GLOBALTRAVELLERFINANCIAL TIMES SPECIAL REPORT | Monday November 8 2010

InsideAlliances are becoming asimportant for passengersas for airlinesPage 6

Alert throws revival in doubtI s the revival in business

travel about to be halted justas it was beginning togather a head of steam?

The air cargo security alert trig-gered by the discovery of two par-cel bombs in the UK and Dubaihas left those involved in the busi-ness of business travel shakingtheir heads. The recovery in busi-ness travel looked like it was justtoo good to be true.

Airlines had been enjoying anoticeable uplift from the returnof the business traveller to the

skies. Fares were rising, profitswere coming back, share priceswere “still on the way up”, saidthe International Air TransportAssociation in its financial moni-tor for September and October.

Business travel bookingsallowed British Airways to postits first profit in two years. BAA,the airports operator, cut losseson the back of buoyant businesstravel numbers. Hotel groupsfrom InterContinental HotelsGroup and Marriott to Starwoodand Wyndham all welcomed the

return of business travellers insignificant numbers.

The sunny uplands for businesstravel were brightened even fur-ther by trenchant commentsabout unnecessary layers of air-port security emanating fromMartin Broughton, BA’s chair-man, at an airport operators con-ference last month.

Everything from making pas-sengers take off their shoes to thecarrying of liquids and separatechecks for laptops was in MrBroughton’s sights. The aviation

industry united in welcoming thisseemingly enlightened thinking.They wanted more – a one-stopsecurity system to avoid duplica-tion between different regulatorswas one suggestion.

But any thoughts the climatewas ripening for a relaxation oftravel rules were rudely dispelledby the security alert, even thoughthe apparent security gaps high-lighted by the UK and Dubai dis-coveries related to cargo.

Roger Blitz considershow the discoveryof explosive deviceson cargo flights is likelyto affect the businesstravel sector’s recovery

Continued on Page 2

False dawn: calls by travel operators for relaxations in security measures at airports may well be ignored following the security alerts in the UK and Dubai in October Alamy

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2 FINANCIAL TIMES MONDAY NOVEMBER 8 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES MONDAY NOVEMBER 8 2010 3

ContributorsRoger BlitzConsumer IndustriesEditor

Jill JamesDavid TurnerFT Contributors

Adam JezardCommissioning Editor

Steven BirdDesigner

Andy MearsPicture Editor

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josephine.bellanca@ft.comor your usualrepresentative.

All FT Reports areavailable on FT.com.Go to ft.com/reportsFollow us on twitter attwitter.com/ft.reports

All editorial content inthis supplement isproduced by the FT.Our advertisers have noinfluence over, or priorsight of, the articles oronline material.

In This Issue

Time to do business by the lakeLUCERNE ALLURE The destination has plansto rival cities such as Geneva as a venue forbusiness Page 7

Home from homeBUSINESS CLASS More executives are optingfor the home comforts offered by servicedapartments Page 4

Sites that let you vent your spleenEXECUTIVE GUIDE A rash of travel blogs isspringing up that care less about culturalenrichment and more about the ins and outsof business travel Page 4­5

Inspiring Cologne, wine in BordeauxBUSINESS HUBS Cologne is a friendly,relaxed city with good nightlife andwonderful beer, while Bordeaux, theworld capital of wine famed for its fine foodsand shops, boasts a good quality of lifePage 4

Learning on the moveBUSINESS ETIQUETTE A traveller can rush tothe airport with just a laptop and an MP3player and download a host of resources inthe business club lounge, a versitility thatallows language learners a better choice ofwhen and how to study Page 5

Global Traveller Global Traveller

Alertthrowsrecoveryin doubt

Subsidy debate has airline boss in a spin

T im Clark is tiredof saying it, butwill say it asmany times as is

necessary. EmiratesAirlines is not subsidisedby Sheikh Mohammed binRashid al-Maktoum, theruler of Dubai, and itgenerates its own cash forinvestment in its fleet.

“The biggest form ofsubsidy for airlines is aero-political protection,” saysthe Emirates Airlinespresident who was one ofthe founding team of 10executives when SheikhMohammed decided tolaunch the carrier in 1985.

“The French, Germansand British all had that intheir formative years, theykept people out of theirmarkets,” says Mr Clark,who began in aviationnearly 40 years ago withBritish Caledonian.

“I was here seven monthsbefore it was formed. Iknow what we did and howwe did it,” says Mr Clark.

“When we formed,[Sheikh Mohammed] said,‘I’m going to keep the skiesopen’. And that’s how wegrew. So the notion that weare subsidised – it’s a horsethat’s been flogged for 25years.”

The government-ownedairline, one of the Dubai’scorporate star performersamid a collection of debt-riddled operations, is onceagain getting up the noseof its rivals. Last week itreported a fourfold rise inhalf-year profits, while itspassenger seat factor – thenumber of seats availabledivided by the number ofpassengers – rose morethan 80 per cent. It carried15.5m passengers and therewas a 2.6 per cent increasein premium seats.

It is adding to its 12existing A380 superjumbos,

with a further 78 on order,each of which costs about$350m, and since April ithas opened six newdestinations, four of whichare passenger operations toAmsterdam, Dakar, Madridand Prague.

Its overall fleet of 151aircraft is set to more thandouble with total aircraftorders of $68bn.

But its European and USrivals want theirgovernments to curb exportsubsidies they claim areenabling airlines such asthe Emirates to financeaircraft purchases cheaply.

Last month Ottawadenied landing rights toEmirates and Etihad afterAir Canada protested theywere taking its business. Inresponse the UAE declinedto renew Canada’s lease ona Dubai airbase.

All of this has reignitedthe subsidy debate, to theexasperation of Mr Clark,who likens it to a schoolplayground argument. “Ifthe Canadian governmenthas concerns in Canada,that is a position werespect,” he says. “I hopesense will prevail.”

