Treating airline passengers well pays off. That’s the conclusion, which may sound painfully obvious, reached in a study released this week by Watermark Consulting, a Connecticut firm that works with companies to improve customer experiences. However, the study noted, some US airlines do well in the short term by treating customers poorly, generating fat short-term profit margins by doing things such as cramming more seats into each cabin, overbooking flights and charging high passenger fees. Watermark’s study ignored short-term profits and instead analysed stock value of airlines over 6 years. It found that the stock of those airlines that were ranked high in the annual JD Power North America Airline Satisfaction Study performed much better over the long run than low-ranking carriers. <br/>
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Amsterdam Schiphol is pressing ahead with plans for a new pier and expanded terminal, while London Gatwick has announced it will invest GBP1.15b (US$1.5b) to increase capacity over the next 5 years. Under Amsterdam Schiphol’s Capital Program, the airport is expanding the existing terminal to add a capacity for a further 14m passengers annually. The airport will retain its “one terminal concept,” keeping all its facilities under one roof. The new pier is expected to be completed in 2019, followed by the expanded terminal in 2023, with the airport continuing normal operations throughout. “The expansion is required in order to strengthen the competitive position of Mainport Schiphol, keep pace with the growth in aviation and continue to develop the position of ‘preferred airport’ among both airlines and passengers,” Amsterdam Schiphol said. <br/>
A combination of more stringent EU immigration checks and under-staffing at border control points is causing flight delays across the continent, according to A4E. The group says that thousands of flights have been delayed because EU border controls are significantly understaffed when attempting to comply with tightened immigration checks, with some passengers missing flights. The new rules involve immigration officers having to make more comprehensive checks on passengers against computerised databases before they enter the ‘Schengen area’. The problem is affecting both passengers and airlines, said A4E. Queues several hundred meters long have been reported at a swathe of major European airports including Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Lisbon, Lyon, Paris-Orly, Milan and Brussels. <br/>
Passenger numbers at Al Maktoum International (DWC), Dubai’s second airport, grew by more than 35% in the first half of the year, according to the traffic report issued by operator Dubai Airports Monday. In the first half of 2017, DWC saw 554,993 passengers, compared to 410,278 passengers during the first 6 months of last year, a growth of 35.3%. According to Dubai Airports, the first half numbers were boosted by consistent growth in the Q2 during which passenger traffic totalled 221,213, up 45.1% compared to 152,465 during the same period in 2016. The top regions for DWC in terms of passenger volumes during the first half were Eastern Europe (207,798 passengers) and the GCC (170,424). Flight movements were down by 11.1% during the first half. <br/>
Boeing has forecast demand for 2,100 new commercial aircraft in India over the next 20 years, worth US$290b in sales. The forecast, part of Boeing’s Current Market Outlook for India, forecast traffic growth at more than 20%, with LCCs accounting for over 60% of flights. “Commercial aerospace demand in India continues to grow at unprecedented rates,” Boeing SVP Dinesh Keskar said. “The increasing number of passengers combined with a strong exchange rate, low fuel prices and high load factors bodes well for India’s aviation market, especially for the low-cost carriers.” Single aisle aircraft will continue to form the largest segment of sales to India, with a forecast of just under 1,800 planes as LCCs continue to grow rapidly. The wide-body segment of the market will see orders for 310 aircraft. <br/>
The son of a man arrested in Sydney over an alleged plot to bring down an aeroplane with a bomb or deadly gases studied aviation management and mixes with a network of pilots and airline workers, it can be revealed. The revelation comes as sources confirmed that the Sydney cell behind the alleged plot were talking to foreign fighters in Syria in communications that were picked up by allied intelligence agencies. It is understood that British and US spies fed the information to Australia, triggering police to bring forward a planned operation by launching raids Saturday evening. Four men remain in custody at the Sydney Police Centre on suspicion of attempting to build an improvised explosive device that they could smuggle onto a plane, believed to be a commercial flight to Dubai. <br/>