\u00a0<\/div>\nThe Brussels hub<\/h2>\n
The Brussels hub<\/h2>\nAir France understood this in its day, when it tried to neutralise Brussels in favour of its own Roissy hub. With Lufthansa - and behind it, the Star Alliance member airlines - this business hub is even more coveted. Brussels is now Star Alliance's main advantage over London - the stronghold of British Airways and the One World alliance - and over Amsterdam and Paris Charles de Gaulle, the strongholds of Air France-KLM and the Sky Team alliance.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nAn American concept, the airline hub was the most effective economic response given by US airlines to the deregulation of the airline industry at the end of the 1970s. The idea of concentrating services at a few airports and connecting dozens - if not hundreds - of destinations multiplied the number of routes available to passengers. At the same time, the airlines were working to short-circuit the competition. To a certain extent, however, because the larger carriers have all set about creating or strengthening their own hubs. As a result, there are now a multitude of air hubs all over the world, with overlapping services...<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nThe creation of these hubs is also based on geostrategic considerations. They are based on a high population density and a high level of economic activity in the area where they are located, as well as airport capacity to cope with any increase in traffic. In Europe, cities such as Paris, London and Madrid were the obvious choices. In Germany, Frankfurt was chosen for historical reasons; after the Second World War, the city became the new economic and financial centre of the Federal Republic, far removed from the vicissitudes of a destroyed and divided Berlin.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nBut the very notion of a hub has never been better embodied in Europe than at Amsterdam airport. Aware of its relatively low demographic weight, the Dutch realised as early as the 1950s that the only way to make the Schiphol hub attractive was to have the whole world pass through the airport's corridors. And they spared no effort to make it as attractive as possible, setting up the first duty-free shops in continental Europe as early as 1957, followed by a casino in 1995. New road and rail links have been added to improve land access and, in the air, the number of open skies agreements with numerous countries has multiplied. As a result, Amsterdam is now Europe's fifth-largest airport, with more than 45 million passengers a year, 43 million of whom are connecting passengers. This is one of the highest rates in Europe.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nThree leaders, two challengers<\/h2>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/p.32-5-150x150-derived.jpg\")
Amsterdam has since been emulated by Copenhagen, Helsinki, Vienna and Zurich. After all, capturing a significant share of the continent's air traffic is essential. According to Airports Association International (ACI), 1.5 billion passengers pass through European airports every year. The three heavyweights - London Heathrow, Paris CDG and Frankfurt - handle more than 50 million passengers a year, while Madrid and Amsterdam are close to this threshold.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/p.32-2-2-150x150-derived.jpg\")
Between them, these five airports account for 272 million passengers a year, or 15.5% of all continental traffic.<\/div>\nDespite the tremendous development of high-speed rail networks, the ACI lists almost 150,000 air routes on the Old Continent, served by more than 20 million flights. \"Aviation continues to offer a flexibility of service that rail cannot provide, particularly on routes lasting more than three hours or to connect secondary towns\".<\/i>said Jacques Sabourin, General Secretary of the Union of French Airports, at the French Connect event. So the momentum is unlikely to be broken. The ACI estimates that air traffic in Europe should reach 2.67 billion passengers by 2030.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nLimits reached for Heatrow<\/h2>\nToday, the continent boasts around twenty hubs of varying degrees of respectability. Their existence is primarily due to the founding presence of the national air carrier, a factor which is gradually fading behind the growing weight of the alliances. Of all these hubs, only a dozen or so can be considered truly global. In a Europe of airlines led by the giants Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and IAG (British Airways\/Iberia), these first two groups have the cards in their hands to assert their leadership positions, while British Airways is penalised by the physical constraints on London Heathrow airport.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nIn a study published by the British Chambers of Commerce, the association expressed concern at the fact that the UK's only real hub was operating at almost 99 % of its theoretical capacity! A situation that favours competing hubs. From being Europe's leading airport in terms of the number of destinations in the early 1980s, Heathrow has slipped to fifth place since 2000, overtaken by Frankfurt, Paris CDG, Amsterdam and also London Gatwick! And this despite the opening in 2008 of terminal 5, one of Europe's most beautiful terminals designed exclusively for the use of the 30 million or so passengers of British Airways.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nUnfortunately, this superb achievement is hampered by congestion at the hub. In 2010, the British carrier offered 107 destinations from its terminal 5 hub. British Airways succeeded in adding five new destinations between winter 2010 and 2011: Paris Orly, Gothenburg, Luxembourg, San Diego and Tokyo Haneda. However, the British carrier's network still lags far behind Air France's 148 destinations from Roissy, Lufthansa's 163 destinations from Frankfurt and, to a lesser extent, KLM's 118 destinations from Schiphol. And the government's decision to block the construction of a third runway at Heathrow is likely to result in a steady erosion of traffic over the next few years. Especially as the very high air taxes on flights from the UK are hardly likely to help the hub's business...<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nEfficiency and mega hubs<\/h2>\nThis situation benefits other hubs, starting with those of the Sky Team alliance. According to figures released by Air France management, the combined hubs of Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol and Rome Fiumicino now constitute the most powerful connecting tool in Europe. With almost 35,000 connecting opportunities per week linking long-haul and medium-haul flights in less than two hours, the Air France-KLM group and Alitalia offer almost 50 % more than the Lufthansa group in Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich combined.