Scandinavian stand-off takes centre stage

07.30 Registration opens08.30 One-to-one meetings10.10-10.40 Refreshment break10.40-12.40 One-to-one meetings12.40-14.00 Networking lunch in the Networking Village

14.00-15.30 One-to-one meetings15.30-16.00 Refreshment break16.00-17.30 One-to-one meetings19.30-24.00 Routes’ Stockholm party (including the OAG Airport Marketing awards hosted by the City of Stockholm and Stockholm Arlanda airport.)

ROUTES I MONDAY PROGRAMME

The battle between Copenhagenand Stockholm took centre stageas Routes 2007 opened inScandinavia’s self-proclaimedcapital city.

Copenhagen Airports (CPH)took the boxing gloves off firstby issuing a press release yester-day (Sunday) afternoon claim-ing Copenhagen should be thecapital of Scandinavia because it

Who needs enemies when you’ve got friends likethis? Copenhagen and Stockholm square up...

BRINGING YOU THE NEWS FROM THE 13TH WORLD ROUTE DEVELOPMENT FORUM IN STOCKHOLM – 24 SEPT

DAY 2 I MONDAY

Scandinavianstand-off takescentre stage

has the larger airport. It pointsout CPH had 20.9 million pas-sengers last year compared to17.6 million at StockholmArlanda (ARN).

But Swedish airport group LFV,which operates Arlanda, pointsout that, when considering allfour of Stockholm’s airports, ithad 100,000 more passengersthan CPH last year. LFV directoraviation marketing MatsSigurdson called the CPH pressrelease “ridiculous” and saysStockholm does not call itselfScandinavia’s capital because ofArlanda.

“I don’t think the capitalshould be judged by the numberof intercontinental routes. Itshould be judged as a destina-tion. It’s not about StockholmArlanda, it’s about Stockholm,”Sigurdson says. “When it comesto geography, business and cul-ture, Stockholm is the capital.”

Of course, CPH claimsCopenhagen is the better placeboth to do business and to live.But what really counts, accord-ing to Copenhagen Airports’ vicepresident aviation CorinnaLundbaek Pedersen, is catchment

Keep your enemies close: Pedersen and Sigurdson know each other well.They both previously worked for SAS

October. CPH says it now has 19intercontinental routes, com-pared to nine for ARN. Overall,CPH claims it has 125 routescompared to 102 for ARN.

But LFV claims ARN actuallyhas 167 scheduled airline routesand points out in recent years ithas added at least one new inter-continental route every year.Malaysia Airlines launched serv-ices to Stockholm in 2004, fol-lowed by Continental in 2005and US Airways in 2006. Qatar

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area. Copenhagen is a smallercity and Denmark is a smallercountry but she says CPH has alarger catchment area becausesouthwest Sweden is closer to toCPH than ARN.

“I think a lot of long-haul car-riers recognise this is a muchlarger catchment area thanStockholm. It’s a fact,” Pedersensays.

She points out two US carrierslaunched services to CPH lastyear and Scandinavian Airlines(SAS) is launching a Stockholm-Dubai service at the end of

Stockholm began calling itselfScandinavia’s capital at Routes2005, which Copenhagen hosted.By unveiling the new slogan inCopenhagen, Stockholm tried tospoil CPH’s party. The move by CPHyesterday could be seen as retalia-tion. But Arlanda is not about to letCPH rain on its parade. At a 9.15ampress conference this morningArlanda will announce a new routeby Delta Air Lines, which launchedservices to Copenhagen in 2006.Delta will begin flying six times aweek to Arlanda in June usingBoeing 767-300s (see p4). Arlandawill also get the last word becauseit is hosting tonight’s bash atStockholm City Hall.

inshort Tit for tat

SEE PAGE 18

AIRLINE BUSINESS @ ROUTES 24 September 2007 3

Europe’s airport slot co-ordinators are meetingen masse here at Routes with plenty on theirminds. Top of their agenda is a review of howthe region’s slot rules, last amended in 2004,are working in practice. Then there is the con-troversial issue of slot trading, which currentlyonly takes place in any volume at London'scongested Gatwick and Heathrow airports, butcould spread to other European hubs as theyrun out of space.

“We are focusing on the experience with theregulation right now, and possible amend-ments to it,” Michiel van der Zee, managingdirector of Airport Coordination Netherlands,and chairman of the European Union AirportCo-ordinators Association, tells Airline BusinessDaily News. The co-ordinators will discuss the

ROUTES HAPPENINGS

regulation with a senior official from theEuropean Commission's transport directoratehere in Stockholm.

The region’s slot rules govern how slotsshould be allocated at airports. The last revi-sion is broadly working well, says van derZee. “It doesn’t need any radical changes, butmight need some fine-tuning. What is underreview is the ‘new entrant rule’, which hasn’treally had the result that was intended.” Thisrule is supposed to boost competition at con-gested airports by giving preferential treat-ment on slots to new players.

The co-ordinators will also dwell on slot trad-ing. The issue is whether to make the UK sys-tem of trading, where the UK’s AirportCoordination Ltd has devised an “artifical

exchange” that allows slots to be traded legallyin the UK, applicable right across Europe. Atpresent, because slot trading is technically ille-gal under European law, several countries frownon the practice and some ban it.

However, many see trading as essential toallow “liquidity” in the slots market. Forexample, US carriers seeking to begin serviceat Heathrow next March when US-EuropeOpen Skies starts would find it impossible toobtain slots if they did not have access to trades.

The co-ordinators do not have a specific posi-tion on trading, except to say that it should besimple, transparent and that they are “wellpositioned to act as independent intermediariesbetween airlines”, says van der Zee.

Daily editorial teamGeoff Thomas, Brendan Sobie,Mike Martin, Kerry Ezard

ContributorsMark Pilling, David Field,Allison Tucker, Alan Peaford,Gunter Endres

Design/production Amelia Clark

Photographer Tom Gordon

Distribution George Lowrie

Advertisement salesRobert Hancock

Printed by Morgan Axelsson,Fagerblads

Where to find usThe Routes Daily team can becontacted at room K6 atStockholm International Fairs.The telephone number is+46(0)87272011 / 2012.© Airline Business 2007

Editorial head officeQuadrant House, The Quadrant,Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS, UKTel: +44 208 652 4996Fax: +44 208 652 8914e: [email protected]

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PUBLISHED BY AIRLINE BUSINESS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH AEROCOMM

What next for slot trading?

Journalists covering Routes 2007 weretreated to a 30-min sightseeing flighton Saturday in a McDonnell DouglasDC-3 operated by the local ‘FlyingVeterans’ club.

The flight cruised at only 1,500 ft andgave passengers a bird’s eye view of someof the islands and lakes aroundStockholm. The aircraft was built in 1943and used by Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)in the 1940s and 1950s. Captain Eric vonRosen says it was restored in original SASlivery after being acquired by a localpoliceman in 1983. The ‘Flying Veterans’have been operating it ever since.

