South African Airways Named Best Business Class in Africa

South African Airways (SAA) has been named the Best Airline in Africa by Business Traveler Magazine, following its annual consumer survey. The airline was also awarded the top prize for the Best Business Class to Africa, according to the results of the survey. The company received the awards at a ceremony in New York, where SAA was recognised for its consistently high-quality and world-class service. “…we are honored that … [the participants have] named us best in the region throughout the years,” said Todd Neuman, SAA’s Executive Vice President for North America receiving the awards on behalf of the company. “These travelers have recognized the level of detail that SAA goes to in order to ensure their comfort, including the continual enhancements we make to our product both on the ground and in the air, which complement our convenient flight schedules and multitude of destinations served,” Neuman added. SAA provides a number of regular direct links between important hubs in South Africa and North America, including daily direct non-stop flights between Johannesburg and New York, as well as a service linking Washington and Johannesburg. The company has also been seen upgrading its Business Class offerings over the recent period, including the installation of state-of-the-art flatbed seats in Business Class, as well as the introduction of high-end food and entertainment offerings. In the economy flight sector, SAA claims to provide the most legroom for passengers as compared to its market rivals. The awards are a much needed positive reflection on the company, which has had a challenging past year on the home arena, having been forced to request a 4 billion – 6 billion rand ($480 million – $720 million) bailout from the South African government in September, and having been locked in disputes with the government which prompted the walk-out of eight board members including the Chairwoman shortly after the bailout request. Earlier this month, the company’s acting CEO announced that a number of interim measures would be implemented amidst efforts to save the flailing airline, which has been amassing debts and has been struggling to meet basic costs such as fuel. Source: ventures-africa.com

IATA: Conditions aligning to see a return to growth in 2013

The International Air Transport Association has released traffic results for November 2012 which showed an improvement in both passenger and air freight demand.

Air travel was 4.6 per cent higher compared to November 2011, up on the October result of 2.9 per cent.

Air freight volumes edged up 1.6 per cent over the same period after declining 2.6 per cent in October, year to year.

Passenger capacity rose 3.2 per cent and load factor improved one percentage point to 77.3 per cent compared to the year-ago period.

“November brought some positive signs for air transport demand - particularly for air cargo.

“It is premature to consider this a turning point for air cargo markets in terms of bouncing back and regaining lost ground.

“But, when coupled with positive economic developments in the US and an improvement in business confidence in recent months, the conditions are aligning to see a return to growth in 2013.

“In 2013 we expect that cargo volumes will grow 1.4 per cent, and passenger traffic will increase by 4.5 per cent worldwide,” said Tony Tyler, IATA director general.

“Passenger markets have held up better than cargo in the face of adverse economic conditions.

“But the current level of air travel is just two per cent higher than at the start of 2012.

“This is considerably weaker than the long-term average growth rate,” said Tyler.

Compared to October, November passenger traffic grew 0.6 per cent.

The majority of growth came from domestic markets, particularly China.

November air freight volumes increased 2.4 per cent in October.

This reflects a shift in seasonal shopping to online retailers, which depend heavily on air cargo.

It also shows improved consumer confidence in the US.

Seasonally-adjusted air freight volumes have now risen back to the levels of mid-2012, after declines in the third quarter.

Etihad Airways sets new record for busiest day

Etihad Airways has started the New Year by setting a record for the number of passengers carried across its worldwide network in a single day.

The record was set on Saturday 5 January 2013 when 33,802 passengers flew with the Abu Dhabi-based airline, beating the previous record of 33,766 set on Saturday 14 July 2012.

Etihad Airways capped an impressive festive holiday season with Thursday 3 and Friday 4 January 2013 also entering the airlines top 10 ranking for busiest ever days, with 32,622 and 32,918 flying each day respectively.

Two dates in January have also entered Etihad Airways’ top 10 for highest ever load factors. Flights across the airline’s network were 89.2 per cent full on Saturday 5 January (#4 in the top 10) and 88.1 per cent full on Friday 4 January (#9 in the top 10).

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “It has been a busy start to 2013 for Etihad Airways and it is highly satisfying to beat our previous record for passengers carried in a single day.”

Last week Etihad Airways announced it had flown total of 10.29 million in 2012, an increase of 1.88 million passengers from 2011.

Mr Hogan added: “Etihad Airways carried record numbers of passengers in 2012, was voted World’s Leading Airline at the World Travel Awards for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year. Our challenge is to build on these achievements during the coming 12 months.”

