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Taxi app Gett has acquired London's Radio Taxis for 'several million pounds' to help it take on Uber

Taxi app Gett has acquired rival firm Radio Taxis for an undisclosed sum to help it compete with Uber.

Like Uber, Gett's app allows people to hail a cab in a matter of minutes. Unlike Uber, however, Gett's service (in London) uses licensed black cab drivers.

Prior to today's acquisition, approximately 10,000 black cab drivers in London had downloaded the Gett app. The deal brings that number closer to 11,500, Gett said, or nearly half of all black cab drivers in London. While Gett's driver numbers are growing in London, it's still less than half the size of Uber, which has 25,000 drivers in the UK capital.

Through the cash deal, Gett will acquire all three brands within Radio Taxis' parent company, Mountview House Group. The Mountview House Group also operates Xeta, another black cab brand, as well as One Transport, a transportation platform that provides businesses with access to vehicles.

A Gett spokesman spokesman said the acquisition, which is subject to shareholder approval, is worth "several million pounds."

Remo Gerber, managing director of Gett in western Europe, told Business Insider in February that he thinks Gett, Uber, and a number of other taxi companies can coexist in London. "I don’t believe in killing, I believe in competition," he said. It’s a very large market It’s not a winner takes all.

"I also don’t think being in every country in the world gives you a competitive advantage. Uber obviously has a leadership in the US. We are very focused on black cab market, which is a multi billion dollar market in London alone."

Gett also operates in Israel (where it was founded), the US, and Russia. In the UK, Gett is available in a number of other cities, including Manchester, Edinburgh, and Leeds. The company posted revenues of $300 million (£208 million) in 2015 and Gerber said he expects that number to rise in 2016.

Source: Business Insider UK

London Gatwick Airport gears up for the big switch

At the world’s busiest single-runway airport, the builders are in. I am standing in a concrete shell high up in the South Terminal, with a formidable view over the runway and taxiways. This vantage point was, until recently, occupied by restaurants and lounges. It has been stripped down to the bare concrete to be handed over to a new tenant: British Airways. The airline is about to fit out a lounge complex so that its most commercially important passengers can enjoy a soothing or productive start to their journeys.

It is in the nature of a transport facility handling over 40 million people a year that some element or other of the infrastructure is constantly being worked on. But landside and airside, in both terminals, the pace of change is picking up. Gatwick is preparing for one of the most complex challenges since the Queen opened the airport in 1958: the big switch.

In nine months the present arrangements come to an end. From 25 January 2017, business travellers familiar with the Sussex airport will need to overwrite their memory banks. Your flight to Edinburgh, New York or Zurich may not be departing from the usual location.

For almost three decades, Gatwick has had two terminals. By the mid-1980s the original facility was getting stretched. So a North Terminal opened in 1988, adding acres of floor space and dozens of new gates. It became the home of British Airways’ Gatwick operation – “the hub without the hubbub”, as it was known for a while. The North Terminal is almost a mile from the South Terminal, connected by a driverless shuttle train. 

Virgin Atlantic, the other big long-haul player, stayed put in the South Terminal. It was later joined by a small airline called easyJet. The upstart soon outgrew its allocation of space in the South Terminal and set up a parallel operation in the North Terminal. 

For a decade passengers have had to ensure they are in the right place for their flight – even the then-president of Abta once missed his flight to the travel association’s annual convention after a terminal muddle. And the airline’s operational needs mean that some planes and passengers arrive at the opposite terminal to that planned. 

Today, easyJet is Britain’s biggest airline by passenger numbers, and the largest operator at Gatwick by some distance. It will carry almost 20 million passengers in and out of the airport this year, more than twice as many as the second-placed carrier, British Airways.

Consolidating all easyJet operations in one location, with space to expand, is a logical step. The North Terminal delivers the right capacity, but only if British Airways moves south. 

BA’s short-haul operation follows the same patter over the day as easyJet’s, with peaks early in the morning and in the evening. To make the most of available space, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic need to be co-sited: their operations dovetail, with Virgin’s departures occupying the middle of the day. So BA and Virgin should swap places. 

Simple? Well, unlike the opening of Heathrow’s Terminal 2, Gatwick does not have the luxury of new capacity that can gradually be filled. Ideally, the infrastructure could simply close for a few weeks to allow for landside check-in systems and airside lounges to be reconfigured. But passengers, airlines and the airport itself would not countenance a shutdown of Britain’s second-largest airport even for a day. Which is why Chris Woodroofe, Gatwick’s head of passenger operations, is monitoring multiple timelines months ahead of the move. “We have 42 separate projects coming together,” he says.

