Heathrow Airport - General Thread

[Aviador]

BAA plans consumer branding for Heathrow

LONDON - BAA is planning to relaunch Heathrow Airport as a consumer brand.

The fresh brand positioning comes as the airport operator prepares to sell off its other major South East hub, Gatwick, as well as, potentially, Stansted.

The attendant activity will be handled by BAA marketing and insight director Nick Adderley, who joined on a full-time basis last August. He is the first marketer to control all aspects of BAA's marketing.

It is understood that Adderley is keen to develop ‘Brand Heathrow' as a positive shopping and dining experience, as the airport poises itself for one of the aviation industry's biggest consumers battles.

The overhauled Heathrow brand identity, being created in collaboration with an undisclosed branding agency, will follow a similar theme to BAA's ‘To fly for' logo.

Adderley, a former senior marketer at Sainsbury's and LoveFilm, is also looking into the prospect of a major ad campaign. The airport operator rolled out its first TV ads in Scotland last year.

An assessment as to whether the strategy could be repeated to promote Heathrow in England is under way.

In addition, Adderley is set to increase collaborative marketing and promotions with Heathrow's primary airlines, which include British Airways, bmi and Virgin Atlantic.

BAA, which also owns Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports, has never had a serious market competitor in the South East.

However, a Competition Commission report, which is due to be published in the spring, is likely to instruct the company to sell both Gatwick and Stansted airports.

BAA, which was acquired by a consortium led by Spanish construction group Ferro-vial in 2006, has pre-empted this by independently putting Gatwick up for sale, with Manchester Airport Group, Virgin Atlantic and easyJet among the parties rumoured to be planning bids.

The prospect of another major airport on the Thames Estuary is also believed to be a factor in positioning Heathrow as a consumer brand.

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[Aviador]

This has been a long time in coming and is probably too little too late. I can't remember the last time has had a pleasant conversation about Heathrow with anyone.

 

[Aviador]

Air chiefs: G20 summit will cause delays at Heathrow

Tens of thousands of airport passengers face delays and cancellations when Britain hosts the G20 summit of world leaders in London, airline chiefs have admitted.

Virgin Atlantic warned disruption was “inevitable” next month if all the prime ministers and presidents flew into the UK through Heathrow. British Airways believes the airport will encounter “pressures” similar to those experienced when then US president George Bush visited the UK last June.

An estimated 40,000 passengers suffered delays which were blamed on the president's trip. Both airlines are now urging ministers to consider using other airports, possibly the military base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

Aviation sources suggested other London airports including Gatwick and Stansted may be used but this is likely to increase the complexity of the multi-million-pound security operation.

Geoff Clark, head of flight operations regulatory affairs for Virgin, told the Commons all-party transport committee that steps would be taken to minimise problems if only Heathrow was used, but said: “Will there be disruption? Inevitably, I would imagine there would be.”

Captain Dean Plumb, manager of technical developments for British Airways, said that ministers, BAA, air traffic chiefs and airlines should examine using other airports. Gordon Brown hopes the summit will boost his flagging poll ratings as he takes centre stage in the global response to the economic crisis.

But Tory MP Mark Pritchard, who sits on the transport committee, stressed the G20 on 2??April would be attended by US President Barack Obama and at least 19 other world leaders. He said: “Ministers have not learnt the lessons of the past. Their inaction means more disruption for the travelling public.”

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “Building on the experience of previous visits, we have been working with the airport operator and air traffic control and are confident that any disruption will be kept to a minimum.”

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[Aviador]

London Heathrow Airport Voted Worst Customer Satisfaction in UK

In a poll that was done by “Which?” magazine, the London Heathrow Airport has been voted the worst UK airport for customer satisfaction. Terminals 2, 3 and 4 came out among the worst, however, these terminals were followed very closely by the two terminals in Gatwick Airport.

On the up side, the new terminal 5 at London Heathrow Airport finished mid-range when stacked up to other terminals. It revived a better score due to its great places to eat and shop. Also, many passengers noted that they like the look and feel of the new terminal compared to the other terminals located in London Heathrow Airport.

