Aisle Seat H

QF WP's gonna kill me... Latest BT 'offerings' :-

Delay for A380

5 May 2005

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has been forced to delay the introduction of the Airbus A380 into service.

The airline has confirmed that due to a delay from Airbus, the world's largest commercial passenger jet will not start flying until well after the anticipated launch date of April 2006.

Airbus has declined to comment on the reasons behind the delay.

SIA vice president public affairs, Stephen Forshaw, said: "SIA remains committed to being the first to fly the new Airbus A380, and we are working with Airbus on a timetable which will see entry into service during the second half of 2006."
SIA plans to fly the A380, the first fully double-decker aircraft, between London, Singapore and Sydney. It has ordered 10 A380 aircraft, with an option to order a further 15.

The news comes just over a week after the A380 successfully completed its first test flight, taking off from an airstrip near Toulouse for a four-hour flight.

Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, and Qantas are among the other carriers that have placed orders for the A380, with Emirates placing the largest order of the aircraft, at 43.

Aisle Seat H

Dubai hotel to be world's tallest

5 May 2005

Two hotels opening in Dubai are planning to make a distinctive mark on the burgeoning state.

The first is a Radisson SAS property, which will open later this year in Dubai's Media City.

The 251-bedroom property will have a distinctive architectural or design feature in keeping with other Radisson properties such as Stansted, which has a wine wall scaled by wine waiters fitted with a climbing harness and ropes, or Berlin, which has the world's largest freestanding aquarium.

The Radisson SAS Hotel, Media City will have three stylish bars and restaurants, seven meeting rooms and an executive lounge with boardroom and business centre. There will be two pools (one rooftop), a fitness centre, separate male and female steam rooms and a spa with five treatment rooms.

The second property is being built by Dubai-based airline, Emirates. It will be the world's tallest building, at 70 storeys or 800 metres high, when it opens in 2008. The hotel will be built on Sheikh Zayed road and will have 560 rooms, 112 suites and a presidential suite.

Emirates says it hopes to break architectural boundaries with the property, which will have rooms jutting out from the main tower in curved wings. The hotel will also have a health club with fitness centre and spa, 15 food and beverage outlets and a rooftop bar with panoramic views of Dubai.

Dubai received 5.4 million visitors in 2004, which is expected to increase three-fold in the next decade.

Aisle Seat H

KLM cuts fares from London and the regions

5 May 2005

The cost of flying from the UK to Amsterdam and beyond continues to fall. On May 1, Dutch airline KLM introduced lower excursion fares designed to compete with budget carriers who have expanded their regional flights in recent times.

The simplified KLM tariffs are offered on non-stop flights to Amsterdam and, by taking connecting services (via Amsterdam), to dozens of cities throughout mainland Europe and Scandinavia.

Flights to Amsterdam are now arranged in four price tiers: £69, £79, £89 and £99 return. It means that a return flight from Heathrow, Birmingham or Manchester to Amsterdam costs from £69 while the top rate of £99 would apply from Aberdeen, Bristol or Cardiff. All fares require either a Saturday night or two-night stay.

Further afield the price varies depending on the route and your UK departure airport. But typical examples include: Birmingham-Barcelona for £126, Newcastle-Cologne £138, Leeds-Oslo £163, Manchester-Rome £135. Edinburgh-Vienna £151 and Newcastle-Lisbon £187.

The new deals are available online with rates and availability clearly displayed. Go to www.klm.com.

Aisle Seat H

Royal Brunei cuts UK fares

5 May 2005

Royal Brunei Airlines is targeting the UK market with a dedicated website and special fares.

The carrier officially launched its UK website this week. It has a UK bias, displaying fares out of London Heathrow to Brunei and beyond in pounds sterling.

Royal Brunei offers flights from London via Dubai to Brunei, with connections onto destinations such as Sydney, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Auckland. Current special offers include return economy class fares (including tax and charges) from £275 to Dubai, £550 to Perth and £590 to Sydney. These fares are bookable up to June 15.