There are dozens of DC-3s still flyingaround the world, including a handful inScandinavia, but von Rosen says this air-craft is one of only a few that still has fullIFR capability. The ‘Flying Veterans’ DC-3can even fly in known icing conditions.Von Rosen says the aircraft now flies

around 100 hours a year and ‘FlyingVeterans’ will continue to operate it “foras many years as we can”.

Another vintage aircraft that wasformerly operated by SAS, a 1966 Sud-Aviation Caravelle, has been restoredby Stockholm’s ‘Le Caravelle Club’ butis permanently grounded at ArlandaAirport. The club’s president, ClaesInsulander, says the the club lacks thefunds to get it flying again. It last flewin 1999.

“Our intention is to preserve the air-

craft the best we can,” he says, addingthe engines are still run regularly to keepthe systems lubricated. The club hasthree spare engines and enough spares tobuild three more aircraft.

Insulander says the next stop for theaircraft is likely to be Sweden’s first civilaviation museum “so visitors can see it inall its glory and come on board”. Themuseum has been on the drawing boardfor several years and Insulander hopes itwill finally be built within the next fewyears at Arlanda.

Oldies but goodies wow Routes’ writers

Left: The DC-3, one ofthe few leftwith IFRcapability

Right:TheCaravelle’scockpit

4 AIRLINE BUSINESS @ ROUTES 24 September 2007

INSIDE TRACK

Stockholm is the first new Europeandestination Delta has announced for2008. But it will not be its last. The carri-er plans to announce several new transat-lantic routes over the coming weeks.

In anticipation, Delta is expanding itsinternational fleet by five 767-400s and13 757s. The 757s have been acquiredfrom American and are now being recon-figured to support long-haul flights. The767s, currently ploughing Delta’s domes-tic routes, are also being reconfigured.Since last year Delta has already beenusing all 60 of its 767-300s for transat-lantic operations and from next summerit will have only eight 767-400s left in its

Stockholm is

Delta’s 37th

transatlantic

destination

Delta Air Line’s new Atlanta-Stockholmroute further cements its status as thelargest US carrier across the Atlantic.

Stockholm will be Delta’s 37th transat-lantic destination. It is the largest US car-rier in Europe and in recent years hasbeen expanding its transatlantic opera-tion at a furious pace. Earlier this year itadded four new European destinations –Bucharest, Pisa, Prague and Vienna.

Delta is also aggressively expandingbeyond Europe to Africa, India and theMiddle East. Over the last year Delta haslaunched flights to Mumbai, Dubai andthree African destinations - Accra, Dakarand Johannesburg. It will launch a serv-ice from its Atlanta hub to Lagos, its 36thtransatlantic destination, at the begin-ning of November. “When we talk abouttransatlantic it’s not just about Europe,”says Delta vice-president network plan-ning Bob Cortelyou.

About half of its transatlantic flightsare operated from its Atlanta hub and theother half from New York JFK. It alsoserves London and Paris from itsCincinnati hub. In August it announcedtransatlantic flights from its fourth hub,Salt Lake City will start next year.

UAE national carrier Etihad Airways is toincrease its frequency between Abu Dhabiand Sydney from seven flights a week to 11from March next year. The news followsthe recent announcement that the airlinewill launch its second Australian destina-tion, Brisbane.

Etihad said that the frequency increaseis a result of Etihad’s Sydney service per-forming exceptionally well since its launchin March. More than 40,000 passengershave flown on the Sydney-Abu Dhabiroute with a 68 per cent seat factor ineconomy, 85 per cent in business and 78per cent in first class.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ CEO, said:“Sydney has been Etihad’s most successfullaunch since the airline began in 2003,which has resulted in us expanding ourAustralian operation with the launch ofBrisbane at the end of September and theincrease of our Sydney services next year.”

On the cargo front, Etihad is showingrelative caution compared with the break-neck growth aspirations of the airline’smain regional competitors.

Etihad Crystal Cargo currently operatesall-cargo services to Chennai, Frankfurt,Khartoum, Kolkata, Milan, Mumbai, NewDelhi and Zheng Zhou in China.

Despite the airline’s recent order for 12wide-body Airbus aircraft, including threeA330 freighters, for delivery between 2008and 2011, the new CEO of Etihad CrystalCargo, Des Vertannes, says the priority isto consolidate what Etihad already has.“We’ve resolved not to add stations for thesake of it. We must take stock of the routeswe have and make them work for us,” saidVertannes.

Vertannes said Etihad’s cargo division iscurrently trying to tap into Scotland andNorthern Ireland to feed the Dublin serv-ice launched in July. Two new destinationsin India – Cochin and Trivandrum – arealso on the map while a Milan service wasadded at the beginning of September."What Etihad Crystal Cargo is trying to dois find niche markets, but you have to bemore competitive than ever. If you get anadvantage, you only have it for a shorttime,” said Vertannes.

Etihad Airways expansion on target inbriefWizz brings more biz to Coventry!

Coventry Airport is to receive moreflights by central European budgetcarrier Wizz Air. The airline is to oper-ate flights three times a weekbetween Gdansk in northern Polandand the UK airport.

The flights, scheduled for Tuesdays,Thursdays and Saturdays, will be operat-ed using a 180-seat Airbus A320.

“Existing Wizz Air services betweenKatowice and Coventry have beenextremely successful and we are delight-ed that the airline is complementing itsexisting services with the introduction ofnew flights to the important Polish com-mercial centre of Gdansk,” said ChrisOrphanou, MD of Coventry Airport.

“The UK’s West Midlands region hasstrong historical links with Poland andthese new flights are great news forthe Polish community, business andleisure travellers.”

Orphanou added that Coventryoffers fast passenger arrivals of “lessthan 15 minutes from aircraft seat toterminal exit.”

domestic fleet compared to 13 operatinginternationally.

“With aircraft coming out of thedomestic fleet there are new markets toput our name in new parts of the world,”Cortelyou said in an interview withAirline Business magazine earlier this year.

Several airports from Europe, theMiddle East, India and Africa that do notalready have service from Delta are court-ing the carrier at Routes. Stockholm isalready served by two US carriers,Continental Airlines and US Airways. ButDelta is mainly looking at cities that arenot currently served by US carriers butwhich have significant traffic to NorthAmerica that is currently forced to transitthrough European hubs.

“There is plenty of demand out there,”says Cortelyou. “We’re looking at otheropportunities and more secondary citieslike Bucharest and Pisa that have a goodamount of current transit traffic.”

Delta is also the fastest growing US car-rier to Latin America and the Caribbean.It now has 63 destinations in this region.

