Last update: 22.07.2001

LATEST NEWS

HAPAG LLOYD PASSENGERS TO FARO WERE THE FIRST TO BOARD FROM THE NEW Y-FINGERDOCK. The Boeing B-737-800 was ready for pushback shortly after 06.00 hours on July 11. Passengers on Crossair's morning flight from Berne were the first ones to arrive and to transfer at the new facility.

AIRCRAFT ARE NOW IN A NOSE-IN PARKING POSITION at the Y-Fingerdock. All service lanes had to be reorganized, therefore. The bulk of the vehicles are servicing the aircraft from the rear. 24 gates (by airbridges or in walking distance to the aircraft) are reducing passenger transfers by bus to remote aircraft stands, only.

STATISTICS 2001 : JANUARY THRU JUNE 2001 REPORT need all details, please, let us know!

CARGO NEWS

NEW FREIGHTER AIRCRAFT WILL SOON ARRIVE AT THE EAP. DHL has set October 4, 2001 for its first scheduled flight with Boeing B-757-200SF. TNT will eye October 28, 2001 for its first commercial operation with Tupolev TU-204-120. The B-757 is likely to be routed to Brussels. While the TU-204 is earmarked for Liège-EAP-Rome. A fleet of 10 B-757-200SF will be stationed in Europe by DHL. Tupolev TU-204-120 certification is soon to start by Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities on "westernized" version (Rolls Royce engines and Honeywell avionics). Some characteristics of the new freighter generation are highlighted in the chart below.

INFLIGHT SERVICE

FREQUENT FLYERS ARE GIVING HIGH PRIORITY TO INFLIGHT SERVICES. Statistics at Crossair seem to underline this statement. Passengers have been rating six areas important to them like 1st networkt, 2nd fares, 3rd punctuality, 4th food service, 5th safety, and 6th cleanliness on board. 
The head of Crossair's development team Kai Frahm has invited the Newsletter EAP to take a look at the food service offered on the airline's network.
The latest food module is called "Pane e Olio". 16 different salad-style sandwiches are offered accompanied by four variations of olive oils presented in small bottles (Balsamico, Basil, Chilli, and Truffle). The specially prepared oil can be added to the sandwich to further enhance its taste. "Pane e Olio" is being presented in baskets and passed around to food conscious passengers on flights lasting 60 minutes or less. The concept has been registered in order to protect the brand from being copied falsely. British Airways has expressed a strong interest in this type of fingerfood. Other airlines like SAS did also "raise their eyebrows" on this matter. Sandwiches are representing an important element in inflight services when flying time does not allow cold or hot servings. 
"Pane e Olio" was introduced in April with mixed reactions from the passenger side. "The concept is right. It just needs some time to bear fruit" says Kai Frahm.
The olive oil connection with the Castello Monte Vibiano is an important link in the catering strategy of Crossair. The different "olios" are also part of the menus on flights exceeding 1h45 of flying time or more. Passengers travelling to and from Scandinavia and Spain can benefit from cold or hot meal servings on their voyage to destination.
The research going into any food creation is a major event. Frequent flyer advise (customer advisory board), questionnaires and elaborate trend testing make up one part of the work. Finding out the likes and dislikes of costumers beyond any hard data is a skill unsurpassed by any curriculums available to designers. Any (new) food concept is being judged by people's taste. And it is common knowledge, that there are sophisticated, standard or ordinary ways how human species tend to look at food.

AIRLINE ECONOMICS

REDUCING CAPACITY TO ARRIVE AT HIGHER YIELDS is presently practiced at the airline level because of economic slowdowns leading to declining revenues. Crossair has taken off capacity on its EuroCross system to counter falling yields per passenger. This measure has resulted in the phasing out of MD83 and Avro jets to Bilbao, Gothenburg, and Stockholm. They have been replaced by smaller Embraer 145 aircraft. Two additional arrival and departure banks were set up last year to improve the quality of schedules for markets in Scandinavia and Spain respectively. The EuroCross offers six of these banks altogether.
All these measures helped to improve revenues per leg and passenger according to Crossair's "Journalino". The overall yield per leg reached average numbers close to CHF 280 compared to CHF 180 some months ago. The average revenue for point-to-point traffic ex EAP stood at CHF 250 per leg last year. On some routes the point-to-point segment arrived at about CHF 330 per leg and passenger. Downsizing aircraft and optimising frequencies and connections will be the strategy for the months to come in order to keep abreast with costs and to raise revenues. Load factors are expected to be above the 60% mark in the near future (presently at 52%). Crossair is offering 621 flights and about 33'000 seats every week (Summer 2001). On routes to London, Barcelona, Düsseldorf and Palma larger aircraft are scheduled. In the same report Mr. Handke, head of route development and network, was quoted saying that "the present number of destinations offered is roughly matching the actual size of the home market at the EAP. Further growth will take another two to three years of development". Generally it is understood, that transfers exceeding 40% of the total passenger volume may pose a financial risk to any airline. At Zürich, transfer passengers account for about 60% of the total passenger volume. At Brussels the same segment stands at 70%. At the EAP the share of transfers stood at 25% (airport figures) and with Crossair at 42% of its entire scheduled traffic in 2000.

