Product offering

The key measures we use are:

• Airline on time performance
• Information from our front-line resort teams and agents
• Customer feedback and complaints to our dedicated customer service teams
• Customer satisfaction questionnaires, processed by an independent third party.

Our major initiatives and actions over the past year are outlined here by source market:

• UK
• Northern Europe
• Germany

See our targets for 2008.

The award was based on Civil Aviation Authority statistics, analysed by the website FlightOnTime.info.

The airline recorded an average delay of 19.95 minutes and operated over 78% of flights on time. Its performance was particularly impressive at Newcastle and Birmingham airports, with average delays of less than 10 minutes at both airports and 90% of flights on time at Newcastle.

This success comes from constant and detailed attention to operational procedures and planning. We will continue this work in our merged airline operation to continue giving customers the best possible start and finish to their holidays.

In accommodation, we continue working with various stakeholders to ensure that all properties meet our all-inclusive minimum requirements and to reduce the number achieving low customer satisfaction scores. Our team of Consumer Affairs Executives based in 35 locations overseas works closely with suppliers on improving quality, managing brochure accuracy and helping the Quality Assurance department in the UK to achieve its overall aims. Our UK scores for accommodation overall have remained consistently high for the past two years and in 2007 we reduced low scoring properties by 70%.

This work helps raise the standard of our packages and increase overall customer satisfaction. Our UK overall holiday satisfaction scores continued to rise in 2007 as a result.

Across TCNE as a whole, the average customer scores for ‘overall hotel quality’ have increased year on year. In our own Sunwing hotels we monitor both quality and environmental performance with great care. We find that our environmental work tends to enhance, rather than compromise, customers’ perceptions of quality – and their satisfaction with Sunwing hotels’ environmental performance is now running at 97%. The overall quality figures remain consistently high year after year, ranking among the best of TCNE’s hotels.

We have established a continuous monitoring process for product quality and introduced quality managers in many of our destinations. We also have a Quality Circle which meets regularly throughout the year and reports performance against set measures. As a result of this work, customer satisfaction ratings continue to rise.

A popular innovation has been the Sherlock Holmes project, in which customers turn ‘quality detective’. People who have travelled with us in the previous three years and who have an existing booking are invited to visit their planned destination as an undercover holiday tester. They are equipped to assess quality and service, and on their return they are contacted to record and analyse their findings. This project has won a great response from the public and the media – and has had a significant effect on customer loyalty

Our German airline, Condor, puts customer satisfaction second only to safety. To meet customer expectations we set high quality targets and measure passenger satisfaction through regular on-board surveys. One target is high on-time performance on both intercontinental and continental flights. We believe an on-time departure is a basic requirement for excellent passenger service.

We want to do even better, and Condor’s Countdown Project aims for further performance and quality improvement. The project team is reviewing our existing procedures and working closely with airports, ground handlers, cleaning and catering companies, air traffic control and governmental institutions.