Tag Archives: winter holidays

Thomson reports ‘fabulous’ demand as Dreamliner arrives

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Thomson reports ‘fabulous’ demand as Dreamliner arrives

Thomson reports 'fabulous' demand as Dreamliner arrivesThomson Airways flew its first Dreamliner into Manchester rather than London Gatwick on Friday as a mark of its support for regional airports.

Managing director Chris Browne said:  “Manchester is really an important airport for us. The Thomson airways boss told Travel Weekly: “We’re a big supporter of regional airports.

“We were based in Manchester when we ordered the aircraft.”

Browne hailed Tui Travel’s announcement on the day the Dreamliner arrived of a deal to buy up to 150 of the latest short-haul Boeing 737s as “huge”.

She said: “It’s about confidence in the future. The business is doing so well. It’s great we can invest so much.

“We had to place the order now to get the options on aircraft or we would have to wait. You could not get a 787 now for years.”

Browne described demand to fly on the Dreamliner as “fabulous” despite the delay in delivery. Thomson had been due to start its summer flight programme to Florida and Cancun with the 787 on May 1.

However, the aircraft was grounded worldwide in January following a battery fire and only resumed flying last month.

Browne said: “It’s the first time I’ve ever known people book a holiday because of an aircraft. The summer programme is pretty much sold up. Winter is selling fabulously.”

Thomson will launch 787 flights from Manchester and Glasgow on July 8. But prior to that, “There is a serious amount of training for the crew before we begin flying,” said Browne.

Thomson plans to operate 47 short-haul flights with the 787 between June 21 and the July 8 start of the long-haul programme.”
Browne said: “A lot of people will be very pleasantly surprised.”

She said no customer had registered concern about flying on the Dreamliner. “Customers have been very understanding. They trust Thomson and Boeing not to put an unsafe aircraft in the air.”

Thomas Cook TV ad banned after consumer complaints

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Thomas Cook TV ad banned after consumer complaints

Thomas Cook TV ad banned after consumer complaintsThomas Cook TV advert has been banned after viewers claimed it could cause harmful copy-cat behaviour among children.

More than 100 complaints were made against the ad which showed a holidaymaker remove a valve from a wheel of one of the company’s coaches with a pair of pliers to cause a flat tyre in an apparent bid to avoid returning home from a sunny destination.

The advertising watchdog ruled that the Thomas Cook campaign was “irresponsible” after it received 118 objections.

The Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints which suggested children could emulate the potentially dangerous scene.

The ASA ruled: “Although we were satisfied that adults would not view the ad as condoning the act of removing the tyre valve, we considered that children, including teenagers, were unlikely to identify the fantastical nature of the story.

“We also noted that the scene in which the tyre valve was removed was central to the ad’s narrative and, because of the risks to children in emulating that action, considered that the ad unreasonably featured that behaviour.

“We therefore concluded that the ad was irresponsible.”

Cook argued that the “horrified and outraged” reaction of the other holidaymakers in the ad indicated that the behaviour of the man letting down the tyre was not condoned.

The company said it did not consider that the ad was irresponsible because it clearly showed a comical scene and the man’s actions were immediately challenged as being wrong.

Will Tui bring in single pricing? It ‘could’

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Will Tui bring in single pricing? It ‘could’

By Lee Hayhurst

Will Tui bring in single pricing? It 'could'Will Tui Travel stay good to its word and bring in single pricing across web and offline, following the move to price parity by rival Thomas Cook?

The travel giant was early out of the traps last year in indicating this was its ultimate intention when travel distribution and online directorNick Longman addressed the Travel Convention in Turkey.

He indicated that a move to flat pricing would happen within two years as Tui rolled out its new Phoenix in-store technology system and would see agents add a service charge.

But last week his former UK boss, Johan Lundgren, now chief executive Peter Long’s deputy, struck a more cautious sounding note while accepting the logic of single prices across multiple channels.

As Tui revealed plans for new generation concept stores last week, Lundgren stopped short of promising to bring in flat pricing or setting a date by which it would be implemented.

He told Travel Weekly: “It’s not unlikely that this will come at some point. There is logic to the idea that there should be the same price in all channels – that is a logical evolution.”

Asked for an assurance that it was Tui policy to bring it in, he said: “It could be coming,” adding: “there is a logic to the fact that the price is the same in all channels.

“We should remember some of the logic about the online discount is that if the customer does the work themselves they get something for it.”

In what some have seen as an audatious bid to outflank its rival, Cook announced its move to price parity with very little fanfare shortly before Christmas.

The move to flat pricing was widely praised in the trade for offering customers clarity and an attempt to move them away from the assumption that online is always cheaper.

Speaking during a filming day ahead of today’s Barclays Travel Forum John Hays, managing director of Hays Travel, said the impact had been noticeable and was welcome.

“Thomas Cook seems as if they are implementing what they said they would in terms of reducing discounting online – it appears they are implementing a one-price strategy. “Tui said they needed to do that, but it’s less obvious with their online discounting.”