5Wednesday 3 September 2008 | The Scotsman Special report | BUSINESS CLASS
maximising working time, it
isalmostinsignificant."
There are other factors, he
says, that make using one
of his five or seven-seat
Cessna Citation jets more
cost-effectivefortheempow-
ereddealmaker.
"Clients might have that
workinSweden,withameet-
ing in Germany and also
something in London. But
they want to do it all in one
day,"heexplains.
"This type of trip by sched-
uledairlinecanbeextremely
prohibitive, especially when
you include things like
check-in and security
through normal terminals.
Weaimtomakeitseamless.
"Flying from Glasgow or
Edinburgh airports you can
turn up as little as five or ten
minutes before departure.
Afterthatyou'reonboardthe
aircraft.BecauseourCitation
jets are relatively small, they
have the ability to operate
intoairfieldswhicharemuch
closertothefinaldestination
fortheclient."
The firm has a lot of busi-
ness routed to London,
though not necessarily to its
Lutonbase.
London Biggin Hill
Airport,andSwiss-basedTAG
Aviation's London Farnbor-
ough Airport � claimed to be
Europe's premier all-busi-
nesshubwitha�10.2million
terminal building opened in
2006andhometotheepony-
mous International Air
Show, are just two examples
of business aviation centres
developingintheUKandthe
restofEurope.
Thomson adds: "At most
airports we are allowed
a ramp transfer. With a
limousine service, the client
can transfer from the car
immediately to the door of
theaircraft."
KENMANN
cheaply. If you want additional services, then
youcanpayforthosethings.Thoseadditional
extras that are purchased by others help us
keepourbasefareslow."
Stephen Hobday, head of sales at Flybe,
agrees that people still want, and need, to fly.
It has experienced no reduction in passenger
numbers,buthasseenaveryslightfallinaver-
ageyield.
Hobday explains: "Travel policies have
beentightenedandpeoplearebeingaskedto
use less flexible tickets and to consider book-
ingearliertoaccesscheaperfares.
"WehaveaproductcalledBusinessExpress
whichwearenowheavilypromoting.Itcould
be a potential solution for SMEs by allowing
them to pre-purchase blocks of 10 or 20 tick-
etswithdiscountsofupto20%."
CHINA
FOCUSHow effective are we in
exploiting the business
opportunities
that China presents ?
16 page supplement with
Wednesday 10th September 2008
In association with
CHINA
FOCUSHow effective are we in
exploiting the business
opportunities
that China presents ?
16 page supplement with
Wednesday 10th September 2008
In association with

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