One key element of theEmirates business model isfor passengers to reachtheir destination in onejourney. “If you have tomake a stop in Europe enroute to the US west coastfrom Dubai, you get aninevitable wait and peopledon’t want that,” he says.

He predicts Emirates willbuild up a fleet to fly long-range routes of up to 18hours. “That’s what thebusiness community wants,provided we give them thecomfort they need, flatbeds, and eating when theywant to eat,” he says.“Watch this space.”

Mr Clark spoke to theFinancial Times beforeQuantas grounded its A380fleet following engineproblems last week. Hesays he is delighted withthe pulling power of theaircraft, which haveengines made by differentmanaufacturers from thoseof the Quantas fleet.

Attractions include firstclass shower spas, a loungeand bar that is becoming abusiness networker’smeeting place, flatbedsuites, plus its ICEentertainment system –which allows you to checkyour flight progress, makecalls, or watch the newsand films, and which hasbecome something of anindustry benchmark.

Emirates’ expansion isalso creating businessopportunities where theydid not previously exist, heclaims. “We are going towhere the markets are orare likely to be in thefuture. People starttravelling to places where

they didn’t think there wasbusiness,” he says.

It is rich, he argues, forEuropean carriers to moanabout the Emirates eatinginto their business whenthey did not have thebusiness in the first place.

“Ask business people inNewcastle and the north-east of England how wetransformed a lot of the

way they did business. Inthe old days, they tried toget to Indonesia or Africain a convoluted way. Askthem how Emirates hasaligned what they wantwith our services toNewcastle.”

The moment the businesstraveller stops demandingnew routes is the momentto worry, he says.

Since the subsidyquestion will not go away,Mr Clark details thesupport that got Emiratesflying. In 1985 SheikhMohammed gave MauriceFlanagan, the airline’s firstmanaging director, $10m.

“He said, ‘Go and set upthe airline.’ He gave us two727s from the Dubai RoyalAir Wing and built a

training facility. In total itworked out at $50m,” MrClark says. “That’s all wehave had. And he wasabsolutely clear: ‘You don’tcome to me for money. Youwill buy your own aircraft.’And we have done eversince.” As Emiratescontinues to grow, it is astory Mr Clark willprobably have to retell.

The InterviewTim ClarkRoger Blitz talks tothe EmiratesAirlines president

‘He was absolutelyclear: “You don’tcome to me formoney. You will buyyour own aircraft.”And we have doneever since’

The immediate response tothe security alert has beencautious. “We do not foreseeany immediate impact onpassenger travel as a resultof the cargo jet bomb plot,”said Colin McSeveny ofSmiths Detection, whichmakes technology touncover explosives andother materials.

American Express saidthere had not yet been anydisruption to business trav-ellers, though it advisedthem to “remain vigilant”.

David Forder of FlightCentre, the travel retailer,also plays down the likelyeffects. “Longer check-inand security procedureshave become the norm,” hesaid.

Mr Broughton’s com-ments, however, lookedunfortunately timed, com-ing three days beforeBarack Obama, US presi-dent, made the announce-ment of a “credible terroristthreat” following the discov-ery of the packages.

BA said its chairman’scomments “still stand – theyhaven’t been changed oradapted”. But, unsurpris-ingly, BA did not think thetime was right to elaborateon them.

The response from the USDepartment of HomelandSecurity was to step upsecurity measures. “Passen-gers should continue toexpect an unpredictable mixof security layers thatinclude explosives tracedetection, advanced imagingtechnology, canine teamsand pat-downs, among oth-ers,” the DHS said.

It is not just the hasslethat will increase. Withindays of the air cargo alertcame familiar warningsabout the cost of extra secu-rity measures fallingunfairly on airlines, whichmeans fares will rise.

But these are the short-term responses. In themedium term, aviation regu-lation officials say, the aircargo security gaps point toa potential shift in the ter-rorist threat and that shouldprompt a rethink in passen-ger security.

Giovanni Bisignani, chiefexecutive of IATA, said atan aviation security confer-ence in Frankfurt last weekthat the 40-year-old airportscreening process neededmodernising. “Belts, shoesand shampoos are not theproblem. We must shift thescreening focus from look-ing for bad objects to find-ing terrorists,” he said. “To

do this effectively, we needintelligence and technologyat the checkpoint. The enor-mous amount of data thatwe collect on passengerscan help governments toidentify risks. The overallprocess must become muchquicker and more conven-ient. It is not acceptable totreat passengers as terror-ists until they prove them-selves innocent.”

In six months Europeanairports will begin phasingout the restriction on liq-uids, to be completed byApril 2013.

From the US perspective,there is acknowledgementthat “security cannot bringbusiness to a standstill”, asJohn Pistole, administratorof the Transportation Secu-rity Administration, said atthe same Frankfurt confer-ence. The US security strat-egy revolves around theroll-out of body scanners.

The US is also examining atechnology-based solutionfor screening liquids, suchas scanners that distinguishbetween different forms ofliquid.

In remarks that echoedMr Bisignani’s sentiment,he also recognised that the“cookie-cutter approach foreverybody” was not thefuture. “The bottom line isthat the future must befocused on providing thebest possible security fortravellers in a way that pro-vides greater scrutiny tothose who need greaterscrutiny,” he said.

Even without the latestalert Mr Broughton’sremarks would not have ledto the layers of airport has-sle being stripped awaysoon. But paradoxically itmay yet force the authori-ties to consider whethereach and every layer contin-ues to serve a purpose.

‘We must shift thescreening focusfrom looking forbad objects tofinding terrorists’

Catch all: the US is examining a technology­based solution for screening different liquids AFP

Continued from Page 1

4 FINANCIAL TIMES MONDAY NOVEMBER 8 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES MONDAY NOVEMBER 8 2010 5

Global Traveller Global Traveller

Business Etiquette Language learning

Imagine you are watching adrama in Spanish, thelanguage you are studying.The story switches to acafé. Suddenly, a waiter onthe screen turns to you toto take your order. You rackyour brain for the correctresponse.

