The head of Dubai Airports wants to get rid of everything you hate about travel. From queues and document checks to the long walks from one gate to another, Paul Griffiths, CE of Dubai Airports, believes technology can remove the pain from travel. Monday, Griffiths painted a picture of a future where the airport experience for passengers is significantly different than it is today. The CE said that change, driven by technology, is needed in order to meet the expected increase in passenger capacity. “Imagine an airport with no check-in, no immigration, and discreet, non-intrusive security all enabled through contact with a single identity data base held securely and available to those who currently need physical evidence of our identity as we travel,” Griffiths said. <br/>
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Airlines scored their second most-profitable year ever in 2017, raking in nearly US$15.5b, the DoT announced Monday. The combined after-tax net profit at 23 airlines improved from the $14b in 2016. But that remained short of the high-water mark of nearly $24.8b in 2015. Fees for checked bags and changing flights contributed nearly 4.6%. The dozen airlines that report fees to the department charged nearly $4.6b for bags and $2.9b for reservation changes last year. Bag fees rose nearly 6%, but change fees were down 1.7%. Another 7.7% of revenue totalling nearly $3.3b included other fees such as for food and drink sales or pet transportation that weren't itemised in the bureau report. The profits came on a record passenger count of 965m for 2017. <br/>
The UK transport secretary’s warning was blunt: if Britain did not increase its airport infrastructure in south-east England, it would cost the country GBP20b over 60 years in “delays, fewer flights and passengers having to fly from airports elsewhere”. Chris Grayling used these figures in parliament in 2016 to justify the govt swinging behind plans for a third runway at London Heathrow, which is operating at close to full capacity. There were 476,000 flights in and out of the hub last year, but Heathrow Airport Holdings is struggling to increase that number significantly on its existing 2 runways. And with the third runway plans shrouded in uncertainty, smaller airports around London are seeking to woo airlines that might otherwise have expanded their operations at Heathrow or used it for the first time. <br/>