Nigeria's air fares are prohibitively high

The loss of three competitors, Dana Air, Air Nigeria and short-lived start-up First Nation Airways, in Oct-2012 resulted in air fares surging to record levels in a country where air travel was already among the costliest in the world.

Arik and Aero dominate the market with 58% of total domestic and international seat capacity.

A low return domestic air fare between the main centres of Lagos and Abuja on Arik Air, costs NGN54,503 (USD348.71) for a flight of little more than an hour each way. Arik’s pricing power – and apparent lack of revenue management capability – is further demonstrated by the fact that the fare is the same regardless of whether the booking is for travel the next day or bought four months in advance.

Poor surface infrastructure, however, means most Nigerians have little choice than to travel by air – or not to travel at all. Some are reportedly forced to pay bribes to touts, especially in the capital, Abuja.

Arik offers 93 international services a week and 492 domestic services against Aero’s 24 international and 417 domestic services. Togo’s ASKY is Nigeria’s second largest provider of regional services offering 52 frequencies a week to Lagos and Abuja.

Expansion plans for Arik and Aero

Arik Air managing director Chris Ndulue has indicated the airline plans to commence services to Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea and Ivory Coast in 2013. Other routes are expected to include Lagos-Houston, Abuja-Kano-Jeddah, Accra-London, and Freetown-London.

In apparent conflict with other suggestions about its inability to raise cash, the carrier has reportedly secured a USD2 billion credit facility from international financiers to fund the purchase of new aircraft, potentially including Boeing 787s.

However, intercontinental expansion and associated fleet orders have long been touted by the airline, but never eventuated.

While Arik is Nigeria’s largest carrier, its network is focused on western Africa. Its network consists of 20 domestic destinations and 12 regional points, with the exception of a daily 737-800 Lagos-Johannesburg and daily Lagos-London and three times weekly Lagos-New York each operated with A340-500 aircraft.

The carrier dropped its Abuja-London service in Mar-2012 after the lease on a Heathrow slot from bmi expired and Arik claimed the Nigerian and British governments were unable to agree on terms under the 2008 bilateral air services agreement for a replacement slot.

Arik Air route map as at Jan-2013

Source: CAPA – Centre for Aviation & Innovata

Arik Air has added a twice weekly service from Lagos to Kinshasa, DRC, in Dec-2012 as an extension to its three times weekly Lagos-Douala route, using two-class, 124-seat Boeing 737-700 aircraft. Kinshasa is Africa’s third largest city with a population of around nine million.

Arik competes with ASKY Airlines and Camair on Lagos-Douala and with Camair on Douala-Kinshasa, according to Innovata.

For its part, Aero took delivery of two Boeing 737-400s in Nov-2012, taking its fleet to 12, consisting of a mix of 737-400 and 500s as well as Dash 8-300s. The carrier says it will use the additional aircraft to open new routes. It currently operates to 11 domestic points.

Aero’s sole destination outside of Nigeria is a 12 times weekly Lagos-Accra, Ghana, service. Its main hubs are Lagos and Abuja.

The airline also resumed operations to Port Harcourt and Warri from Lagos on 05-Nov-2012 with Dash 8-300 aircraft.

Virgin rolls out new campaign | News | Breaking Travel News

Watch Virgin Atlantic is “Flying in the Face of Ordinary” this January with the launch of its new global brand proposition.

Masterminded by RKCR/Y&R, “Flying in the Face of Ordinary” brings to life Virgin Atlantic’s innovative and pioneering spirit. The new proposition captures the airline’s passion for flight and demonstrates how Virgin Atlantic goes beyond the norm to deliver unforgettable experiences for its passengers.

Simon Lloyd, Director of Marketing for Virgin Atlantic commented: “We wanted to capture the essence of Virgin Atlantic with this new campaign and bring the glamour and fun back into long-haul travel. “Flying in the Face of Ordinary” is more than a marketing campaign; it is a powerful brand proposition and long term platform that will be reflected in all areas of the business from communications and marketing to product and service.”

The new brand proposition kicks off with a global TV advertising campaign and, in 30”, 60”, & 90” TV and cinema edits RKCR/Y&R has created a faux movie trailer to pay tribute to the airline’s staff in a superhero style.

The staff are seen as children in possession of special gifts and extraordinary talents, including intuition, rapid reflexes, creative problem solving, heightened empathy and an ultimate passion for flying.

