Another day, another early start. Another visit to my second home, London Heathrow Airport. I’m on my way to Zürich, Switzerland to see a much talked-about ‘Trinity’-style ‘Taste of Switzerland’ promotion involving airport, brands and retailer. Cursed with a head cold that half of the delegates to the Cannes show seem to have returned with, London’s
Airlines
IATA takes a positive stand
I applaud the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for an outstanding initiative at London Heathrow Airport (it may be at other airports too). Travelling through Terminal 5 en route to Hong Kong International Airport and Macau for the 2009 Trinity Forum, I spotted a highly visible IATA booth in the landside departures hall. The booth
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Airlines
Excitement builds in Singapore after heart-warming generosity at ARC
The Moodie Report is in Singapore, where later today a major launch involving an airport, a brand, a retailer and a charity takes place. All is embargoed for now but I can tell you the excitement is building here for what amounts to a very special launch indeed. The Moodie Report has been asked to
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Airlines
Carted off to jail?
I am looking forward to hearing the case for the defence from those charged with ground theft at London Heathrow Airport, following a series of police raids last month. As we reported, the raids followed an investigation by UK inflight sales security consultant STI – Airline Sales & Services Limited* into ground theft from aircraft at
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Airlines
You pays your money and you takes your choice
Last month Emirates announced an increase to its free baggage allowances for all passengers. It was a surprisingly unheralded story, which didn’t generate the headlines it deserved. For the move ran precisely against a worryingly strong trend among the airline community that increasingly sees passengers as ancillary revenue-generating units rather than paying guests – and we’re talking about revenue for
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Airlines
Rediscovering the thrill of flight – Emirates and excellence combine on the A380
The Moodie Report is back in Dubai for the Gala Dinner tonight to celebrate Dubai Duty Free’s 25th anniversary. It promises to be a glittering occasion, with many industry luminaries from around the globe arriving in Dubai for the occasion. The entertainment is led by none other than blockbuster UK band Simply Red. We’ll bring
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Airlines
Flying lessons
If you’re visiting any country and are looking for clues as to what kind of people, place and culture await you, you could do worse than flick through the national airline’s inflight brochure on your journey there. Better still (and yes, here’s a publisher talking) go straight to the adverts, and you’ll get a pretty good insight into what is making the
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Airlines
Bravo British Airways as cabin crew show the value of a smile
One finds human kindness in the most unexpected places – even at 35,000 feet up in the sky. Flying back to London from Mumbai, India last Sunday on BA198, a kindly Scottish cabin crew member called Elaine McWilliams (pictured above right with her colleague Maria) stopped to ask me about The Smile Train wristband I was
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Airlines
The Moodie Blog in India: All change in Mumbai
Welcome to Mumbai. I have arrived in this incredible city of an estimated thirteen million – more than triple the population of my native New Zealand. It is rainy season here and the roads, always jammed, are worse than ever thanks to the pools of water everywhere. This fervent city is the home of India’s commercial
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Airlines
Landing on your Derrie-Air as the Philadelphia story adds weight to carbon emissions debate
“Pack less, weigh less, pay less”. Welcome to Derrie-Air – “the world’s only carbon-neutral luxury airline where you don’t have to choose between living the high life and saving the planet”. That’s right, an innovative new Philadelphia airline company has come up with a unique way of cutting down on carbon emissions by introducing a
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Airlines
Watch this (inflight) space
South Korea’s national carrier Korean Air continues to acheive remarkable milestones for its inflight retail business. Last year sales rose by nearly +18% to over US$200 million and Vice President Heather Cho is projecting strong single-digit growth again this year, despite the weakening Korean Won. I took lunch with Heather Cho and her Inflight Sales
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Airlines
Terminal trouble at T5
“Do you mind if I take a photo of my suitcase? It’s just in case anything goes wrong, I want to be able to describe it at the other end.” The check-in woman at British Airways in London Heathrow Terminal 5 gave me a quizzical but understanding look. “No problem,” she said. But there were
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Airlines
Counting the cost of oil
This months’ news from Japan regarding fuel surcharges is bad news on every level for travel retail. In a nutshell, the price of outbound travel from Japan – such a linch pin of the global travel retail channel – is going up… and up. Airfares on the key Pacific routes, embracing major travel retail heartlands