PDF-File - Star Alliance Employees Portal
Transcription
PDF-File - Star Alliance Employees Portal
online S TA R A L L I A N C E F o r t h e m e m b e r s o f S TA R A L L I A N C E August 2, 2005 Star Alliance Approves SWISS Membership contents 2 SWISS Membership Approved 3 TAP Portugal joins as the Alliance’s 16th Member Carrier 11 12 7 Move Under One Roof Kick-Off at Paris – CDG 15 8 Member Carriers Now Flying from the New Central Japan International Airport in Nagoya 16 Joint Ticketing Facility Opened at Mexico City’s International Airport Star Alliance Named World’s Best Airline Alliance Aman Khan Appointed New Vice President Information Technology “Visit Thailand” Kick-Off Meeting 17 20 21 Star Alliance Bangkok Business Centre Greater Presence in Australia Star Alliance Reference Manual Published Click article for direct link c networkonline August 2, 2005 SWISS Membership Approved More Flight Options for Customers At its bi-annual meeting held in Kyoto, Japan, the Chief Executive Board voted unanimously to accept the application for membership of SWISS International Air Lines. Commenting on the decision on behalf of the CEB, Mineo Yamamoto, President and CEO of ANA said: “Our strategy at Star Alliance has always been to provide more choice, especially for the high-value international traveller. In accepting SWISS’s application for membership, we will in future be able to offer more choice to our customers, especially in Europe and on key international routes to North and South America, Africa and Asia.” In response Christoph Franz, President and CEO of SWISS made clear what the alliance means to the future of his airline: “Joining Star Alliance represents a milestone for our company and its customers. As a quality airline with a worldwide reputation, SWISS is the preferred carrier of a large number of high-value international travellers. And as a Star Alliance member, we will be even better equipped to meet their specific air travel needs.” 2 Christoph Franz, President and Chief Executive Officer of SWISS, left, and Mineo Yamamoto, President and CEO of ANA SWISS, the national airline of Switzerland, carried 9.2 million passengers last year to 74 destinations in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. The company, which employs some 7,700 people and operates a fleet of 78 aircraft, has recently been acquired by Lufthansa. With the two confirmed new members South African Airways and SWISS the Star Alliance network will in future cover some 846 destinations in 151 countries, with the 18 member carriers operating nearly 16,000 flights per day. c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 TAP Portugal joins as the Alliance’s 16th Member Carrier At a ceremony held in Lisbon, representatives of the Star Alliance welcomed TAP Portugal as the 16th member. With Portugal’s leading airline having joined, the Airline Network for Earth™ now 3 offers an even greater choice of flights, especially in Europe, on the South Atlantic as well as to and from North America and Africa. By adding Lisbon to its European hubs, Star Alliance now offers ten strategically placed connecting airports across the continent. TAP also brings some unique destinations and routes into the network, such as Madeira and the Azores on its domestic Portuguese network, the Cape Verde Islands, Guinea Bissau, Luanda, Maputo and Sao Tome and Principe in Africa as well as non-stop flights between Lisbon and the cities of Fortaleza, Natal, Recife and Salvador thus cutting travelling time from Europe to north eastern Brazil by several hours. Jaan Albrecht, CEO Star Alliance “We are pleased to welcome TAP as our newest member carrier,” said Jaan Albrecht, CEO Star Alliance. “With TAP, Star Alliance has again improved its network quality, thereby adding to our customer proposition and further strengthening our leading position among the aviation alliances,” he continued. Joining Star Alliance will, at the same time, also improve TAP’s competitive position. TAP can now offer its customers access to the entire Star Alliance network. c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 Fernando Pinto, CEO TAP Portugal Fernando Pinto, CEO TAP Portugal said: “We at TAP are extremely happy that we have joined Star Alliance. Our employees have worked hard over the past years to achieve the company’s turnaround, which has now culminated in the recent launch of our new corporate image and today’s joining of Star Alliance. We all at TAP look forward to welcoming and serving all Star Alliance customers”. 