There is nothing like a deadline to focus the mind. The last easyJet flight from South Terminal will depart on 23 January. The following two days are Tuesday and Wednesday, the quietest days of the week for flying – all the more so in the third week in January. 

“On both days, easyJet will cut 40 per cent of its flying programme to help manage the switch,” says Woodroofe.

BA and Virgin Atlantic will continue as normal on 24 January, and that night will change places. When the first wave of flights from Florida and the Caribbean arrives on the morning of 25 January, the aircraft will taxi to their new homes. At the same time, staff will be on hand to meet departing travellers before they fly out, reminding them of the new arrangements. 

For easyJet passengers, a single home removes complications. British Airways will no doubt make much of the attraction of its new location for business travellers; sharing a terminal with Gatwick’s rail station cuts out the shuttle trip. And after a year of sharing a commercial lounge, premium passengers will once again be in a BA oasis. 

“This is a solution for the next 10 years,” says Woodroofe. After that, who knows what the Sussex airport will look like? The Government’s decision on whether to build the next runway at Heathrow or Gatwick does not appear to be as time-sensitive as the big switch.

Source: Independent

London Luton Airport to replace bus transfers with £200m light rail link

Luton airport plans to park its much-maligned bus transfer service once and for all and build a £200m light rail link to the nearest railway station.The fast-track service would make journey times between the capital and Luton airport faster than for those flying via Gatwick, the airport claimed.The 24-hour, automated light-rail link would replace the buses currently used to transfer travellers between the station and the terminal, making the fastest complete journey from Luton airport to London St Pancras less than 30 minutes. The 1.3-mile link will be funded by Luton borough council, which owns the airport freehold. While the station is almost adjacent to the airport perimeter, it is around 40 metres downhill from it, making a fixed rail link difficult to build. Luton airport is spending a further £110m on redeveloping its terminals and layout to expand capacity to 18 million passengers a year by 2020. The chief executive, Nick Barton, said: “We’re delighted Luton borough council is making the investment. It’s perfect for us: we’ve been on a journey but there’s always been that fundamental gap between the terminal and the very good train service – served by a bus, which just isn’t good enough.”The rail link would connect to the terminal from within the railway station, one level above the platforms. Barton said: “It’s raising the game and raising our standard. When you get to Luton Airport Parkway you will think that you’re actually at the terminal.”EasyJet, the biggest carrier at the airport, welcomed the news, saying the redevelopment was a key factor in its pledge to double the size of its operations there over the next decade.A planning application would be made in autumn for work to begin in 2017. While Barton cautioned that it would need to “be scrutinised more closely than a normal application” because of any perceived conflict in the council’s ownership of the airport, which is let as a long-term concession, all of the land required is already owned by the council. He said Luton was working closely with the Department for Transport to remove barriers to rail travel to the airport, including tackling any ticketing confusion, and allowing passengers to travel between the airport and London using Oyster card or contactless payment by 2018.Luton would also benefit from the upgrade of Thameslink trains, as well as being served by St Pancras, Barton said.“The whole train story is just transforming and this is the next big – but very big step – to making that journey superb.”The news is likely to prompt further chagrin at the rival Stansted airport, where hopes of a fast rail connection to central London have been dampened by Network Rail concluding that upgrades would only shave 2-5 minutes from the current 45-53 minute train journey. Passenger numbers grew 17% to 12.3 million in 2015 at Luton, which indirectly employs more than 8,600 staff. The airport serves 123 destinations, mainly operated by low-cost and charter airlines.

Source: The Guardian

Decision on London Heathrow Airport third runway put off until at least summer 2016

David Cameron has delayed the decision on whether to allow a third runway at Heathrow airport until summer 2016 over environmental concerns.

The government said it was supporting more airport capacity in the south-east by 2030, as recommended by the Airports Commission. However, it delivered a setback to Heathrow’s hopes of building a third runway by neglecting to mention the airport by name in its statement and making clear other viable options – such as expansion at Gatwick – were still on the table.

Although the delay was widely expected, Cameron immediately faced fury from business groups and accusations from Labour that he had ducked a difficult decision on infrastructure to help the chances of Zac Goldsmith, the Tory London mayoral candidate, who is a fierce opponent of Heathrow expansion.