Delta now has the largest airline net-work in the world, with 328 cities across56 countries.

Delta super-sizes in Euro market


Booming Bahrain celebrates 20 percent more passengers

Routes 2006 in Dubai was the test-bedfor a partnership between NewcastleInternational Airport and two regionalauthorities. The event in Dubai helpedpave the way for Emirates to beginservices to the city in the northeast ofEngland.

Little wonder that the three-way part-nership is here at Routes 2007.

The Dubai event was the first timethat Newcastle International had taken astand at Routes. It was a joint venturebetween the airport, the North EastEngland regional development agencyand the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative.

“Routes played a key part in that over-all process (of bringing Emirates toNewcastle),” says Nicola Short, head ofmarketing for the Newcastle GatesheadInitiative. “It provided the meetingspace. I think just having the presencethere was important and that is why wedecided to come back this year.”

Launched earlier this month, the dailyservice saw the first two Emirates Dubai-Newcastle flights full and the cargocapacity giving a major boost to the air-port’s freight handling.

According to tourism marketing man-

Bahrain International airport is at Routes2007 on the back of a 20% increase inpassengers – and forecasts that it couldhit 12 million passengers by 2011.

That’s the message from Riyadh AlMaskati, the airport’s general managercargo and business development, speak-ing at the show yesterday.

In 2006, 6.6 million passengers passedthrough the Gulf airport and its expectedto hit more than 6.8 million this year.

“By 2011, the airport will be equippedto handle up to 12 million passengers,”he says. “It is going from strength tostrength.”

At present, Al Maskati said thatBahrain was focused on several areas interms of attracting airlines – Americancarriers, Chinese airlines and low costcarriers.

“Some of the low cost carriers are oper-ating to the Far East and places like

Maldives and it would be an opportunityfor them to stop over in Bahrain,” he says.

To cope with growing passengerdemand, a major expansion programmeis underway at the airport. The $212 mil-lion three-phase expansion will see theairport capable of handling 18 millionpassengers a year by 2010 and 45 millionpassengers a year by 2015.

The expansion programme will see thenumber of air bridges increased fromseven to 16, including two capable ofhandling the Airbus A380.

Significantly developing the airport isnecessary to enable Bahrain to competein the hothouse competitive environ-ment that is the Arabian Gulf. The air-port is competing against the likes ofDoha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai (all repre-sented at Routes 2007) but Al Maskati isconfident it will fight its corner.

“Bahrain International airport isunique in the Gulf,” he said. “It isacknowledged by international carriersfor its HSE record and it has been onthe map of aviation for a long time. Itis the airport to a give better value formoney service.”

ager with North East England HelenMcLoughlin, the launch of the servicehas already had a big impact on tourismand the region’s profile.

She says: “It has already done usincredibly well in terms of our profileand it offers us huge opportunities infuture in terms of inward investmentand inbound tourism.”

Short says that the service openedup many routes via Emirates’ Dubaihub and that was already beingexploited regionally with a trade mis-

sion planned for November this year.She says: “I think what is particular-

ly exciting is the whole quality imagethat Emirates brings with it. Its wholebrand is about quality and that’s huge-ly attractive. We are all hoping that thedaily service will become a doubledaily service.”

The three-way partnership here atRoutes is hoping for a repeat of the suc-cess at this year’s event. A transatlanticcarrier and an operator from Scandinaviaare high on the priority list, says Short.

Teamtriumphant:Nicola Short(left) andHelenMcLoughlin

Riyadh AlMaskati, theBahrain airport generalmanagercargo andbusinessdevelopment

EXHIBITOR NEWS

To readthe

AirlineBusinessblogs visitflightglobal.com/ab

Routes takes goals to Newcastle


ENVIRONMENT FOCUS

EasyJet stands, and hopes to deliver, on the ever-pressing environmental impact of aviation...EasyJet is taking a stand on the

ever-pressing issue of theimpact of aviation on the envi-

ronment, and has published a documentdesigned to ‘educate and inform’ the flyingpublic and prompt an ‘intelligent debate’ onthe issue.

In its ‘Towards Greener Skies: the SurprisingTruth About Flying and the Environment’ doc-ument, the UK budget carrier calls for theenactment of legislation that “incentivises air-lines and consumers to fly as efficiently as pos-sible, using ever-cleaner aircraft”.

EasyJet is calling for the UK’s air passengerduty (APD) environmental tax to bereformed to include the air cargo and busi-ness aviation sectors, and to contain between15 and 20 different tax bands based on air-craft type. This, argues chief executive AndyHarrison, would make it easier for consumersto make an informed choice and book flightson more environmentally-friendly aircraft.

“At the moment, consumers can look at asmall, efficient car and a 4x4, and see the dif-ference, but they just look at planes and seetwo wings,” says Harrison, who wants 700 ofthe “oldest and dirtiest aircraft” currently fly-ing around Europe to be banned. “Low-costaviation has substituted for charter and lega-cy carriers – if you get the tax right, it willaccelerate that substitution from the ineffi-cient to the efficient.”

As a warning to the global aviation sector,Harrison says: “The environment debate isgreatest in the UK, which is bizarre given thatthe UK is an island. But even if it is not ragingin your country at the moment, it will be in afew years time.” The environment debatemakes its way to Stockholm this week with theRoutes event devoting one of the sessions in itsLeaders’ Forum to ‘The Greening of Aviation’.The session, which is scheduled for Mondayafternoon, will feature speakers such asEmirates’ president Tim Clark and Dr FaribaAlamdari, vice-president of market and valueanalysis at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.Under discussion will be the increased envi-

Eco-friendly

ronmental pressures that come with thegrowth in air services.

Routes will also be briefing the press on‘green approach’ trials taking place atStockholm Arlanda Airport. ‘Green approach’enables radar control computers to communi-cate with aircraft autopilots, meaning thatapproaches can be calculated accurately sothat aircraft can ‘coast’ to landing, cuttingdown on fuel burn.

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTSHarrison believes the impact of aviation on theenvironment is “exaggerated” because “peopledon’t understand the impact of technology”.

This point is backed up by John Hanlon,secretary general of the European Low FaresAirline Association ELFAA, who says: “Youhave to bear in mind that aviation is anextremely young industry. To say that by2050 the industry will be emitting the sameamount as now is extremely pessimistic.”

On the advancement of technology front,easyJet continues to push its self-designed‘ecoJet’, which Harrison insists is “not StarTrek” and will be commercially available by2015, delivering “up to a 50% reduction inemissions”. Harrison has committed to replac-ing easyJet’s entire fleet with ecoJet aircraft, a

process he estimates will take about five years.Dr Steve Howard, chief executive of The

Climate Group, which advises companiesaround the world on their climate changestrategies, says airlines are “the most obvioususe of personal carbon” and this is why avi-ation has been focused on so heavily in theenvironment debate.

