Aerospace Diary

Jane's Airport Review Neelam Mathews , Chicago 2015-Dec-14 Star Alliance plans to apply lessons learned from day-to-day operations at Heathrow Terminal 2 (T2), with particular attention to capacity-constrained airports. T2 opened in June 2014 as a base for all but one carrier (Air  India ) in the 28-member alliance, with an emphasis on self-service technology for passenger processing. Speaking to  IHS Jane's   in early December 2015 during the Star Alliance annual meeting of chief executives in Chicago, chief executive officer (CEO) Mark Schwab said that success in this area can be mirrored at other airports. Value-added initiatives include dedicated Star Gold Track security lanes for first and business class customers. Gold Track is available at around 70 airports worldwide. More locations will be added in 2016. Star Alliance is also looking at some airports "where we can offer this service for Gold Track members at immigration clearance and m...

Neelam Mathews Aug 8, 2012 Starting Oct 28, Virgin Atlantic will connect Delhi to New York ’s John F Kennedy airport via London Heathrow. The new service to JFK will complement the airline’s existing same day connection from Delhi to Newark via London Heathrow. The new service is being launched to build upon the airline’s strong performance to Newark from Delhi and to capitalize on the growing passenger numbers to New York and the US .   “ India is definitely one of our key markets and along with launching Mumbai later this year we are really looking forward to connecting more passengers to JFK and Newark out of Delhi .  The schedule has been designed to enable passengers from India ’s capital to connect quickly to New York . Our increasing share to Newark shows that passengers prefer breaking the journey in half, stretching their legs and indulging in some duty-free shopping. We're looking forward to making this new service to JFK a success,...

GUEST COLUMN The development below to an extent  provides an insight into how airline mergers are treated in the EU- Neelam Mathews   By: Suzanne Rab Partner King & Spalding April 4, 2012 On 2 April 2012, the European Commission cleared International Consolidated Airline Group's (IAG) acquisition of British Midlands (BMI).  The Commission accepted conditions that British Airways, owner of IAG, release 14 slots at Heathrow and commit to provide competing long-haul flight operators with passengers who are connecting at Heathrow. The Commission stated that its investigation initially found that the transaction risked creating monopolies on a number of domestic, European and international routes out of Heathrow which was found to be Europe's busiest passenger airport. Of the divested slots, 7 relate to domestic and 5 to medium-haul routes and two additional slots will be released to Transaero, a Russian airline It was always expected that it would be cha...

Neelam Mathews Oct 2, 2011 There are some interesting figures in graphs at the bottom- thought aviation honchos might like to take a look. The lack of direct flights to Emerging Markets may already be costing the UK economy £1.2bn a year as trade goes to better-connected competitors.The value of this missed opportunity to the UK economy over the next 10 years could total £14bn. Paris and Frankfurt already boast 1000 more annual flights to the three largest cities in China than Heathrow. In its scoping document, Developing a sustainable framework for UK aviation , the Government tackles the issue whether it is even necessary for the UK to have a hub airport. Colin Matthews , Chief Executive, BAA answers that question with an emphatic ‘yes’ in a foreward to Frontier Economics report.  The report shows that it is hub airports (as opposed to point-to-point) that are critical to establishing flights to growth destinations; and that because the UK’s hub airport at Heathrow is ...