CONTINENTAL Airlines has set up an international team to harness demand for sales outside its usual US market.
The multinational sales group is made up of six top Continental executives used to dealing with key partners such as American Express and BTI Hogg Robinson.
Their role is to target 50 corporate accounts which will use Continental’s services beyond its New York Newark and Houston hubs from the UK.
Director of sales UK and Ireland Bob Isted said a third of the £70m that the airline earns from UK corporate clients comes from multinational bookings.
“We are a multinational carrier flying from 17 destinations in Europe to New York – it is a European hub,” said Isted. “Many customers want to use our network to get to Colombia, Brazil or Peru, for instance.”
He admitted the push for more premium traffic by airlines in general and a decline in commissions – Continental’s stays at 9% for the time being – will lead to casualties in the agency community.
The policy will also push Continental’s Newark and Houston hubs to UK premium customers.
The new unit will be headed by national accounts sales manager UK and Ireland Dick Ritchie.
Isted said the unit will target traffic from all airlines, including codeshare partner Virgin Atlantic.
He said the agreement from Heathrow gives Continental valuable exposure at the UK’s premier airport but he admitted it was not ideal as both carriers were fighting for the same passengers.
Isted criticised Virgin and British Airways for blocking Continental from flying from Heathrow in its own right. His comments follow the collapse of open-skies talks which may have given slots to the carrier.
Continental will not upgrade its UK schedule until at least next year when it receives new Boeing 767 jets.
This may lead to new flights from regional airports to complement services from Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow.