Proposed alliance partners British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia have offered to lease transatlantic take off and landing slots to appease European regulators. The trio are prepared to lease four daily slot pairs for other airlines to use on specified transatlantic routes from London.

BA said that the gesture has been made “to enable the European Commission (EC) to conclude its investigations into their transatlantic joint business.”

The slots can be leased from the airlines’ current slot portfolio, according to BA. The Commission has agreed that the airlines should be compensated financially by those airlines wishing to lease slots.

BA, AA and Iberia also need US Department of Transportation anti-trust immunity to operate their transatlantic joint business. The airlines received tentative approval in February (see the previous blogfor more information). The DOT are reviewing the order and will respond by the time frame established for comments.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh said: “We’ve offered to lease slots to gain EC approval for our joint business which will bring benefits to our customers, shareholders and employees.

“It will also enable Oneworld to compete on a level playing field with the other global alliances across the Atlantic.

“We’re pleased that the EC has recognised that we should be compensated for leasing the slots. This reflects the fact that there is an active slots market in London where slots are generally traded for value”.

The EC will now seek the views of interested parties on the airlines’ proposed commitments.

Barcelona photo by Flickr User Jsome1

Year-round flights between London City Airport and Barcelona are being re-introduced by British Airways. The service was previously run only in summer but will now resume at the end of the month and will continue all year.

An extra Saturday morning service will be introduced in May, bringing the total number of flights to seven a week.

The expanded Barcelona capacity comes in addition to the start of flights to Majorca and Ibiza in May and an existing service to Madrid.

Luke Hayhoe, commercial manager for BA CityFlyer, the wholly owned BA subsidiary which will operate the services, said: “The Spanish destinations are proving extremely popular from London City Airport. Barcelona has traditionally operated as a summer only destination but there is a big demand from both business and leisure passengers for us to continue through the winter.”

Easyjet Ryanair advert source http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/mar/03/easyjet-ryanair-asa#zoomed-picture

The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint by Ryanair against its rival EasyJet after they made a claim in an advertising campaign that claimed that the Irish competitor did not fly passengers “to the place you actually booked”.

The poster, which appeared on a train, suggested Ryanair flew to airports in the proximity of the cities promoted as destinations; but Ryanair successfully argued that the ad was misleading as it implied people would not fly to the city they booked to whereas the advertising and website made clear where the airline flew to.

Upholding Ryanair’s complaint, the ASA said: “While we noted EasyJet’s argument that the ad was merely a comparison between airport locations, we were concerned that by listing the airports which Ryanair flew to but only referring to the ones EasyJet flew to in much smaller print at the bottom of the ad and by not giving any data which readers might use to make an assessment of the facts, the ad did not achieve that end.

“We considered the challenging tone of the headline ‘Who loves flying you to the place you actually booked?’ combined with the implication that Ryanair misled customers and flew them to airports different to the ones they had booked was denigratory.”

EasyJet UK general manager Paul Simmons said: “It is a well-know fact that EasyJet flies to major airports whereas Ryanair serves out-of-town airfields which can be a two hour bus ride away from your destination.

“While we are disappointed by the ruling which is based on a technicality, we respect the ASA’s decision and will not repeat the advert in the same form.”

It’s rather ironic that Ryanair had to turn to the ASA to use the very same codes of conduct that in previous years they have had disputes over.

Foreign travellers to the US face paying a fee of $10 to help fund a planned new body to promote tourism to the country. The Corporation for Travel Promotion public-private partnership is due to be approved by President Obama after winning Senate approval.

The initiative is funded through a matching program of up to $100 million in private sector contributions and a $10 fee on visitors to the US who do not pay $131 for a visa to enter the country. The fee will be collected once every two years in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security’s Electronic System for Travel Authorisation. This will mean the US taxpayer will avoid making any contribution.

The Corporation will work with the US departments of Commerce, Homeland Security and State to develop a nationally co-ordinated, multi-channel marketing and communications program to attract more international visitors and explain changing travel security policies.

Caroline Beteta, chair of the US Travel Association and president and CEO of the California Travel & Tourism Commission, said: “We know how successful a public-private partnership to promote travel can be from our own experience at the state level.

“With the best minds coming together from government and private industry to boost international travel to our country, we can make travel an even stronger economic engine for America.”

Commenting on legislation which establishes the Corporation, US Travel Association president and CEO Roger Dow said: “The United States Congress has sent a clear message that travel is a high priority to our nation and that tangible steps must be taken to increase travel to and within the United States.”

It has also been reported that US airlines must also take an active role in the new partnership, not out of good-will, but out of self-interest by purchasing advertising space on the DiscoverAmerica.com website once the site traffic has increased and thus improving their own exposure.

BA Tail picture by Flickr User Simon_Sees

Passengers face fresh risks of strike action with British Airways as it was announced today that the cabin crew backed the Unite ballot for industrial action. Unite have said that they don’t plan on announcing strike dates just yet as they hope to reach a negotiation with BA before resorting to strikes.

80.7% of the ballot papers were returned, with a whopping 78.7% voting in favour of industrial action. Len McCluskey, the union’s general secretary said this was “a clear indication of the deep sense of grievance that our members feel”.

The union has pledged that it will not allow the strike, which if it goes ahead will start 1st March at the earliest, to affect the Easter holiday plans of thousands of Brits. However, some crew writing online and commenting on the situation suggest that there is a plan to “play dirty” and strike around the long Easter weekend, causing chaos as services are backed up.

According to an online poll by Unite, some two thirds of cabin crew want ten days of action so that the message would be put across of disgruntlement at changes in salaries and staffing levels.

There is an official response to the ballot on BA’s website which states:

“In the weeks before and during the ballot period, Unite claimed that we had breached individual crew members’ contracts by making modest changes to on board crew numbers on flights from Heathrow. We have always said this claim was false, and it was rejected by the High Court three days ago.

The vast majority of crew who voted in this ballot will have done so before the High Court decision. We hope Unite will bear this fact in mind as it considers its next steps.”

In the event of strike action BA state that you will be able to:

 Rebook onto another British Airways flight to the same destination within 355 days of the original date of travel

Rebook onto another British Airways flight to/from the nearest alternative airport (for example, if booked to/from Boston you could rebook to/from Philadelphia or New York)

Cancel your booking and get a refund.

All of these booking options, of course, will be subject to availability.

BA will also keep you informed via email (or SMS text if you have supplied your mobile number) with any news which may affect your flight as soon as they can, to check your details are correct, click here.

The travel association, ABTA is encouraging agents to keep customers informed about scanners that show them naked at airports.

The scanners have recently been introduced in London Heathrow and Manchester as a reaction against an attempt to blow up a plane on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit over Christmas. Birmingham will be next in line for the scanners and a roll-out to other UK airports will follow. Passengers who refuse to be scanned will not be allowed to fly.

The scanning has sparked opposition from those who say it is an erosion of privacy, but Transport Secretary of State Lord Adonis told the House of Commons recently that the move is still under public consultation and there will be an interim code of practice which means no pictures can be retained, the scanner can not see the scanned person and passengers can ask for same sex scanners.

ABTA’s chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “In the immediate future, only a small proportion of airline passengers will be affected by the new scanners. Passengers need to be confident when they fly. It is important that new security measures are introduced proportionately and correctly so that the privacy and dignity of passengers are not compromised. We will continue to help our members to inform their customers of any new developments, so that they know what to expect when they arrive at airports.”

See the previous blog and responses to the scanners at Manchester Airport here.