The website also includes an interactive route map which shows schedule details when users place their cursor over a destination. Details of the airline's in-flight service, including Royal Brunei's business class bed, are featured online, and passengers can download the in-flight screening schedule ahead of their flight or reserve a seat. Go to www.bruneiair.com/uk.

QF WP

Naah, I have given you the right to carry on when I'm not available...

Was away in MEL from Tues PM, arrived home last night at 9.10pm. Laptop doesn't have wireless access yet (until this afternoon), so haven't downloaded my work emails.

Actually, that's good - one less email I have to worry about....

QF WP

Can't believe I beat Aisle Seat H to posting this weeks stories:

Air France commits to business class

Passengers using Air France to Paris CDG from Heathrow and Manchester can toast the airline. This week it has declared that it will retain business class within Europe at a time when its rivals are considering dropping the class for short haul flights.

The carrier is one of the very few among Europe's national carriers in offering three classes on mainline services: L'Espace Affaires, Tempo Challenge (superior economy class) and Tempo (economy class).

Says Catherine Jude, the carrier's route director for Europe and North Africa, " Last summer we experimented by removing business class from three routes but we found we lost more money in the process. Business class passengers opted for Tempo Challenge [with its lower fares] so our revenue suffered."

Air France's business class features roomy two by two seating (with a fold down table) while Tempo Challenge, although offering an economy class layout, is aimed at cost conscious travellers with its provision of essential business features like expedited airport handling and dedicated seating. Both these products are offered on mainline flights to and from France. In the case of the UK, it would cover services departing Heathrow and Manchester.

Catherine Jude says that the flexible curtain in the cabin enables the carrier to tailor capacity to demand. She also argues that Air France needs premium products to look after top fare paying customers who are transferring between short and long-haul services at its main Paris CDG hub. The carrier claims that over 50% of its passengers at CDG are now in transit rather than destined for Paris itself.


Heathrow gets another dedicated rail link

A new stopping service between Paddington and London Heathrow will start next month. Train companies BAA Rail and First Group have spent £11.5 million on developing the new Heathrow Connect link which will start on June 12. Trains running every 30 minutes will link the west London suburbs of Ealing Broadway, West Ealing, Hanwell, Southall and Hayes & Harlington with Heathrow's Terminals 1, 2 and 3. Overall journey time will be around 25 minutes.

The new service looks set to answer critics who have long complained about having to backtrack to Paddington for a fast airport service, and passengers heading to the airports from areas to the west of the airport need no longer rely on bus connections at Reading. They will be able to take the train to Hayes & Harlington for a connection to Heathrow.

The single fare for the section of track between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow, a six minute journay, has now been set at £6. It's unclear whether a through Paddington-Heathrow fare will even be made available on the new service because of fears of the competition with the non-stop Heathrow Express. In addition, the service is intended for airport workers and people travelling from intermediate stations.

The train firms have dreamt up several ruses to dissuade Central London passengers from using it as an airport link. So Heathrow Connect trains will depart Paddington from different platforms and will not be advertised as a through service.


Wi-fi users in fake hotspot scam

Business travellers who use wireless hotspots are in danger of falling victim to the latest internet scam – access point (AP) phishing – according to wireless security firm AirDefense this week.

AP phishing is a technique where an attacker tricks victims into downloading viruses to their laptops or PDAs by faking the log-in screen of a legitimate wireless hotspot. The attacker can then record confidential information, such as usernames, passwords and financial details, entered by the hotspot user.

In a recent AP phishing attack, also known as an Evil Twin attack, AirDefense found that a hotspot was being spoofed and when unsuspecting users made a wireless connection, they received a false log-in page. Clicking anywhere on the page triggered an avalanche of viruses to the user's machine.

Richard Rushing, AirDefense's chief security officer, says: "Attackers are most interested in stealing user IDs and passwords to gain access to corporate networks."

The company has issued five tips to help business travellers avoid becoming phishing bait:

1. Install personal firewall and security patches.
2. Enter passwords only into websites that include an SSL key at the bottom right.
3. Avoid hotspots where it is difficult to tell who is connected, such as at hotels and airports. Use hotspots for Web surfing only.
4. Turn off or remove your wireless card if you are not using the hotspot.
5. Do not use insecure applications such as e-mail or instant messaging while at hotspots.


