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Indeed, this is somthing I pointed out some time back, despite business class being called business. It most certainly is not just business oriented individuals that use them.
For many years now, inspite of all the advancements being made in global communication. The demand for "business" class travelers has been on the rise. This stereotype of a business travellers flying for the sake of meetings is just that, a stereotype.
From my experience when I travelled business, there are many different types of people from businessmen to couples wanting to treat them selves , to wealthier families travelling with their children, each having thier own business class pod.
In my opinion, I would say Sean Doyle is correct, business is here to stay. I suspect that this ever increasing demand for business is playing a very large roll in the decision for BA to start heavily upgrading their fleet, even as we speak. a monumental challenge undertaken by BA to do so, a project that started as this pandemic was at it's height.
If BA management thought for a second that business travel was dead, do you honestly think they would have invested the tens of millions that they have in order to upgrade their business class seat. Combined with a overhaul of the cabin to a newer and modern looking design.
Well said Dean. Could not agree more.
Edit, Rb211 engines, use more fuel.
typo
I have to agree with george on this one, granted it may be a slow return for some routes. But when asked, regular travellers and holidaymakers do not seem all that concerned by the virus directly, their concerns seem to be with the quarantine periods. If that is indeed the case, airport testing could potentially be a significant boost, especially if upon a negative test, quarantines could be wavered.
Regarding the big elephant in the room, business travelers. There has been a clear trend now for many years, demand for business travel has been increasing, despite all the magnificent developments in global communication, the demand continued to increase. Even more interesting, that demand appears to be increasing in technologically advanced/ advancing countries.
I suppose business travelers today are less about the stereotypical business meetings. But more to do with in person deal making, meeting vip clients, opening of new sites, direct oversight of branches, the list goes on. My point is, much of this is done in person. And will likely continue to do so.
On top of that, despite business class being called business, the number of..let's say more well off individuals are now choosing the travel in a more premium manner is also increasing, Further adding to the demand.
I suspect this increased demand is what encouraged iag, more specifically BA to upgrade some of their 747 fleet only about 4/5 years ago. From the Hi j heavy configuration to the super Hi j configuration which of course had a far greater business capacity. Totaling 43 business pods.
Granted the 747 have now been retired, after having that retirement date pushed back several times already from its original date years before . It seems that day had actually come to pass.
It's not all bad however, this loss is also an advantage too, the 747s as I am sure many already know, were old, very old by aircraft standards. This age was the problem. They were very inefficient and very costly to operate especially from a maintenance perspective.
An example, the 747s four Rb211 engines, use about as much fuel and provide a similar amount of power as two trent 1000 engines on newer aircraft. Meaning newer aircraft have fewer engines (excluding the a380), less to maintain, have a similar power output while burning less fuel, ultimately reducing operating costs. A win win win in my eyes.
I'm holding. And will continue to do so for a while. Especially with BA heavily upgrading many of their 777 fleet at the moment, with newer upgraded cabins, increased traveler class capacity and modernisation of business class, Similar business seats to those on their new a350-1000 and 787-10 aircraft.
I believe in the long run, BA will come back swinging, putting them In a very good position in the future.
I suppose that depends on the nature of the deal, obviously a amicable deal that would benefit both the UK and EU equally is better.
However, if the deal is heavily one sided, so let's say for arguments sake benefits the EU at the expense of the UK then a no deal would be better in that situation. I only really see this happening if there are restriction put in place preventing the UK from seeking non EU deals also. From what I understand, sovereignty and the ability to choose the country's own direction was one of the biggest concerns among brexiteers. Which I would suggest includes the ability to seek out independent trade deals too.
At this point, it could go either way it seems.
George, you are aware that the only reason we are in this situation is because of the death rate amongst the elderly and vulnerable, have you not considered that if they get vaccinated, the covid death toll will significantly drop allowing for a potential return to normality.
Considering the UK as an example has already put orders in for hundreds of million of doses, enough to vaccinate the entire UK population several times. I think we will have a surplus, don't you think? So how is giving doses to the elderly a wasted?
On top of that, have you even considerred that the biggest pension pots are held by the elderly, having already lived a life time to accumulate it. What do you susposed would happen to their holding, if the majority of the elder passed? Dont you think their holdings will be liquidated.... sold off etc. now it does not take a genius to understand what happens when masses of invested pensions get sold off in a relatively short period of time.
And finally, tell me george, what sense is their only giving vaccines to the non elderly or non vulnerable. When already, people who fall into that category have about a 99 percent chance of survival if they came into contact with the virus. So isn't more logical to vaccinate those that do not have such good odds of coming out alive, which will then ultimately reduce to death toll, which would in turn benefit everyone in the form of reduced, or even a total stop of lockdowns and quarantines.