No.1 Traveller Welcomes Air Europa Guests at Gatwick South Lounge

Airport hospitality specialist No.1 Traveller has agreed a new partnership with Latin American specialist airline AirEuropa to offer its business class passengers and Elite Plus SkyTeam frequent flyers complimentary lounge access at No.1 Gatwick – South Terminal. The agreement is the 15 airline partnership for No.1 Traveller to provide complimentary lounge access to business and first class travellers at Gatwick.

 Globalia tourism group member, Air Europa, carried nine million travellers last year, making it the largest Spanish-owned airline.  Its twice-daily Gatwick to Madrid route will give business class travellers and Elite Plus SkyTeam frequent flyers the chance to take advantage of No.1 Traveller’s premium facilities before they fly.

Howard Ebison, Head of Commercial at No.1 Traveller, said: “We’re pleased to have joined forces with leading Spanish airline Air Europa to welcome their business class passengers and Elite Plus SkyTeam flyers to our award-winning Gatwick South lounge.  Whether Air Europa guests wish to complete any last-minute work tasks or enjoy a bite to eat before they fly, our Gatwick South lounge offers a range of premium services and facilities to cater to both business and leisure travellers.”

Colin Stewart, UK General Manager,Air Europa, added:  “Through our new partnership with No.1 Traveller we’ll be able to extend the high standards of customer service and comfort we offer our passengers on-board to their airport experience as well.  We chose to work with No.1 Traveller due to its reputation for delivering a premium service to airport guests and look forward to a fruitful relationship with the No.1 team.

Emirates Introduces A380 to Los Angeles in December 2013

Emirates has announced an upgrade of service from Dubai to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with the introduction of its flagship A380 starting on December 2nd, 2013.

It will be the airline’s first A380 US West Coast destination.

“Demand for our award-winning on-board service has steadily grown and customers have been requesting our industry-leading A380 to LA for some time now,” said Orhan Abbas, Emirates Commercial Senior Vice-President of the Americas.

“As Los Angeles is known for its luxury and the Hollywood lifestyle, bringing our A380 into the market was a natural fit as it allow every Emirates passenger the chance to experience the glamorous life at 35,000 feet before they arrive in LA.”
The 489-seat Emirates A380 offers 14 Private First Class Suites, 76 lie-flat beds in Business Class and 399 seats in Economy Class.  This aircraft replaces the Boeing 777-300 ER which has serviced the route previously.

The A380 service will operate daily as EK215 departing Dubai at 08:20hrs (local time) and arriving at Los Angeles’ Tom Bradley International Terminal at 12:50hrs (local).  The return flight, EK216, departs Los Angeles at 16:00hrs (local) and arrives in Dubai at 19:50hrs (local) the following day.  Emirates says the arrival time of the A380 at LAX will offer passengers easy connections to US destinations such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Diego and Honolulu.
The announcement of the A380 on the airline’s longest route in terms of distance comes on the heels of last week’s announcement of A380 service added to Zurich, Switzerland.  The A380 to Los Angeles compliments the double daily A380 flights already in place between Dubai and New York’s John F Kennedy airport and becomes the 23rd A380 destination on the Emirates global route network.  Emirates, the largest A380 operator in the world, has 34 A380s in service and an additional 56 A380s on order; receiving one A380 delivery per month, on average.

Emirates currently serves six destination in the US in addition to Los Angeles – San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, Houston, Washington Dulles and New York JFK – and has also announced a new trans-Atlantic route from New York to Milan, Italy, which will begin on October 1, 2013; providing the only First Class Service between the two cities.

easyJet to More Than Double Stansted Traffic

easyJet and the new owners of London Stansted, the Manchester Airport Group (MAG) have announced a new long-term growth framework deal to enable the airline to more than double its passenger numbers at Stansted from a current 2.8 million passengers to six million passengers a year over the next five years.  The conclusion of the growth framework agreement comes just three months after MAG completed its acquisition of London Stansted in late February 2013.

easyjet currently operates eight aircraft on up to 27 routes from Stansted and the airline says it supports MAG’s plans to make Stansted: “the best airport in London.”
As well as offering new destinations, the airline says its: “continued focus and growing share of the corporate market” means the agreement can also facilitate an increase in the number of business travellers using Stansted.

Charlie Cornish, Chief Executive of MAG, commented: “We are delighted that easyJet has chosen Stansted.  We’re working hard with existing and prospective airlines to drive passenger growth at Stansted so today’s announcement by easyJet on the new framework for growth is a positive first step.

“London Stansted will flourish under M.A.G’s ownership as we actively market the airport, the region and its strong connectivity, including direct rail access to both London and Cambridge, to airlines and introduce lots more airline competition into the London market.  The quality of our offer is compelling and we strongly believe that London Stansted has a key role to play in any debate on South East capacity and today’s positive announcement by easyJet confirms that.”

Paul Simmons, UK Director for easyJet, said: “We are pleased to have reached a new deal with the new owners of Stansted which gives us the ability to grow at the London airport.  We look forward to working with MAG over the coming months and years.”

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