Special Report - Fit to Work

There's no longer any excuse to be idle on your business trips as hotels race to offer better health facilities, says David Jones.

There's no doubt that business travel is bad for you. If DVT doesn't get you then exhaustion, jetlag, mind-numbing meetings and the strain of absence on your relationships probably will. Luckily, however, there are alternatives to watching your health and happiness decline in the face of the latest company cutbacks on travel expenses – you can stay in a "healthy" hotel.

There are two main ways a hotel can help you get, or stay healthy: the first is through exercise, the second through diet. Yet on the exercise front it seems that many hotels disappoint. In a survey of 300 business travellers conducted by Lieberman Research Worldwide for Westin Hotels & Resorts, 64% said that hotel fitness rooms "seem like an afterthought," while 75% felt the quality of gyms was inconsistent from one hotel to the next. As a result, more than half of the travellers (55%) avoid hotel gyms because they are in such bad condition.

"Working out on the road is a priority for many travellers, but hotels have typically cut corners in hotel workout rooms," says Sue Brush, senior vice president of Westin Hotels & Resorts.

To address this Westin launched the "WestinWORKOUT(TM) Powered by Reebok". The name alone may knock the wind out of you, but this is Westin making a determined bid to be different. "We want to improve our guests' lives so they feel better from check-in to check-out," says Brush. And why would they want to do that? "Because accomplishing that will build loyalty and clearly distinguish Westin from other hotels."

So far Westin has spent $12 million on building new fitness centres in 53 of its North American, Mexican and Caribbean hotels, with another 40 to be fitted across Europe and Asia-Pacific. The centres have treadmills, cycling machines, elliptical trainers, medicine balls, yoga mats and core boards and, just in case you don't know your medicine ball from your core board, it has also helpfully developed 20, 40 and 60-minute complete body workouts targeting each major muscle group. So there's no excuse for not using them.
For those of us who are too shy or too lazy to be tempted out of our hotel rooms, there are also in-room training programmes.

Marriott offers the "Great Health – Fit for You" programme – a snappy name is clearly a pre-requisite – which incorporates the BodyRev(TM), Michael Sena's Traveling Trainer and BodyWedge21(TM). This alarming-sounding equipment can be delivered to your room on request at full-service Marriott and Renaissance hotels in North America.

What are they? BodyRev is a portable device that looks like a dual steering wheel loaded down with dumbbells ranging from 2 to 4kg. By rotating the device into different positions, it provides a combination of aerobic workout and strength training exercises. The BodyRev kit includes a travel bag, DVD, exercise manual and meal plan (you can buy it for $89/£46) and professes to "turn a few simple moves into an efficient calorie-burning, muscle-toning, energy-boosting routine".

The Traveling Trainer is the invention of Chicago-based personal trainer and fitness expert Michael Sena, who helped Marriott devise its fitness programme. The Trainer "utilises resistance bands to help travellers increase strength and maintain balance". The kit, which improves strength, balance and energy, includes fitness-club quality resistance tubes and comes complete with a users' guide.

The third option is the BodyWedge21, a foam wedge shaped like a large doorstop and offering 21 different exercises to tone the abdominal muscles, buttocks, triceps, lower back and other body parts. You can buy it online for $19.99/£10.

So you can now work off your stress and jetlag in the comfort of your hotel room, but, as we all know, that's just one part of a healthy lifestyle. Realising that diet is equally important, Marriott originally launched its Fit for You programme in December 2003 as a series of low-carb and low-fat breakfast options. In September 2004 it expanded to include lunch and dinner menus, room service, catering menus and the selections available in the hotel shops. New menu items include low-cholesterol pan-seared Alaskan halibut with brown rice, asparagus and lump crab vinaigrette. It's not just the food: hotel lounges also began serving Splenda-sweetened iced teas and low-carb beers and wine selections.

Marriott also expanded its healthy options to children's menus. Robin Uler, senior vice president of lodging food and beverage and retail services at Marriott, says many guests have wanted healthier food options in the past but were not comfortable enough to ask for changes to the menu. "They felt intimidated," said Uler. "They didn't want to say: 'I want you to cook this without butter.'" By changing the menu options, Uler says, a hotel guest can now just point to what he or she wants and not feel they're being awkward or demanding.