This is what users of anonline BBC Spanish courseare asked to do. Thecorporation is rolling out itsdigital language services andnext year sees an Italiandrama in which you will bethe protagonist in a mysterystory and can change theoutcome by yourparticipation.

There is a much widerchoice of materials forlearning a language thesedays. A business travellercan rush to the airportarmed only with a laptopand an MP3 player anddownload a host of toolswhile in the business clublounge.

Martin Peacock, London­based director of globalproduct development at theBritish Council, thegovernment body thatpromotes the Englishlanguage and culture, says:“I think ‘more convenient’ isprobably a better term than‘easier’ to describe thecurrent situation. A lot ofcompanies see themselvesas having the magic bullet,but learning a language isas hard as it’s ever been.”

Mr Peacock warns of “thewow factor” – the pleasureof learning a languagebecause it involves snazzytechnology. This effect “onlylasts so long”.

Naturally innovators inlanguage learning hope theirtechnological breakthroughsgo beyond the wow factor.

One innovation isLivemocha, a website withmore than 6m users. Set upin Seattle in 2007, it allowspeople to languageexchange with whoever Ison the site through bothspeaking and typing.

It gets around thecommon gripe amongbusinesspeople that evenfor a regular traveller to aforeign city, the constantstream of appointments andcancellations during a hectictrip makes it hard to fit inface­to­face meetings withan exchange partner.

HarperCollins, thepublisher, has teamed upwith Livemocha to offer thelearning materials for apaid­for course on thewebsite. Users submit workto the Livemochacommunity to be correctedby native speakerswho are notteachers.Livemochaalso has apartnershipwith Pearson,which owns theFinancial Times.

Users ofBerlitz Virtual

Classroom, run by theglobal language teachingcompany, can have moreconventional one­to­one orgroup lessons online.Headset­wearing learnerslook at learning materials onthe screen and speak intothe computer. Respondingto the suggestion that truefluency can only beachieved through face­to­face lessons, Peter Niklai,director of BVC in Tokyo,says: “People have achievedfluency using BVC.”

He says the virtual grouplessons are convenient for“corporate customers,whose employees work atdifferent sites”, but realisesthat the airports with their“background noise” offerless than perfect conditions.

You can always learn onthe aircraft. CatherineWhitaker, language learningpublishing director atHarperCollins, says it hasadded an interactiveelement to CD and bookpackages. This allows thetraveller to do exercises thatare also on the internet.

This versatility givesstudents the ability tochoose how much they usethe book and CD, and howmuch they study online.

Justifying these “hybridcourses”, Ms Whitaker saysthat if you are reading alanguage book, “the airhostess isn’t going to say,‘can you switch that off?’ ”

Do we still need to learnlanguages anyway in an agewhen services such asGoogle Translate andYahoo’s Babel Fish cantranslate anything on theweb instantaneously?

Google also has a devicefor smartphones that allowsa user to say a sentence intheir own language into thephone, which will translate itand say it in anotherlanguage for them. Theperson they are speaking tocan use it too. Jeff Chin,product manager of GoogleTranslate in Kirkland,Washington, emphasisesthat the facility is still“experimental”, and it wouldbe difficult “to have aconversation withoutconstant stopping”.

Mr Chin says Google isimproving its translationservices, but adds: “I don’tthink it will be at a pointwhere it would replace ahuman interpreter.”

David Turner

Learninglanguagesis stilldifficult

Business Class Serviced apartments

More executives are optingfor the home­from­homeexperience offered byserviced apartments.

At the highest level, thesecombine all the comforts ofhome with the benefits of afive­star hotel. The best arelavish, fully equipped withhigh­quality kitchens,spacious bedrooms andspa­style bathrooms.

“There are lots of reasonsto choose a servicedapartment,” says Ascott,one of the biggest globalnames in servicedapartments and corporatehousing with a portfoliospanning more than 70cities across 22 countries.“You can invite people in,have your family there andenjoy a flexibility that hotelscan’t always achieve.”

Ascott, which alsooperates the Somerset andCitadines brands, has20,000 serviced residenceunits in Europe, the Asia­Pacific region and the Gulf,with a further 6,000 unitsunder development globally.

Ascott says flexibility is atthe core of its culture. Whilesome providers insist onlong minimum stays, itsclients can book anyduration from one night to10 months on a sliding ratescale. Last year, it launcheda loyalty club for servicedapartment bookers which, itsays, is a European first.

In the UK, figures fromthe Association of ServicedApartment Providers showthat demand continues togrow at an encouragingpace, with Londonoccupancy averaging 90 percent in the third quarter, 4points up on the second.

For the rest of the UK,the overall occupancy in thethird quarter was 75 percent, a 5 percentage pointincrease on the secondquarter. The average netweekly rental for Londonwas £876, 2.5 points up onthe previous quarter. Forthe rest of the UK, theaverage net weekly rentalwas £600, 1 point up.

Cheval Residences ownsproperties in London’sposhest addresses, includingChelsea, Hyde Park Gateand Knightsbridge. It saysthe year’s most obvioustrend has been the shortnotice for securingaccommodation.

It comments: “It is notuncommon now to receivecalls from clients needingaccommodation in a fewdays’ time for stays of upto six months.”

Go Native, provider oftemporary housing solutionsin the UK, Europe, theMiddle East, Africa andIndia, notes in its 2010London serviced apartmentreport that rising demand isbeing fuelled not just bycorporate travellers; thesector’s profile is growingamong leisure travellers.

It says corporate demand

for serviced apartments isshifting from prime centralto less expensive secondarylocations in response to theneed to reduce costs and isalso moving towards smallerunit sizes and sharedoccupancy.

