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."

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.

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.