Other hotels chains have taken a different approach. Hilton Hotels has entered an alliance with Bally Total Fitness to offer guests access to more than 5,000 personal fitness trainers in North America. Hilton commissioned a study, carried out by the former director of the NASA Fatigue Countermeasures Program, which showed that people who exercised when on the road perform 61% better in terms of alertness and reaction.

Guests can arrange a personal fitness consultation at 400 Bally locations in the US or in the hotel's own fitness centre. Hilton is also offering special mini-gyms that guests can use in their hotel rooms. The Hilton Travel Fit Kit includes a yoga mat, elastic exercise bands, resistance bands and two sets of hand weights. Hilton will also bring a treadmill into your guest room at 100 Hilton locations for a small charge.

Of course, rolling something out across hundreds of hotels takes time, but individual hotels can make their own efforts to cater to their guests. The Westin Times Square in New York has created a health-conscious floor, with 13 spa-inspired guest rooms. The rooms include a Kinjoy shiatsu chair, which is an electronic recliner that offers a range of massage settings for the back and an adjustable footrest. Spa rooms include bath salts, body washes, herbal extracts and an air diffuser that releases a soothing fragrance. Guests in these rooms can receive in-room spa treatments for the same price as regular spa treatments.

The rooms also have a Bose radio and CD player with two relaxing CDs, and the minibar shuns chocolate bars and whiskey miniatures in favour of herbal teas, healthy snacks and complimentary water. The rooms are located on the same floor as the fitness centre and spa; however, guests have the option of ordering resistance bands or an in-room yoga kit.

Meanwhile, Marriott is testing a new hotel concept that combines fitness facilities with hotel accommodation, with its prototype property based in Walnut Creek, California. The Renaissance ClubSport resort is snappily described as a "suburban wellness resort" and is equipped with a 650sqm spa, a 1,100sqm fitness centre, five exercise studios, a gym, three pools, fitness classes, an on-site nutritionist and also provides childcare facilities.

Steve Gilmour, president and chief executive at Leisure Sports Inc., which manages the property for Marriott, says the aim is to combine an elite fitness centre with a four-star business hotel. "Basically, when I travelled I had to break my routine from what I did at home," he says. "At home I like to exercise so I have to eat a certain way. Typically at a hotel you have a converted guest room and they have one or two treadmills. This is basically giving the business traveller a resort experience during the business week."
Leisure Sports and Marriott have entered a joint venture to develop six of these new concept hotels across the US.

While physical fitness is important, for many guests the problem isn't about getting enough exercise, it's about getting enough sleep. Many business travellers find it difficult to fall asleep in an unfamiliar environment or may be anxious about waking up in the morning for an important business meeting.
In June 2004, Crowne Plaza hotels launched a program called Sleep Advantage which offers special amenities to help hotel guests get a good night's sleep. The hotel chain created designated "quiet zones", night lights, sleep CDs, eye masks, lavender sprays and special bedding to help soothe guests suffering from sleep deprivation.

"Crowne Plaza is the only hotel brand taking a holistic approach to address the entire sleep environment, from bedding and night lights to wake up calls and quiet zones," says sleep disorder specialist Dr Michael Breus.

Under the Sleep Advantage programme, guests who do not receive their guaranteed wake-up call get a free night's stay. The hotels also designate at least one floor as a quiet zone – where children and leisure groups are banned – from Sunday to Thursday nights.

If these hotel initiatives don't help to keep body and mind in peak condition, there are other options for revitalisation. A growing trend among business travellers is to visit urban day spas. In the past, the vast majority of spa customers have been women, but these facilities are increasingly catering to men and are becoming a regular routine among male business travellers.
In 2003, the former Manhattan East Suite Hotel in New York was converted into an urban spa property called the Affinia Dumont following a $15/£7.76 million renovation. The hotel offers special in-room fit kits for yoga, running, strength training and walking; a wellness library of books and CDs; a fitness valet who will launder your workout clothes and a fitness concierge who arranges sessions with personal trainers and leads fitness seminars. The hotel includes an Oasis Day Spa, which offers seven treatment rooms and a fitness centre with limited membership.