However, he adds that the industry hasbeen “its own worst enemy by being bel-ligerent”, and advises airlines to worktogether and embrace their impact on cli-mate change, rather than fight or ignore it.On this front, Howard praises easyJet’sapproach to the issue, but warns: “We arerunning out of places to put carbon. We candrive energy efficiency, but transport is oneof the hardest [sectors to deal with].”

Paul Dickinson, chief executive of theCarbon Disclosure Project, after telling dele-gates attending the recent World Low CostAirlines Congress in London that he felt like“a dentist at a confectionary conference”,advised the airline industry not to campaignagainst government action on greenhousegases.

“It is legitimate to point out that emissions[from aviation] are quite low, but don’t beduplicitous. Play a straight bat,” he said.

EASYJET

EasyJet unveils its campaign to reform UK aviationenvironment tax outside Parliament last week

B Y K E R RY E Z A R D

Amsterdam Schiphol is testingthe first elements of an integratedairport checkpoint that willenable travellers to check them-selves in and clear immigration atthe same time.

Its vision, which it dubs RPP orRedesign Passenger Process, seestravellers conducting self-servicecheck-in, bag drop and immigra-tion clearnance, as well as self-service transfers and eventuallyaircraft boarding, says Ad Rutten,the airport’s chief operating offi-cer. “The idea is to limit the num-ber of times the passenger has tobe in a queue to a minimum.”

The airport already uses self-service check-in extensively and isbeginning tests of self-service bagdrops. Two trial units where pas-sengers can self-label their bags are

being tested with dummy bagswith live tests scheduled to takeplace next year. “This has tobecome the most passenger-friendly machine in the airport,”says Rutten.

“In an ideal world the totalmodel will be installed once thereis a good and worldwide standard-ized biometric identification forpassengers,” says Rutten. Headmits a worldwide standardmight take 5-10 years to achieve.Some airports will move aheadwithout the standard becauseadding border control into thecheckpoint is essential to improveairport throughput.

“We intend to change the com-plete layout of departure hallsgoing from the present check-incounters to walk through counters

where the passenger never has togo back into the flow,” saysRutten. Passengers would only bechecked again when they board.

The investment required tomake these modifications will belarge, but this is not a deterrent. “Ifwe can double the number of pas-sengers we can handle and avoid alot of building cost, as well as sav-ing on staff numbers, the businesscase is relatively easy to make,”explains Rutten.

All the elements of Schiphol’sRPP vision need to be in place for

the full efficiencies of the systemto work. Schiphol is aiming tohandle six passengers per minuteon average using the system.

The airport’s vision goes a stepbeyond the Simplifying PassengerTravel concept envisaged by IATA,but it is not seeing the initiative asone to give it a competitive edge.“We are trying to build an extradimension,” says Rutten, whileseeking market and governmentsupport to get the critical massneeded to make such a system andprocess a reality.


AIRPORT NEWS

Schiphol’sself-serviceheaven

Amsterdam airport wants to bring in self-service baggage drop offs

continental services. Thella F. Bowens,the president and chief executive ofthe San Diego county regional airportauthority, says a key goal is “linkingSan Diego to Europe, Asia, and SouthAmerica with non-stop flights in thenext few years”.

British Airways ended its Heathrowservice in October 2004 and since thenthe airport authority has courted other

“A key goal islinking SanDiego toEurope,Asia,and SouthAmerica withnon-stopflights”Thella FBowens

San Diego sets its sights on bigger and better thingsoverseas carriers, now focusing onattracting Lufthansa.

Although San Diego is a desirabledestination, its 8,750-foot runway andthe surrounding terrain, includingbuildings, impose weight penalties onaircraft, and some hope that Boeing’s787 will make intercontinental servicean economic reality.

The airport has succeeded in draw-ing domestic US discounters and itsgoal is to increase capacity beyond itscurrent 17 million passengers a year byadding ten gates to the 45 now in serv-ice, reconfiguring road access andadapting an ambitious regionalapproach.

San Diego is studying the construc-tion of a new terminal directly acrossthe US/Mexico border that would allowpassengers to walk across the border toboard low-fares flights to destinationswithin Mexico.

San Diego is one of the United States’top tourism draws, but its small andconstrained airport has some outsizedchallenges.

For a single-runway airport, SanDiego’s Lindbergh Field has some bigplans. The world’s second busiest one-runway airport after London’sGatwick, it is also one of the smallest inthe USA and surrounded by both waterand the city.

Literally on the US/Mexico border,San Diego lures more than 32 millionvisitors a year, with a bustling conven-tions and meetings industry as well asmajor medical and hi-tech facilities.The airport is locally called LindberghField, because pioneer aviator CharlesLindbergh’s ‘Spirit of Saint Louis’, actu-ally began its historic flight here. Builtnearby, the Ryan monoplane made itsfirst flight over San Diego’s bay.

The city’s greatest need is more inter-

Like many cities, Austin in Texaslikes low-fares airlines, but it isdoing something unheard of toattract more.

The city council has tenta-tively agreed to lease some 40acres on the airport to GECommercial Aviation Services(GECAS), which would build aterminal, intended specificallyfor one of the new breed oflow-cost airlines that is chang-ing the aviation industry ofMexico, VivaAerobus.

Backed by RyanAir’s owningfamily, VivaAerobus would bethe first and only customer ofthe facility.

It would start with a tempo-rary three-gate modular terminalof 25,000 square feet and if itsservice catches on, the terminalcould be expanded to cover thefull 40 acres. Austin airportspokesman Jim Halbrook says

that the GE unit would lease theland from the city for 30 years,build and operate the terminalsand share revenues with the city.But he said final terms and con-ditions have yet to be agreed.

GE’s interest, he says, stemsfrom its partnership with theLynxs Group, an Austin-baseddeveloper of cargo terminalsand ports.

Lynxs already operates afacility at the airport, and itsjoint venture with GE recentlybought a half-interest in aSwedish firm that builds cargoterminals in Scandinavia. GE isalso part of a joint venture(with Credit Suisse) that has a50% stake in London’s CityAirport.

VivaAerobus plans flightsbetween Austin and the Mexicocities of Cancun, Guadalajara,Leon, Monterrey, Puebla, and

Queretaro using Boeing 737s.The choice of destinations –some, like Cancun, are leisuredestinations while others suchas Leon and Monterrey aremajor business and populationcentres – should appeal to theAustin population.

The city comprises around athird ‘Mexican heritage’ and isalso highly affluent and young.It is also both a hi-tech centre,with a major computer-makernearby, and the state capital.

Australia’s Northern Territory Airports willbe busy at Routes promoting Darwin as aninternational destination, particularly toMiddle East carriers with European networks.

