British Airways to Begin A380 Service at SFO

Super-jumbo jet will operate to London in April 2015

SAN FRANCISCO -- British Airways today announced plans to operate an Airbus A380 between the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and London-Heathrow Airport beginning in April 2015 and planned through the busy summer travel season.
“We’re excited to see British Airways begin A380 service at SFO,” said Airport Director John L. Martin. “More than ever, our customers have a wide variety of travel options to Europe and beyond. British Airways’ A380 provides a new way to create an unforgettable journey from SFO.”
The Airbus A380 is the largest commercial passenger aircraft in the world, featuring a double-deck that extends the entire length of the fuselage. British Airways operates the A380-800 version, which seats 469 passengers in four classes of service, made up of 12 First Class, 97 Club World, 55 World Traveller Plus, and 303 World Traveller seats. British Airways’ A380 aircraft offers 170 more seats per flight than the Boeing 747, which previously operated on the route.
The nonstop flight will operate in A380 equipment five days a week, on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays the flight will operate in Boeing 747 equipment.

S-F-O

About San Francisco International Airport 
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers non-stop flights to more than 34 international cities on 29 international carriers. The Bay Area's largest airport connects non-stop with 78 cities in the U.S. on 15 domestic airlines. SFO is proud to offer upgraded free Wi-Fi with no advertising. For up-to-the-minute departure and arrival information, airport maps and details on shopping, dining, cultural exhibitions, ground transportation and more, visit www.flysfo.com. Follow us on www.twitter.com/flysfo and www.facebook.com/flysfo.

British Airways takes delivery of its first of 12 Airbus A380s

British Airways (BA) has become the tenth operator to receive an Airbus A380 after taking delivery of the first of 12 aircraft on order. BA is the first UK operator of the A380 and will start to deploy its new flagship aircraft on routes from London Heathrow to Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

After a handover ceremony at Airbus’ delivery centre in Toulouse with Keith Williams, British Airways CEO, Eric Schulz, Roll-Royce President Civil Large Engines, Fabrice Brégier, Airbus President and CEO and other senior executives, BA’s first A380 is being flown to the UK carrier’s home base at London Heathrow where the cabin is being unveiled.

British Airways’ chief executive Keith Williams said: “We’re delighted to be the first UK airline taking delivery of the A380. It is a great aircraft that has been developed with huge amounts of British engineering ingenuity and we believe it will prove very popular with our customers when it starts flying to its first destination of Los Angeles.”

“It is a very proud moment for everyone at Airbus to see our A380 in the livery of British Airways, one of the world’s most pioneering airlines. With this new flagship in their fleet, the British carrier opens a new era of long-haul flying and offers its passengers an all-new travel experience”, said Airbus President and CEO, Fabrice Brégier. “It is a special day for UK industry too, as a significant proportion of this amazing aircraft was designed and built at Airbus’ UK sites in Filton and Broughton, as well as at our many partners’ facilities across the country.”

All BA’s A380s will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines. Airbus currently has 262 firm orders for the A380, from 20 customers.

The A380 is capable of flying 8,500 nautical miles or 15,700 kilometres non-stop, carrying more people at lower cost and with less impact on the environment. The spacious, quiet cabin and smooth ride have made the A380 a firm favourite with both airlines and passengers, resulting in higher load factors wherever it flies. The A380 also provides vital extra passenger capacity without increasing the number of flights, and is therefore part of the solution for sustainable growth at congested airports.

To date, 40 million passengers have already enjoyed the unique experience of flying on board an A380. Every five minutes, an A380 either takes off or lands at one of the 30 airports where it operates today and the network is constantly growing.