4 All in all, the Star Alliance member carriers now offer more than 15,000 daily flights covering some 795 destinations in 139 countries. About TAP Portugal TAP Portugal is the leading Portuguese airline, established in 1945 and completing 60 years in operation on March 14, 2005. Its hub in Lisbon is a key European gateway at the crossroads to continents such as Africa, North and South America, where it stands out as the leading European carrier in operation to Brazil. TAP’s current network comprises 42 destinations in 25 different countries worldwide, with a greater range of destinations served by code-share operations with a number of partner airlines. Thus, TAP offers customers an extended and highly flexible choice while providing them with the most convenient scheduled flights and easy connectivity onto further distant destinations. The company currently operates an average of 160 – 180 daily flights on a modern fleet of 40 Airbus aircraft. A new corporate image was launched on February 1, 2005, in time for the company’s 60th anniversary. c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 TAP Celebrates 60th Anniversary and Star Alliance Entry. TAP’s joining of Star Alliance coincided with the company’s 60th anniversary. Reason enough to throw a party, and what a party it was. Several thousand employees, invited guests, including Portuguese President Sampiao and wife joined in the celebrations which were held in the Pavilhão Atlântico, located in the grounds of the 1998 Lisbon Expo. Jorge Gabriel, a well known Portuguese TV presenter, led through the evening, which included a selection of dances symbolising the destinations of TAP, a classical performance from the choir Lisboa Cantat, Guitar Maestro Antonió Chaínho, Fado singer Mariza and the Jazz Band “Lisbon Swingers” – TAP President Manuel Pinto Barbosa and has twin brother both play the saxophone in this group. 5 Famous Portuguese singer Mariza Fireworks on stage, a huge cake surrounded by children of TAP employees, red and green confetti, along with a video in which employees of the other Star Alliance member carriers congratulated and welcomed TAP, rounded off a fantastic event. c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 Spain Welcomes TAP Portugal as New Star Alliance Member by Héctor Sandoval TAP Portugal’s history is closely linked to Spain. Shortly after being created on March 14, 1945, the airline began operating its first commercial route between Lisbon and Madrid. To this date, Spain is one of the top three markets for TAP Portugal, besides its home market and Brazil. 6 So, it was fitting that the Star Alliance members in Spain recognized TAP Portugal’s entry in a very special way, inviting over 120 people, including media, travel agents and corporate customers, to a presentation on the new member’s history, value to Star Alliance and even greater combined network quality to and from the second largest travel market in the world. With over 130 weekly flights connecting the main cities between Spain and Portugal, TAP Portugal and its team of 60 professionals, aim to deliver superior quality and service to its customers, including all the advantages and benefits provided through Star Alliance. Presenters for the evening: Ms. Victoria William, Director General for TAP Portugal Spain, Mr. Héctor Sandoval, SVP Alliances and Chair of Spain’s CSC, surrounded by TAP Portugal Flight Attendants. c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 Move Under One Roof Kicks-Off at Paris – CDG Jaan Albrecht, CEO Star Alliance and Pierre Graff, President of Aéroports de Paris recently signed an agreement on the prin- 7 ciples of a partnership between the alliance and the airport. The refurbishment of terminal 1 will allow the Star Alliance network to also implement its global “Move-under-one-Roof strategy” at Paris CDG. In future, all Star Alliance member carriers operating into CDG will be located in Terminal 1. The entire transfer process will be completed by the end of 2008. Member carriers ANA, bmi, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International, United, US Airways and VARIG Brazilian Airlines as well as future member South African Airways already operate from terminal 1. Regional member carrier Adria Airways moved from terminal 2 to terminal 1 in March, with LOT Polish Airlines and regional member carrier Croatia Airlines set to transfer from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1 by the end of 2005. Air Canada and Austrian are to move once the renovation is completed in 2008. “Considering that our member carriers operate both long- and short-haul flights out of Paris, from all available options, colocating in Terminal 1 is the most viable option from an alliance perspective,” said Jaan Albrecht, CEO Star Alliance. The representatives from the Star Alliance member carriers and AdP standing in front of a THAI Boeing 747-400 in the Star Alliance livery, which our colleagues from THAI had kindly provided as the perfect picture backdrop c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 After full refurbishment, the member carriers will be able to share both check-in and ticketing facilities. This will ensure better customer service, while at the same time provide costbenefits to the carriers. Along the same lines, a joint ADPStar Alliance project will see the first world-wide Star Alliance branded self-service check-in units being installed at CDG 1 in 2005. These will allow passengers from several of the Star Alliance member carriers to obtain their boarding pass, using one single machine. Moreover, by autumn 2006, Star Alliance will also open a joint lounge for First and Business Class customers, as well as for Star Alliance Gold Card holders. This will bring the total number of lounges available to Star Alliance Gold Card holders at Paris - CDG to seven. “In 2008 we will offer our customers travelling through CDG 1 facilities and services which will at least be on an equal footing with other alliances serving Paris-CDG,” said Jaan Albrecht, Star Alliance CEO. “This is of utmost importance to us, since the Star Alliance member carriers operate some 85 daily flights to 38 destinations in 23 countries from CDG Airport, making it the largest single Star Alliance destination outside a member’s home market.” 