The airport operator’s aviation develop-ment director, Jim Parashos, says talks areongoing with “quite a number” of airlines,and he hopes to advance negotiations withthree to four carriers over the next coupleof days.

“Around 65% of internationalvisitors to Darwin are from the UK,Europe and Scandinavia,” saysParashos. “We are targeting airlinesthat can best provide service intothose markets.”

He adds that Middle East carrierssuch as Emirates and Etihad, as wellas south east Asian hub carriers likeMalaysian Airlines, are good exam-ples of the type of carrier Darwin isaiming to attract.

“We’re hopeful that in three to

six months we will have a positive outcomewith some of the airlines we’re talking with.Quite a few airlines have also requestedmeetings with us.”

Darwin’s existing international servicesare operated by Garuda Indonesia, Jetstarand Royal Brunei. Tiger Airways introducedflights between Darwin and Singapore inDecember 2005, which Parashos describes as

the airport’s “big success story”. Darwin is capable of handling all long-

haul aircraft, including the Airbus A380, andis currently drawing up terminal expansionplans, details of which will be revealed laterthis year.

Northern Territory Airports also operatesfacilities at Alice Springs and Tennant Creek,although Parashos admits the latter is a “very

small regional airport that doesn’tgenerate any revenue”.

While the operator is focusing itsattention on Darwin (see picture) as adestination for scheduled interna-tional flights, it is also looking toincrease international charter oper-ations at Alice Springs.

Parashos says the operator has no“set criteria” when it comes tooffering incentives, but it workswith the regional tourism boardand provides “assistance” to air-lines upon request.

Darwin set for ‘survival of the fittest’ success

AIRPORT NEWS


Innovative JV toboost Austin terminal scheme


Airport operator BAA said it wanted toensure Heathrow Terminal 5 “runs likeclockwork” when it opens next March.

A free lunch and goodie bag are onoffer to those who take part in the six-and-a-half-hour dress rehearsals whichbegin today and will continue for sixmonths.

Construction workers handed con-trol of the building to BAA and BritishAirways (BA) earlier this week. BAA saysthe trials had been designed using les-sons the company had learned from thesecurity and baggage delays faced bypassengers at other terminals over thepast few months.

A BAA spokesperson says: “We’vebeen learning from the experience overthe summer. We want to make sure theterminal is safe, secure and works likeclockwork before we open, and we needvolunteers to help us do that.” The firstfour weeks will involve groups of 30 to100 people being marshalled throughthe airport.

But leading up to the building’sopening, BAA will be looking to usegroups of up to 2,250 people to try outthe facilities as if they were operatinglive. Each participant will be allocatedan imaginary flight and then requiredto act out their passenger’s role.

Earlier this week, BA chief executiveWillie Walsh (pictured) said: “Terminal 5is a fantastic opportunity for BritishAirways and will transform our opera-tions, with less queuing, faster baggagesystems and better punctuality.”

“Terminal 5 isa fantasticopportunityfor BritishAirways”

Willie Walsh BA CEO

EXHIBITOR NEWS

Rockin’ into Routes

Airways will launch services to Stockholm inNovember and Delta will begin serving Stockholmin June 2007.

SAS, meanwhile, will begin linking Stockholmlater this year with Beijing and Bangkok, two citiesit already serves from Copenhagen. LFV is confi-dent it can persuade SAS to launch more Asianroutes from Stockholm and Sigurdson hopesRoutes will help it woo more Asian and US carriers.

Pederson says CPH is targeting Asian carriers andin particular wants a link with India. CPH saysthere is also demand for more US services, includ-ing Miami, Orlando and San Francisco and addi-tional capacity to New York. At Routes it will tryconvince Delta to add a New York service to com-plement its Atlanta-Copenhagen route.

“We don’t believe we have sufficient services toAsia compared to our potential,” Pedersen says.“We also see potential in the US market.”

Pedersen says Routes 2005 “really putCopenhagen on the map. We’re achieving agreater awareness among long-haul carriers.”

Sigurdson thinks Routes 2007 will have a similarpositive impact on Arlanda. But he suggests CPH

and ARL should stop fight-ing and start co-operatingbecause they are in thesame region. “I’m a bit dis-appointed they’re notmore creative than this.Why not come up withtheir own concept? Iexpect more than this.”n

FROM P1

Scandinaviansquare off

Free lunch for rehearsing!

Routes 2007 got away to a flying start last night as musicians and VIPs shared thestage to celebrate the world’s largest airlines and airports gathering. Band One Voice,under conductor Gabriel Fors, led the singing and dancing. The 13th Routes event wasofficially opened by Per Unckel, county governor of Stockholm.

ROUTES HAPPENINGS

India’s GMR acquisition trailIndian airport developer GMRInfrastructure is on the lookout for fur-ther airport acquisitions outside India,following its successful bid earlier thisyear for a concession to develop andmanage Istanbul’s Sabiha GokcenInternational Airport.

The company won the Istanbul ten-der as part of a consortium withMalaysia Airport Holdings and Turkishconstruction company Limak, in whichGMR holds a 40% stake. GMR alsoholds a majority stake in Delhi Airportand is developing the new HyderabadInternational Airport.

Speaking to Airline Business DailyNews after an industry briefing duringRoutes yesterday, GMR Hyderabad’schief operating officer Taltam Srinageshsaid: “If there are good airports availablefor acquisition, as a group we are verykeen to look at them. We are looking to

grow in airports in a major way.” Headds that “some discussions” are takingplace at the moment, and says GMR ismainly focusing on Europe, as well asadditional opportunities in India.

Just five of India’s 449 airports havebeen privatised so far, but Srinagesh

says that “privatisation is here and it’shere to stay”. GMR will open the firstphase of the new Hyderabad airport inMarch 2008. This phase will providecapacity for 12 million passengersannually, but the airport will ultimatelybe capable of handling 40 million pas-sengers per year.

“We want to make Delhi andHyderabad into international hubs forthe north and south of India,” saysSrinagesh, adding that GMR is keen topartner with airlines to help further thisambition. He invites airlines attendingRoutes to approach GMR at its stand inthe exhibition hall to discuss develop-ment opportunities.

Air traffic at Hyderabad’s existing air-port is growing at 44% per year, accordingto Srinagesh. This is largely because of thecity’s shared reputation with Bangalorefor being the “IT capital of India”.

GMRHyderabad’schief operatingofficerTaltamSrinagesh


Thank you for the music!

Delegates and exhibitors entering Routes 2007 found themselves arriving at the show tothe sound of music. It was thanks to the youngsters’ musical ensemble ‘You can singGospel Kids’ who greeted new arrivals at the entrance.

