On The Horizon: Delta Bids For Heathrow Slots Relinquished
By AA, BA
Delta Air Lines has applied to launch its first
transatlantic service from London's Heathrow Airport, using slots that the U.S.
Department of Transportation and European Commission required American Airlines
and British Airways to forfeit as a condition of approval of their transatlantic joint venture, Delta said late last month. The carrier said that,
if approved, it would launch on March 27, 2011, twice-daily service between
Heathrow and Boston's Logan International Airport and daily service between
Heathrow and Miami International Airport. "Awarding these slots to Delta
and SkyTeam would significantly enhance competition among the major alliances
across the Atlantic," said Delta executive vice president of network planning
and revenue management Glen Hauenstein in a statement. Delta's SkyTeam airline
alliance partners hold only 5 percent of Heathrow's current slots, the carrier
asserted. The moves come one month after AA and BA ended a years-long quest for
immunity from antitrust regulations when the EC and DOT accepted their offer to
sacrifice Heathrow slots.
Amadeus, SNCF Advance
European Rail Distribution
Amadeus has taken major steps in the internationalization of
European rail distribution after achieving three separate breakthroughs with
French national rail network SNCF, according to the travel technology company's
head of rail Diane Bouzebiba. Travel management companies using the Amadeus
global distribution system in Benelux, Germany, Italy and Spain now can
integrate SNCF bookings into standard passenger name records for the first
time, she said. In addition, TMCs in those countries and the United Kingdom in
recent weeks started issuing electronic tickets for journeys on SNCF's main
business routes, most of which are high-speed services. Also, Amadeus and SNCF
have created a web-based application to sell the rail network's inventory via
non-French third parties online. This would make it possible for corporate
online booking tools outside France to offer SNCF tickets, Bouzebiba said,
though none is doing so yet.
United, Travelport
Extend Content Agreement To 2013
United Airlines and Travelport GDS extended their
full-content global distribution agreement for two more years, now expiring "well
into 2013." Travelport said the extension would provide its subscribers
with "all United published fares and seat inventory, including Web fares
available on its own site, reservation offices and through third parties."
The agreement also would enable agencies to upsell clients into United's
Economy Plus cabin later this year, a capability that Travelport said it would
extend into its Travelport Universal Desktop. United's merger partner-to-be
Continental Airlines this summer also extended its GDS agreement with Travelport,
shifting its expiration date from next year to the end of 2013, though its
other GDS agreements remain up for renewal next year. When Delta Air Lines
renewed its major GDS agreements, it signed seven-year deals that expire in
2013, while its competitors largely opted for five-year deals set to expire in
2011. United, however, also extended its Sabre GDS agreement by two years to
2013, while American Airlines and US Airways still face expiration for all of
their GDS agreements next year.
U.S. Bank To Issue
Corporate Cards In Europe In 2011
By the middle of next year, U.S. Bank will begin issuing
corporate T&E cards in Europe for companies that have operations in the
region, said Jeff Rankin, senior vice president and senior sales and marketing
officer for the bank's corporate payment systems unit. U.S. Bank plans to issue
the cards via a banking subsidiary that handles merchant processing. Companies
with European operations then would be able to manage their U.S. and European
card programs through a single contract, credit approval process and reporting
system, he said. In the past several years, U.S. Bank has handled corporate
T&E card needs in Europe through joint partnership agreements with several
banks across Europe. Rankin said those partnerships will continue to be an
option for corporate programs even when U.S. Bank begins to issue cards
directly.
Millennium To Bring
Rewards Program To U.S. Hotels
London-based Millennium & Copthorne Hotels will expand
its rewards program to allow its members global redemption beginning in early
2011. The company's Millennium & Copthorne Loyalty Club currently allows
members to accrue points at properties in Europe and Asia. Next year,
Millennium also will introduce the program at its 14 U.S. properties, the
company announced. This brings more than 100 hotels under the company's reward
program, Millennium said.
This report originally
appeared in the Sept. 6, 2010, issue of Business Travel News.