The following article was published by Future Travel Experience

Founder & CEO Daniel Coleman provides an update on some of the key Future Travel Experience projects for the next few months, including our landmark in-person events and rapidly-growing FTE Communities.

Dear friends and colleagues,

I write this note 10,000m up on a packed flight back from Istanbul. It is an incredibly buoyant and exciting time for our sector as demand to travel is still booming, and it feels the industry is really now taking on the big topics like digital transformation, empowering workforce & passengers, and sustainability, which too often in previous years were just being paid lip service to in my view. Our expanded Advisory Board and I believe that this decade will be a defining era for our sector and I am proud that FTE is right at the heart of accelerating progress, driving more collaboration and sharing across the industry. I want to take this opportunity to provide an update on some of our key projects for the next few months.

FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit – bringing roboticists and aviation experts together next month to co-create new solutions; Alaska Airlines keynote announced and 30 airline/airport groups registered from around the world

The Aviation & Robotics Summit is being delivered in partnership with our highly progressive partners at Pittsburgh International Airport on 14-16 May. It rewrites the rules on what you can expect from an industry event – taking place at the renowned Carnegie Mellon University with an opening keynote from Alaska Airlines and contributions from pioneers inside and outside of our sector, plus visits to the most dynamic robotics companies based in PIT, and workshops putting roboticists and aviation experts together. It is a free must-attend event for airline/airport executives embracing the fact that robotics are ready now to help solve many of our most pressing challenges. Participation will enable attendees to truly understand how the rise of autonomy will impact the way our sector evolves hugely into the future, and provide connections to many of the industry’s most progressive organisations seeking to leverage advanced technology. Register / express your interest in attending the FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit >>

FTE EMEA and FTE Ancillary & Retailing agendas launched; Ryanair announced as a Headline Partner; free to attend for airlines and low-cost for airports

This show is where the worlds of digital, commercial and CX collide and we recently launched the first phase of our agendas for the upcoming co-located FTE EMEA and FTE Ancillary & Retailing events, taking place in Dublin on 11-13 June. These feature some fantastic highlights – an opening keynote session including an interview with Anko van der Werff, CEO, SAS, a major focus on AI, and the reveal of a brand-new Think Tank on “Future Differentiation & Business Models” being created exclusively with senior execs from flyadeal, Vantage Airport Group, Beond, Keflavik Airport, CAVU and Fast Future, through to our Innovate Awards competition which will see airlines, airports & suppliers across the EMEA region competing to win, plus multiple social events in one of the most fun and vibrant cities in the world. Register here – one registration provides access to both events.

Ryanair has become a Headline Partner to FTE EMEA/Ancillary & Retailing, joining International Airlines Group (IAG), APEX and Dublin Airport as fellow Headline Partners.

Ryanair will carry 300 million passengers a year by 2034, and I am pleased to report today that they have also become the newest member of the FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub, joining Vienna International Airport, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Gulf Air Group, Manchester Airports Group, Isavia and London Luton Airport, which have all joined in recent weeks – the majority of whom have also joined the FTE Baggage Innovation Working Group (BIWG), which now has 112 members around the world.

FTE Communities – almost 850 member organisations collectively now; plus dynamic meetings in Frankfurt, Pittsburgh and Dublin imminent

The speed at which the FTE Communities memberships are scaling and inspiring one another is a great source of pride to me, because I am convinced we will find the right approaches much faster as an industry if we pool our ideas and learnings to move forward as one versus working in silos. Collectively, our Hub, BIWG and World Airport Retailing Working Group (WARWG) have almost 850 individual corporations as members.

The in-person community meetings (like our recent gathering in Tampa in late-February) are extra special as they enable fantastic relationship-building and deeper discussions on topics away from the official proceedings. I look forward to our next meeting in Frankfurt on 15 April kindly hosted by Lufthansa, and those around our landmark Aviation & Robotics event in Pittsburgh on 14 May, and ahead of our Dublin event on 11 June, and to hearing the latest on a number of the POCs taking place within the groups.

As our latest schedule of activities shows, we are offering more high-level content and gatherings across our portfolio than ever before, all designed to support the industry as it lays new foundations to better serve passengers, workforces and planet, while increasing revenues.

The line-up for our in-person events and meetings is below and our websites have a lot of information on plans and how to take part:

• Frankfurt – 15 April 2024: FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub and FTE Baggage Innovation Working Group (BIWG) meeting hosted by Lufthansa
• Pittsburgh – 14-16 May 2024: FTE Aviation & Robotics Summit hosted by Pittsburgh International Airport (FTE Hub and BIWG meetings)
• Dublin – 11-13 June 2024: FTE EMEA & FTE Ancillary & Retailing delivered in partnership with IAG, Dublin Airport and Ryanair (FTE World Airport Retailing Working Group, Hub and BIWG meetings)
• Los Angeles – 28-30 October 2024: FTE Global co-located with APEX/IFSA Global EXPO (FTE World Airport Retailing Working Group, Hub and BIWG meetings)
• Singapore – 19-20 November 2024: FTE APEX Asia Expo delivered in partnership with Changi Airport Group, Onboard Hospitality and Singapore Airlines (FTE Hub and BIWG meetings)

FTE Global and FTE APEX Asia Expo plans taking shape; Warner Bros. Discovery, DFW, Air France, JFK Terminal One, EL AL, BER, Qatar Airways, Southwest already set to speak; plus new Showcase Zones and Buyer Programs launched

We recently announced a must-attend keynote session for FTE Global in which David Decker, President of Content Sales, will discuss how Warner Bros. Discovery has adapted and evolved to best serve its consumers and business partners – and succeed in a post-pandemic landscape. I tease a few of the confirmed organisations speaking across these shows above, but we will save the big announcements on FTE Global (co-located with APEX/IFSA Global EXPO) in LA on 28-30 October, and FTE APEX Asia Expo in Singapore on 19-20 November until my next update, but rest assured we have set the bar very high for what we want to achieve with those shows and we have no doubt they will be our biggest, and best, events in the Americas and Asia-Pac yet.

