Archive for the ‘Heathrow airport’ CategoryStar Alliance has welcomed the development of the new Terminal 2 at Heathrow which will become its new home at the airport when the terminal opens in 2014. Yesterday saw UK Secretary of State for Transport, the Rt Hon Justine Greening join industry guests at BAA’s ‘topping out’ ceremony, to mark the end of major structural work. Lee Hock Lye, Vice President Products & Services, Star Alliance said: “The Star Alliance member carriers are looking forward to moving into our new home here at Terminal 2, Heathrow. Being located under one roof will enable our airlines to deliver seamless alliance travel to our passengers, further enhancing the current airport customer experience.” The Terminal 2 programme comprises four elements: the new terminal, a satellite pier, a new multi-storey car park and the redevelopment of the associated road system. The design of the terminal provides a modern, technologically progressive and environmentally friendly space for travellers and employees alike. “From our new home at Heathrow, Star Alliance will be able to compete on an equal footing in the alliance arena, something we have been waiting for ever since the opening of Terminal 5,” added Hock Lye. StarAlliance has more daily flights and serves more destinations than any other. The Alliance’s 27 airlines operate more than 4,000 aircraft, offering more than 21,000 daily flights to 1,290 destinations and carrying over 600 million passengers a year. At Heathrow, the alliance has 25 airlines offering 185 flights per day serving 73 destinations in 38 countries.
Virgin Atlantic has appointed its first ever ‘whispering coach’ to ensure that all passengers using the airline’s new Upper Class Dream Suite enjoy the most relaxing night’s sleep possible. Richard Fitzgerald has taken on the role of Whispering Coach to train the crew for the launch of the new Suite in spring 2012. Offering coaching on the tone, volume and sentiment cabin crew should use whilst talking to Upper Class passengers, his specialist training will also ensure that no passenger is unduly disturbed whilst sleeping and that all passengers wake up and arrive at their destination feeling rested and refreshed. Richard Fitzgerald, Whispering Coach for Virgin Atlantic Upper Class said: “It is incredibly important that all Virgin Atlantic’s cabin crew have their skills honed in order to provide the most comfortable experience possible for our passengers. The new Upper Class Dream Suite is the ultimate in luxury and comfort and it’s touches like these that make our inflight service second to none.” Trialled with several focus groups and test-flights, and formulated with input from speech experts, the appropriate level of volume has been identified and the crew are now trained to whisper at tones between twenty and thirty decibels due to its calming effect and the fact that it won’t disturb other passengers whilst lights are out. Iberia is set to switch operations from Heathrow’s Terminal 3 to Teminal 5 from 25 March 2012. The move will mean passengers will benefit from a reduction in connection times – 60 minutes compared with the current 90 minutes. New research reveals that love, actually, is at Heathrow with arriving passengers sharing 74 kisses there each hour on average – the equivalent to 1,258 kisses per day – based on observations on a 17-hour period on 7 February 2012 . Taking inspiration from Richard Curtis’s film Love Actually, Terminal 3 Arrivals (where the movie was filmed) was top of the terminals with 29 kisses taking place there each hour – adding up to almost 200,000 kisses every year. According to the observational study conducted at Heathrow, Terminal 1 took second place with 19 kisses per hour, followed by Terminal 5 with 15 kisses and Terminal 4 with 11. Nearly half a million passengers (484,868) plan to fly from Heathrow between Friday 10 and Tuesday 14 February with New York topping the list of romantic destinations. Heathrow’s Top Five Destinations for Valentine’s Day:
To celebrate Valentine’s Day, Heathrow is giving twitter and facebook followers the chance to win a romantic trip to Paris. Heathrow Express workers have voted to strike over the sacking of a worker and the suspension of a union representative. Nearly 80% of the Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) voted for strike action over the dismissal of a worker, and more than 80% voted in favor of industrial action over ‘harassment’ of an RMT representative. No dates have yet been set for action. Air Canada has announced that it plans to increase the number of daily services from London Heathrow to its Toronto hub from four to five non-stop flights each day, commencing 2 June 2012. In addition to five flights per day from London Heathrow to Toronto Pearson International Airport, Air Canada will offer daily non-stop services from the UK to seven other major Canadian cities including Montréal, Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Halifax and St John’s. “By offering an additional daily flight to our Toronto hub, UK customers not only have greater access to this exciting city, they can also take advantage of convenient connections to destinations across the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America,” said Robert Atkinson, General Manager – Sales UK, Ireland and Northern Europe. “What’s more, travelling to the US has been made easier via Terminal 1 at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Passengers can now complete US Customs and Immigration formalities in Toronto, thereby saving time at their final destination in the US, where their arrival is treated as a domestic flight.” KLM has been named business airline of the year at the 2012 Business Travel Awards. The award, which was judged on a number of criteria, including corporate client retention, product innovation, CSR policies, specific corporate products, training and route network, saw Air France KLM beat of competition from British Airways, Flybe, Lufthansa and Qatar. Air France KLM was also shortlisted for Best Long-Haul Airline and Best Short-Haul Airline.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched a new price comparison tool to enable travellers to see a summary of optional charges levied by the top airlines in the UK. The tool details information of costs of hold luggage, in flight meal charges, seat reservation and other optional airline fees. Andrew Haines, Chief Executive of the CAA said: “The diversity of UK aviation offers excellent choice and value to UK consumers with airlines adopting various business models. To really benefit from that choice consumers want to know the full price picture. For some passengers and airlines the headline ticket price will be the most expensive part of the booking, whilst for others the impact of optional fees and charges can change their view of the best overall price. “Our table allows passengers to easily compare the optional fees that airlines charge and it’s important to consider those charges alongside the ticket price and the extra charges that could be applied before making their booking.” To view the fees and charges comparison table click here: http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/2200/Comparing_airline_charges_1st_Feb_2012_.pdf The CAA plans to update the charges table on a quarterly basis. From today, 1 February 2012, Air France and KLM have changed the latest check-in time for flights from Heathrow Airport to 40 minutes. Any passengers arriving less than 40 minutes before their flight’s departure time will not be permitted to check-in. Spectrum Interactive, the UK’s largest independent provider of Wi-Fi and related services, has announced it has partnered with Virgin Atlantic to deliver guest Wi-Fi provision at the airline’s flagship Clubhouse lounges at Heathrow Terminal 3 and Gatwick South. The Spectrum solution focused on improving the passenger user-experience, and providing local dedicated technical, engineering and account management support, along with full customisation to reflect the Virgin Atlantic experience its passengers expect. Graham Lampen, IT service manager at Virgin Atlantic said: “The timescale for getting our new Wi-Fi system up and running was very challenging, but Spectrum was able to design and install the service with minimum disruption and with zero downtime.” He added: “The feedback on the Spectrum service from visitors, staff and management has been very positive.” “We are delighted to have been selected as Virgin Atlantic’s Wi-Fi provider;” said Daniel Gray, commercial director at Spectrum Interactive. “This agreement with such a prestigious and iconic travel brand further reinforces Spectrum’s position in the market and increases our footprint in airline lounges which has seen significant growth during the last two years, including installations into Virgin Holidays’ Vroom lounges.” |
