British Airways succeeds Jaguar in public spotlight after rewards changes Transport and infrastructure British Airways has become the latest household name to incur the wrath of a high-profile public backlash in the wake of its decision to significantly change its rewards scheme for loyal customers. The airline revealed earlier this week that it was changing its tiering system for rewards to be based on spend and upped how [...]
Why ‘Sunshine Saturday’ has travel operators crossing their fingers Retail Black Friday’s travel-focused cousin, Sunshine Saturday, is set to fall on 4 January in 2025. Occuring on the first Saturday of every new year, Sunshine Saturday is the day most people book their holiday getaways for the year ahead. With Heathrow Airport set to cap off its busiest-ever year with two record months and Virgin Atlantic [...]
Why Virgin Atlantic boss won’t meet British Airways chief alone Transport and infrastructure The boss of Virgin Atlantic has revealed the legacy of the dirty tricks scandal in the early 1990s will mean he will never meet his British Airways counterpart alone. Shai Weiss has said that while he has “professional respect” for Sean Doyle, he remains cautious and does “not want to get caught out”. Three decades [...]
Jet2 hikes dividend on record profit as holiday prices rise again November 21, 2024 Average package holiday prices grew six per cent to £904, with inflation leading to higher costs for consumers, Jet2 said.
WH Smith: Profit jumps as expansion into travel shops pays off November 14, 2024 WH Smith’s push into travel has paid off with the bulk of its growth in the last year due to higher profit at airports, train stations and motorway services. WH Smith’s revenue rose seven per cent to £1.918bn in the year ended 31 August, 2024, driven by growth in travel shops plus the company’s expansion [...]
UK airport operator bought by Canadian pension fund for £1.5bn November 13, 2024 An operator of UK airports has been bought by Canadian pension fund PSP, with the firm set to take over Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports in the £1.5bn deal. AviAlliance, a private airport operator which is wholly owned by the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), announced the takeover of AGS Airports today. The [...]
Jet2 takes on Easyjet as it launches new routes from UK airport November 13, 2024 Jet2 is parking its tanks firmly on Easyjet’s lawn as it announced its expansion into London Luton Airport – where its rival is headquartered. The Leeds-headquartered carrier is to start operating flights from the transport hub from next April. London Luton Airport will become Jet2’s 13th UK base and will offer 17 destinations. Jet2 said [...]
Eurovision boosts Liverpool John Lennon Airport ahead of Jet2 expansion November 5, 2024 Eurovision helped significantly cut the annual loss at the company behind Liverpool John Lennon Airport as a spike in passenger numbers helped turnover take off. The airport has reported a pre-tax loss of £352,000 for the 12 months to 31 March, 2024, having made a loss of £4.8m in its prior financial year. Newly-filed accounts [...]
Ryanair profit tumbles as prices fall and Boeing delivery delays hit capacity November 4, 2024 Ryanair’s half-year profit has fallen 18 per cent amid a dip in the average price of its ticket fares and ongoing Boeing delivery delays. The budget airline reported a post-tax profit of €1.79bn (£1.5bn), even as passenger demand reached a record 115m, up nine per cent year-on-year. Revenue increased one per cent to €8.58bn. However, [...]
This is why business travel will never be the same again – IWG boss October 15, 2024 Current signs indicate business travel is unlikely recover to pre-pandemic levels, the boss of IWG, one of the world’s largest office providers, has said. “Technology will never replace the value of in-person interactions where they are strategically important,” chief executive Mark Dixon told City AM. However, he warned “all signs suggest it is unlikely to return to [...]