Heathrow traffic and business commentary December 2014

2014 Full-Year Traffic Results:

• A record 73.4 million passengers made journeys through Heathrow in 2014, an increase of 1.4% on 2013
• Fast-growing emerging markets continue to be a driver of traffic growth at Heathrow, with passenger volumes up 6.3% to Latin America, 5.2% to East Asia and 3.5% to the Middle East & Central Asia
• Growth of 2.5% in transfer passenger volumes at the UK’s only hub attracted more long-haul flights to growth markets like China and Mexico
• The UK’s largest port saw growth of 5.3% in cargo volumes to 1.5 million metric tonnes, helping more of Britain’s exports reach new markets

December 2014 Traffic Results:

• Heathrow saw its busiest ever December with 5.93 million passengers choosing to travel through the airport over the festive season, an increase of 2.4% on December 2013
• Larger, quieter aircraft continued to contribute to passenger growth at Heathrow. Seats per aircraft increased 0.6% to 208.4, while load factors remained strong at 76.6%. Passengers per aircraft rose 0.4% to 159.6
• Passenger volumes continued growth within emerging markets, increasing 15.1% to China, 10.9% to Mexico and 4.0% to the Middle East & Central Asia
• Heathrow continued to welcome the transfer passengers that make such long-haul routes viable, with year-on-year volumes increasing 4.7%
• Cargo volumes saw strong growth of 6.2% overall, including increases of 33.5% to Mexico, 29.4% to Brazil, 15% to Turkey and 11.2% to India

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said:
“Vietnam Airlines’ announcement that it is moving its operation from Gatwick to Heathrow is good news for Britain as it secures a direct flight to an important growth economy, with more frequent flights and cargo capacity. It also underlines that airlines can only make flights to many long haul destinations viable from a hub airport like Heathrow.

Only by expanding Heathrow can we add direct flights to the world's growing cities, increase our exports and connect all of the UK to global growth. Expanding Heathrow will help Britain win the race for growth."

British Airways' Short Haul Fleet Top Performer in Latest Fly Quiet League Table

Airline continues to place first in Heathrow’s Fly Quiet table, which lists airlines according to how quiet their operations are.

Covering July to September 2014, the fifth Fly Quiet table rated the top 50 airlines operating at Heathrow (by number of flights per quarter) according to six noise related criteria. The airlines received a red/amber/green rating for each criterion, as well as an overall score that allows them to understand how they are performing in relation to other airlines. The top five performers - British Airways' short haul fleet, Aer Lingus, Virgin Atlantic Little Red, Virgin Atlantic Airways, American Airlines - have remained the same over the past two league tables, highlighting these airlines' consistently good noise performance at the airport.

This quarter revealed the improved performance of Austrian Airlines, which jumped the most places ahead, compared to other operators at the airport.

Thai Airlines succeeded in reducing the noise footprint of its fleet by opting to operate quieter, newer aircraft this quarter. This resulted in the airline lowering its QC/Seat score, and improving its chapter number scores.

This quarter, airlines rating amber and red increased by five compared to the last quarter in their use of the ‘Continuous Descent Approach’ (CDA). While at the moment, over 85% of daytime and over 90% of night-time arrivals at Heathrow achieve a CDA, the scores in this quarter make it clear some airlines need to improve their use of this quiet landing technique.

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye has written to those airlines failing to meet Heathrow’s CDA standards, asking for engagement from their technical teams with the airport to increase CDA adherence. Improvements in quiet approaches is a vital part of Heathrow’s new blueprint for noise reduction, which outlines ten steps to reduce noise impacts from the airport by summer 2015.

Contrary to the last quarter, in which all airlines adhered to night time operation limits, this quarter there were three unscheduled arrivals by airlines before 06:00 am.

Heathrow commends the airlines that have contributed to improving the noise environment around the airport, and will work closely with those airlines that did not meet the minimum performance targets this quarter to improve their rating.

Matt Gorman, Heathrow’s Director of Sustainability says:

“Since the inception of the Fly Quiet League, we have been able to rely on the continued good performance of the airlines who consistently dominate the top ranks of the table. However, we also want to highlight and encourage those that have made an improvement to the way they operate, and will help them to continue this trend. We believe it is only by working proactively with our partners that Heathrow airport can be a better, quieter neighbour to local residents.”

