Procurement at Queen Mary University of London has just instituted a first for universities – setting up a “route deal” directly with airlines for travel between the UK and China as a result of going out to tender under the EU procurement procedures. Moreover, this is a “framework deal that any other Higher Education institution in the UK and Northern Ireland can join” – so increasing the volume of travel and driving down the prices.
The concept was trialled during 2009 for staff travelling to China to teach on the joint programme between Queen Mary University of London and BUPT (Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications). This showed that direct agreements with airlines could offer keener prices and better service than simply booking through the College’s incumbent travel agent. In fact, the overall volume of air travel for the College increased during 2009, but the total travel cost fell, because of the route deal.
The EU tendering process has been completed, there are 4 airlines contracted offering different routes and different prices to Beijing, Hong Kong and through those hubs to other places in China. These airlines are Air China, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and SAS. Several airlines have to be selected because on some dates it might be impossible to get availability of the cheap fares on one particular airline.
Each airline has had to offer a base fare (the cheapest) in each class of travel and will be expected to make sure that these cheapest fares are available for a reasonable proportion of the booking requests. Experience over the last year has shown that, provided the flights are booked a few weeks in advance, an availability of 70%-80% can be achieved. If the cheapest fare is not available on one airline then it usually is on another. In addition to the savings on the actual fares, the incumbent travel provider will only charge a small fixed mark-up on the price, not travel management contractor commission.
Using the route deal to China and Hong Kong is mandatory for all Queen Mary staff travelling to China and Hong Kong.
For further information to enable your institution to participate in the Asia air route deal contact Donna Ross Contracts Manager Queen Mary University of London 0207 882 7792
d.e.ross@qmul.ac.uk