Business Traveller

welcome

Welcome to the March issue of Business Traveller. I hope your year has started well, and your travels are proving successful. As frequent flyers, we can sometimes become a little jaded with our experiences. It’s good to get out of the office, but when you are flying for the best part of a day just to spend a week in another office, expressions of envy from friends and colleagues can seem a little ironic.Still, it’s important to remember how lucky we are to travel as much as we do. I was recently chatting to someone on the businesstraveller.com forum about the joy of simply staring out of the window. In fact, I even took a picture of the view from a recent B747-400 journey (see right) to remind myself…

in this issue

GO OFF-PISTE The Swiss Alps have different yet equally rewarding pleasures to offer in the summer months. WINNERS BY A NOSE Which airlines served the best wines last year? We unveil the results of our Cellars in the Sky awards. FRESH HORIZONS Despite recent failures, a new crop of airline hopefuls are preparing to take flight. ODE TO OUD The exotic, esoteric ingredient of the fragrance world is refreshed with a modern update. ■…

contributors

DAVID WHITEHOUSE David spent 17 years in Paris with Bloomberg as a financial editor. He is the author of In Search of Rwanda’s Génocidaires: French Justice and the Lost Decades and co-author of We Didn’t Start the Fire: My Struggle for Democracy in Cambodia by long-time opposition leader Sam Rainsy. He now writes for London financial curation service Substantive Research. Here he investigates the opportunities and challenges facing African aviation; see page 48. JENNY SOUTHAN Formerly Business Traveller’s features editor, Jenny Southan is editor and founder of Globetrender, an online magazine and trend forecasting agency dedicated to the future of travel. An award-winning travel journalist, she writes for publications including Mr Porter, The Telegraph, Forbes, Wired and City AM. For this issue she rounds up…

brits abroad

Recent research suggests UK travellers could do with brushing up on etiquette when overseas 50% don’t know that a “thumbs up” is offensive in some countries 63% are unaware that the hand gesture for “OK” has an alternative meaning in some places 70% have no idea that it is rude to sit with crossed legs in Dubai 92% aren’t confident about how much to tip when eating out abroad 14% regularly research local customs before travelling Source: Travelbag survey of 1,000 UK adults conducted by market research company One Poll ■…

air france means business

AIR FRANCE HAS UNVEILED the new business class cabins that will be found on all of its A330s by 2020. The Equinox 2D seats by Stelia Aerospace increase seat width by one inch, and introduce a fully-flat recline, sliding panels for privacy and bigger IFE screens, although remain in a 2-2-2 configuration.The retrofit should please Air France’s new chief executive, Ben Smith, who was appointed last August and is on a mission to take the airline upmarket. He recently lamented that his was “the only major company that does not yet offer a consistent product like fully-flat beds in business class”. Smith has also signalled the end of millennial-oriented subsidiary Joon, calling it “difficult to understand”, and announced the rebranding of regional subsidiary Hop as Air France Hop.…

new istanbul airport fully operational

ISTANBUL’S NEW AIRPORT IS SCHEDULED to open fully on March 3, two months later than planned. The site spans 7,650 hectares and is initially expected to handle 90 million passengers annually, eventually expanding to a capacity of 200 million, which will make it one of the biggest airports in the world. The move will see it take over all commercial flights from the city’s overcrowded Ataturk airport. “As a major hub at the intersection of Asia, Europe and the Middle East, we will bring the world closer together,” said Kadri Samsunlu, chief executive of operator IGA Airport. ■…