Tee for you: The sixth annual Routes golf tour-nament – sponsored by Stockholm’s Grand Hotel –was held on Saturday at the local Arlandastad cluband the individual winners were Tourism Australia’sKarl Flowers and Eric Grant from Air Canada. Karl’steam also won the team prize. Karl played with two representatives from Routes sponsors Björn Borg:Tommy Österman and Peter Klagsmark.

inbrief

Following the success of last year’s‘airline visit’ prize draw in Dubai,Routes has organised another extrav-aganza for all the airline delegatesto enter.

Not only is this a great way for theairline delegates to relax during theirlunch and coffee breaks, while theymeet the stand hosts, it also gives achance for the show’s hosted net-working stands to promote theirregion.

There are many prizes this year,from weekends away to many differ-ent cities including panoramic flightsand gifts that reflect each country. AllRoutes’ airline delegates have to dois pick up a ‘stamp card’ and thenhave it endorsed by the participatingstand hosts. Once a minimum of sixstamps have been collected, the cardsshould be dropped into the airlinevisit prize draw collection box. All thelucky winners will be contacted onTuesday afternoon.

It’s such a simple and effective wayto network – between the airportsand airlines – right through the event.Watch this space for further details ofprizes and how to take part.

Great prizes upfor grabs...

n IN THENUMBERS

Routes is expected to draw 2,300 delegatesover the next two days. Routes chairman MikeHowarth announced at a press conference justprior to yesterday evening’s opening ceremonythat 500 airline delegates had signed up for theevent. Also attending this year are representa-tives of 750 airports from 110 countries.

2,300


NETWORKING

HAVING A

BALL!A few goal-den moments from Saturday night’s reception at the famous WinterGardens in The Grand Hotel. The football-themed event – sponsored by ViennaInternational Airport and Zurich Airport to celebrate Austia and Switzerland’s jointhosting of the UEFA European Championships next year – kicked off the event instyle as guests chatted over drinks and canapés before having a virtual kickabouton the assembled fussball tables...

Budapest and Sofia, and will open a sev-enth base in the Polish city of Poznan inJanuary. From its new base, Wizz willoperate flights to Robin Hood airport(Doncaster-Sheffield) and GlasgowPrestwick in the UK, as well as Malmoand Oslo in Scandinavia.

Varadi acknowledges the high level ofcompetition in its markets from otherlow-cost carriers, but claims Wizz is “thelowest cost airline in central and easternEurope”. Competition is also high in theregion from other modes of transportand, according to Varadi, only between3% and 4% of people in eastern Europe

travel by air. “We are competing withother means of transport and we are try-ing to move people from taking thecoach and the train to flying. There is ahuge market to capture,” he says.

Wizz Air began operations in May2004 with a fleet of six Airbus A320s. Thecarrier’s fleet will reach 19 A320s by nextsummer, and this will grow to more than50 aircraft by 2012.

Speaking of Wizz’s network strategygoing forward, Varadi (pictured) says: “Wetry to understand the characteristics ofexisting routes and find the same charac-teristics in our new routes.”

LOW COST CONFERENCE


Free airline and airport profiles from ATI at Routes 2007

Thousands of airline and airport executives access ATIeveryday to help them develop news routes and keep aheadof the competition. As a special offer to Routes delegates,you can access free airline and airport profiles from ATI tohelp you prepare for your meetings at the event.

Visit the Flight Internet Area, Stand F2 at Routes 2007or alternatively, sign up for a free trial at www.rati.comor email [email protected]

“We aretrying tomove peoplefrom takingthe coach andthe train toflying.There isa hugemarket tocapture”Jozsef VaradiWizz Air CEO

Wizz Airheads east

To readthe Airline

Business blogsvisitflightglobal.com/ab

Central European budget carrier Wizz Airis looking to expand its network to theeast, and will next year launch service toseveral undisclosed destinations outsidethe European Union.

Wizz Air chief executive Jozsef Varadisays the carrier is “looking towards theeast”, but recognises the challenges facedwhen venturing outside the EU.

“Once you step out of the EU, you aresubject to bilateral agreements. But weare working on those and will start anumber of new markets in 2008 that areoutside the EU and to the east,” saysVaradi. He declines to specify which mar-kets are under consideration.

Wizz Air operates out of three bases inPoland – Gdansk, Katowice and Warsaw.The carrier also has bases in Bucharest,


ate a number of mandatory routesthat do not attract high load factors.“On our social obligation routes,loads are far too low to be economi-cal, so this requires some manage-ment,” says Cowen.

Nevertheless, Sama’s average loadfactor for July was “just under 70%”,and it has so far carried over 300,000passengers. As the region’s aviation

Six month-old Saudi Arabian budgetcarrier Sama is about to expand itsnetwork into the north of theKingdom as it takes delivery of itssixth Boeing 737-300.

Sama launched operations inMarch after it was granted a licence tooperate domestic flights by SaudiArabia’s general authority for civilaviation (GACA), as part of a liberali-sation of domestic routes.

At the end of October the carrierwill begin flights from the northerncity of Hail to Ar’ar, Al Qurayyaf, AlJawf, Rafha and Tabuk. It will alsolink Hail with its Dammam base.

Sama chief executive AndrewCowen says Saudi Arabia’s “veryyoung population” provides “a greatopportunity for us as a low-cost carri-er”. He adds: “Routes are underservedbut the situation is changing rapidly.”

One challenge Sama does face is itsobligation to the government to oper-

“Saudi’s veryyoungpopulation isa greatopportunityfor a low costcarrier”AndrewCowen Sama CEO

Sama expands into northern Saudi Arabiamarket gradually becomesmore liberalised, Cowen sees plenty of opportunitiesgoing forward.

“There is quite a lot of liberalisation occurring. Weare some way from an OpenSkies free market, but Arab nations are certainlypressing along that path,” he says.

Sama is taking advantageof strong demand from pil-grims for flights to Islamic

holy sites, and is also eyeing thepotential of a number of “economiccities” which are being establishedthroughout the country. “Saudi Arabiais investing in economic cities – six ofwhich have the ambition to be biggerthan Dubai. We fly to four of themalready,” says Cowen.

Sama aims to build a fleet of 35 aircraft by 2010.


Germanwings chief executiveThomas Winkelmann (pic-tured) has bad news for air-ports trying to woo the low-cost carrier. Germanwings, he

says, will stick to Germany and not open anyoverseas bases because there are plenty ofopportunities to expand in its home marketfollowing the sale of dba, Condor and LTUto rival Air Berlin.

“We’re the only pure low-cost carrier leftin Germany,” he says. “Our home market isGermany and we want to grow withGermany.”

He says germanwings is on pace to carrymore than eight million passengers in 2007and reach the 10 million passenger mark in2009 – and can do this without any overseasbases. He points out Germany has a popula-tion of 80 million and Germans travel morefrequently than any other European nation-ality. “We have our hands full withGermany.”