Please do let me know if you would be interested to learn more regarding any of our plans, join any of our FTE Communities, share ideas for content you would like to see us tackle, or to discuss speaking opportunities. We hope to see you soon at one of our upcoming landmark gatherings and wish you all the best with your efforts to advance progress both within your own organisation and our wider industry.

All the best.

Daniel Coleman

Founder & CEO

Future Travel Experience

daniel.coleman@futuretravelexperience.com

Article originally published here:
FTE CEO update – Ryanair, VIE, Alaska, PANYNJ, SAS & MAG collaboration; plus Communities reach 850 members

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While the most common way for American travelers to get to Portugal had formerly been with a flight to Lisbon (or a transfer in a larger European hub), the country’s exploding popularity has pushed airlines to launch more routes not just to the capital but also to smaller cities that are common destinations for tourists.

For the summer of 2024, Delta Air Lines  (DAL)  resumed a Boston-Lisbon route that was lost to the pandemic while United Airlines  (UAL)  announced a new flight between Newark International Airport (EWR) and Faro in the country’s coastal Algarve region.

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The latter flight, which was initially scheduled to start running on May 24 on a Boeing 757-200  (BA) , is now put off indefinitely as both Boeing and United face investigations over several high-profile incidents such as when smoke filled the cabin on a plane taking off from Los Angeles and a tire falling off at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

There is a big reason that a glitzy new route was canceled

While no injuries were caused, the airline is holding off on the route that it would want to launch to great fanfare to focus on both the investigation and rebuilding its PR image.

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“It's unlike United to cancel such a splashy new route with such short notice, especially considering how the carrier made a big marketing push around the new route when it was originally announced in October,” writes Zach Griff of The Points Guy. “Turns out, the reason for United's close-in cancellation is due to the ongoing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) audit that commenced just a few days ago due to recent safety events involving the airline, as confirmed by a carrier spokesperson.”

The same spokesperson said that it still plans to launch the Newark-Faro flight by the summer of 2025 but did not give any more concrete details about the schedule. It is also delaying a “fifth freedom” route that goes from the U.S. to Tokyo and later on to Cebu in the Philippines.

Both destinations have been seeing growing interest from American tourists and the airline tried to tap into a market that was formerly filled only by smaller local airlines that tourists from far away would catch after flying into a metropolis.

There’s been a wrinkle in United’s plan to tap into hot new tourist destinations

"We have consistently been ahead of the curve in finding hidden gem destinations for our customers to explore and remain committed to providing the most unique slate of travel options for their adventures abroad," United's Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning Patrick Quayle said in a statement at the time.

Now, the airline is delaying such routes that it launched both to market itself as an airline that flies to such popular destinations and to slowly build out demand in order to focus on the investigation and bad publicity that came as a result of the recent safety incidents. 

“This schedule change is a consequence of that,” United said in a statement while adding that those who had already booked flights to Faro or Cebu on their site will receive communication from the airline and a “full refund” of what they paid.

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While the 63 national parks spread across the U.S. are an inextricable part of American culture, visiting all of them is by no means a cheap endeavor.

Many are not easy to access without a car and, along with the usual travel and accommodation costs of going to so many states and territories, the parks themselves also charge visitors fees at different points in their visit. Sometimes this is exclusively for “extras” such a spot on a camping site but, increasingly, parks have been either raising or introducing entry and parking fees amid overcrowding.

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The most expensive national park in the U.S. is, as travel journalist Stephen Hanson recently identified in a fare comparison, the Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve in Northern Alaska.

This is the most remote (and often most expensive) national park to visit

Often dubbed the “most remote national park in the U.S.,” the Gates of the Arctic has no entry fee but is incredibly costly to get to due to its location in the far north of the Arctic. Without direct road access, the only way to get there is to fly from Anchorage to the nearest small settlement such as Kotzebue or Anaktuvuk Pass by charter plane. The Arctic terrain also means visitors often need to hire guides, pay inflated prices for the limited accommodation and bring special gear.

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“While many beautiful national parks in the US are well worth a trip despite their remote setting, Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve requires a particularly dedicated resolve from any traveler who wants to visit,” Hanson writes. “Though prices can vary depending on the length of the trip and the destination, passengers can expect to pay anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars for a ticket.” 

Channel Islands National Park off the coast of Southern California is the country’s second-most expensive in the U.S. for a similar reason. The five Channel Islands sit in the Pacific Ocean and can only be accessed by ferry from Ventura Harbor. Depending on the time of day and year, the three-hour ferry ranges in price from $60 to $120 (the park itself, once you get there, has no entry fee.)

These national parks are also very expensive (here is why)

Parks that are easily accessible by car but have high entry fees due to overcrowding include Yosemite in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains and Glacier National Park on the border between Montana and Canada’s British Columbia. 

Both parks charge each vehicle coming in a $35 entry fee on top of additional additional fees for staying there overnight. In 2021, Yosemite raised the camping fee from $6 to $10 per person to keep up with the cost of running the park amid growing numbers of people who started visiting as part of their local travels during the pandemic.

“Visitors should be prepared to spend more money on gas and set aside an entire day for travel when heading out to the park,” Hanson writes of Glacier National Park. “Upon arriving, visitors to Glacier will have to pay a $35 entry fee.”

SEE THE FULL LIST OF MOST EXPENSIVE NATIONAL PARKS HERE.

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