Finishing at the top of the table was the Blackpool Airport with an 80% in customer satisfaction. In second place was the London City Airport with 78%. Out of the airports owned by the British Airports Authority, Southampton scored the highest with 71% for customer satisfaction. Other airports were included in the results as well.

The results of the poll show that 23% of poll takers found their experience at airports stressful. However, this number jumped up to 45% for people who used London Heathrow Terminals 1 through 4.

Experts did point out that it seems like the people who took part in the poll prefer the short-haul trips offered by regional airports. However, for people who are looking for long-haul trips, airports like Gatwick and London Heathrow Airport will still need to be used. They also pointed out that the results from the poll prove that the larger airports do need to focus on better service for passengers.

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[Aviador]

BAA seeks to make Heathrow ‘Europe’s hub of choice’

BAA has launched a brand advertising campaign for Heathrow in an effort to make the airport ‘Europe’s hub of choice’. It will see all communications for the airport branded Heathrow and feature the strap line ‘Making every journey better'.

The aim of the campaign is to highlight how the airport’s investments and improvements will bring benefits to passengers as well as airlines, fostering brand loyalty and recognition worldwide. BAA said: ‘A key focus will be Heathrow’s frequent and direct global connections and the vibrant shopping and eating experience.' And there were we thinking it was an airport!

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[Aviador]

"frequent and direct global connections"

With 'connections' as the key word here, it all seems a bit of a joke to me now. The vast majority of UK airports no longer have a link to Heathrow and it's so called 'hub'. Heathrow airport is like a bicycle wheel without any spokes. It's no wonder that people are choosing Amsterdam as their primary European 'hub' airport.

 

[Sue Redesdale]

Well, it's been a long time coming. Check this out http://www.heathrowairport.com. The airport is advertising for passengers to say how it's run. Surely they just need to read the papers!

 

[Aviador]

Ever so true Sue. I don't know where abouts in the country you reside but for many people around the UK they don't even have Heathrow as an option now that more and more regional connections are being withdrawn. The airport will have to rely on the opinions of London only based passengers.

 

[Aviador]

[textarea]Passengers with suspected swine flu banned from flights

Passengers suspected of suffering from swine flu are being stopped from boarding flights, the Times reports. Check-in staff at Heathrow and other British airports are vetting passengers for possible symptoms and turning away those suspected of being infected.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic confirmed this weekend that its staff were not allowing suspected swine flu sufferers to travel. A BA spokesman told the newspaper that some passengers had already been turned away at check-in because they showed symptoms of infection.

The Association of British Insurers said cancelled holidays or postponed flights would normally be covered under insurance policies. Passengers are being advised to check airline websites for advice.

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This seems completely pointless given that the government is no longer seeking to quarantine people with Swine-Flu. The chances are that the virus is already well established and totally unstoppable.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Are check-in staff now qualified medicos then? I'd hate to turn up with a touch of hay fever. Willie Walsh would have me instantly quarantined.

What about people who check in online?

 

[Aviador]

Are check-in staff now qualified medicos then? I'd hate to turn up with a touch of hay fever. Willie Walsh would have me instantly quarantined.

What about people who check in online?

I would seem that they are then if the article is to be believed. As for those on-line check-ins, they'll get through to the departure lounge, purchase all their duty free goods and then be told at the gate they can't fly I presume.

 

[Aviador]

[textarea]Heathrow gets unique ‘virtual control tower’

Heathrow Airport has taken a huge leap forwards in its ability to operate through a control tower calamity by going operational with the world's first fully certificated remote ‘control tower’ for a major hub airport, Flight Global reports. From the remote - and windowless - tower, controllers will be able to handle 75% of normal traffic should the actual control tower be affected by fire, failure, damage or attack.

The world's busiest intercontinental airport would previously have been effectively closed by such an incident. Its previous back-up plan could handle only 10% of airport traffic. An improved plan retained the old tower as a standby after the new one opened in summer 2007. This was a less attractive option because it would have been in an unfamiliar location for new controllers and contained old equipment, so maintaining both towers would have been time consuming and expensive.