Winkelmann plans to expand all five ofgermanwing’s bases – Berlin Schonefeld,Cologne/Bonn, Dortmund, Hamburg andStuttgart. He says the “top priority” will beto expand Cologne/Bonn and Stuttgart.“We’re the top carrier at both airports andwe’ll build up our network there.”

Germanwings has nearly 70 destinationsand a fast-growing eastern European net-work. Kiev and Skopje are its newest destina-tions and Winkelmann is looking for morenew routes to ex-Soviet states, includingSarajevo where germanwings has been try-ing to secure rights for several months. “If itopens up we are there,” Winkelmann says,

adding there are three or four other destina-tions in the region germanwings will fly to ifit gets the green light from local authorities.He calls Croatia “a wonderful germanwingsniche”, pointing out that the airline hasmore flights in Croatia than Croatia Airlines.

But for now Winkelmann is not interest-ed in setting up a base in eastern Europe oracquiring one of the region’s several newlow-cost carriers. He says there are current-ly too many low-cost carriers operating incentral and eastern Europe and german-wings will wait for carriers to fold beforemaking any big moves. “We have a lot ofplayers there now that won’t be there for-ever.”

Germanwings currently operates 27Airbus A320 family aircraft. It will takeanother seven A319s next year, three ofwhich will be used to replace larger A320sand four of which will be used for growth.Winkelmann acknowledges expanding thefleet by less than 15% is conservative giventhe much more rapid expansion of othercentral European low-cost carriers. But hesays “therefore we are profitable and they arenot. We’ve seen a lot of carriers expand toofast recently.

“Our goal is profitable growth. We’ll endthis year better than last year. We’re veryconservative in our balance sheet.”

If there is consolidation in the overheatedlow-cost sector, germanwings will pounceand accelerate its expansion by taking air-craft from its sister carrier. Lufthansa, whichoperates mainly from Germany’s two largest

Local hero

To read the AirlineBusiness blogs visit

www.flightglobal.com/ab

airports Munich and Frankfurt while german-wings sticks to medium-size airports, owns49% of germanwings.

Germanwings faces stiff competition fromlow-cost carriers based outside Germany,including easyJet and Ryanair, both of whichare much larger. But Winkelmann says ger-manwings has an advantage becauseGermans appreciate flying with a Germancarrier and it also has a large followingamong business travellers.

“Germans trust brand names and trust thebrand names of German companies,” hesays.

He adds the carrier also has higher ancil-lary revenues than Ryanair or easyJetalthough it does not charge for checked bagsor early boarding. “We try to be the Amazonof airlines. We know our passengers.”

Winkelmann says 40% of germanwings’passengers are business oriented. He says ger-manwings has been able to build up this typeof business by operating to primary airportsat major European cities, offering high fre-quencies on key business routes and gettinginto the inventory systems of German corpo-rations. Germanwings offers a flexible farethat is popular with business travellers and inNovember will start allowing name changesfor certain tickets.

It now has contracts in place with 300German companies, which account for 5% ofits passengers. “To get into the inventory ofbig corporations you have to have your faresaccessible and directly in the system of cor-porate booking tool,” he says.

Germanwings introduced a low-cost transfer scheme in late August in which passengers canconnect between its flights – but must re-check their bags and be re-screened by security.Winkelmann says three airports are covering the cost of its new ‘Smart Connect’ service by sup-plying a booth for re-checking bags. There is ‘zero cost’ to germanwings because passengersmove their bags themselves. “We have a slogan: ‘You always see your luggage,’” Winkelmannsays. “We’re a point-to-point, not a connecting airline.”

He acknowledges it is inconvenient for passengers to re-check bags and go through security asecond time but says: “These days no one understands when to go through security or not.”

Because the ‘Smart Connect’ fare is less than two individual fares combined, germanwings willonly sell it on flights that are not traditionally full. Winkelmann expects it will give germanwingsa load factor boost from 82% to 84%. He says Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart and Berlin Schonefeld air-ports are willing to pay for it because the scheme will generate traffic for them that is nowgoing through other European hubs.

inshort Getting connected

INTERVIEW

Germanwings’ chief Winkelmann plans expansion for the carrier’s five German bases


STAT ATTACK

Data-downloadPLANNED CAPACITY GROWTH TOP 10s

EMIRATES 661 14.4% 502 +50 162 17.1% 15.5% 44.7% 35.6%QATAR AIRWAYS 337 51.9% 329 +43 73 54.9% 8.5% 17.7% 12.0%SAUDI ARABIAN AIRLINES 244 -3.0% 178 +4 60 0.2% 11.3% - 6.8%GULF AIR 196 -15.7% 250 -40 57 -11.7% 7.9% - 7.3%ETIHAD AIRWAYS 187 27.7% 170 +42 49 33.9% 4.2% - 14.4%AIR INDIA 93 -7.6% 146 -12 31 -10.3% 6.8% - -PAKISTAN INT’L AIRLINES 89 9.0% 195 +8 40 4.2% 6.5% - -AIR INDIA EXPRESS 84 174 +174 31 6.1% - -INDIAN AIRLINES 82 10.9% 224 +28 34 13.6% 6.0% - -KUWAIT AIRWAYS 77 -9.0% 90 -6 20 -11.6% 4.0% - 1.9%TOTAL MARKET 2,821 14.2% 3,288 +415 758 15.5% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

EL AL 174 14.1% 57 +6 18 13.2% 25.0% 9,778 316EMIRATES 123 64.6% 28 +0 11 64.6% 17.7% 11,013 400ROYAL JORDANIAN 78 46.7% 32 +10 8 46.5% 11.3% 9,452 256CONTINENTAL AIRLINES 62 -14.3% 24 -4 7 -14.3% 8.9% 9,149 283ETIHAD AIRWAYS 62 20 +20 6 8.9% 11,088 290DELTA AIR LINES 60 55.8% 20 +6 5 42.9% 8.7% 11,286 268QATAR AIRWAYS 48 14 +14 4 7.0% 11,138 311SAUDI ARABIAN AIRLINES 30 37.2% 8 +2 3 33.3% 4.3% 10,556 358AIR CANADA 20 25.0% 10 +2 2 25.0% 2.8% 9,305 212KUWAIT AIRWAYS 20 0.0% 6 +0 2 0.0% 2.8% 10,213 320TOTAL MARKET 697 54.8% 225 +62 68 48.7% 100.0% 10,298 301