<\/div>\nEfficiency is a decisive factor at all these mega hubs. Air France and its Sky Team partners have invested in most of the infrastructure of terminal 2 at Paris-Charles de Gaulle. Over the last decade, A\u00e9roports de Paris (ADP) has invested more than three billion euros to convert terminals whose original purpose was not to receive transfer passengers, but travellers with Paris as their point of departure or arrival. Between 2006 and 2010, ADP created capacity at Roissy to handle 25 million additional passengers. As a result, Air France-KLM and its partners now have exclusive use of terminals 2E, 2F and 2G. In the third quarter of 2012, a new satellite 4 will be added, with a surface area of 100,000 m2, which will be able to handle 7.8 million passengers.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\n\"In the current economic climate, it is more necessary than ever to anticipate our customers' future needs if we want to consolidate Paris Charles de Gaulle's position as Europe's leading airport. This requires a major improvement in service quality and the satisfaction of our customers, passengers and airlines\".<\/i>emphasises Pierre Graff, CEO of A\u00e9roports de Paris. It was this quality approach that led to the renovation of terminal 1, which now largely handles passengers from Star Alliance airlines. And by 2013, terminal 2C will also be transformed, as will terminal 2A, which already handles some of the flights of the One World alliance, with British Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Royal Jordanian.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nElsewhere in Europe, other major hubs are continuing to develop their passenger infrastructure. For example, a satellite has been added to terminal 5 at London Heathrow, to accommodate the British Airways Airbus A380s which will join the fleet in 2013. In Frankfurt, following the opening of a fourth runway allowing 50 % more aircraft movements, Lufthansa will take possession this year of the A Plus satellite, with a capacity of six million passengers. Also in 2012, Copenhagen will inaugurate the new arrivals hall on Pier C, dedicated to intercontinental flights. For its part, Rome is also preparing for the opening of a new pier, which will accommodate an additional ten million passengers at Terminal C, reserved for international flights.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nThe triumph of intimacy<\/h2>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/p.35-4-150x150-derived.jpg\")
Some passengers will criticise the mega hubs for being a little gigantic, even if they are efficient in the way they operate. But Europe also has many smaller hubs, with between 10 and 25 million passengers, which, while not offering the same network power as Paris-Charles de Gaulle or Frankfurt, are nonetheless efficient transfer points. Take Munich airport, for example, developed by Lufthansa in the early 2000s as an alternative to the very congested Frankfurt. With its clear, fast routes, its exceptional choice of shops and restaurants and its many lounges, Terminal 2, dedicated exclusively to Star Alliance airlines, is regularly praised as one of the most pleasant on the continent. ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/p.35-2-2-150x150-derived.jpg\")
The hub is attracting more and more intercontinental carriers, while Lufthansa offers more than twenty destinations outside Europe.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nFor their part, Helsinki, Vienna and Brussels dedicate part of their hub activity to very specialised, 'niche' markets. Vienna has long been the essential hub for passengers travelling to Eastern and Central Europe and the Middle East. ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/p.35-3-2-150x150-derived.jpg\")
Its special feature is that it connects to cities in Central and Eastern Europe that are virtually unknown to the general public. In fact, this has become the main selling point of Austrian Airlines! A niche that is now being challenged by Czech carrier CSA and Hungary's Malev. The same approach in Brussels, but this time to Africa. With the recent opening of Bamako, Brussels Airlines is now landing at no fewer than 21 airports on the African continent.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nIn niche markets<\/h2>\nAs for Helsinki, the airport markets itself as the fastest platform for reaching Asia via the Pole route. Over the last five years, Finnair has expanded its services to Asia by adding around ten new destinations. Others are already in the pipeline for 2012, according to Mika Vehvilainen, CEO of the Finnish carrier, who wants to make Finnair a company recognised by business travellers who move between East and West. \"There is a potential for 30 million passengers a year, half of whom are connecting passengers\".<\/i>he stresses.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nOn the niche side of the market, there are airports with very limited market niches. This was the case at Basel-Mulhouse airport, when the Swiss regional airline Crossair connected the hub to around fifty destinations. And this is the strategy followed today by Air France-KLM at Lyon Saint Exup\u00e9ry. With 3.2 million passengers a year, this mini hub, which mainly connects French cities with European destinations, records 30 % of transfer passengers.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nOne of the appreciable advantages of a smaller hub is its human dimension and the surprises that can be found there. Business travellers will certainly appreciate the sauna at Copenhagen and Helsinki airports, the beer garden in Munich, the imperial-style caf\u00e9s in the heart of Vienna airport or the Swiss restaurant in Zurich, reminiscent of a real mountain chalet. Little things that make you forget the stress of connecting flights.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/p.33-3-150x150-derived.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/p.33-2-2-150x150-derived.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