SACO Apartments,provider of 12,000 units in35 countries, says it canforesee the time whenapartments are as popularas hotels.

Jo Redman, its sales andmarketing director, says: “Incomparison to 2009, themarket has seentremendous buoyancy,particularly in London,where SACO has expandedrapidly to meet heavydemand.”

She adds that SACO hasalso seen growth in otherUK cities, such asManchester, Birmingham,Bristol and Glasgow.

Compared with thenumber of hotel roomsoffered worldwide, theservice apartment sector isstill tiny. But a growingnumber of luxury hotelgroups are choosing to buildor manage servicedapartments alongside theirexisting hotels.

One example is the LeelaKempinski Gurgaon in Delhi,India, which opened 90serviced residences lastyear. Its services includedaily housekeeping, on­siteparking, round­the clocksecurity and maintenance, ababysitting service and anon­call doctor.

Residents have access tocomplimentary anddiscounted hotel facilitiessuch as the fitness centre,spa, business centre andprivate meeting rooms.

Brian McGuiness, seniorvice­president of Starwood’sspeciality select brands,including Aloft, Element andFour Points by Sheraton,says: “Serviced apartmentsare a natural extension ofour business. Apartmentusers need dry cleaning,laundry services, internet,and a place to sleep.

“In emerging markets,stays of 30, 40, 60 and 90days still remain popular,but better connectivity andcommunication has reducedthat length of stay in moremature markets.”

Jill James

Citadines Louvre, Paris

City ofchurchesand capitalof wine

Cologne is a great place todo business, a friendlyrelaxed city with goodnightlife and wonderfulbeer. It has not mademany friends this autumn,however, by announcing aculture tax on hotelguests, and a hefty one atthat (5 per cent of yourhotel room price). Thiscould prove a disincentiveto independent businesstravellers.

Where to stayMost business travellerswill probably findthemselves in the MaritimHotel at some point – ithas extensive meetingsand conference facilitiesand a great location. Ifyou plan to stay therebook a room at the top ofthe hotel overlooking the

Rhine, the rooms arelarger and have greatviews. The atrium andpiano bar are fun eveningmeeting places.

The business-friendlyExcelsior Hotel Ernst isclose to Cologne Cathedraland other city sights.Amenities at this five-starinclude a business centre,meeting rooms for smallgroups and a limo/towncar service. Guests alsohave access to an airportshuttle (for a charge).

Where to eatBeer and coffee culture isbig in Cologne. There aremore than 20 localbreweries that produceKölsch, a light andslightly bitter brew that isserved in astonishinglysmall 0.2 litre glassescalled Stangen. YourGerman hosts will almostcertainly take you to theirfavourite beer hall but, ifyou venture out on yourown, Brauhaus Sion inUnter Taschenmacher andFruh am Dom in Am Hofare great value for food,beer and atmosphere.

For coffee, I love CaféFleur in Lindenstrasse,which has the mostdelicious cakes. Friendsrecommend Peer One in

Holzmarkt in theRheinauhafen quarter.

One of the city’s mostfamous restaurants is theBörsen-Restaurant, inUnter Sachsenhausen,which also has severalmeeting rooms. Trendierfriends recommendFischermanns at AproposConcept Stores – a goodrestaurant in a high-classfashion shop. Wein amRhein is a nice localrestaurant inJohannisstrasse.

Getting aroundCologne is a fairlycompact city with plentyof trams and buses. Thecity transport system ispart of a regional networkand you can buy ticketsvalid for the whole

system. Taxis andminibuses are readilyavailable and if you aredoing business in theregion you can pick up ahire car from the airport.

What to doCologne is a city ofchurches. Soaring abovethem, with its two 157mspires, is the cathedral. Ithas been the city’slandmark for centuries.

Within the boundaries ofthe old medieval city wallare 12 large Romancollegiate, monastery andconvent churches.

Opera is good value –tickets cost between €11and €50 –www.buehnenkoeln.de. Oryou could catch DieZauberflöte (The Magic

Flute) on various dates inDecember at theuniversity assembly hall(www.operkoeln.com). Onereal must-visit locationis the Philharmonicconcert house:www.koelnmusik.de.

Nightlife is pretty goodin Cologne. If you want agay club, an Eighties baror simply a bar withmusic there is plenty ofchoice. You will also findlots of bars and nightclubsin the Frisian Quarter.

Bordeaux, world capital ofwine, World Heritage Site,famed for its fine foodsand excellent shops, boastsa good quality of life. The

heritage site covers halfthe city and its openspaces are a pleasure.

Where to staySeeko’o means iceberg in

Inuit – an odd namefor a Bordeaux hotel.It is meant to suggestthe building’s clean linesand immaculateappearance. Spacious, lightand practical, the hotelhas a well-equippedbusiness centre and top-class amenities. Try aglass of Bordeaux in theground floor bar terrace orthe upstairs internationalbar.

The Regent Grand HotelBordeaux, in the city’sheart, is a majesticbuilding with 150 roomsand suites. A popular andspectacular space formeetings and events.

For something moreintimate, try the centrallylocated La MaisonBord’eaux (sic), a luxuryboutique hotel with aseminar and meetingroom.

If these prove beyondyour company budget, thecity has more than 10,000other rooms.

Where to eatIt would be a shame notto take one of the manywine tours. Across theroad from the touristoffice there is a goodwine bar underneaththe headquarters ofthe Bordeaux WineCouncil.

There are 13 Michelin-starred chefs in Bordeaux,so finding a decent mealor somewhere to entertainclients should not be aproblem.

On the outskirts, afavourite with the well-heeled is the Relais &Chateaux Le Saint-James,where the Michelin-starredMichel Portos commandsthe stoves. More central isChapon Fin. For calm andquality there is Pressoird’Argent, which has a €34lunch menu. For cocktailsthe Regent’s Le Victor Baris popular with thebusiness community.

