Airlines PHILOSOPHY
FAST FACTS
In 2016, British Airways celebrated flying to Hong Kong for 80 years. On 24 March 1936, British Airways’ predecessor Imperial Airways became the first commercial airliner to land at Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport.
• The carrier has its home base at London Heathrow, the world’s busiest international airport, and flies to more than 190 destinations in 80 countries. • British Airways has a fleet of more than 280 aircraft, including the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787. • British Airways carries over 40 million customers a year. On average, the airline serves 35 million cups of tea, 36.5 million set of meals and 3.7 million bottles of wine per year.
This page (clockwise): Airbus A380 Club World business class; Noella Ferns, British Airways’ regional general manager, Greater China and the Philippines; British Airways celebrates 80 years of flying to Hong Kong with a vintage cabin crew uniform photoshoot in Mongkok. Opposite page: British Airways Airbus A380 peace of mind. It also puts Apple and Android smartphone users in the best possible position to take advantage of any promotional upgrade offers. In terms of travel, meanwhile, British Airways has teamed up with the London-based developers of the AirPortr app, to provide a new luggage service for passengers travelling to or from London Heathrow, Gatwick, and London City airports. British Airways has become the first airline in the world to offer the “AirPortr + Bag Check-In” service. “Passengers who have booked the service check-in online with British Airways before the AirPortr driver arrives to collect their bags,” says Ferns. “The luggage will then be taken to the airport and checked-in for the flight. Passengers will then collect their bags at their destination.” And on a more exciting note, British Airways will be opening new routes to several destinations in Europe. “We are thrilled to announce that seven new European routes will begin operating in the summer of 2017,” says Ferns. “This includes Brindisi and Nates in Italy, Montpellier in France, Murcia in Spain, Pula in Croatia, Tallinn in Estonia, and Zakynthos in Greece. We encourage travellers from Hong Kong to be the first to explore these exciting cities in 2017.” Furthermore, British Airways has been serving the China market for more than 35 years. “We strive to make our product and service
offerings more appealing to Chinese travellers by adding more local cultural flavours to our service,” says Ferns. In July, British Airways opened one of the first Chinese cabin crew bases to offer more bespoke services to Chinese customers. Also, 66 Chinese cabin crews are now serving on our flights departing from both Beijing and Shanghai. “Our customers from China can enjoy the Chinese version of the airline’s in-flight magazine— High Life in-flight magazine— with content that is genuinely tailored to Chinese customers. We also offer an extensive choice of Chinese-language movies and TV shows through our inflight entertainment system,” notes Ferns. Aside from its future offerings, British Airways is also in the process of developing a bespoke corporate social responsibility programme for Hong Kong with a credible partner that’s tailored to benefit Hong Kong youth by harnessing their core skills and developing their interest in aviation. This is still an ongoing development, but the carrier will have more to share when it is ready to make the announcement in 2017, according to Ferns. As a carrier with a distinct footprint in Hong Kong and in Asia, British Airways upcoming plans will surely not disappoint. With a rich history here in the region, British Airways knows the sky’s the limit with regard to what it still has to give its customers.
HONG KONG BUSINESS ANNUAL 2017 83