An American concept, the airline hub was the most effective economic response given by US airlines to the deregulation of the airline industry at the end of the 1970s. The idea of concentrating services at a few airports and connecting dozens - if not hundreds - of destinations multiplied the number of routes available to passengers. At the same time, the airlines were working to short-circuit the competition. To a certain extent, however, because the larger carriers have all set about creating or strengthening their own hubs. As a result, there are now a multitude of air hubs all over the world, with overlapping services...<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
The creation of these hubs is also based on geostrategic considerations. They are based on a high population density and a high level of economic activity in the area where they are located, as well as airport capacity to cope with any increase in traffic. In Europe, cities such as Paris, London and Madrid were the obvious choices. In Germany, Frankfurt was chosen for historical reasons; after the Second World War, the city became the new economic and financial centre of the Federal Republic, far removed from the vicissitudes of a destroyed and divided Berlin.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
But the very notion of a hub has never been better embodied in Europe than at Amsterdam airport. Aware of its relatively low demographic weight, the Dutch realised as early as the 1950s that the only way to make the Schiphol hub attractive was to have the whole world pass through the airport's corridors. And they spared no effort to make it as attractive as possible, setting up the first duty-free shops in continental Europe as early as 1957, followed by a casino in 1995. New road and rail links have been added to improve land access and, in the air, the number of open skies agreements with numerous countries has multiplied. As a result, Amsterdam is now Europe's fifth-largest airport, with more than 45 million passengers a year, 43 million of whom are connecting passengers. This is one of the highest rates in Europe.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\nThree leaders, two challengers<\/h2>\n
Three leaders, two challengers<\/h2>\n\nAmsterdam has since been emulated by Copenhagen, Helsinki, Vienna and Zurich. After all, capturing a significant share of the continent's air traffic is essential. According to Airports Association International (ACI), 1.5 billion passengers pass through European airports every year. The three heavyweights - London Heathrow, Paris CDG and Frankfurt - handle more than 50 million passengers a year, while Madrid and Amsterdam are close to this threshold.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\nBetween them, these five airports account for 272 million passengers a year, or 15.5% of all continental traffic.<\/div>\nDespite the tremendous development of high-speed rail networks, the ACI lists almost 150,000 air routes on the Old Continent, served by more than 20 million flights. \"Aviation continues to offer a flexibility of service that rail cannot provide, particularly on routes lasting more than three hours or to connect secondary towns\".<\/i>said Jacques Sabourin, General Secretary of the Union of French Airports, at the French Connect event. So the momentum is unlikely to be broken. The ACI estimates that air traffic in Europe should reach 2.67 billion passengers by 2030.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nLimits reached for Heatrow<\/h2>\nToday, the continent boasts around twenty hubs of varying degrees of respectability. Their existence is primarily due to the founding presence of the national air carrier, a factor which is gradually fading behind the growing weight of the alliances. Of all these hubs, only a dozen or so can be considered truly global. In a Europe of airlines led by the giants Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and IAG (British Airways\/Iberia), these first two groups have the cards in their hands to assert their leadership positions, while British Airways is penalised by the physical constraints on London Heathrow airport.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nIn a study published by the British Chambers of Commerce, the association expressed concern at the fact that the UK's only real hub was operating at almost 99 % of its theoretical capacity! A situation that favours competing hubs. From being Europe's leading airport in terms of the number of destinations in the early 1980s, Heathrow has slipped to fifth place since 2000, overtaken by Frankfurt, Paris CDG, Amsterdam and also London Gatwick! And this despite the opening in 2008 of terminal 5, one of Europe's most beautiful terminals designed exclusively for the use of the 30 million or so passengers of British Airways.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nUnfortunately, this superb achievement is hampered by congestion at the hub. In 2010, the British carrier offered 107 destinations from its terminal 5 hub. British Airways succeeded in adding five new destinations between winter 2010 and 2011: Paris Orly, Gothenburg, Luxembourg, San Diego and Tokyo Haneda. However, the British carrier's network still lags far behind Air France's 148 destinations from Roissy, Lufthansa's 163 destinations from Frankfurt and, to a lesser extent, KLM's 118 destinations from Schiphol. And the government's decision to block the construction of a third runway at Heathrow is likely to result in a steady erosion of traffic over the next few years. Especially as the very high air taxes on flights from the UK are hardly likely to help the hub's business...<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nEfficiency and mega hubs<\/h2>\nThis situation benefits other hubs, starting with those of the Sky Team alliance. According to figures released by Air France management, the combined hubs of Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol and Rome Fiumicino now constitute the most powerful connecting tool in Europe. With almost 35,000 connecting opportunities per week linking long-haul and medium-haul flights in less than two hours, the Air France-KLM group and Alitalia offer almost 50 % more than the Lufthansa group in Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich combined.<\/div>\nEfficiency is a decisive factor at all these mega hubs. Air France and its Sky Team partners have invested in most of the infrastructure of terminal 2 at Paris-Charles de Gaulle. Over the last decade, A\u00e9roports de Paris (ADP) has invested more than three billion euros to convert terminals whose original purpose was not to receive transfer passengers, but travellers with Paris as their point of departure or arrival. Between 2006 and 2010, ADP created capacity at Roissy to handle 25 million additional passengers. As a result, Air France-KLM and its partners now have exclusive use of terminals 2E, 2F and 2G. In the third quarter of 2012, a new satellite 4 will be added, with a surface area of 100,000 m2, which will be able to handle 7.8 million passengers.