What to doYou may like to stroll inthe squares of oldBordeaux, with their craftshops and café terraces.The Saint Michel districtand the Sunday morningflea market are also a lotof fun.

The so-called BordeauxTriangle has a popularmarket and luxuryboutiques. Culturevultures will want to visitthe cathedral and the twobasilicas that form part ofthe World Heritage Siteand there are also plentyof museums.

The Chartrons quarterby the Garonne is famousfor antique dealers and isa fascinating place.

The Quai des Chartronsis lined with the formeroffices and warehouses ofthe traditional Bordeauxwine merchant families –l’aristrocracie desbouchons (the corkaristocracy). Today thearea buzzes with cafés,craft workshops and is asought-after residentialarea. It is also home toBordeaux wine museum.

For plays or opera theGrand Théâtre has adiverse schedule withaccessible prices. Forexample, you can listen toa Beethoven sonata recitalfrom as little as €8 inDecember.

Gamblers can spendtheir evenings at theCasino Barrière inBordeaux Lac. A passportis needed for the formalgaming rooms. There isusually live entertainmenton Fridays or you couldjust eat in the brasserie orrestaurant and people-watch.

Chez Greg is arestaurant on the Garonnequayside that has a DJ onSaturday nights. Alsopopular is La Dame deShanghai, a restaurant,bar and disco on QuaiArmand Lalande.

Business hubsJill James on whatto do and where tostay in Cologneand Bordeaux

Top: the twin spires ofCologne Cathedral havebeen the city’s landmark forcenturies. Above: the GrandThéâtre Bordeaux

Dreamstime

From delays to fold­out trays: sites that let you vent your spleen

A rash of travel blogs is springingup that care less about culturalenrichment and more about the insand outs of business travel, includ-ing the three eternal questions of allexecutives on the move: “How do Iget to my destination on time?”“How do I not damage my back get-ting there?” “Will I be able to getfree WiFi when I’ve reached it?”

Some of these blogs are run bybusiness travellers and encouragetheir fellow wayfarers to post their

views if they are stuck at the air-port, while others are larger-scalecorporate operations that compilehandy surveys of the “best” and“worst” of any service for harassedvoyagers to scrutinise.

Crankyflier.com is the website ofchoice for business travellersfocused on airports and airlines. Ifyou read crankyflier.com everyweek – and if you are a frequentflyer twiddling your thumbs in air-port lounges a few times a month –you will not only have time to do so,but you will soon learn which air-lines have the most comfortable andmost painful seats, as well as theminutiae of which airports have themost delays.

A perfect example of the penetrat-ing, chart-heavy analysis of“Cranky”, an US ex-airlineemployee named Brett Snyder, can

be found in his October magnumopus on delays at San Francisco air-port.

Cranky uses a graph to prove thepoint that San Francisco bucks thetrend among airports, since itsarrivals are far more likely to bedelayed if they are due in the morn-ing than in the afternoon.

As the site says: “The strangestthing about all this is when flyingto San Francisco, you should throwall other advice out the window.What do people usually tell you? Flyin the morning to avoid delays,right? Not to San Francisco.” Hisexplanation is the city’s fog, whichtends to clear later in the day.

The San Francisco posting gener-ated 32 comments, mostly of busi-ness travellers swapping views onthe merits, demerits and how-tos ofusing the airport.

If, despite all your travel tipsgleaned from websites, you still findyourself stranded at an airportbecause of a delayed flight, you canfall back on latedeparture.com,which styles itself as the blog givingadvice on “things to do when yourflight is delayed”. It is written by“Tom”, a business traveller whoworks for the airline industry andvoyages around the world from hishome in Australia.

In addition to Tom’s latest obser-vations, latedeparture.com includeslocation-by-location guides of how toget the best out of various airports,should you be stuck there with timeon your hands. This follows thepractical course of focusing on theairport itself, rather than the adjoin-ing city.

For example, latedeparture waxeslyrical about the aesthetic pleasures

of London Heathrow TerminalFive’s B Gates satellite complex –“terminal with a view”. The sameblog includes a comprehensive dis-course on the advantages and disad-vantages of going straight there ver-sus remaining longer in the mainpart of Terminal Five – “there is onevery distinct advantage of the satel-lite: it is quiet”.

HotelChatter.com concentrates onthe luxury hotels where businesstravellers are likely to be stayingrather than the mechanics of get-ting there. Run by Condé Nast, thepublishing company, it has the pro-fessional feel of a site run by a cor-poration.

As a result it lacks the endearingeccentricities of travel blogs oper-ated by one-man or one-womanbands. What these offer is the sensethat any aggrieved business travel-

ler can pour out their venom and,by doing so, is having a one-to-oneconversation with the blogger.

Indicating a finely-tuned sense ofwhat business travellers really careabout, HotelChatter includes itssixth annual hotel WiFi report. Thispraises chains such as Holiday Innthat offer it gratis, but also containsa list of hotels that still charge forit. It concludes: “The hotel WiFiworld is still confusing, incongru-ent, and unreliable.”

A separate list of the 10 best geekhotels for 2010 praises the City Cen-tre Las Vegas for its all-in-one con-trol panel (displayed in a video onthe site). The console, which willstrike a chord with the many busi-ness travellers who have spent agessearching for all their hotel room’srelevant remote controls and but-tons, contains a good night button

that will turn off the television andlights, close the curtains and acti-vate the external do not disturbsign.

Travel-babel.com is ideal for thosewho want a mix of information –pitfalls to avoid, local colour to seekout – on particular cities that couldbe visited for a bit of diversion andit is written by Claire Walter, a UStravel writer.