Irvin Sherman, a regional sales manager, travels to New York at least five times a year from his home in Kentucky. Sherman is an avid runner who says the Affinia Dumont allows him to keep in shape when on the road.
"It's hard to run outside in New York unless you want to get up at 4.30 in the morning," he says.

The 57-year-old began running more than 20 years ago because he was overweight and needed to develop an exercise routine to get in shape. He now runs three-and-a-half miles, six times a week and works out with free weights. "Running and exercising to me is just like brushing my teeth in the morning," he says.

Karen Dumont, president of Marketing Specialists Inc, based in Florida, switched to the Affinia Dumont from other hotels on the Upper East Side because of its on-site spa facilities. "When I stay at the other hotels, they have an agreement with [local health clubs]," she says. "It's not the same thing."

Hotels can provide the means to eat well and keep in trim, but guests need the willpower. A recent American Express survey found that only 33% of business travellers use a gym, compared with 60% who spend their leisure time "socialising" – and that's 90% in the case of British business travellers. And even if there isn't a gym in the hotel, that doesn't mean you can't go for a jog or, failing that, at least improve your eating habits.

The bottom line is, hotels can make it easier to stay healthy, but it's really up to you.

Staying healthy on your travels
Diet and fitness advice including tips from Reebok University master trainer Lisa Wheeler

Diet
1. Don't skip breakfast
You need energy to lug luggage, stand in endless airport queues and negotiate confusing airports. Eat before you leave — if you're too rushed for a proper breakfast, peanut butter on wheat toast is a great hit of carbs and protein. Hard-boiled eggs, a banana or an energy bar are other good choices for on-the-go travellers.
2. Stick to a routine
When we travel, we cede a lot of control over our schedule, our meals and our workout facilities, so it's harder to stick to our diet and fitness routine. I tell my travelling clients that when we're on the road, our focus should be on maintenance — squeeze in workouts, eat right more often than not, and do your best to not totally erode all your good work.
3. Don't just eat convenience food
The easiest thing to eat when you're in a rush is typically the worst for you. Skip the bagels and the muffins that will ultimately slow you down.
4. Pack your own food
Carry a stash of sports bars for emergencies.
5. Drink lots of water
You can't rehydrate enough.
6. Order a vegetarian meal
This is the healthiest in-flight fare. If you do order your meal after take-off, opt for protein heavy meals (chicken, seafood, beef) rather than carb-heavy sandwiches or pasta.
7. Don't go mad
Try to eat like you would at home. So if you don't tend to polish off a three-course meal with a giant hot fudge sundae at home, don't eat one on the plane. I guarantee it's not going to be the best hot fudge sundae you've ever had, so why blow it on a mediocre treat?
8. Try local delicacies
Life is too short to skip pasta in Florence or cheese in Paris.
9. Order room service
We've all been faced with a bread and pastry laden buffet in hotels. Better to order room service breakfast where you can be more in control of your meal.
10. Drink red wine
Attending a cocktail party or night out on the town with clients? Stick to red wine. At least it's good for your heart! Have a few glasses of really good wine versus a few too many mediocre drinks.

And for fitness

1. Do some research
Call ahead and make sure your hotel has a good gym. Inquire about nearby fitness clubs that might offer classes you'd like, or research local running routes. And schedule exercise ahead, incorporating time into your itinerary so you'll be much likely to actually do it when you arrive.
2. Pack your kit
Packing running shoes is a big pet peeve. Stuff the shoes with underwear and socks — use the space wisely. Consider bringing old shoes that you can leave behind in the hotel room. Pack one pair of shorts or exercise pants and one t-shirt and wash them in the room.
3. Exercise in the morning
Get it over with — at the end of the day there are too many variables that may get in the way. Besides, if you work out in the morning, you'll perform better all day.
4. Squeeze in what you can
Even 20 minutes of exercise is better than 0 minutes. I tell my clients that workouts on the road are about breaking even. Don't expect the workout of your lifetime when you travel, it's probably not a reality. Just try not to lose any ground on the good habits you've established at home.
5. Take the stairs
Do some sit-ups and push-ups in your room. Go for a walk on your break. Remember, you're just trying to "break even".
6. Get plenty of sleep

Never underestimate the pros of recharging on the road with a nap, a bath or a silly movie — business travel is tough, so don't feel guilty if you need a little time to veg out.

