Videoconferencing is a much better option for many airline passengers
Some years ago, passengers at London Heathrow Airport embarking for a New York flight were confronted with a sign:
New York with British Airways - 7 hours
New York with Concorde - 2.5 hours
New York with .... videoconferencing - 30 seconds
These figures referred to only the time required for the trans-Atlantic flight. Add one hour to reach the airport in London, the requirement to arrive there two hours before flight departure, the time taken to exit the airport in New York and then add travel time from the airport to an office in New York and the total travel time becomes 12 hours as a minimum for “New York with British Airways.”
Early next year (2008), Heathrow’s infrastructure will improve. Last week on 17 September 2007, the British Airports Authority, BAA, received the keys to the new Heathrow Terminal 5, which has been designed to handle 35 million passengers a year, enough to handle about half the annual traffic of 70 million passengers. This should allow faster check-in and almost eliminate the cases of lost luggage.
There will also be large and very luxurious lounges belonging to the major airlines where upper class passengers can await their flight in comfort. (See Global Traveller, Financial Times Special Report 17 September 2007.)
Once Terminal 5 is up and running, BAA will turn its attention to the Heathrow East project that replaces Terminals 1 and 2 and other changes to infrastructure that will aim at creating “a new airport for London” by 2012 when London hosts the Summer Olympic Games.
London Heathrow will still be one of the busiest airports in the world. And if the Terminals are not congested, the two runways certainly will be unless a third runway (awaiting planning approval) is constructed in due time.
Today, Heathrow Hassle (which includes tight security and restrictions on hand luggage since the security alert of August 2006) adds to the difficulties of such travel. But the restrictions on hand baggage may soon be eased from one to two items. Fast-tracking arrangements for check-in may be extended and day-to-day maintenance should now be improved.
The Labour Government’s Minister responsible for Transport, Ruth Kelly, called a security summit of airlines, arirport staff and civil servants in July 2007. In August, she visited Heathrow with Rafael Del Pino, Chairman of the Spanish group Ferrovial which owns BAA; and an injection of funds for improvements followed.
But London Heathrow is a long way from matching the efficiency of London City Airport just three miles north-east of Canary Wharf and the City to which it is connected by the DLR (Dockland light Railway).
At London City airport, the flights are mostly short-haul and aircraft carry no more than 100 passengers. Some passengers are said to arrive as little as only 20 minutes before their flight.
Once the London Crossrail project to link East and West London is completed in 2015, passengers from Oxford Street in central London will be able to reach London City Airport in 15 minutes.
Traveling through London Heathrow airport is set to improve; but given the option of reaching New York in 30 seconds with videoconferencing, what would you choose?
After all, the video meeting will then play a small part in slowing climate change which is high up on the United Nations agenda this week.
Source: www.VCInsight.com
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