The Fly Quiet Programme forms part of Heathrow’s wider noise action plan to tackle aircraft noise. Due to Heathrow’s mix of strict operating restrictions and noise– reducing incentives, aircraft that airlines use at Heathrow are on average around 15% quieter than the global fleet of those airlines.

British Airways Launches Thank-You Campaign

The two-way conversation that exemplifies great social media is being brought to life this Christmas with British Airways’ ‘thank-you’ campaign, featuring images sent in from its customers from their travels around the world.
The 70-second video, which can be found here: http://youtu.be/-9Oqo6B3vAE was developed by Cedar, and will feature on the airline’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and G+ platforms. The video will also play on the airline’s inflight entertainment system.
Travellers will also be asked to recommend destinations for 2015 by uploading their images to Instagram using #FLYBA2015 and tagging @British_Airways. The URL on the airline’s website is ba.com is ba.com/FlyBA2015. The prize is half-a-million Avios points which is enough to get to New York eight times in First class, to Sydney five times in Club World (business class), to Dubai sixteen times in World Traveller Plus (premium economy) or to Paris 111 times in economy.
The winning image will be judged by the renowned Italian photographer Massimo Vitali. Vitali has worked as a photojournalist, cinematographer, and fine arts photographer. Clients include the New York Times, The Observer, Wallpaper, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Marie Claire, The Sunday Times, Conde Nast Traveler, The Paris Review, among others.
Abigail Comber, British Airways’ head of global marketing, said: “Our customers are some of the world’s greatest travellers and explorers, and featuring them at the heart of this campaign is just our way of saying a really big thank-you for sharing those experiences with us this year. They’ve sent in all sorts of images from once-in-a-lifetime parachute jumps to visits to great global sites like the Taj Mahal.
“We can’t wait to see where our customers want to head to in 2015, and are looking forward to being a part of their incredible journeys.”

Lufthansa and Germanwings successfully complete transfer of decentralized routes

Total of 115 routes transferred from Lufthansa to Germanwings - Düsseldorf–Zurich to be operated by Germanwings from today

The Lufthansa Group has made a successful start to the new year with the transfer of the Düsseldorf–Zurich route from Lufthansa to Germanwings today (Thursday, 8 January 2015). One of the biggest structural projects ever undertaken by the company has thus been successfully completed on time. 
The concept of the new Germanwings was presented in December 2012, followed by the market launch on 1 July 2013. The transfer of the Düsseldorf–Zurich route means that the decision to operate all domestic and European routes under Germanwings, apart from at the Frankfurt and Munich hubs, has now been fully implemented as scheduled. In all, Germanwings has taken over 115 routes from Lufthansa in recent months, with the biggest number of routes (52) at Düsseldorf Airport.
Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said: “The first Germanwings flight from Düsseldorf to Zurich today marks the successful completion of what is to date the biggest project to make the Lufthansa Group more competitive. The positioning of the new and significantly larger Germanwings has been a resounding success. I would like to extend my gratitude to all employees, who have worked hard for this achievement. As a result of low costs in the WINGS business model, we combine favourable prices with the punctuality, quality and safety of the Lufthansa Group. This combination meets with a positive response among our passengers and also finds favour in many European markets. At the same time therefore, the success of the project will bolster our confidence for the creation of our new Eurowings, which will be launched before the year is over.”
Thomas Winkelmann, spokesman for the Germanwings Executive Board: “Over recent months, we have been laying the necessary foundations for the continued successful development of the company. We have never been bigger, and have never been a market leader at so many German airports. Of much greater importance, however, is the fact that we are once again enjoying success in commercial terms.” The completion of the migration of Lufthansa routes to Germanwings represents the successful conclusion of a major project that has been a big challenge for the company, added Winkelmann. “However, the team rose to the challenge magnificently. We can now build on this success.”
The new Germanwings service between Düsseldorf and Zurich will comprise 24 flights per week, making it one of the most high-volume routes from the North Rhine-Westphalian capital. The early morning flight will depart from Düsseldorf at 7.00 a.m. In addition to this, there will be a midday flight at 1.30 p.m., an afternoon flight at 5.05 p.m. and an evening service at 6.55 p.m. All flights for the current winter flight timetable and the 2015 summer flight timetable, which will run until the end of October, are already available for booking – at www.germanwings.com, for example.