Aisle Seat H

Didn't wanna step on your toes again mate, so let you do it ! You are an influential man around here after all !!!

QF WP

Hey Aisle Seat H, it's up to anybody to post the articles, but it seems that only you and I get BT. But it was nice that I had something to do yesterday while I am a home recuperating from a nasty attack of cold/flu (better I got it out of the way this week, before ozfest II).

Me, influential....here?? You're almost as funny as Seat 2A... but at least he likes my TR's - unlike somebody over on AFF who took a dislike to my Auckland one

Craigo

Oh don't worry about curmudgeons like that, QF WP. I notice that he trawled back to a post that was three months old to make his comments, then bragged about flying first class, and then went quiet when Bill got stuck into him.

Aisle Seat H

Yeah, you are a nobody mate... I just wrote that to be nice, an ego boost for ya while you are again bedridden with a nasty cold !!!


Here are the latest BT offerings, and first one i'll post is QF related...


More stopovers on kangaroo route

19 May 2005

Qantas and British Airways are allowing travellers a greater choice of stopovers on flights Down Under.

The move applies to passengers booking an economy class return ticket between the UK and Australia or New Zealand.

Current stopovers on the new Dreamtime Fares are Singapore, Bangkok and Bali, to which have been added Hong Kong, Tokyo and Jakarta. Passengers can stopover in different cities on the inbound and outbound legs, which could make a trip more cost effective.

Until now Qantas and BA has offered either a Dreamtime or Dreamtime Plus fare for economy class tickets to Australia and New Zealand. The former enables one stopover in each direction and the latter allows the same, plus further stopovers in Australia and New Zealand.

A third type of ticket, launched by the carriers this month, is a combination ticket which means passengers can book a ticket with multiple stopovers and each leg can have different restrictions. The outcome is that passengers can cut the price of their ticket. Go to www.qantas.co.uk or www.ba.com.

Ginny McGrath

Aisle Seat H

Seats on sale

19 May 2005

Air France and British Airways are encouraging executives to combine business with pleasure this summer.

Both carriers are running extensive premium fare seat sales over the coming months, a time when executives tend to stay at home.

During the sales, business class tickets are being cut by over 50 per cent. Alternatively, travellers wishing to combine work with pleasure or who like to take along a companion can upgrade to business class comfort for a bargain price.

Air France's offers are available from London and the UK regions via Paris to most major long distance destinations. You can book up until June 30 for travel between June 1 and August 31.

Examples of return business class fares include: Beijing and Shanghai for £1,176, Hong Kong £1,561, Singapore £1,557, Dubai £1.075, Cairo £778, Rio de Janeiro £1,550, Boston and Washington DC for £1,101, Chicago £1,476 and Los Angeles £1,301.

BA's deals cover most important short and long distance routes from London and the regions. Book by May 31 for travel between July 15 and August 31.
Long-haul examples include: New York £1,599, Atlanta £1,839, Los Angeles £1,899, Vancouver £1,979, Delhi £1,829, Tokyo £2,099 and Rio de Janeiro £1,839.

Short-haul examples include: Amsterdam £179, Copenhagen £219, Istanbul £389, Prague £199, Rome £259, Vienna £229 and Warsaw £249.
Both airlines' deals come with advance booking and minimum stay restrictions.

Go to www.airfrance.co.uk and www.ba.com.

Alex McWhirter

Aisle Seat H

Easyjet and BA top travellers' poll

19 May 2005

Nearly three quarters of business travellers have used a low cost airline in the last year, with Easyjet the clear favourite.

This is according to a survey of 1,200 executives who travel regularly on business. Low cost airlines were used by 71% of respondents in the past year according to Barclaycard Business, which undertook the survey. This is up 2% from the previous year.

