CNN Business Traveller

SHOW #84

Fast-Track Travel
On this month’s CNN Business Traveller, Richard Quest will be on the first transatlantic flight from London to New York that allows passengers to clear US immigration in Shannon, Ireland. Pre-clearance before entering the States means time will be saved as passengers avoid the long queues at JFK international airport and fly into the domestic terminal instead.

The flight offered by British Airways will fly out of London City Airport that allows passengers to check-in just 15 minutes before boarding. The aircraft that BA will use for this double daily service is an Airbus A318 – the largest that the airport has ever had. An A318 has the capacity of 109 passengers, British Airways will only have 32 business class seats.

BA AND THE AVIATION INDUSTRY
On the inaugural flight, there will be paying customers, journalists and BA CEO Willie Walsh. Since the global recession, the airline industry has entered unchartered territory where recovery to levels of post-recession is uncertain. Has there been a systemic change that will see the death of premium travel? Richard Quest will have the opportunity to put these questions to Willie Walsh and talk about resurrecting the all-business class service that was short-lived when L’Avion, Silverjet and EOS went bust last year. BA planned this service well before the global recession, with the airline already struggling to stay afloat, will an all-business class service at a time when business travellers are downgrading, be the final nail in the coffin?

FAST-TRACK TRAVEL INITIATIVE
Westin Hotels offer to check-in you bags at their airport branches in Detroit for example, so that passengers can beat the queues and bypass the congestion that is the bane of all travellers. Mobile phone check-in is growing after ANA trialled it in Haneda airport. According to IATA, there are 18 airlines offering this service including Continental, Delta and AA, AF-KLM, bmi, Lufthansa.

CONNNECTED IN THE AIR
British Airways will launch text and mobile services on its all-business class service allowing passengers to stay in touch via their own mobile phones or PDAs. They will also be able to access the Internet and send emails from laptops fitted with GSM data cards. Voice calls may be allowed in the future subject to customer demand and feedback. Being connected in the air has remained a contentious issue for passengers where the cabin is one of the few places where you have no choice but to switch off and no-one can disturb you. Using mobile phones is one thing but surveys have shown that business travellers still want to be able to text and send emails, to be as productive as possible when they are on the road. We take a look at which airlines are looking into wifi and what business travellers really want.

SHANNON AIRPORT
The small town of Shannon in ireland has a population of 8,000 and yet handles 3 million passengers every year. It was the first to introduce Duty Free shopping and is the pit-stop of many transatlantic flights to refuel. The airport made 30m euros in profits over the past 4 years in US troops using the airport – to refuel when coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. CNN’s Ayesha Durgahee visits the small but mighty airport.