The new ‘virtual control room’ uses existing low visibility procedures, under which controllers use surface surveillance systems fed by radar and multi lateral. It is laid out and equipped identically to Heathrow's visual control room, but has no windows and is located at an undisclosed off-airport site.

Lawrence Hoskins, chief executive of UK air navigation service provider NATS, told Flight Global: ‘Airport infrastructure is expensive and this is a cost-effective solution that delivers operational resilience at the world's busiest airport for international movements.’

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[Rob]

I could probably find out if I searched enough, but does anyone know if A380s are flying scheduled flights in and out of Heathrow now? Singapore, Quantas and Emirates are operating A380s but not sure which routes. I've been staying in an area around west of the Heathrow flight path quite a bit in the past few weeks and have been watching the stream of aircraft flying west (gaps in clouds permitting), but not seen an A380 yet.

Looking forward to seeing my first one, as they are an awesome European achievement, the best thing since the sad demise of Concorde. I guess when BA and Virgin receive theirs, they will be a common sight, similar to how B747s must have created some excitment in the '70s but since became a common sight across the skies of the south east.

Emirates, Singapore and Quantas A380s, c/o wikipedia.com

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Rob,

This link might be of some use to you.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Heathrow_flight_times_a380

I've seen a 380 fairly close up because one of my local fields is Filton (Bristol) and 380s have spent time there doing test flights. One did a a number of low fly-past circuits over the city of Bristol in the early days as a welcome and thank you for the work some of its citizens had put into the aircraft.

In fact, I saw a 380 and a Concorde (G-BOAF - unfortunately living out of doors but that's another story) parked within a few hundred metres of each other.

In my opinion the 380 is not the prettiest aircraft ever designed but it is impressive because of its sheer size, both on the ground and in the air.

I hope you manage to see some.

 

[Aviador]

Supposedly this coming weekend there is an A380 doing a tour of the UK. They are planning to carry out a fly past at a number of airports around the country to publicise the aircraft so there is a small chance that you might see one.

 

[Rob]

Hi, thanks for the replies, it's only a matter of time before I 'bump into one', looking at the frequency they are flying from Heathrow (from the link posted above), I'm surprised not to have seen one already.

I was at the Heathrow visitors centre on the last day of Concorde operations when the three final commercial flights came in, one after the other. It was an emotional moment, and I thought only the emergence of the A380 would get us anywhere near the glamour of seeing our Concordes flying around the world.

 

[Rob]

I've just discovered (as I've been called to a meeting there tomorrow) that the old British Airways main office Compass House (the triple blue clad office complex which used to be known as the 'Combined Operations Centre') off Bath Road is no longer occupied by BA, and now appears to be used by BAA. Does anyone know when this change occured? is it related to them moving almost exclusively into T5 when that opened?

 

[Aviador]

The only thing I can find is this PDF but I don't know how relevant it is. http://www.tac-global.com/pub/reference ... ritair.pdf

 

[Aviador]

[textarea]Paddington check-in for Heathrow Express passengers

Heathrow Express has made Paddington station the first UK railway station to offer Flight Information Display Screens and Common User Self Service Customer Check In Services. The machines are initially available for passengers travelling on four airlines: Delta Air Lines, Finnair, Iberia and United Airlines.

The Customer Check In Services consist of three machines located below the screens and next to the Heathrow Express ticket office. The machines are easy to use with touch screen facilities. Customers can print their boarding pass and view their flight information before they arrive at the airport, helping them to feel more at ease on their way to Heathrow.

Heathrow Express Managing Director Richard Robinson stated: 'People do not always get the opportunity to print their boarding pass before getting to the airport. By introducing this service at Paddington, customers have the opportunity to print their boarding pass and avoid the hassle of queuing for check in at the airport. Customers can then proceed direct to their airline’s designated bag-drop if they have hold luggage. Customers can rest assured on the train because they already know where they are sitting on the plane.'

The Flight Information Display Screens show the day’s flights, the airlines, the terminal and departure times. They are placed by the Paddington Station Heathrow Express ticket office and half way down platforms 6 and 7, which are also dedicated solely to Heathrow Express.

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[The Pole]

There are lots of Heathrow bound flights currently holding. Some off Ireland/Irsih sea and northern coast of France!!!