8 Impression of Charles de Gaulle Airport Member Carriers Now Flying from the New Central Japan International Airport in Nagoya Aerial view of the Nagoya Airport New hub concept improves domestic feeder services Joint lounge and other facilities enhance customer service The Star Alliance member carriers flying to Nagoya, Japan, have all switched their operations to the new Central Japan International c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 Airport (Centrair). The move took place earlier this year and includes locating all Star Alliance carriers at Centrair under one roof and the opening of a Star Alliance lounge. At the new single-terminal airport, the Star Alliance member carriers can now offer customers a reduced average minimum connecting time of one hour for transfers between international and domestic and vice-versa. This compares to an average minimum connecting time of more than one hour at Tokyo-Narita, rising to two hours when a change of terminal is involved. 9 “At Star Alliance we have always followed the strategy of using the opening of either new airports or terminal facilities to enhance the service provided to our customers. The new Centrair Airport is again a case in point and will be followed by similar announcements at other airports during the course of this year,” said Jaan Albrecht, Star Alliance CEO. Making use of the superb transfer facilities at Centrair, the Star Alliance member carriers have revised their schedules in and out of Nagoya, in order to provide enhanced network connectivity to customers. Star Alliance Japanese member carrier ANA has, for instance, added five new domestic desti- Left to right: Takashi Kitagawa, General Manager Chubu Airport Office, ANA; Yoshiaki Bito, General Manager Sales & Marketing Division, CENTRAIR; Lee Hock Lye, Vice President Products & Services – Star Alliance c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 nations served out of Nagoya – Fukushima, Matsuyama, Tokushima, Tottori and Yonago. This brings the total from 17 to 22, with the number of flights rising from 51 to 63. Regional and long-haul services will also be improved. Star Alliance carriers Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International and United all serve Nagoya. Overall, the eleven Star Alliance member carriers serving Japan operate more than 7,000 weekly flights to, from and within the country, flying to a total of 85 domestic and international destinations and providing direct links to 17 countries from Japan. Additionally, with the opening of the new Centrair airport, Star Alliance can now offer its customers the choice of connecting through three key international airports in Japan: Centrair, Osaka-Kansai and Tokyo-Narita. 10 Nagoya now boasts the second Star Alliance lounge in the world (the other being located in Zurich, Switzerland). Spread across 455 square metres and one level below the international departures concourse, the new lounge provides a total seating capacity of 110, split into a First (10) and Business Class (100) section. The elevator access to the lounge is conveniently located just 50 metres beyond passport control. All passengers travelling in either First or Business Class on a Star Alliance member carrier operated flight or holding a Star Alliance Gold Card will gain entry into the lounge. c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 Joint Ticketing Facility Opened at Mexico City’s International Airport The Star Alliance member carriers serving Mexico City – Air Canada, Lufthansa, United, US Airways and VARIG – 11 now offer customers one joint ticket office at Mexico City’s International Airport. The dedicated facility is located on the departures level, International Terminal 2. Together the five carriers operate more than 100 flights in and out of the airport per week, offering more than 20,000 seats to eight destinations: Charlotte, Chicago, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, San Francisco, Toronto and Washington DC. “We have completed a further major step in our collocation project for Mexico City Airport. Our customers can now be served at a single location for ticketing enquiries as well as check-in for their flights at collocated counters. These are tangible customer service improvements,” said Lee Hock Lye, Vice President Products & Services – Star Alliance. “Furthermore, our member carriers will also benefit from this new setup, as the joint use of the space will enable them to reduce their costs,” he added. Employees of the member carriers at the new facility in Mexico City Star Alliance is currently working with its member carriers and airport authorities across the globe in order to improve customer service facilities at major airports throughout the Star Alliance network. Future projects include, among others, London – Heathrow, the new Suvarnabhumi Airport Bangkok, Madrid, Miami and Los Angeles. c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 Star Alliance Named World’s Best Airline Alliance 12 In a recent passenger survey conducted by Skytrax, the specialist air transport research organisation, Star Alliance was named the world’s best airline alliance. This honour for Star Alliance comes as part of the 2005 World Airline Awards and is also the second time in three years that the alliance has been given this accolade. “Obtaining this award is a clear endorsement from our customers that our product delivery works. After all, the quality of an alliance is not only measured by the performance of individual carriers, but more importantly by ensuring that customer benefits promised under the Star Alliance brand are delivered in a consistent and reliable fashion throughout our network,” said Jaan Albrecht, CEO Star Alliance. Our vision is to be the leading global airline alliance for the high value international traveller. In order to achieve this, in the eight years since its inception we have been working at better meeting the requirements of the international traveller. c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 One such need is global reach. With the 16 member carriers presently serving 795 destinations in 139 countries, we offer the most comprehensive network of any airline alliance. In order to provide optimal connections, we have been working on improving facilities key hubs. “We are very pleased that five of our major hubs have actually been voted into the Top 10 airports category at the Skytrax awards,” underlined Albrecht. 13 Additionally, research has shown that access to lounges is extremely important to frequent travellers. We are in a position to offer our Gold Card holders (top tier customers in the individual carriers’ frequent flyer programmes) access to more than 620 lounges, again more than any other airline alliance. “Even though as an alliance we do not influence the actual lounge product of the member carriers, it makes us proud to see that out of the Top 10 First Class Lounges, four are operated by current member carriers, with a further two belonging to our future member carriers. Needless to say that in the rankings for Business Class Lounges, five of the Top 10 positions are also held by either current or future Star Alliance member carriers,” added Albrecht. Winning this award strengthens our commitment in further improving the travel experience for customers. Examples of this are the expansion of the network to 846 destinations in 151 countries, through the future integration of both South African Airways and SWISS; on the products side, interline electronic ticketing links are in place between all member carriers with product implementation due to be completed by August 2005; on airport facilities, the alliance is implementing more co-location projects at key airports such as the new Bangkok airport, London – Heathrow, Miami, Paris – CDG, Tokyo – Narita, just to name a few. About the survey The Best Airline Alliance award results from an annual poll of Skytrax readers, and its influential Business c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 Research Group (BRG). The BRG has over 35,000 frequent flyers worldwide, and includes some of the most widely travelled passengers in the world. During the survey period (August 2004 – April 2005), a total of 1,627,440 interviews were completed for the Best Airline Alliance survey. 14 All interviewees were asked to nominate a Best Airline Alliance, and rank the following alliance attributes for their selected alliance. • Ease of collecting & using FFP miles across different airlines in the alliance • Cross-member airport services, check-in, ticketing, transit etc • Corporate branding for airline alliance in airport environments • Ability to use airport lounges for different airlines in airline alliance • Quality of airport lounge facilities available for alliance members • Member recognition & assistance amongst the different alliance member airlines • Consistency of the seating product amongst member airlines • Consistency of onboard service between the member airlines • Quality of Inflight Entertainment facilities between the member airlines • Ability for top tier members to gain upgrades on member airline flights • Allocation of preferred seating for top tier alliance members For more information refer to www.airlinequality.com c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 Aman Khan Appointed Vice President Information