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\n\"In the current economic climate, it is more necessary than ever to anticipate our customers' future needs if we want to consolidate Paris Charles de Gaulle's position as Europe's leading airport. This requires a major improvement in service quality and the satisfaction of our customers, passengers and airlines\".<\/i>emphasises Pierre Graff, CEO of A\u00e9roports de Paris. It was this quality approach that led to the renovation of terminal 1, which now largely handles passengers from Star Alliance airlines. And by 2013, terminal 2C will also be transformed, as will terminal 2A, which already handles some of the flights of the One World alliance, with British Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Royal Jordanian.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nElsewhere in Europe, other major hubs are continuing to develop their passenger infrastructure. For example, a satellite has been added to terminal 5 at London Heathrow, to accommodate the British Airways Airbus A380s which will join the fleet in 2013. In Frankfurt, following the opening of a fourth runway allowing 50 % more aircraft movements, Lufthansa will take possession this year of the A Plus satellite, with a capacity of six million passengers. Also in 2012, Copenhagen will inaugurate the new arrivals hall on Pier C, dedicated to intercontinental flights. For its part, Rome is also preparing for the opening of a new pier, which will accommodate an additional ten million passengers at Terminal C, reserved for international flights.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nThe triumph of intimacy<\/h2>\n\nSome passengers will criticise the mega hubs for being a little gigantic, even if they are efficient in the way they operate. But Europe also has many smaller hubs, with between 10 and 25 million passengers, which, while not offering the same network power as Paris-Charles de Gaulle or Frankfurt, are nonetheless efficient transfer points. Take Munich airport, for example, developed by Lufthansa in the early 2000s as an alternative to the very congested Frankfurt. With its clear, fast routes, its exceptional choice of shops and restaurants and its many lounges, Terminal 2, dedicated exclusively to Star Alliance airlines, is regularly praised as one of the most pleasant on the continent. The hub is attracting more and more intercontinental carriers, while Lufthansa offers more than twenty destinations outside Europe.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nFor their part, Helsinki, Vienna and Brussels dedicate part of their hub activity to very specialised, 'niche' markets. Vienna has long been the essential hub for passengers travelling to Eastern and Central Europe and the Middle East. Its special feature is that it connects to cities in Central and Eastern Europe that are virtually unknown to the general public. In fact, this has become the main selling point of Austrian Airlines! A niche that is now being challenged by Czech carrier CSA and Hungary's Malev. The same approach in Brussels, but this time to Africa. With the recent opening of Bamako, Brussels Airlines is now landing at no fewer than 21 airports on the African continent.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nIn niche markets<\/h2>\nAs for Helsinki, the airport markets itself as the fastest platform for reaching Asia via the Pole route. Over the last five years, Finnair has expanded its services to Asia by adding around ten new destinations. Others are already in the pipeline for 2012, according to Mika Vehvilainen, CEO of the Finnish carrier, who wants to make Finnair a company recognised by business travellers who move between East and West. \"There is a potential for 30 million passengers a year, half of whom are connecting passengers\".<\/i>he stresses.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nOn the niche side of the market, there are airports with very limited market niches. This was the case at Basel-Mulhouse airport, when the Swiss regional airline Crossair connected the hub to around fifty destinations. And this is the strategy followed today by Air France-KLM at Lyon Saint Exup\u00e9ry. With 3.2 million passengers a year, this mini hub, which mainly connects French cities with European destinations, records 30 % of transfer passengers.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nOne of the appreciable advantages of a smaller hub is its human dimension and the surprises that can be found there. Business travellers will certainly appreciate the sauna at Copenhagen and Helsinki airports, the beer garden in Munich, the imperial-style caf\u00e9s in the heart of Vienna airport or the Swiss restaurant in Zurich, reminiscent of a real mountain chalet. Little things that make you forget the stress of connecting flights.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t
Amsterdam has since been emulated by Copenhagen, Helsinki, Vienna and Zurich. After all, capturing a significant share of the continent's air traffic is essential. According to Airports Association International (ACI), 1.5 billion passengers pass through European airports every year. The three heavyweights - London Heathrow, Paris CDG and Frankfurt - handle more than 50 million passengers a year, while Madrid and Amsterdam are close to this threshold.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\nBetween them, these five airports account for 272 million passengers a year, or 15.5% of all continental traffic.<\/div>\n
Between them, these five airports account for 272 million passengers a year, or 15.5% of all continental traffic.<\/div>\nDespite the tremendous development of high-speed rail networks, the ACI lists almost 150,000 air routes on the Old Continent, served by more than 20 million flights. \"Aviation continues to offer a flexibility of service that rail cannot provide, particularly on routes lasting more than three hours or to connect secondary towns\".<\/i>said Jacques Sabourin, General Secretary of the Union of French Airports, at the French Connect event. So the momentum is unlikely to be broken. The ACI estimates that air traffic in Europe should reach 2.67 billion passengers by 2030.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\nLimits reached for Heatrow<\/h2>\n