The site blends blog postings suchas “German hotels charge big-timefor connectivity” with a positivereview of the touristic appeal ofBaden-Baden, taken in after Ms Wal-ter arrived in Germany for a busi-ness conference.

The website also contains a foren-sic analysis of the width, and eventhe quality, of tray tables in a newtype of airline seat, a trait of themore practical travel blogs.

Executive GuideDavid Turner casts aneye over some of bestblogs that are aimed atweary business travellers

Cologne

Bordeaux

6 FINANCIAL TIMES MONDAY NOVEMBER 8 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES MONDAY NOVEMBER 8 2010 7

Global Traveller Global Traveller

Team workhelps fuelthe wingsof change

A s the “wings ofchange” glidethrough the air-line industry, alli-

ances are becoming increas-ingly important for passen-gers as well as carriers.

Airlines that are in alli-ances are keen to trumpetthe wider benefits – andthey can be substantial. Butcarriers that feel they aretoo small – or too big – tojoin an alliance worry that,far from helping the con-sumer, alliances will proveanticompetitive.

Globally, there is a cleartrend towards building andstrengthening alliances,strategic and otherwise.Alliances are almost cer-tainly here to stay.

Put simply, airline part-ners see enhanced profitopportunities and new mar-kets beckoning, while con-sumers hope for betterflight scheduling and bettervalue.

The air transport indus-try is one of the world’smost regulated and restric-tive industries. Whiledomestic deregulation andliberalisation continueapace in some markets, inothers they barely exist.

Airlines need networks tobe as big as possible to ben-efit economically and meetconsumer demand. For this,they need foreign partners.But – and this is where theproblems lie – ownershiprestrictions do not gener-ally allow for cross-countrymergers or takeovers.

This is where alliancescome in. They provide away to get around every-thing from bilateral agree-ments to licensing and con-trol regulations. Carriersenvisage the great blue sky– supposedly – of global freetrade in aviation.

But not everyone isenthusiastic about thisbrave new world.

Edmond Rose, director ofcommercial planning for

Virgin Atlantic, says: “Wecontinue to be an independ-ent carrier and have noplan to join an alliance atpresent. We are very confi-dent of our business andfuture growth strategy anddo not need to be part of aglobal alliance to ensuresuccess. We will continue towork with bilateral airlinepartners to offer a widerange of destinations andexcellent frequent-flyer pro-gramme benefits.”

Emirates is another air-line that is unlikely to seekalliance membership. Thisis partly because it believesit can generate enoughgrowth to go it alone. Thelocation of its Dubai hub iscrucial – it is seven hoursor less from dozens of theworld’s main cities.

It says: “Emirates hasnever belonged to, nor hasany plans to join, an alli-ance. We see them as anti-competitive, and believemembership would be abrake on our own businessplans of increasing choiceof services to our customersworldwide.

It adds: “Competition isgood for travellers, and thegrowing consolidation inthe airline industry, muchof it centred around airlinealliances, is increasingly sti-fling consumer choice.”

As Emirates’ aircraftorder book shows, it has nointention of taking a backseat to competitors.

Willie Walsh, BA’s chiefexecutive, would disagree.Last month British Air-ways, Iberia and AmericanAirlines announced a tie-upof their transatlantic busi-nesses. The three werealready part of the One-world alliance, but this hastaken co-operation to a newlevel.

Mr Walsh says there hasnever been as much choiceor competition as there isnow and the BA, AA andIberia tie-up will enhancethat.

AA, BA and Iberia say thenew pact allows them tocompete better with UnitedAirlines’ Star alliance andDelta Air Lines’ SkyTeamAlliance, which alreadyhave similar joint transat-lantic business agreementsin place.

Oneworld says that alli-ances make travelling to

more places easier and thelinking of networks offerstruly global capability.

It adds: “The airlineindustry is supervisedincredibly tightly andadheres very closely to com-petition law. A lot of compe-tition studies show that alli-ances are good for consum-ers and help them find bet-ter air fares and portfoliosof tickets.

“Alliances strengthen air-lines’ ability to offer moreroute frequencies than ifthey were working solo.”

Oneworld points to the

new routes announced atthe time of the AA, BA, Ibe-ria tie-up. BA is to relaunchthe London Heathrow toSan Diego route, Iberia is tolaunch Madrid to Los Ange-les and American is launch-ing New York JFK to Buda-pest and Chicago to Hel-sinki.

Oneworld says: “BA fliesto 150 destinations butthanks to its links with usthat will expand to 900 des-tinations in 150 countries.”

Oneworld says it enablesits member airlines to offerservices that are beyond thereach of any individual air-

line’s network. Consumerscan earn miles in their ownprogramme whenever theytravel on eligible flights andfares of any Oneworld alli-ance airline.

Qualifying flights willalso count towards advanc-ing or maintaining tier sta-tus. When passengers areready to redeem miles, theycan do so across nearly 700alliance destinations world-wide.

Adrian Woodward, direc-tor of group and industrialsupplier relations at HRG,the travel managementcompany, says the benefitsof alliances to businessesare a much larger choice offlight times, easier connect-ing journeys, frequent flyerschemes and the align-ments of such areas as bag-gage allowances.

But, he says, where theairline picture starts to lookvery interesting is on thematter of transatlantic jointventures.

“Because airlines havesecured antitrust immunitythey can then set schedulesand pricing between them.”

He says he hopes the costsavings from the AA, BAand Iberia tie-up will bepassed on to the customer.

He adds: “With all thechanges in the airline sec-tor, now is the time forcompanies to review theirairline corporate supplyprogrammes.

“Companies need toensure they have sufficientchoice and which carriers

to use on their key routes.”In terms of small and medi-um-sized enterprises, hesays, HRG will use its buy-ing power to get the bestdeals for its clients throughprogrammes targeted specif-ically at the sector.