Lufthansa and Germanwings successfully complete transfer of decentralized routes

Total of 115 routes transferred from Lufthansa to Germanwings - Düsseldorf–Zurich to be operated by Germanwings from today

The Lufthansa Group has made a successful start to the new year with the transfer of the Düsseldorf–Zurich route from Lufthansa to Germanwings today (Thursday, 8 January 2015). One of the biggest structural projects ever undertaken by the company has thus been successfully completed on time. 
The concept of the new Germanwings was presented in December 2012, followed by the market launch on 1 July 2013. The transfer of the Düsseldorf–Zurich route means that the decision to operate all domestic and European routes under Germanwings, apart from at the Frankfurt and Munich hubs, has now been fully implemented as scheduled. In all, Germanwings has taken over 115 routes from Lufthansa in recent months, with the biggest number of routes (52) at Düsseldorf Airport.
Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said: “The first Germanwings flight from Düsseldorf to Zurich today marks the successful completion of what is to date the biggest project to make the Lufthansa Group more competitive. The positioning of the new and significantly larger Germanwings has been a resounding success. I would like to extend my gratitude to all employees, who have worked hard for this achievement. As a result of low costs in the WINGS business model, we combine favourable prices with the punctuality, quality and safety of the Lufthansa Group. This combination meets with a positive response among our passengers and also finds favour in many European markets. At the same time therefore, the success of the project will bolster our confidence for the creation of our new Eurowings, which will be launched before the year is over.”
Thomas Winkelmann, spokesman for the Germanwings Executive Board: “Over recent months, we have been laying the necessary foundations for the continued successful development of the company. We have never been bigger, and have never been a market leader at so many German airports. Of much greater importance, however, is the fact that we are once again enjoying success in commercial terms.” The completion of the migration of Lufthansa routes to Germanwings represents the successful conclusion of a major project that has been a big challenge for the company, added Winkelmann. “However, the team rose to the challenge magnificently. We can now build on this success.”
The new Germanwings service between Düsseldorf and Zurich will comprise 24 flights per week, making it one of the most high-volume routes from the North Rhine-Westphalian capital. The early morning flight will depart from Düsseldorf at 7.00 a.m. In addition to this, there will be a midday flight at 1.30 p.m., an afternoon flight at 5.05 p.m. and an evening service at 6.55 p.m. All flights for the current winter flight timetable and the 2015 summer flight timetable, which will run until the end of October, are already available for booking – at www.germanwings.com, for example.

America’s Travel Leaders Hail Global Entry Expansion

WASHINGTON - U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on the new reciprocal arrangement with Germany for the two nations’ trusted traveler programs—U.S. Global Entry and German EasyPass:

“Trusted traveler programs are key not just for boosting travel and therefore economic activity, but also for their contributions to increasing security. These effective and innovative programs have proven time and again that there is no zero-sum choice between security and passenger convenience.
"Pre-approved, low-risk German travelers can now enjoy expedited customs clearance, opening America's doors wider to German travelers and the dollars they spend here while at the same time focusing screening resources on unknown and potentially riskier travelers. In 2013, 1.9 million German visitors arrived in the U.S. and spent $6.8 billion, and this new policy is a guarantee those numbers will improve.
"The Department of Homeland Security and its sub-agencies are to be commended yet again for the steady and deliberate pace at which they have expanded programs such as Global Entry and TSA PreCheck. The American travel community looks forward to working with the agency on additional forward-thinking approaches to safely and securely improving the U.S. travel experience."