Limits reached for Heatrow<\/h2>\nToday, the continent boasts around twenty hubs of varying degrees of respectability. Their existence is primarily due to the founding presence of the national air carrier, a factor which is gradually fading behind the growing weight of the alliances. Of all these hubs, only a dozen or so can be considered truly global. In a Europe of airlines led by the giants Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and IAG (British Airways\/Iberia), these first two groups have the cards in their hands to assert their leadership positions, while British Airways is penalised by the physical constraints on London Heathrow airport.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nIn a study published by the British Chambers of Commerce, the association expressed concern at the fact that the UK's only real hub was operating at almost 99 % of its theoretical capacity! A situation that favours competing hubs. From being Europe's leading airport in terms of the number of destinations in the early 1980s, Heathrow has slipped to fifth place since 2000, overtaken by Frankfurt, Paris CDG, Amsterdam and also London Gatwick! And this despite the opening in 2008 of terminal 5, one of Europe's most beautiful terminals designed exclusively for the use of the 30 million or so passengers of British Airways.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nUnfortunately, this superb achievement is hampered by congestion at the hub. In 2010, the British carrier offered 107 destinations from its terminal 5 hub. British Airways succeeded in adding five new destinations between winter 2010 and 2011: Paris Orly, Gothenburg, Luxembourg, San Diego and Tokyo Haneda. However, the British carrier's network still lags far behind Air France's 148 destinations from Roissy, Lufthansa's 163 destinations from Frankfurt and, to a lesser extent, KLM's 118 destinations from Schiphol. And the government's decision to block the construction of a third runway at Heathrow is likely to result in a steady erosion of traffic over the next few years. Especially as the very high air taxes on flights from the UK are hardly likely to help the hub's business...<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nEfficiency and mega hubs<\/h2>\nThis situation benefits other hubs, starting with those of the Sky Team alliance. According to figures released by Air France management, the combined hubs of Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol and Rome Fiumicino now constitute the most powerful connecting tool in Europe. With almost 35,000 connecting opportunities per week linking long-haul and medium-haul flights in less than two hours, the Air France-KLM group and Alitalia offer almost 50 % more than the Lufthansa group in Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich combined.<\/div>\nEfficiency is a decisive factor at all these mega hubs. Air France and its Sky Team partners have invested in most of the infrastructure of terminal 2 at Paris-Charles de Gaulle. Over the last decade, A\u00e9roports de Paris (ADP) has invested more than three billion euros to convert terminals whose original purpose was not to receive transfer passengers, but travellers with Paris as their point of departure or arrival. Between 2006 and 2010, ADP created capacity at Roissy to handle 25 million additional passengers. As a result, Air France-KLM and its partners now have exclusive use of terminals 2E, 2F and 2G. In the third quarter of 2012, a new satellite 4 will be added, with a surface area of 100,000 m2, which will be able to handle 7.8 million passengers.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\n\"In the current economic climate, it is more necessary than ever to anticipate our customers' future needs if we want to consolidate Paris Charles de Gaulle's position as Europe's leading airport. This requires a major improvement in service quality and the satisfaction of our customers, passengers and airlines\".<\/i>emphasises Pierre Graff, CEO of A\u00e9roports de Paris. It was this quality approach that led to the renovation of terminal 1, which now largely handles passengers from Star Alliance airlines. And by 2013, terminal 2C will also be transformed, as will terminal 2A, which already handles some of the flights of the One World alliance, with British Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Royal Jordanian.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nElsewhere in Europe, other major hubs are continuing to develop their passenger infrastructure. For example, a satellite has been added to terminal 5 at London Heathrow, to accommodate the British Airways Airbus A380s which will join the fleet in 2013. In Frankfurt, following the opening of a fourth runway allowing 50 % more aircraft movements, Lufthansa will take possession this year of the A Plus satellite, with a capacity of six million passengers. Also in 2012, Copenhagen will inaugurate the new arrivals hall on Pier C, dedicated to intercontinental flights. For its part, Rome is also preparing for the opening of a new pier, which will accommodate an additional ten million passengers at Terminal C, reserved for international flights.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nThe triumph of intimacy<\/h2>\n\nSome passengers will criticise the mega hubs for being a little gigantic, even if they are efficient in the way they operate. But Europe also has many smaller hubs, with between 10 and 25 million passengers, which, while not offering the same network power as Paris-Charles de Gaulle or Frankfurt, are nonetheless efficient transfer points. Take Munich airport, for example, developed by Lufthansa in the early 2000s as an alternative to the very congested Frankfurt. With its clear, fast routes, its exceptional choice of shops and restaurants and its many lounges, Terminal 2, dedicated exclusively to Star Alliance airlines, is regularly praised as one of the most pleasant on the continent. The hub is attracting more and more intercontinental carriers, while Lufthansa offers more than twenty destinations outside Europe.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nFor their part, Helsinki, Vienna and Brussels dedicate part of their hub activity to very specialised, 'niche' markets. Vienna has long been the essential hub for passengers travelling to Eastern and Central Europe and the Middle East. Its special feature is that it connects to cities in Central and Eastern Europe that are virtually unknown to the general public. In fact, this has become the main selling point of Austrian Airlines! A niche that is now being challenged by Czech carrier CSA and Hungary's Malev. The same approach in Brussels, but this time to Africa. With the recent opening of Bamako, Brussels Airlines is now landing at no fewer than 21 airports on the African continent.