Sticking to one alliancecan earn passengers a lot ofperks. Elite status on oneairline within an allianceusually gives fliers benefitson all other airlines withinthe grouping. All the alli-ances list their benefits ontheir web sites.

One example: frequent fli-ers with Star alliance canuse United Airlines mileswith Lufthansa tickets,enjoy the elite status thatthey may have had withUnited Airlines and enjoyfaster check-ins.

Barely a month passeswithout someone planningto join – or occasionallythreaten to switch – alli-ances.

For example, in Septem-ber, China Airlines, the Tai-wan flag-carrier, announcedthe start of a joining proc-ess that will lead to fullentry into the SkyTeam air-line alliance. This isexpected to be completed bymid-2011.

The announcement comesjust a few months afterChina Eastern signed anagreement to join SkyTeam.The addition of China Air-lines will complement thatof China Southern,strengthening SkyTeam ingreater China.

And last month, Star Alli-ance approved the applica-tion of Ethiopian Airlines tojoin. Ethiopian will be thethird African member fol-lowing South African Air-ways and Egyptair.

The airline will add fivecountries – Chad, Congo,Djibouti, Mali and Niger –to the Star Alliance net-work.

Some industry observersthink that most airlines inthe world will eventuallybelong to one of four or fivelarge alliances.

Others feel that One-world, Star and SkyTeamnow have such advancedand established networksthat it is hard to see howany other new alliances canemerge.

However, growth in India,China and South America issuch that it is hard topredict how the world’s air-line alliance map will lookin 10 years – or what thebalance of consumer bene-fits will be.

Airline alliancesMembership ison the increasebut some see themas anticompetitive,writes Jill James

Link­up: sticking to flights with members of one alliance can earn passengers lots of perks

Soap Box Dorian Harris

The worst piece of advice Iwas ever given wasdelivered by the headmasterat my junior school, StanFlashman, or “Flasho” to us.“Cheats never prosper,” hewould tell us solemnly andrepeatedly.

Fortunately I paid scantattention to almosteverything I was taught atschool or, if I did listen, I’dgo on to do the exactopposite. I started cheatingfrom a very tender age atJinx in the playground andwent on all the way throughO­levels and A­levels (no,not really dad, I’m justsaying that here for effect; Igot all those C grades onmerit) and have continuedright up to the present day.

It’s now time to teachyou. So, first, a primer onthe hotel industry.

The people running thisshow are going out of theirway to stop you cheating. Abit like Flasho but withoutthe sardonic humour.They’re very uncomfortablewith the internet and all itsinherent transparency whenit comes to pricing.

They eventually workedout that you businesspeoplehad realised long ago – thatthe corporate rates you’dbeen paying for hotels werehigher than the leisurerates, so you’d started usingdiscount hotel sites to bookyour rooms. In other wordsthey sussed out that you’dfound a loophole and werealready, deliberately orotherwise, cheating thesystem and, in doing so,you were hitting their profitmargins.

This put them in a trickyposition. It was hard todistinguish you from thejolly holidaymaker, so theycouldn’t easily charge youmore.

After numerous heateddebates around theboardroom table, theheadmasters of the hotelindustry hatched a plan.They couldn’t single you outfor detention or the cane,so they punished everyone.In practice, they startedfixing the prices. In thetrade we call it “rate parity”.If you’ve ever wondered whyall distributors of hotels arenow selling rooms at exactlythe same rate, thereyou have it. It’sbecause of you.

It won’tsurprise you tolearn at thisstage that I’mnot playingthe gameeither. AtSkoosh, wecontinue tomisbehave asdo a few ofour naughty

classmates, as you’ll find onprice comparison sites.

The prefects at the hotelchains are running after usand threatening legal actionand what have you. We’renot scared though andneither should you be.

I reported rate parity tothe Office of Fair Trading inApril. In September, theyopened a formalinvestigation into price fixingonline. From my ownstandpoint, rate parityappears to be a flagrantabuse of competition lawbut is now ingrained in thehotel industry. I don’t wantto predict the outcome, butwe can expect this to bethe biggest price­fixing casethe travel industry has seen.

For those of you with anacademic bent, here’s thelegal context. We’re allfamiliar with horizontal pricefixing, where two directcompetitors such fix pricesas when British Airways andVirgin were found to haveagreed the price of fuelsurcharges between them.

In the current legal casewe have “resale pricemaintenance”. Here pricesor distribution strategies areagreed vertically up anddown the supply chain.Some big names, forexample, sell rooms towholesalers but won’t allowthem to sell on to anyonewho sells online, becausethey don’t want all andsundry getting hold of theirdiscounted rates.

Another example concernssome booking websites’hotel contracts. Theseprevent hotels from allowingany of their other partnersto have a lower publicselling price. The rest of usretailers are thereforeforced to raise our prices tothe same level such playersor to remove the contractedhotels from our sites.

To my mind, this is justas pernicious as horizontalprice fixing, because you,the traveller, are precludedfrom seeing the discountedrates that were previouslyavailable to you.

As I say, not everyone isprepared to play the game.If you don’t want to play iteither, I’d strongly

recommend you lookaround for sites

which undercutthe price fixing

rate. Somemight call itcheating.Others,prospering.

Lessonover. Nowgo play.

Dorian Harrisis chief executive

of Skoosh.com

Mod cons and scenery alladd to the allure of Lucerne

As marketing and promo-tions manager for busi-ness development inLucerne (Luzern in Ger-man), central Switzerland,Patrik Wermelinger stepswhere angels fear to tread.

However, welcoming Chi-nese investment in theSwiss watch industry maygo too far for some. Thelaunch of the Codex watchbrand by Swiss Chronomet-ric, which is backed by Chi-nese investors, does notmeet with universalapproval. But the pragmaticMr Wermelinger says hissmall Swiss city muststrengthen links withChina. A shop sells Codexwatches in the town centre.

