Heathrow will suffer most from terror alert
Business travellers are avoiding transiting through Heathrow due to heightened security and long queues, according to Andrew Solum, director of Travel Industry Associates.
Part of a panel of industry experts speaking at yesterday’s Travelmole Travel Industry Question Time, Solum estimated that around 15%-20% of corporate travellers coming into Europe were now choosing alternative airports.
“I cannot wait to see figures from the likes of Lufthansa, KLM and Air France,” he said.
“Business travellers are also using smaller airports, chartering more private jets and are holding more meetings away from major city centres,” he added.
He said the baggage restrictions at UK airports were often more cumbersome for travelling executives than for leisure travellers.
“When you’re flying in for one night’s business, you can’t afford to have your checked in luggage go missing and you don’t want to be waiting around for it to come off the belt.” he said.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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