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nIn niche markets<\/h2>\nAs for Helsinki, the airport markets itself as the fastest platform for reaching Asia via the Pole route. Over the last five years, Finnair has expanded its services to Asia by adding around ten new destinations. Others are already in the pipeline for 2012, according to Mika Vehvilainen, CEO of the Finnish carrier, who wants to make Finnair a company recognised by business travellers who move between East and West. \"There is a potential for 30 million passengers a year, half of whom are connecting passengers\".<\/i>he stresses.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nOn the niche side of the market, there are airports with very limited market niches. This was the case at Basel-Mulhouse airport, when the Swiss regional airline Crossair connected the hub to around fifty destinations. And this is the strategy followed today by Air France-KLM at Lyon Saint Exup\u00e9ry. With 3.2 million passengers a year, this mini hub, which mainly connects French cities with European destinations, records 30 % of transfer passengers.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nOne of the appreciable advantages of a smaller hub is its human dimension and the surprises that can be found there. Business travellers will certainly appreciate the sauna at Copenhagen and Helsinki airports, the beer garden in Munich, the imperial-style caf\u00e9s in the heart of Vienna airport or the Swiss restaurant in Zurich, reminiscent of a real mountain chalet. Little things that make you forget the stress of connecting flights.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
In a study published by the British Chambers of Commerce, the association expressed concern at the fact that the UK's only real hub was operating at almost 99 % of its theoretical capacity! A situation that favours competing hubs. From being Europe's leading airport in terms of the number of destinations in the early 1980s, Heathrow has slipped to fifth place since 2000, overtaken by Frankfurt, Paris CDG, Amsterdam and also London Gatwick! And this despite the opening in 2008 of terminal 5, one of Europe's most beautiful terminals designed exclusively for the use of the 30 million or so passengers of British Airways.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
Unfortunately, this superb achievement is hampered by congestion at the hub. In 2010, the British carrier offered 107 destinations from its terminal 5 hub. British Airways succeeded in adding five new destinations between winter 2010 and 2011: Paris Orly, Gothenburg, Luxembourg, San Diego and Tokyo Haneda. However, the British carrier's network still lags far behind Air France's 148 destinations from Roissy, Lufthansa's 163 destinations from Frankfurt and, to a lesser extent, KLM's 118 destinations from Schiphol. And the government's decision to block the construction of a third runway at Heathrow is likely to result in a steady erosion of traffic over the next few years. Especially as the very high air taxes on flights from the UK are hardly likely to help the hub's business...<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\nEfficiency and mega hubs<\/h2>\n
Efficiency and mega hubs<\/h2>\nThis situation benefits other hubs, starting with those of the Sky Team alliance. According to figures released by Air France management, the combined hubs of Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol and Rome Fiumicino now constitute the most powerful connecting tool in Europe. With almost 35,000 connecting opportunities per week linking long-haul and medium-haul flights in less than two hours, the Air France-KLM group and Alitalia offer almost 50 % more than the Lufthansa group in Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich combined.<\/div>\nEfficiency is a decisive factor at all these mega hubs. Air France and its Sky Team partners have invested in most of the infrastructure of terminal 2 at Paris-Charles de Gaulle. Over the last decade, A\u00e9roports de Paris (ADP) has invested more than three billion euros to convert terminals whose original purpose was not to receive transfer passengers, but travellers with Paris as their point of departure or arrival. Between 2006 and 2010, ADP created capacity at Roissy to handle 25 million additional passengers. As a result, Air France-KLM and its partners now have exclusive use of terminals 2E, 2F and 2G. In the third quarter of 2012, a new satellite 4 will be added, with a surface area of 100,000 m2, which will be able to handle 7.8 million passengers.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\n\"In the current economic climate, it is more necessary than ever to anticipate our customers' future needs if we want to consolidate Paris Charles de Gaulle's position as Europe's leading airport. This requires a major improvement in service quality and the satisfaction of our customers, passengers and airlines\".<\/i>emphasises Pierre Graff, CEO of A\u00e9roports de Paris. It was this quality approach that led to the renovation of terminal 1, which now largely handles passengers from Star Alliance airlines. And by 2013, terminal 2C will also be transformed, as will terminal 2A, which already handles some of the flights of the One World alliance, with British Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Royal Jordanian.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nElsewhere in Europe, other major hubs are continuing to develop their passenger infrastructure. For example, a satellite has been added to terminal 5 at London Heathrow, to accommodate the British Airways Airbus A380s which will join the fleet in 2013. In Frankfurt, following the opening of a fourth runway allowing 50 % more aircraft movements, Lufthansa will take possession this year of the A Plus satellite, with a capacity of six million passengers. Also in 2012, Copenhagen will inaugurate the new arrivals hall on Pier C, dedicated to intercontinental flights. For its part, Rome is also preparing for the opening of a new pier, which will accommodate an additional ten million passengers at Terminal C, reserved for international flights.