“We are asking how wecan co-operate, contributeand partner,” he says. “Weare also talking to telecom,solar and steel companiesfrom China.”

It is all part of a strategyto help Lucerne, a relativebackwater, to develop as abusiness and meetings des-tination. Traditionally inthe shadow of Bern, Basel,Zurich and Geneva,Lucerne wants a greatershare of the conference andexecutive meetings market.

It is less than 40 minutesfrom Zurich airport by trainand there is also a goodmotorway network.

Going to a conference in abeautiful resort has a cer-tain appeal. But no amountof boutique hotels andfolksy atmosphere can com-pensate for first-class busi-ness facilities, and the jewelin Lucerne’s infrastructureis the culture and confer-ence centre (KKL).

Designed by Jean Nouvel,a French architect, its flexi-ble spaces on the edge ofthe lake give new meaningto the phrase “multi-purpose”.

There are three mainspaces and a service wingin the SFr226m facility. Theconcert hall is home to theworld-rated Lucerne festivalin summer and the Rosed’Or, an important televi-sion festival, in May.

Its acoustic properties arehighly thought of by profes-sional musicians and itsstate-of-the-art audio-visualtechnology ensures equallyhigh standards for confer-ences.

The concert hall can seat1,300 and there is also a

large balcony extensionlooking out over LakeLucerne, known locally asthe Vierwaldstättersee.

The Lucerne hall occupiesthe building’s central space,with the museum of art andthe congress centre –including an auditorium –next to the railway station.The hall has standing roomfor 1,600 and banquetingspace for 850.

The auditorium, with itsplush leather businessseats, is an attractive pros-pect for meetings, seminars,lectures and readings for upto 270 people. There plentyof catering options for func-tions, in addition to the cen-

tre’s bars and restaurants.Smaller lounges, club

rooms, business and mediarooms supplement the mainfacilities. There are also1,000 parking spaces.

Close links with thehealthcare and pharmaceu-tical industries mean thecity is particularly suitablefor hosting their confer-ences. It also has a well-educated, multilingualpopulation with a strongcommitment to the hospi-tality industry. Quality oflife is high. Switzerlandscores highly on income,healthcare, climate, politi-cal stability and safety.

The one problem Lucernehas is its lack of five-starhotels, although morecapacity is in the pipeline.Meanwhile senior execu-tives scheduling meetingswill want to book early forthe five-star Schweizerhofand Palace hotels.

One other senior execu-tive option would be the spasuites at the Montana hotel,which sits atop a mountainoverlooking the lake.

More Lucerne meetingfacilities

As well as the KKL,Lucerne has a variety ofinteresting venues – includ-ing boats – that will caterfor almost any event.Hotels The two five-starestablishments, The Palaceand the Schweizerhof, over-looking the lake, both offermeeting facilities. The Pal-ace also has a Michelin-starred restaurant and willtake you to the conferencecentre by boat (about fiveminutes).

The 250-room Astoria has12 conference and seminarrooms from 20 to 260 squaremetres. Its food and bever-age facilities – four restau-rants, a café, bistro, threebars and club area – makeit ideal for those who wantto stay on site.

There is Lan and high-speed internet access in allrooms. The lovely Thai res-taurant has 15 Gault Millaupoints.

Radisson Blu is a four-star brand popular withyounger business travellers.Clean and modern lines,high-quality technicalequipment and a wide

range of business and meet-ing rooms at competitiveprices are part of thebrand’s appeal.Grand Casino There are aseries of rooms and areaswithin the casino that offereverything from good foodto lakeside views. A modernevent venue, it is perfect forsmall conferences and semi-nars.Lucerne Fair The LucerneExhibition Centre has fourhalls of about 13,000 sq m offloor space and an open-airarea of a further 2,000 sq m.The halls can be used sepa-rately or together. It cancater for annual meetings,conferences and banquetsfrom 500 to 5,000 guests, aswell as offering a host ofrestaurants and cafeteriasand plenty of other cateringoptions.Swiss Museum of Trans­port Not only the most vis-ited museum in Switzer-land, this is an ideal venuefor events.

The centre has a confer-ence hall seating up to530, seminar rooms and aspacious foyer with a pano-ramic view. Other facilitiesinclude exhibition andmeeting rooms as well asan auditorium for 10-120. Avariety of catering optionsinclude an elegant lakesiderestaurant.Swiss Life Arena The cov-ered arena can hold 2,500.Its unique steel roof letsnatural light flood through.

The Ice/Events Hall isideal for large-scale eventsof all kinds but can caterfor seminars of 2,000. Thesmaller curling hall cantake up to 650.

ConferencesThe destination hasplans to rival citiessuch as Geneva as avenue for business,writes Jill James

The one problemLucerne has is itslack of five­starhotels, althoughmore are planned

Breathtaking space: the KKL centre is the jewel in the city’s infrastructure crown

Big alliancesStar Alliancewww.staralliance.comAdriaAegeanAir CanadaAir ChinaAir New ZealandANAAsiana AirlinesAustrianBlue1BmiBrussels AirlinesContinental AirlinesCroatia AirlinesEgyptairLOT Polish AirlinesLufthansaScandinavian AirlinesSingapore AirlinesSouth African AirwaysSpanairSwissTamTAP PortugalThaiTurkish AirlinesUnitedUS Airways

Oneworldwww.oneworld.comAmerican AirlinesBritish AirwaysCathay PacificFinnairIberiaJAL Japan AirlinesLANMalév Hungarian AirlinesMexicanaQantasRoyal Jordanian Airline

SkyTeamwww.skyteam.comAeroflotAeromexicoAir EuropaAir FranceAlitaliaChina Southern AirlinesCzech AirlinesDelta Air LinesKenya AirwaysKLMKorean AirTAROMVietnam Airlines

Barely a monthpasses withoutsomeone planningto join – or switch –alliances