Ryanair was unable to topple Easyjet as favourite low cost airline for the fourth year in a row, with 35% of business travellers voting for Easyjet and only 12% for Ryanair.
Easyjet also faired well in the overall airline ratings, coming in third with 6% of the votes, but it was still a long way behind British Airways, which topped the list and was voted by 43% of respondents as their favourite airline. Second was Virgin with 7%.
Despite the increasing trend towards flying with low cost airlines, motivated by a desire to keep travel costs down, the number of respondents travelling in business class also increased slightly, by 2% to 29% in the past year. BA and Virgin were the favourite airlines for travelling business class, followed by Emirates, KLM and Singapore Airlines.

Ginny McGrath

Aisle Seat H

Heathrow to lose early weekend Tubes?

19 May 2005

Proposals to delay weekend morning Tube links to Heathrow by an hour are being met by fierce opposition from British Airways.

Transport for London, the body that oversees the running of the city's Underground, is considering the move to enable the Tube to run an hour later at the weekends to service late-night revellers enjoying a night out in the capital. This would see the last trains leaving central London at 1.30am on Friday and Saturday nights, instead of 12.30am.

According to Transport for London, if the Tube were to run later at weekends, morning services would need to be pushed back by an hour in order to enable essential maintenance work to be carried out overnight.

If the Tube schedule change goes ahead, the first Tube services would not arrive at Heathrow until after 7.30am on Saturdays and after 8.50am on Sundays.

British Airways has slammed the move, saying that passengers travelling on up to 206 flights that depart early on Saturday and Sunday mornings, would be unable to use Tube services to reach Heathrow from central London, and would instead have to opt for more expensive options to take a car or taxi.

According to BA up to 28,000 passengers fly on the 206 early weekend departures, operated by 33 airlines. In addition the airline claims there are up to 7,000 arriving passengers who would have to wait at Heathrow before being able to catch the Tube into central London. In addition 4,000 airport staff begin shifts before Piccadilly Line services reach Heathrow, so those currently dependent on the Tube would have to find an alternative way to get to work.

An alternative option to reach Heathrow from central London is to use National Express coach services from Victoria Coach Station. The first service leaving central London on weekends is at 7.15am, which is scheduled to arrive at Heathrow at 8am, but this is only an option for central London residents as those not close to Victoria Coach Station would need to get there without the use of Tube services.

But numbers are not in BA's favour. According to a spokesman for Transport for London, which has just completed a period public consultation into the issue, around 140,000 people would benefit from later-running Tube services at the weekend versus the 50,000 people who use it during the first hour of the morning at weekends.

However, the spokesman told Businesstraveller.com that the decision was not just about numbers, and that concerns raised by organisations and companies including BA would be taken into consideration. The final decision will be made at the end of the summer and if the change goes ahead it would be implemented in December 2006.

Ginny McGrath

Aisle Seat H

And this is an interesting one...

New loyalty scheme for Star

19 May 2005

Six members of the Star Alliance have begun rewarding small to medium-sized firms with their own loyalty scheme.

Believed to be the first alliance scheme of its type, Company Plus is currently available in the UK and is now being rolled out across mainland Europe. Some 900 firms are currently signed up with the number expected to double within a year.

Said Marcel Fuchs, United managing director of worldwide sales and alliances in Europe: "Our scheme is aimed at those firms who lack the large volumes of turnover to qualify for a global corporate agreement."

Participants ANA, Austrian, LOT, Luftansa, SAS and United provide awards such as upgrades and free flights.

Travellers book flights online and all published tariffs qualify. Typical awards include a free London-Lisbon business class ticket in return for the purchase of four London-San Francisco return tickets. Or a free London-Warsaw return when buying two Birmingham-Moscow business class returns.

The awards are transferable within the company. In addition travellers can earn points with any individual schemes to which they belong.

For a limited time, the scheme is providing 1,000 bonus points for new members
www.staralliancecompanyplus.com.

Alex McWhirter

QF WP

Gee, Aisle Seat H, you were up late tonight (your time) to get these in before me...I had to trawl through the 150 German web site emails before I found the BT one...