Technology, Star Alliance Star Alliance has appointed Aman Khan as 15 Vice President Information Technology (IT). The appointment became effective in January. Reporting directly to the Star Alliance CEO, Mr. Khan holds responsibility for all IT functions at Star Alliance Services GmbH, the project and brand management company, working on behalf of the 16 member airline Aman Khan, Vice President Information Technology (IT) alliance. Overall, Mr. Khan is in charge of planning, development and operations of the Star Alliance IT infrastructure, including applications, networks and service management. His tasks also include such items as strategic sourcing and alliance purchasing, along with improving service levels with infrastructure and system suppliers. Moreover, as a member of the IT management board, he works with the CIOs of the 16 member carriers to develop, coordinate and implement key IT strategies which support both the alliance business objectives and create value for the alliance members. Over the past 20 years, Mr. Khan has accumulated a wealth of experience in the IT & Telecommunications industry, having held various senior management positions in technical as well as commercial areas, both at European and International levels. He has worked for joint ventures in the Telecommunications world, such as Global One (Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom and Sprint) and Unisource (Swisscom, KPN of Netherlands and Telia of Sweden). At Global One, Mr. Khan headed the business in Central & Nordic Europe and at Unisource he held the post of VP Sales & Marketing, with worldwide responsibility. He also managed businesses of c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 ICT (Information, Communications and Telecommunications) Solutions and Services at companies such as GE (USA), TI, and RSLCom. Prior to moving to Star Alliance, Mr. Khan had been heading the PSINet business in Germany since 1999. Originally from Pakistan, Mr. Khan is now a German citizen and married. He holds an MBA from Chelsea University, UK, and has lived in France, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, and UK during his professional life. 16 “Visit Thailand” Kick-Off Meeting by Dirk Bredow and Christina Fischer The CEB in December in Chiang Mai announced the year 2005 to be the “Star Alliance Visit Thailand” year after successfully launching the “Visit Japan” Campaign the year before. With the Tsunami hitting Thailand and the Andaman area in December, Star Alliance immediately engaged in Relief Efforts. The area is now in a recovery state and THAI together with Star Alliance believes that now it is time to motivate people to visit Thailand again. The kick off team for "Visit Thailand" “Visit Thailand” is born. The core team – consisting of THAI, ANA and Star Alliance has met to kick off the project and agree on activities in different areas. ANA was very helpful in sharing best practices from last year’s campaign. The team learned a lot about what worked and what did not work in the Visit Japan Campaign 2004. With the support of THAI the kick off team was able to agree on several actions to be launched in the month to come. For example, Star Alliance Sales will work – under THAI’s leadership – on activities in five focus markets: c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 Japan, Korea and the three Scandinavian countries. PR will focus primarily on Asia and Marketing is developing a Star Alliance Message in the form of the MCR (Minimum Communication Requirement) for the 4th quarter this year. THAI is also planning to offer employee discounts on flights and hotels to encourage us to visit the area. Watch out for announcements in the near future. Start planning your holiday in this area already! 17 Star Alliance Bangkok Business Centre by Alastair Carthew The Bangkok business centre was opened in December 2000 with the purpose of covering the Asia Pacific region through its three directors. It was originally placed in an office at the LPN Building, Viphawadi Road, opposite to the THAI headquarters. The office was opened by Alastair Carthew; Director, Corporate Affairs (Asia Pacific). In 2002 the office was moved to the Sindhorn building, Wireless Road floor to reduce cost. The office was registered as a branch office of Star Alliance Services GmbH by the head office in Frankfurt in 2003. It’s the only registered Star Alliance office outside of Germany. Left to right: Alastair Carthew, Korblarp Chantapong, Kulkanda Pokasem, Michael Kanacher c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 Personnel Profiles • ‘Alastair Carthew, Director, Corporate Affairs, Asia-Pacific Mr. Carthew comes form New Zealand. His role is to manage the business center, corporate sponsorship for Star Alliance worldwide and public relations for the Asia/ Pacific region. He joined Star Alliance in the above position by February 2001, after three years as Manager, Group Public Affairs (New Zealand) for Air New Zealand. Prior to this, from 1995 to 1998, Mr. Carthew was Manager for