Travel Metrics Posted Record Highs in 2014

WASHINGTON - David Huether, senior vice president for economics and research at the U.S. Travel Association, reacts to Friday's Labor Department employment report and the U.S. Department of Commerce export report from earlier in the week:

"Following the largest three month gain in the past two years, job growth in the travel industry took a temporary pause in December, with employment edging down a slight 3,900 for the month.
"Overall, 2014 was a banner year for the travel industry. In September, travel employment topped 8 million for the first time ever and by December, travel employment stood at 8,053,000. Moreover, the 133,600 jobs created by the travel industry during the past 12 months marked the third consecutive year travel employment increased by more than 100,000, an first for the industry in the new millennium.
"While not dropping as significantly as other exports, travel exports edged down to $18.4 billion in November 2014, a slip of $100 million from October but still 1.2 percent higher than in November 2013. Despite the recent pause, travel continues to be a major force in overall export growth for the economy.
"Through the first 11 months of 2014, travel exports accounted for an impressive 12 percent of total export growth for the U.S. economy compared to 2013. And the travel trade surplus, over $6 billion in November, remained solid and consistent with recent months. Without this surplus, the U.S. trade deficit would be 15.5 percent larger than its current level.
"More Americans traveling and more international visitors coming to our shores has been a powerful force for job growth in recent years. Since the Great Recession, the travel industry has created 827,000 new jobs and has outpaced job growth in the rest of the economy by 35 percent.
"This year is predicted to be yet another positive year for the travel industry. With an improving labor market, moderate inflation, and increasing discretionary incomes, in part, from lower gas prices, travel is expected to continue to grow in 2015. The U.S. Travel Association forecasts a 1.6 percent increase in domestic trip volume for 2015 to 2.1 billion trips and a 4.1 percent increase in international travelers to the United States.
"Recent pro-growth policy achievements, such as extending the visa validity period for qualified Chinese travelers as well as the recent reauthorization of Brand USA, will help to unlock more potential revenue streams for American businesses and further bolster the recovery moving forward.”

TripAdvisor Announced New "Plan, Compare and Book" Message in "Don't Just Visit" TV Ads

Campaign to Run in the U.K. and Brazil for the First Time and Continue in the U.S., Australia and France

Trip Advisor , the world’s largest travel site, today announced new TV ads that showcase TripAdvisor as a comprehensive travel planning, shopping and booking site. The ads, which are an evolution of the company’s “Don’t Just Visit” campaign, call upon travelers to use TripAdvisor to “plan, compare and book” the perfect trip.

In addition, TripAdvisor is expanding its advertising campaign into the U.K. and Brazil for the first time, and will continue to advertise in the U.S., Australia and France markets where the “Don’t Just Visit” ads aired earlier this year. TripAdvisor plans to launch its advertising campaign in additional markets later in 2015.

The original “Don’t Just Visit” ads, which launched in May 2014, communicated the benefits of using TripAdvisor to plan a better trip and what can go wrong when the site is not used. Since then, the company has launched a number of initiatives and completed acquisitions that expand how consumers can use TripAdvisor. In June, the company launched its instant booking platform rolling it out to U.S.-based mobile app and web users, and in May and August, finalized acquisitions of restaurant and attraction booking sites lafourchette and Viator, respectively.
These new initiatives, combined with TripAdvisor’s existing price comparison tools, have broadened the booking options for consumers on the site.

The new ads expand on TripAdvisor’s original “plan a better trip” message to include the ability for travelers to compare prices and book their trip. The spots focus on TripAdvisor’s powerful hotel price comparison search that checks hundreds of websites to find the best hotel prices.

“Our initial ‘Don’t Just Visit’ TV ads set the foundation that, with the help of millions of reviews, the TripAdvisor version of any trip is always better,” said Barbara Messing, chief marketing officer, TripAdvisor. “The new ads expand our messaging to showcase TripAdvisor as a one-stop, comprehensive planning, shopping and booking site.”

An example of the new TripAdvisor TV ads is available at: http://youtu.be/Ii5EcdRDRqA

About TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor^® is the world's largest travel site*, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching 315 million unique monthly visitors**, and more than 200 million reviews and opinions covering more than 4.4 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 45 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com.  TripAdvisor also includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to millions of monthly TripAdvisor visitors.