The British Chamber of Commerce said it was “gutless”, while the CBI group for big business called the decision “deeply disappointing”.

Sadiq Khan, the Labour London mayoral candidate, said the Tories were “kicking the decision into the long grass to avoid embarrassing” Goldsmith.

The prime minister had previously indicated there would be a final decision before the end of this year, after the Airports Commission led by Howard Davies recommended a third runway at Heathrow.

But more recently, the Commons environmental audit committee produced a parliamentary report saying final approval should not be granted until the airport demonstrated it could meet key environmental conditions on climate change, air quality and noise. It warned that a failure to deal with environmental concerns could lay the scheme open to legal challenge.

The new statement from the government, released after a meeting of the airports subcommittee, stressed the need for further environmental work, including testing the Airports Commission’s air quality analysis using the latest predicted concentrations of nitrogen dioxide.

Those present at the meeting included Cameron; the chancellor, George Osborne; the transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin; the environment secretary, Liz Truss; the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, Oliver Letwin; the communities secretary, Greg Clark; and the chief whip, Mark Harper.

A statement from the Department for Transport said the “location decision” for extra airport capacity would be “subject to further consideration on environmental impacts and the best possible mitigation measures”. It said the government agreed with the Airports Commission that the south-east needed more runway capacity by 2030 and agreed with its shortlist of options, which kept Gatwick open as a viable possibility.

McLoughlin said: “The case for aviation expansion is clear but it’s vitally important we get the decision right so that it will benefit generations to come. We will undertake more work on environmental impacts, including air quality, noise and carbon.

“We must develop the best possible package of measures to mitigate the impacts on local people. We will continue work on all the shortlisted locations, so that the timetable for more capacity set out by Sir Howard is met.

“At the first opportunity I will make a statement to the house to make clear our plans.”

Lilian Greenwood, Labour’s shadow transport secretary, was scathing about Cameron having “broken his clear promise to make a decision before the end of the year”. She said: “Tonight’s statement owes more to political calculations than genuine concern for the environment or residents who now face another year of blight and uncertainty. This shambolic announcement is an embarrassment and no-one will be convinced that the government is taking our runway capacity or environmental needs seriously.”

The London mayor, Boris Johnson, not a fan of expanding Heathrow, claimed that expansion had been “officially grounded” despite airport officials putting a “superhuman effort into bouncing the government into a quick decision in their favour”.

He said: “The prime minister and his colleagues have refused to allow themselves to be hustled. The wheels are falling off the Heathrow fuselage and I think that, now the government has hit the pause button, they will begin to understand with ever greater clarity that, due to the environmental impacts, the legal obstacles and the cost to the public purse, this bird will never fly.”

Johnson added that the chances of his favoured project – a new airport in the Thames estuary – going ahead have been boosted by the delay.

Cameron did not please green groups, either. Oliver Hayes, a campaigner with Friends of the Earth, said: “It’s absurd that UK government ministers are touting ‘green Britain’ in Paris while beating the drum for more climate changing pollution through a new runway back home.

“With the majority of flights taken by a small number of frequent flyers, it’s time the government taxed those who are contributing most to the air pollution and carbon problems that aviation exacerbates.”

Cameron may have put off the resignation of Goldsmith, which would have led to a difficult byelection, and temporarily avoided the loss of several cabinet ministers who are opposed to Heathrow expansion. But he incurred the ire of other Tory MPs whose constituencies are near Gatwick. Crispin Blunt, the Tory MP who is

chair of the Gatwick Coordination Group, called it “disgraceful vacillation by government over Heathrow”. “They will richly deserve opprobrium to be poured all over this shocking non-decision,” he said.

Among others to respond was Rob Gray, the campaign director of the Back Heathrow group, who condemned Cameron’s “dithering and delaying”.

“The government has created more uncertainty for local residents, more uncertainty for workers in the local area and the potential loss to the UK economy of more than £5bn,” he said.

“There is massive support for Heathrow expansion: from across all political parties, the majority of UK businesses, international airlines, local firms and most importantly, from local residents.

“It’s time for the government to get off the fence, commit to Heathrow expansion and seize this golden opportunity to grow the economies of west London, the Thames valley and the UK as a whole.”

John Longworth, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said businesses would see it as a “gutless move by a government that promised a clear decision on a new runway by the end of the year”.