Corporate Communications at Television New Zealand. Prior to that, he was Managing Director of Consults (Wellington), one of New Zealand’s largest public relations firms. He was also chief parliamentary reporter for Television New Zealand, as well as editor and producer of news and current affairs shows for 12 years. Mr. Carthew also worked in newspaper journalism in England, South Africa and Australia, before joining TVNZ in1978. He is a former New Zealand correspondent for Newsweek and The Christian Science Monitor and has written for numerous different publications. Mr. Carthew has lectured in sponsorship and public relations at a number of tertiary institutions and conferences in New Zealand and overseas, and has served on the boards of several professional organizations. 18 • ‘Michael Kanacher, Director, Sales and Market Coordination, Asia-Pacific Mr. Kanacher comes from Germany. He is responsible for sales activities in the alliance‘s nine strategic markets in Asia and the Pacific. Based in Bangkok he is a contact person between the Star Alliance headquarters and the partner airlines in the region on sales-related and other issues. He joined Star Alliance in June 2001. His career started with Lufthansa in 1990 as a Management Trainee. From 1992 to 1994 he served as Manager of Lufthansa’s Frequent Traveller Programme. After that he became Marketing Manager for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, based in Bangkok. In 1997 he moved to Singapore to work as General Manager, Marketing and Sales Support, Asia & Pacific for the German carrier. c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 • Kulkanda Pokasem, Regional Director, Facilities & Services Integration, Asia-Pacific Ms. Pokasem comes from Thailand. Her role in Star Alliance is to act as promoter of the “Move Under One Roof” process by supporting and working with airport managers to translate Star Alliance vision & goals into local airport projects. She is the main Star Alliance contact to airport managers and airport authorities as well as to other entities in the Asia-Pacific region for airport facilities and services. She joined the Star Alliance organization by February 2001 as Regional Director of Internal Communications (Asia-Pacific) until November 2001, after which she transferred to her current position. Her career began with Thai Airways International in 1992 as a language/ speech trainer for the THAI cabin crew, cockpit crew and ground staff. She later joined the ground operations department as Division Manager of Facilities Coordination for airport facilities. Prior to the Star Alliance launch in 1997, Ms. Pokasem worked with various teams in developing the first Star Alliance product offerings. She was a member of the Star Alliance Facilities & Landlord Committee, the Lounge Subcommittee and chair of the Signage Subcommittee. 19 • Korblarp Chantapong, Office Manager Ms. Korblarp Chantapong comes from Thailand. Her role at Star Alliance is facility coordinator and arrangement for Star Alliance meetings, venues and accommodation. She also liaises accounting with THAI on ticketing office and other issues. She joined Star Alliance in September 2001. Her career began as a reporter for Thai Television Channel 3, Bangkok in 1991. After that she was transferred to be the secretary for the Deputy Managing Director and later Manager for Program Acquisitions. From 1997 – 2000 she worked for Thai International Airways Public Co., Ltd as a Supervisor at Royal Orchid Plus, Frequent Flyer Program. c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 Greater Presence in Australia by Alastair Carthew 20 Star Alliance has stepped up its exposure in Australia with the support of a PR consultancy and the staging of a number of media events. During May it hosted a luncheon for the Australian Society of Travel Writers and earlier took up a major sponsorship with the Sydney-based National Aviation Press Club, which conducts an annual dinner and awards night for aviation writers. The photograph shows the Chair of Star Alliance's Australian Country Steering Committee, Stephen Pearse, with two door prize winners at the ASTW lunch on May 17: freelance travel writer Tom Neil-Tacker, left, who won two Star Alliance Round the World air tickets, left, and Australian Associated Press travel editor James Shrimpton, who won a Star Alliance-liveried model aircraft. An unusually large turnout of 87 travel writers attended the lunch, which featured a presentation on Star Alliance by Stephen Pearse, GM of United in Australia. c << >> networkonline August 2, 2005 For Your Reference 21 This year’s version of the Star Alliance Reference Guide has been completed and distributed to member carriers. The manual contains the newest facts and figures about member carriers, an overview of our products and useful information about our destinations, lounges. In addition, for our major destinations airport maps indicating locations for member services are included. For any comments, suggestions or questions please email [email protected] c <<