For Immediate Release | Official News Wire for the Travel Industry

Where press releases are breaking news

Brexit uncertainty, but LHR is doing well

by

Despite Brexit uncertainty, Heathrow remains a bright light for the UK, with the role we play in keeping people and products moving evident. Our new domestic connections will be pivotal in linking more regions and nations to global opportunities, benefiting all corners of this great country and we look forward to announcing many more of these as part of the expansion programme,”  Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said

  • Heathrow’s passenger numbers continued to climb in March, with over 6.5 million passengers travelling through the UK’s only hub airport, ringing in the 29th consecutive month of record growth for the airport. Notable spikes in the previous month were St Patricks and Mother’s Day, attitudes towards travel remain strong despite ongoing uncertainty around Brexit’.
  • Africa performed especially well over the past month, increasing by 6.2% compared to the same time last year. Domestic connections also saw a slight uplift (+0.2%) with British Airways launching its 2nd service to Inverness and Flybe growing their loads by more than a fifth (23%) with an inaugural flight to Cornwall on March 31.
  • More than 149,000 metric tonnes of cargo travelled through the UK’s biggest port by value, further demonstrating the importance of Heathrow in a post Brexit world.
  • Both Latin America and Africa saw remarkable double digit growth with the former up 23% on 2018 due to additional services to Brazil and increased volumes to Mexico. Freight to and from Africa grew by 11%, thanks to Virgin’s growth on routes to the continent.
  • Two of Heathrow’s Terminals made it into the top five globally, with Terminal 5 taking top spot. In addition, Heathrow was voted amongst the world’s top 10 airports overall and won “Best airport in Western Europe” and “World’s Best Airport Shopping”.
  • In March, Heathrow launched the airport’s new Innovation Prize to fund ideas and solutions addressing aviation environmental impact. The prize is sponsored by Heathrow’s new Centre of Excellence for Sustainability, which connects experts and offers Heathrow as a living laboratory to test and develop ideas that encourage sustainable aviation.
  • The expansion project reached another significant milestone, as the names and locations of the 18 shortlisted sites in the running to become offsite construction centres for Britain’s new runway were revealed. Shortlisted sites will now pitch to airport bosses for their chance to become one of the final four construction centres, to be announced early next year.
  • Heathrow announced the launch of their 10th domestic route. The route is operated by Flybe and links the hub airport to Cornwall in Newquay for the first time since 1997.

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said:

Travel News | eTurboNews

What airport is now busier than mega-hubs Frankfurt and Dallas Fort Worth?

by

This airport has now become the world’s 12th busiest airport, moving up four places from the 16th spot in 2017. According to the preliminary world airport traffic rankings for 2018 released by the Airports Council International (ACI), it over took mega-hubs like Frankfurt, Dallas Forth Worth, Guangzhou and Istanbul Ataturk airports.

The four airports above the IGI Airport are Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Shanghai Pudong and Hong Kong, managing over 46 lakh passengers more than IGIA. The airport ranked busier than all these might surprise – it’s New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).

“India became the world’s third-largest aviation market in terms of passenger throughput, behind the US and China, in 2018. India’s move towards a more liberalized aviation market and the nation’s strengthening economic fundamentals have helped it become one of the fastest-growing markets with its traffic growing rapidly in a relatively short time,” read the statement by ACI.

The ACI’s World Airport Traffic Forecasts also predicts the country will represent the third largest aviation market in terms of passenger throughput after the US and China by 2020.

As per the rankings released by the ACI, the GMR-group-run airport has solidified its status as one of the fastest growing airports in the world for passenger traffic. Only Seoul’s Incheon International with 10 percent point growth was close to Delhi in terms of passenger growth. The Incheon International airport has secured the 16th place in 2018.

The ACI report said the IGI airport saw 69 million domestic and international flyers in 2018, which is 10.2 percent points higher than the combined passengers of 2017. Passenger traffic in advanced economies grew 5.2 percent while in emerging economies it rose 10.3 percent in 2017.

ACI World Director General-Angela Gittens said while strong competitive forces continue to drive innovation and improvements in efficiency and service for passengers, airports face the challenges of meeting the continuing global growth in demand for air services.

The ACI, founded in 1991, is the trade association of the world’s airports, currently serving 641 members operating from 1,953 airports across 176 countries.

“It is expected that rising incomes in emerging markets will help propel global traffic to new heights in the coming decades as new aviation hubs begin to overtake the more mature markets of Western Europe and North America,” ACI said.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Carlos Vogeler starts leading position at Ministry of Tourism in Oman

by

It appears the implementation of the National Tourism Strategy of Oman is in excellent hands. Last week Carlos Vogeler started a two-year contract with the Ministry of Tourism of Oman, where he is now leading a team that will support Minister Ahmed bin Nasser Al Mahrizi and his team on implementation.

Carlos Vogeler was considered by many leaders as one of the most influential executives in the travel and tourism world when he served as the executive director of UNWTO under Secretary-General Taleb Rifai. Together with Korean Ambassador Dho Young-shim, Mr. Voegeler was a candidate for UNWTO Secretary-General in 2017.

Mr. Vogeler was with the World Tourism Organization for 9 years. He was honored on November 29, 2017, at the UNWTO Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth in Montego Bay by the Hon. Ed Bartlett, Minister of Tourism of Jamaica.

Before Mr. Carlos Vogeler joined UNWTO in 2005 he was a tenured professor at University “Rey Juan Carlos”, Madrid, at the Dpt. of Business Economics, a regular lecturer at Spanish and International Universities and author of various university textbooks, as well as numerous articles on international tourism structure.

Mr. Vogeler started his career in the private sector at Pullmantur, one of the largest Spanish Tour Operators. During his sixteen years of service from 1974 to 1990, he became Deputy Managing Director and introduced many innovations, namely expanding the number of destinations and products and opening new offices and new markets. He also played an active role in the board of directors of the Spanish Travel Agencies Association of Travel Agencies and in UFTAA (United Federation of Travel Agent’s Associations), where he chaired the committee on road transportation.

From 1991 to 2008 he served in various senior management positions at Group RCI, part of Wyndham Worldwide, one of the world’s largest hospitality groups, quoted in the New York Stock Exchange, where he was Managing Director for South-Western Europe, covering Spain, France, Portugal and Benelux and later Vice president of Global Account Strategy & Industry Relations.

He was elected Chairman of the Affiliate Members of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) from 2005 to 2008, representing Group RCI. Since 1997 he had been serving as Vice President of the board of the Affiliate Members and Chairman of the Business Council and member of the UNWTO Strategic Group.

He is also a founding member of the Spanish Association of Experts in Tourism (AECIT) and was a member of the International Association of Experts in Tourism (AIEST).

Carried out his studies in Canada and in Spain, graduating in Tourism Business Administration by “Escuela Oficial de Turismo de Madrid” (now University Rey Juan Carlos) and post-graduate by the IESE Business School, of the University of Navarra – Spain.

Mr. Vogeler was born in Venezuela of Spanish mother and Venezuelan-German father and is a national of Spain and Venezuela.

Travel News | eTurboNews