Ten years ago we were all flying on the same sorts of planes to the same sorts of places checking into hotels that were all pretty much the same, be they in Barcelona, Bangkok or Birmingham. There is now much more choice. There are airlines for business class passengers only, and imaginative hotels are opening up and are offering good business services and some character. Business travellers want to be treated as individuals.
There are three airlines offering business class-only flights. You can check in half an hour before your flight and fly much more comfortably in an aircraft that could hold 300 people but is kitted out for just 100. Fares are as low as £1000 return between London and New York. In contrast the established airlines, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American and United have business class fares of around £4000.
Premium economy class is also really ‘taking off’. British Airways and Virgin are offering very good services. Even across to New Zealand via Hong Kong, you can travel in excellent premium economy services and get an easier and smoother check-in and a better in-flight experience.
Airlines will soon be able to offer us a bigger choice of airports to fly to and from thanks to a change in the Open Skies policy. For the past 30 years, flying between the UK and the US has been governed by the Bermuda Two agreement. This restricts competition so it allows, for instance, only two US airlines to fly from Heathrow to American airports. This changes in March 2008 when any European or American airline will be able to fly from anywhere in the EU to anywhere in America. This should mean that there is far more choice and fares will come down.
Heathrow’s Terminal 5 also opens in March 2008. Over £4 million is being spent on what is effectively a new airport. It is mainly for British Airways and a few selected partners, and will handle around 30 million passengers a year, making it as big as Gatwick. The rest of Heathrow, which was built in the 50s, will get a makeover.
There are changes too for rail travellers. On 14 November, 13 years since the channel tunnel opened, we are getting a high-speed link. The starting point for Eurostar trains will move from London Waterloo to London St. Pancras. You will be able to get to Brussels in one hour 51 minutes, Paris in just two hours 15 minutes, and from there you will have connections right across Europe. They are building a new fast line right across Amsterdam. So if you prefer not to fly, whether for environmental or purely stress reasons, there will be a lot more opportunities.
Simon Calder, Travel Writer
Some of the content of the magazine refers to flights or prices from the UK. At Travel Counsellors Ireland we can source flights from Ireland and provide full quotes in Euros. Please call me for latest availability and prices.