He said: “Business will question whether ministers are delaying critical upgrades to our national infrastructure for legitimate reasons, or to satisfy short-term political interests.”

Terry Scuoler, the chief executive of EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said: “By avoiding a tough decision, despite a well evidenced shortlist, the government has again dithered and avoided the issue. Industry is fed up and dismayed by the continued excuses and political dilly dallying.”

Meanwhile, Carolyn Fairbairn, the CBI director general, said delaying the decision “on an issue of critical importance to the future prosperity of the UK is deeply disappointing”.

“We urgently need to increase our runway capacity to spur trade growth, investment and job creation. Just eight new routes to emerging markets could boost our exports by up to £1bn a year,” she said.

“But by 2025 – the earliest a new runway would be built – London’s airports could already be operating at full capacity and the longer we wait the further we fall behind the likes of Amsterdam and Paris. If we don’t have a new runway up and running by 2030 the cost to the UK will be as much as £5.3bn a year in lost trade to the Brics [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] alone.

Khan said the country “could not afford more dithering over aviation capacity”.

“Businesses desperately need more airport capacity around London, and the Tories are letting them down. Gatwick stands ready to deliver it sooner, at a lower public expense and without the damaging impact of Heathrow expansion,” he said.

“We already know Heathrow can’t be the solution. The additional damage from air and noise pollution would mean more years of delay, while protracted legal battles are fought. It must be Gatwick – and we need to get on with it.”

Source: The Guardian

Campaigners in favour and against 2nd runway at Gatwick Airport fear impact of 6-month decision delay

A DECISION on whether Gatwick or Heathrow will get a new runway is expected to be delayed for six months, leaving campaigners opposing a second runway at the former location "worried".

The Government's Economic and Domestic Cabinet sub-committee, chaired by David Cameron, is meeting tomorrow (Thursday) and widespread reports have suggested members will call for more time to make a decision.

Influential Conservative MPs opposing a third runway at Heathrow and the environmental impact it could have are both believed to be factors in why the final decision is set to be put back. Both those strongly in favour of and those against expansion at Gatwick agree any further wait will be "woeful".

Jeremy Taylor, chief executive of Gatwick Diamond Business, which represents companies based around the airport, believes the delay could be in Gatwick's favour.

He said: "It will be woeful if there is further procrastinating and putting off a decision on this issue. The recommendation for Heathrow was made with stringent conditions on noise and air pollution, including a ban on night flights.

"I still maintain Heathrow is not deliverable because of the environmental conditions that have been set. Any further review is sure to confirm this. What else are they going to find?

"Gatwick is in the strongest position. We will continue pressing for the right decision to be made because a second runway at Gatwick can be operational within the 2025 timeframe."

Mr Taylor believes a delay would be purely for political reasons and added: "David Cameron and the Conservative government will want to dictate how they fit this decision around the London mayoral election in May [Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith is against expanding Heathrow and has threatened to resign as an MP over the issue].

"While all this is going on all we want is a decision to be made."

Earlier this week Downing Street said a "clear direction" on airport expansion would be given before the end of year.

This went back on what the Prime Minister said in July when the Airports Commission's recommendation – for Heathrow to get a third runway – was published.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Cameron said at the time: "The guarantee I can give ... is that a decision will be made by the end of the year."

Gatwick's bid to build a second runway was dealt a major blow by the Airports Commission's final report which stated Heathrow was the "clear and unanimous" choice for airport expansion.

Commission chairman Sir Howard Davies did not rule out a new runway at Gatwick, though, calling the prospect "feasible".

The commission's report, which spent two-and-a-half years researching the need for and feasibility of airport expansion, cost £13.4 million according to figures released after a Freedom of Information request.

Derek Meakings, from the Crawley-based One's Enough campaign group against Gatwick expansion, said another wait is "worrying" for those who don't want a second runway.

Mr Meakings, from St Catherine's Road, Pound Hill, said: "While a second runway at Gatwick remains an option it is concerning for us.

"It is still on the table and that is worrying.

"We cannot rest easy.

"If you read between the lines it seems as though there has been political infighting over the decision to back Heathrow or not and that could be a factor in the delay.

"If this causes a six-month delay you can be sure (CEO) Stewart Wingate and the team at Gatwick will ramp up the level of lobbying again."

A Gatwick Airport spokesman said no comment will be made until the sub-committee makes an announcement later this week.

Sourc: Crawley News