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nThe triumph of intimacy<\/h2>\n\nSome passengers will criticise the mega hubs for being a little gigantic, even if they are efficient in the way they operate. But Europe also has many smaller hubs, with between 10 and 25 million passengers, which, while not offering the same network power as Paris-Charles de Gaulle or Frankfurt, are nonetheless efficient transfer points. Take Munich airport, for example, developed by Lufthansa in the early 2000s as an alternative to the very congested Frankfurt. With its clear, fast routes, its exceptional choice of shops and restaurants and its many lounges, Terminal 2, dedicated exclusively to Star Alliance airlines, is regularly praised as one of the most pleasant on the continent. The hub is attracting more and more intercontinental carriers, while Lufthansa offers more than twenty destinations outside Europe.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nFor their part, Helsinki, Vienna and Brussels dedicate part of their hub activity to very specialised, 'niche' markets. Vienna has long been the essential hub for passengers travelling to Eastern and Central Europe and the Middle East. Its special feature is that it connects to cities in Central and Eastern Europe that are virtually unknown to the general public. In fact, this has become the main selling point of Austrian Airlines! A niche that is now being challenged by Czech carrier CSA and Hungary's Malev. The same approach in Brussels, but this time to Africa. With the recent opening of Bamako, Brussels Airlines is now landing at no fewer than 21 airports on the African continent.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nIn niche markets<\/h2>\nAs for Helsinki, the airport markets itself as the fastest platform for reaching Asia via the Pole route. Over the last five years, Finnair has expanded its services to Asia by adding around ten new destinations. Others are already in the pipeline for 2012, according to Mika Vehvilainen, CEO of the Finnish carrier, who wants to make Finnair a company recognised by business travellers who move between East and West. \"There is a potential for 30 million passengers a year, half of whom are connecting passengers\".<\/i>he stresses.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nOn the niche side of the market, there are airports with very limited market niches. This was the case at Basel-Mulhouse airport, when the Swiss regional airline Crossair connected the hub to around fifty destinations. And this is the strategy followed today by Air France-KLM at Lyon Saint Exup\u00e9ry. With 3.2 million passengers a year, this mini hub, which mainly connects French cities with European destinations, records 30 % of transfer passengers.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nOne of the appreciable advantages of a smaller hub is its human dimension and the surprises that can be found there. Business travellers will certainly appreciate the sauna at Copenhagen and Helsinki airports, the beer garden in Munich, the imperial-style caf\u00e9s in the heart of Vienna airport or the Swiss restaurant in Zurich, reminiscent of a real mountain chalet. Little things that make you forget the stress of connecting flights.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t
Efficiency is a decisive factor at all these mega hubs. Air France and its Sky Team partners have invested in most of the infrastructure of terminal 2 at Paris-Charles de Gaulle. Over the last decade, A\u00e9roports de Paris (ADP) has invested more than three billion euros to convert terminals whose original purpose was not to receive transfer passengers, but travellers with Paris as their point of departure or arrival. Between 2006 and 2010, ADP created capacity at Roissy to handle 25 million additional passengers. As a result, Air France-KLM and its partners now have exclusive use of terminals 2E, 2F and 2G. In the third quarter of 2012, a new satellite 4 will be added, with a surface area of 100,000 m2, which will be able to handle 7.8 million passengers.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\n\"In the current economic climate, it is more necessary than ever to anticipate our customers' future needs if we want to consolidate Paris Charles de Gaulle's position as Europe's leading airport. This requires a major improvement in service quality and the satisfaction of our customers, passengers and airlines\".<\/i>emphasises Pierre Graff, CEO of A\u00e9roports de Paris. It was this quality approach that led to the renovation of terminal 1, which now largely handles passengers from Star Alliance airlines. And by 2013, terminal 2C will also be transformed, as will terminal 2A, which already handles some of the flights of the One World alliance, with British Airways, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Royal Jordanian.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
Elsewhere in Europe, other major hubs are continuing to develop their passenger infrastructure. For example, a satellite has been added to terminal 5 at London Heathrow, to accommodate the British Airways Airbus A380s which will join the fleet in 2013. In Frankfurt, following the opening of a fourth runway allowing 50 % more aircraft movements, Lufthansa will take possession this year of the A Plus satellite, with a capacity of six million passengers. Also in 2012, Copenhagen will inaugurate the new arrivals hall on Pier C, dedicated to intercontinental flights. For its part, Rome is also preparing for the opening of a new pier, which will accommodate an additional ten million passengers at Terminal C, reserved for international flights.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\nThe triumph of intimacy<\/h2>\n
The triumph of intimacy<\/h2>\n\nSome passengers will criticise the mega hubs for being a little gigantic, even if they are efficient in the way they operate. But Europe also has many smaller hubs, with between 10 and 25 million passengers, which, while not offering the same network power as Paris-Charles de Gaulle or Frankfurt, are nonetheless efficient transfer points. Take Munich airport, for example, developed by Lufthansa in the early 2000s as an alternative to the very congested Frankfurt. With its clear, fast routes, its exceptional choice of shops and restaurants and its many lounges, Terminal 2, dedicated exclusively to Star Alliance airlines, is regularly praised as one of the most pleasant on the continent. The hub is attracting more and more intercontinental carriers, while Lufthansa offers more than twenty destinations outside Europe.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nFor their part, Helsinki, Vienna and Brussels dedicate part of their hub activity to very specialised, 'niche' markets. Vienna has long been the essential hub for passengers travelling to Eastern and Central Europe and the Middle East. Its special feature is that it connects to cities in Central and Eastern Europe that are virtually unknown to the general public. In fact, this has become the main selling point of Austrian Airlines! A niche that is now being challenged by Czech carrier CSA and Hungary's Malev. The same approach in Brussels, but this time to Africa. With the recent opening of Bamako, Brussels Airlines is now landing at no fewer than 21 airports on the African continent.