the first day of a week-long strike over more than 3,800 pending job cuts at British Airway’s sister airline Iberia, part of London-listed IAG. More than 80 Iberia f lights were cancelled as workers at the carrier began a series of five-day walkouts [...]
TUI ups carbon reduction target August 19, 2013 British travel firm TUI Travel said yesterday it has raised its carbon reduction target after its airlines hit an initial goal to cut carbon dioxide usage by six per cent two years early. The world’s largest tour operator, which owns six European airlines including Thomson Airways, said it now aims to reduce CO2 usage across [...]