ON PUBLIC TRANSPOPRTATION TO THE EUROAIRPORT

THE CARGO AND MAINTENANCE AREAS ARE NOW BETTER SERVED by public transportation. 42 services a day connect this area with the city-wide network including the Swiss main railway station of Basel. Starting at 06.07 thru 20.37 hours the bus runs from Monday thru Saturday (on Sundays with reduced frequencies). Ten stops are scheduled en route to allow transfers to other lines of the network. Bus number 30 had its start on June 30. The line is operated by BVB (Basel's mass transit company).

FLIGHT TRAINING

THIRD PARTY SIMULATOR TRAINING IS GAINING MOMENTUM AT CROSSCAT. Bookings for training sequencies at the first Embraer 145 simulator has exceeded 70%. Being available around the clock, 8'760 hours can be marketed year-round. 70% occupancy means that 6'132 training hours are sold. According to Mr. Somers, CEO of CROSSCAT, a second unit will be in place by October 2002. CROSSCAT aims to be a major provider of pilot skills on Embraer jets throughout Europe. Canadian producer CAE will install the simulator at a sales price of $ 10.1 mio. When fully operational, 12 simulators are ready for training purposes at the EAP.

CONSTRUCTION SITE

THE EAP IS BUSY TO FORMULATE PLANS FOR TWO COMMERCIAL ZONES. At this time attention is given to the zone to the South of the maintenance area. Directly related to the airport's "chance 2000" business strategy, express cargo is considered a high priority matter. Details from a news briefing by Reuters Aircargo News point out the airport's intention to push a 28'000 sqm. scheme which would host warehouse space and airside access with a dedicated freighter apron. Costs would be at $ 70 mio. for warehousing, offices and infrastructure. Investor/operator feasibilities, technical requirements, planning and building permit will dictate the agenda in the near future. The board of the airport has already given its approval to establish two commercial zones (4bis and 6bis) in 2000. Basic approval was also obtained from the Department du Haut-Rhin at Colmar. This was essential prior to any further project evaluation. Mario Eland, head of commercial development at the EAP, was also cited that DHL, Federal Express, TNT Post Group, and United Parcels welcomed this initiative. They are working in crowded environments at this time. Only 3'500 sqm. of dedicated warehouse and 3'500 sqm. of office space are presently available to them. The volume handled in 2000 was at 21'000 tons. A new cargo center would free up aircraft positions on the passenger tarmac which are now reserved for freighters like Airbus 300/310 and smaller generation Tupolev 204-120 and Boeing B-757-200. If everything goes as planned with the investor/operator talks, construction could start in Spring 2002, allowing an eight to nine month time stretch for planning, permits, bidding and contracting.

CATERING NEWS FROM LX

Most aircraft are loaded with two caterings to cover the leg back to origin. High priority is being given to freshness and same quality standards. On flights requiring night stops (at AMS, BRU, CPH, GOT, HAM, HEL, MAD, OSL, STO, VIE) Gate Gourmet International is contracted as caterer for the returning leg. The weight for both caterings may sometimes reach 500 kgs (4 trolleys at 65 kgs each and inflight items such as duty free products and newspapers). Crossair has a need for 15'000 services daily (50% at the EAP, 30% at Zürich, and 20% at Geneva).


AIRTRAFFIC PROMOTION GROUP, WANDERSTRASSE 77, 4054 BASEL - TEL./FAX. ++41 61 302 5775 / E-MAIL. WISCHMID@DATACOMM.CH

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