Fare go: long-haul costs rise

Justin Wastnage quoted in article by Jessica Mahar published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on January 22, 2010

TRAVELLERS flying home to Australia from Britain in economy class have to pay air passenger duty of £55 ($98), and it will rise to £85 from November. For those in premium economy, business or first class the duty will be doubled.

The British Government raised the charges in November, the rate depending on the distance travelled. Australia is in the ''more than 6000 miles'' bracket and is charged at the highest rate.

Airlines and tourism industry representatives protested about the increased duties, and the president of Virgin Atlantic Airlines, Richard Branson, condemned them as ''unjust taxes''.

The duties were designed as a tax to account for the impact aviation has on the environment, which increases as people travel further. Virgin Atlantic encourages all its passengers to protest against the tax.

Nick Larkworthy of Virgin Atlantic said: ''A further increase in air passenger duty by the UK Government under the guise of an 'environmental' tax will adversely affect Australians travelling to the UK and vice versa.''

The news editor at Travel Weekly, Justin Wastnage, said the tax might appease people's guilt at travelling longer distances.

People might take flights from Britain to the Continent, and fly home from other cities on the Continent, he said. ''There will be dodges and weaves around it.''

A spokesman for Flight Centre, Haydn Long, said that while fares to Britain were cheap people were less likely to care about the taxes.

Read the article in its original form by clicking here.

Qantas seeks airport harmony

This article originally appeared in TravelWeekly Australia

Alan Joyce, Qantas chief executive, has plans to turn around the image of the national carrier. Reducing airport processing time is the first step, Justin Wastnage writes.

Despite being integral to virtually every trip, few people rave about their airport experiences. It is true that some architectural triumphs exist, such as Seoul's Incheon, Hong Kong's new terminal and just about any airport in Spain. But by and large airports are places most travellers would rather spend less, rather than more time.
Unusually for an airline not famed for responding to customer feedback, Qantas appears to have taken this onboard. After his first year as chief executive, Alan Joyce appears to be finally stepping out of the shadow of predecessor Geoff Dixon and is hoping to change the company around. Citing companies such as Tiffany & Co., Mercedes-Benz and Apple, Joyce told Travel Weekly at the National Aviation Press Club that he wants Qantas to become a customer service-led innovative company "owning the premium space".
First step towards this somewhat unlikely goal is to halve waiting time at airports through the use of nifty technology. Starting with Perth in mid-2010 then extending to Sydney, Melbourne and other capital cities, Qantas domestic terminals will use radio frequency identification tags similar to office swipe cards to check in frequent flyers.
Technology aside, what the project reveals about Joyce's ambitions for Qantas is somewhat of an admission of its past failures. Over 1,600 staff have been processed through the airline's charm school, the $10 million Centre of Excellence, after customers complained about surly staff. As proof of the success of the reprogramming, in August Qantas scored the highest customer satisfaction score in its history, Joyce said.
"Qantas will not be Jetstarised. Qantas is our iconic, premium airline brand; it has enduring value," Joyce said in reference to assumptions that the profitable low-cost division would slowly take over the airline group. Joyce instead aims to capture more slices of the market than it currently holds and premium is an important slice that will grow again after the current slump is over.