EMIRATES 690 7.3% 450 +42 139 7.9% 27.9% 4,813 319QATAR AIRWAYS 263 32.8% 222 +26 56 36.4% 10.6% 4,547 250ETIHAD AIRWAYS 153 5.2% 116 +14 29 5.2% 6.2% 5,325 249EL AL 149 6.9% 303 -5 53 5.6% 6.0% 2,690 178BRITISH AIRWAYS 140 3.8% 127 -15 30 0.4% 5.7% 4,164 201LUFTHANSA 122 13.2% 122 +10 33 7.7% 4.9% 3,658 261KLM 90 -10.0% 76 -18 19 -12.1% 3.6% 4,641 257AIR FRANCE 88 -2.4% 108 -2 21 -1.9% 3.5% 3,946 207GULF AIR 85 -36.3% 88 -40 18 -37.1% 3.4% 4,161 196IRAN AIR 71 4.6% 78 +6 20 4.8% 2.9% 3,373 239TOTAL MARKET 697 54.8% 225 +62 68 48.7% 100.0% 4,132 236

AIRLINE WEEKLY CAPACITY WEEKLY FREQUENCIES WEEKLY SEATS OFFERED MARKET AVERAGE AVERAGE SEATINGASK CHANGE TOTAL CHANGE THOUSANDS CHANGE SHARE DISTANCE CAPACITY

million

Middle East/Asia carriers

Middle East/North America carriers

Middle East/Europe carriers

AIRLINE WEEKLY CAPACITY WEEKLY FREQUENCIES WEEKLY SEATS OFFERED MARKET SHARE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST TO ASK CHANGE TOTAL CHANGE THOUSANDS CHANGE SOUTH ASIA EAST ASIA SOUTHEAST

million ASIA/PACIFIC

AIRLINE WEEKLY CAPACITY WEEKLY FREQUENCIES WEEKLY SEATS OFFERED MARKET AVERAGE AVERAGE SEATINGASK CHANGE TOTAL CHANGE THOUSANDS CHANGE SHARE DISTANCE CAPACITY

million

SOURCE: DATA COMPILED BY FLIGHT INSIGHT BASED ON INNOVATA SCHEDULES, FIRST WEEK OCTOBER 2007 VERSUS FIRST WEEK OCTOBER 2006


afterhoursTHINGS TO DO IN STOCKHOLM IN YOUR DOWNTIME

A lovely old town...Located on a small island in theheart of Stockholm, Gamla Stamis a maze of mediaeval alleys andcobbled streets.

There’s a colourful square,Stortorget, the site of theStockholm Bloodbath where

Swedish noblemen were slaugh-tered by the Danish in 1520.Today it is a peaceful square withbrightly-coloured buildings,musicians playing, and peoplerelaxing in surrounding cafés.

The streets leading off thesquare are full of shops, bou-tiques and souvenior shopswhere you can purchase aDalahasten – little woodenpainted horses – a typicalSwedish souvenir.

Other highlights include theRoyal Palace on Stadsholmen –the offical residence of theSwedish monarch.

The royal family’s private resi-dence is Drottningholm Palace,where you can watch the chang-ing of the guard, and next to the

palace is Stockholm Cathedral,Sankt Nikolai kyrka (SaintNicolaus Church), Stockholm’soldest church.

You could stroll down Öster-långgatan (Eastern Long Street)and lunch at Den GyldeneFreden (Golden Peace),Stockholm’s oldest tavern. It isthought to be the only restau-rant in the world to have maintained the same surround-ings and environment since1722. To make a reservation call (8) 24 9760).

Gamla Stan is the perfectplace for an afternoon stroll, butif your feet are too tired frompounding the halls you couldalways take a horse and cart ridearound the town!

n AIRPORT INFO:•Stockholm ArlandaAirportLuftfartsverket Arlanda,S-190 45 StockholmArlanda&797 6000 / www.lfv.se•The Arlanda airportexpress train leaves forStockholm’s central station (1) every 15 min-utes and costs 200 crowns(SEK200/ £14.70) for the20-minute journey.

n PHONE INFO:Code for Sweden: +46Stockholm Area Code: 08

n EMERGENCY NUMBERS:• Police, Fire,

Ambulance: 112• Healthcare Information

Service (for minorproblems): &463 91 00

• 24 hour pharmacyThe CW ScheelePharmacy 11181 Stockholm,Klarabergsgatan 64

n TOURIST INFO:• Main tourist officeHamngatan 27, & 508 28 508

www.stockholmtown.com• Tourist centre/excursion shop SegelsTorg 1 &508 28 508 www.stockholmtown.com• City sightseeing(Guided bus tours)Gustav Adolfs Torg&587 140 20• Stockholm sightseeing(Guided boat tours)Stromkajen, Grand Hotel&587 140 20

n EMBASSIES ANDCONSULATES:• British EmbassySkarpogatan 6-8, 115 93 &+46 (8) 671 3000

• United StatesEmbassy

Dag Hammarskjölds Väg31, SE-115 89. &+46 (8) 783 5300• DenmarkJakobs Torg 1, Box 1638, 111 86, &+46 (8) 4067500• FinlandGärdesgatan 11&+ 46 (8) 676 6700• FranceBox 5335, 102 47Stockholm&+46 (8) 459 53 30• Estonia

Tyrgatan 3/3a, 11427. Box 26076, 10041

&+46 (8) 5451 2298• GermanySkarpogatan 9, Box 27832, 115 27. &+46 (8) 6 70 15 00• ItalyOakhill – Djugården& +46 (8) 5456 710• NetherlandsGotgatan 16A104 65. & +46 (8) 556 933 00• NorwaySkarpögatan 4, S-115 27& +46 (8) 665 6340• JapanGärdesgatan 10, 115 27 & +46 (8)579 353

US

EF

UL

IN

FO

ALL YOU NEED: Some useful telephone numbers to help smooth over your visit to Routes in Stockholm.

AFTERHOURS PICTURES COURTESY OF STOCKHOLM VISITORS BOARD

Stretch your legs away from the halls and check out the delights to be seen in Gamla Stan

RICH

ARD

RYAN

Changing of the guard

Drottningholm Palace

GONDOLEN Stadsgarden 6, top of Katrina Hissen,Sodermalm &641 70 90Very expensive for two reasons –a fantastic menu of mainly Frenchcuisine by award-winning chefs,and the second draw – stunningviews of Stockholm/Lake Malar.

BRÄNNVINTullhus 2, Skeppsbrokajen, &22 57 55The name of this restaurant is atype of distilled beverage – vodka.There are 40 on the menu. As forfood you will be served 44 tinyportions, a real taste of Sweden.Fantastic waterfront view ofStrömmen Canal.

FRANSKA MATSALENSödra Blasieholmshamnen 8,&679 35 84One of Sweden’s top restaurants –located in the plush Grand Hoteloverlooking the Gamla Stam andRoyal Palace.

PONTUS IN THE GREENHOUSEÖsterlånggatan 17, &545 273 00Top chef Pontus Frithiof deliversa beautiful, creative menu at hiscozy restaurant with an emphasison seafood and an excellent wine cellar.

FINE DINING...*

*Remember to book ahead!

Documents

Scandinavian stand-off takes centre stage