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nIn niche markets<\/h2>\nAs for Helsinki, the airport markets itself as the fastest platform for reaching Asia via the Pole route. Over the last five years, Finnair has expanded its services to Asia by adding around ten new destinations. Others are already in the pipeline for 2012, according to Mika Vehvilainen, CEO of the Finnish carrier, who wants to make Finnair a company recognised by business travellers who move between East and West. \"There is a potential for 30 million passengers a year, half of whom are connecting passengers\".<\/i>he stresses.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nOn the niche side of the market, there are airports with very limited market niches. This was the case at Basel-Mulhouse airport, when the Swiss regional airline Crossair connected the hub to around fifty destinations. And this is the strategy followed today by Air France-KLM at Lyon Saint Exup\u00e9ry. With 3.2 million passengers a year, this mini hub, which mainly connects French cities with European destinations, records 30 % of transfer passengers.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nOne of the appreciable advantages of a smaller hub is its human dimension and the surprises that can be found there. Business travellers will certainly appreciate the sauna at Copenhagen and Helsinki airports, the beer garden in Munich, the imperial-style caf\u00e9s in the heart of Vienna airport or the Swiss restaurant in Zurich, reminiscent of a real mountain chalet. Little things that make you forget the stress of connecting flights.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t
Some passengers will criticise the mega hubs for being a little gigantic, even if they are efficient in the way they operate. But Europe also has many smaller hubs, with between 10 and 25 million passengers, which, while not offering the same network power as Paris-Charles de Gaulle or Frankfurt, are nonetheless efficient transfer points. Take Munich airport, for example, developed by Lufthansa in the early 2000s as an alternative to the very congested Frankfurt. With its clear, fast routes, its exceptional choice of shops and restaurants and its many lounges, Terminal 2, dedicated exclusively to Star Alliance airlines, is regularly praised as one of the most pleasant on the continent. The hub is attracting more and more intercontinental carriers, while Lufthansa offers more than twenty destinations outside Europe.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
For their part, Helsinki, Vienna and Brussels dedicate part of their hub activity to very specialised, 'niche' markets. Vienna has long been the essential hub for passengers travelling to Eastern and Central Europe and the Middle East. Its special feature is that it connects to cities in Central and Eastern Europe that are virtually unknown to the general public. In fact, this has become the main selling point of Austrian Airlines! A niche that is now being challenged by Czech carrier CSA and Hungary's Malev. The same approach in Brussels, but this time to Africa. With the recent opening of Bamako, Brussels Airlines is now landing at no fewer than 21 airports on the African continent.<\/div>\n
Its special feature is that it connects to cities in Central and Eastern Europe that are virtually unknown to the general public. In fact, this has become the main selling point of Austrian Airlines! A niche that is now being challenged by Czech carrier CSA and Hungary's Malev. The same approach in Brussels, but this time to Africa. With the recent opening of Bamako, Brussels Airlines is now landing at no fewer than 21 airports on the African continent.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\nIn niche markets<\/h2>\n
In niche markets<\/h2>\nAs for Helsinki, the airport markets itself as the fastest platform for reaching Asia via the Pole route. Over the last five years, Finnair has expanded its services to Asia by adding around ten new destinations. Others are already in the pipeline for 2012, according to Mika Vehvilainen, CEO of the Finnish carrier, who wants to make Finnair a company recognised by business travellers who move between East and West. \"There is a potential for 30 million passengers a year, half of whom are connecting passengers\".<\/i>he stresses.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nOn the niche side of the market, there are airports with very limited market niches. This was the case at Basel-Mulhouse airport, when the Swiss regional airline Crossair connected the hub to around fifty destinations. And this is the strategy followed today by Air France-KLM at Lyon Saint Exup\u00e9ry. With 3.2 million passengers a year, this mini hub, which mainly connects French cities with European destinations, records 30 % of transfer passengers.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\nOne of the appreciable advantages of a smaller hub is its human dimension and the surprises that can be found there. Business travellers will certainly appreciate the sauna at Copenhagen and Helsinki airports, the beer garden in Munich, the imperial-style caf\u00e9s in the heart of Vienna airport or the Swiss restaurant in Zurich, reminiscent of a real mountain chalet. Little things that make you forget the stress of connecting flights.<\/div>\n\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
On the niche side of the market, there are airports with very limited market niches. This was the case at Basel-Mulhouse airport, when the Swiss regional airline Crossair connected the hub to around fifty destinations. And this is the strategy followed today by Air France-KLM at Lyon Saint Exup\u00e9ry. With 3.2 million passengers a year, this mini hub, which mainly connects French cities with European destinations, records 30 % of transfer passengers.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
One of the appreciable advantages of a smaller hub is its human dimension and the surprises that can be found there. Business travellers will certainly appreciate the sauna at Copenhagen and Helsinki airports, the beer garden in Munich, the imperial-style caf\u00e9s in the heart of Vienna airport or the Swiss restaurant in Zurich, reminiscent of a real mountain chalet. Little things that make you forget the stress of connecting flights.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>