Tiffany Hall signals imminent changes to Fresh Approach

Wednesday, 07 Feb, 2002 0

British Airways looks almost certain to announce changes to its Fresh Approach payment scheme in the next few weeks.

Speaking during a Question Time session at Business Travel 2002 on Wednesday, British Airways head of UK & Ireland Sales Tiffany Hall indicated that changes are likely. She told delegates: “When we put in sector payments last April we did not expect we would have to have to look at it again quite so soon.”

Ms Hall said there were a “number of things that have made us review what we are doing” including the fact that corporates had “clamped down” on their travel spend after September 11, the increase in online bookings and the fast growth of the low cost carriers “which we would not have predicted a few years back.”

Ms Hall cited the rise of the no-frills airlines in particular as one of the key challenges currently facing BA. She said that she believed that they had won the “PR battle” telling delegates: “Their average yield is a hell of a lot higher than the lead-in fares they advertise.”

She added that she believed ‘channel pricing’ would be an increasing trend: “We do believe there is a future for airline bookings on the internet, especially for point to point short haul routes. It is more expensive to have someone make the booking for you so the whole concept that we will give you a cheaper price if you book online is one we will continue with.“

BA currently offers clients a £5 discount for booking online. Ms Hall pointed out that BA was no different in this approach than travel management firms who charged their clients lower fees for using online booking tools rather than phoning up the call centre.

Outlining the effect of September 11 on the airline’s business, Ms Hall said: “September 11 has had a huge impact . There has been a fall off in premium travel although it was certainly a trend that had already started to happen.” However she denied that BA had lost out on premium traffic as a result of agents switch-selling away from the airline after the introduction of Fresh Approach, saying: “We introduced sector payments back in April and if you look at the facts we have not lost any premium market share.”

See:
23-Jan-2002 BA and ABTA at loggerheads over Fresh Approach
08-Jan-2002 ABTA tries to calm Fresh Approach fears