Cedarjet From United Kingdom, joined May 1999, 7029 posts, RR: 56 Posted (3 years 2 months 3 weeks 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 667 times:
Catching a plane has become a part of everyday life. But as oil prices take off, environmental concerns rise and security levels soar, how long can it be before casual travel is consigned to history? Will August 2006 be remembered as the point of no return? Simon Calder [writer of a wicked book about Europe's low cost airlines, get it from Amazon now] takes a trip into the future. http://travel.independent.co.uk/news_and_advice/article1219376.ece
Yes! Senator Obama. We are ready to believe again.
Planemaker From Tuvalu, joined Aug 2003, 3773 posts, RR: 22 Reply 1, posted (3 years 2 months 3 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 590 times:
Quoting Cedarjet (Thread starter): But as oil prices take off, environmental concerns rise and security levels soar, how long can it be before casual travel is consigned to history?
In addition to the the oil prices taking off, you can mention proposed new taxes on fuel and passengers that will impact the industry.
Although Calder mentions how GNER & Virgin Trains have picked up a lot of new passengers, and Eurostar claims 7,000 new customers per day, even without the terrorist plot, over time there was going to be an increase in rail pasengers as more and faster high-speed lines spread across Europe.
However, he doesn't mention the increase in business that air charter and frax companies have received since the terrorist plot. And the arrival of VLJs (BTW, Eclipse and Mustang start deliveries this year) will capture an even larger share of business travellers and wealthier individuals.
So not only do the airlines have to face the impact of the new air travel regime on the "casual traveller" but that they will see their share of premium passengers erode significantly. A recipe for financial implosion.
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