One of the most important regulators in the world is set to speak at the Aviation Club UK next month on Thursday 15 June 2017.

Michael Huerta runs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the USA, and is responsible for the safety and efficiency of the largest aerospace system in the world with more than 47,000 employees who provide aircraft and airport safety oversight and air traffic services to more than 50,000 commercial and private flights each day…

Download the full media release HERE.

Pieter Elbers addressed Aviation Club UK members and guests at their Club luncheon on Wednesday 5 April.  Elbers confirmed the importance of the UK market to KLM quoting the following key messages:

‘The UK is KLM’s single most important market out of the Netherlands. In three years’ time we have increased the number of seats to the UK by 20%. Last year, we opened three new UK destinations (Inverness, Southampton and London City). This is proof of our commitment to the UK and our faith in the further development of this market.

‘Currently, with 17 destinations and 71 frequencies a day we welcome on board as many as 4.2 million passengers per year. This means almost 1 out of 6 KLM passengers flying through Schiphol enter via one of our UK routes. With our network we offer services to the world from more cities in the UK than any other airline, we are UK’s regional “home carrier”!  

‘What sets us apart from the competition? Most of all, we want to offer our passengers a memorable experience. KLM will not be the most luxurious, nor have the lowest cost, but instead we have made a choice for customer intimacy. This is in our DNA.

‘Digital enables large scale customer intimacy. We have now rolled out over 14.000 iPads for frontline staff. This will enable them to personalize their service to customers and to solve problems more directly.  Ever since the ash cloud in 2009 when we evolved our social media response KLM has been a frontrunner in digital and social media. Since then a lot has happened. The world around us evolved. And so did we.

‘With 100,000 incoming messages a week that are answered within the hour, we still excel in social media. But also on digital we have a good track record:

–      Over 130 million visits per year on klm.com

–      Selling 1 out of 3 tickets via our website

–      Almost half of all online visits are on mobile

–      70% online check-ins

‘Recently Citibank published a thorough and interesting update on digitization in the airline industry, where KLM was ranked as the number one digital scoring European airline. At KLM with over 18 million followers we have more social media presence than IAG Group and Lufthansa Group combined. And we continue to invest in our leading digital position.

‘We believe we should be where our customers are.  I can honestly say that we at KLM feel at home in the UK and we wish to make UK customers feel at home with KLM.

To view the Bloomberg news article CLICK HERE

Pieter Elbers, President and CEO of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will speak at the Aviation Club UK on Wednesday 5 April 2017.  An Airline industry veteran, Pieter has over 25 years of experience in KLM, managing KLM Group’s overall strategy and performance with £9 billion in revenues and 32,000 staff.

Read more …. to download the full media release CLICK HERE.

BTN reports Aeromexico CEO Andrés Conesa was in London talking to the aviation industry at the Institute of Directors within days of Delta Air Lines announcing it had taken its interest in the carrier up to 49%.

Click here for full article

The Aviation Club UK welcomes its first speaker from Latin America next week when Aeromexico CEO, Dr Andres Conesa, joins the Club’s second lunch of the year on Wednesday 8 March 2017 in central London ..

To download the full release click here

The Aviation Club UK has chosen Orbis, the ‘Flying Eye Hospital’ dedicated to treating and preventing avoidable blindness, as its charity for the next twelve months.

To download full media release click here.

On Thursday 9 February 2017, Rob Gurney, CEO oneworld, Aviation Club member and guests, raised a glass to celebrate oneworld’s 18th Birthday.

For full report from Breaking Travel News click here.

For full report from Bloomberg click here.

For full report from BTN click here.

For full report from MICE Business Travel News click here.

For full report from News4Travel click here.

Rob Gurney, the new boss of oneworld, will speak at the Club’s first lunch of 2017 on 9 February marking the 18^th birthday of oneworld, the “most highly prized” global alliance worldwide.  Rob, who was named CEO of oneworld in August 2016 after serving with alliance members British Airways and Qantas and unaligned Emirates, is expected to outline how oneworld intends to continue to add value for its airline members and customers now that it has come of age and how the role of global alliances might develop in the future.

For full media release CLICK HERE

Long term Aviation Club member Kell Ryan passed away on 30 December 2016.  Kell was an active Club member, regularly attending Club events, who will be greatly missed.

The funeral takes place 30 January 12:15 Our Lady and the English Martyrs, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 1JR

The following articles appeared in BTN and The Irish World:

Click here for BTN article – 9 January 2017

Click here for The Irish News article – 2 January 2017