RKCR/ Y&R brought the concept and the story to life by colliding the creative forces of production company Partizan and with Antoine Bardou-Jacquet directing. VFX studio MPC created a range of photo-real effects and Guy Farley penned the music. The campaign was written by Pip Bishop and Chris Hodgkiss.

A heightened reality sets the scene across the marketing campaign with Print and Out of Home showcasing Virgin Atlantic’s iconic cabin crew presenting individual cabin experiences with collaged product photography. The campaign was written by Steve Williams and Adrian Lim and shot by Tim Bret Day.

A content hub on www.virginatlantic.com continues the “Flying in the Face of the Ordinary” message and features content on Virgin Atlantic’s people, destinations and product as well as details on the real-life Virgin Atlantic staff who inspired the TV ad. The website will also host a 2 minute version of the TV advert.

Mark Roalfe Chairman and Executive Creative Director of RKCR/Y&R comments: “We wanted to bring to life that special spark that makes the people at Virgin different. I think the film really captures that but with the tongue in cheek tone of voice that we’ve built with Virgin over the last 18 years”.

Etihad Airways flies record 10 million passengers

Etihad Airways has surpassed its target of carrying 10 million passengers in 2012 and is set to achieve a 22 per cent increase on the total of 8.41 million passengers for 2011.

The increase in passenger numbers - up to a total of 10.29 million - represents an extra 1.88 million passengers travelling on the carrier’s global network that now covers 87 of its own passenger and cargo destinations, and 245 codeshare destinations.

The passenger growth for Etihad Airways is mirrored by its equity partners. By the end of 2012, airberlin is expected to have carried 33.4 million passengers, Virgin Australia 19.5 million passengers*, Aer Lingus nearly 11 million passengers, and Air Seychelles 241,000 passengers.

Etihad Airways and its equity partners will have collectively carried more than 74 million passengers in 2012, with cooperation between the five airlines greatly contributing to passenger growth.

An example of the success of this cooperation is the 300,000 passengers airberlin and Etihad Airways have delivered onto each other’s networks during the last 12 months.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “Etihad Airways has achieved significant expansion in 2012 and therefore it’s very satisfying to pass our target of flying more than 10 million passengers during a year for the first time.

“We have launched flights to six new destinations during the last year - Tripoli, Shanghai, Nairobi, Basra, Lagos, and Ahmedabad - which have all contributed to the 22 per cent increase in passenger numbers.”

Based on year to date figures, Etihad Airways will have carried 73 per cent of all passengers at Abu Dhabi airport, a 5.3 per cent increase on 2011’s figure of 67.7 per cent.

With the addition of Etihad Airways’ equity partners that operate flights into Abu Dhabi, the combined passenger number total for 2012 rises to 76 per cent.

The further addition of Etihad Airways’ codeshare partners that operate into Abu Dhabi - Air Astana, Alitalia, Czech Airlines, Garuda Indonesian, Hainan Airlines, Jet Airways, KLM, MEA, nasair, RAK Airways, Safi Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Sri Lankan Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and Ukraine International - the total percentage of all passenger traffic through Abu Dhabi increases to 81 per cent.

In 2012 Etihad Cargo has contributed 87 per cent of tonnage into, out of, and through the Abu Dhabi hub. The total handled hub tonnage by the end of the year will be more than 640,000 tonnes. Overall in 2012 Etihad Cargo carried a record 365,000 tonnes, which is 18 per cent more than in 2011.

Etihad Airways’ busiest route was Bangkok with the airline carrying nearly 691,000 passengers to the Thai capital during the year, a 38 per cent increase on 2011.

This was closely followed by Manila, Heathrow and Jeddah. Sydney, Paris, Frankfurt, Manchester, Doha and Dublin complete the list of the 10 most popular routes.

During 2012 Etihad Airways beat its previous record for the number of passengers carried in a single day with 33,766 passengers flying on Saturday 14 July. The airline took delivery of seven new aircraft in 2012, three Airbus A320s and four Boeing B777s.

Etihad Airways will take delivery of 14 new aircraft in 2013, four A320 passenger aircraft, one A321 passenger aircraft, and one A330 freighter from Airbus; two B777 freighters, and six B777-300ER passenger aircraft from Boeing.

The airline has announced it will start flights to at least three new destinations in 2013, Washington DC in March, Sao Paulo in June, and Ho Chi Minh City in October.