Business Traveller April 2022

Welcome to the April issue of Business Traveller. For a long time we’ve been looking forward to the time when Covid restrictions would be relaxed and travel could restart. That moment has finally come for many parts of the world, yet if we were looking for a bit of perspective with regards to the Covid crisis, we weren’t expecting it to be in the even worse shape of the appalling tragedy of war in Europe. We all hope that by the time this magazine appears the situation will have improved, but whatever happens, there is much we can do to help. While airlines for safety reasons avoided Ukraine, and Russian airspace was closed to foreign carriers, many airlines offered hundreds of thousands of free or massively discounted tickets to refugees once…

ALEX MCWHIRTER Alex has more than 50 years’ experience in the business travel industry, including more than 40 years as Business Traveller’s consumer champion. On page 44, Alex explores the Anglo-Scottish services available to travellers this year, and the ongoing competition within the rail industry. ANNIE HARRIS Business Traveller’s art director Annie makes the magazine pop every month. Last month she travelled to Dubai to experience the newly opened 25 Hours Hotel, a 5-star hotel with design inspired by the ancient Bedouins. Did she find her creative match? Turn to page 74 to find out. HANNAH BRANDLER Our staff writer Hannah reports on all aspects of business travel for the magazine and website. This month she explores coffee and cultural attractions in the province of Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, see page 50, and spends…

MANCHESTER AIRPORT was scheduled to reopen its Terminal 3 at the end of March in preparation for Easter and to coincide with the start of the summer schedules. The terminal had been closed for large parts of the last two years as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The airport confirmed that Aurigny Airline, Blue Islands, British Airways, Eastern Airways, Loganair and Ryanair would all resume flights from Terminal 3 starting March 27. GATWICK AIRPORT was also set to resume operations from its South Terminal from March 27, after nearly two years of the facility lying dormant as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The reopening follows British Airways’ decision to resume short-haul flying from Gatwick, along with Vueling and Wizz Air expanding their operations at the airport, and Easyjet planning…

BRITISH AIRWAYS ADDS THIRD DAILY FLIGHT BETWEEN NEWARK AND HEATHROW BRITISH AIRWAYS IS TO LAUNCH a new daylight service between New York’s Newark airport and London Heathrow this summer. Starting from June 6 the new service will depart Newark at 0755, arriving into London at 1955, with the US-bound leg departing Heathrow at 1910, landing into New York at 2200. The flight will be operated by a B777-200 aircraft, fitted with BA’s new Club Suite in business class. The new Newark-Heathrow flight will join two existing overnight BA services from New York Newark – the carrier also recently resumed its daylight service from New York JFK, which departs at 0805. BA said the additional Newark frequency meant that along with its joint business partner American Airlines it will offer “the most extensive network from the…

The Official Aviation Guide (OAG) revealed the ten busiest international airline routes globally last month, based on seats. DUBAI-RIYADH (259,832) CAIRO-JEDDAH (231,161) DUBAI-LONDON HEATHROW (220,242) NEW YORK JFKLONDON HEATHROW (174,937) DUBAI-JEDDAH (170,264) KUALA LUMPURSINGAPORE CHANGI (152,190) ORLANDO-SAN JUAN (149,394) BAHRAIN-DUBAI (145,868) BANGKOKSINGAPORE CHANGI (144,528) DUBAI-KUWAIT (141,964) Source: OAG Schedules Analyser, data from the first week of March 2022…

READ: Emotion by Design. Creative Leadership Lessons from a Life at Nike, Greg Hoffman Nike’s former chief marketing officer gives away his secrets to creativity in this new book set for release on April 7. Hoffman explains how he came up with the ideas for several of the ground-breaking brand’s projects, including the London 2012 Olympics ‘Find your Greatness’ and the 2014 Fifa World Cup ‘Risk Everything’ campaigns. Perhaps after reading this book, you will find yourself inspired to start your own brand. Penguin; £20. LISTEN: Shakespeare and Company: Writers, Books and Paris This podcast features live recordings of conversations with internationally acclaimed authors, which take place in the charming English bookshop Shakespeare and Company in Paris. Hosted by the shop’s literary director Adam Biles, episodes include chats with Scottish writer and director…