Return to Transcripts main page

Business Traveller

Business Air Travel

Aired September 12, 2004 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: Imagine flying non-stop London to Perth or maybe Madrid to Manila. Nonstop flights, the ultimate aircraft, biometric identification, electronic check in.
We're at the Boeing factory in Seattle talking trends in travel on the next CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER.

Hello and welcome to CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER. I'm Richard Quest at Changi Airport in Singapore. I'm about to board the longest flight in the world. It's going to take me 18-1/2 hours to get from Singapore to New York. I'm going nonstop, because the ultra-long haul flight is a new trend for the business traveler. And you're coming along for the ride.

We're going to find out how grueling the flight really is and whether it's likely to catch on. Also, the future of flights. What the world's next generation of planes will offer you on your travels. We're at Boeing's plant in Seattle for a look at their plans for the Dreamliner 77.

And technology trends. What exactly is biometric identification and should you be worried about it?

So the plane has taken off and we're well on our way and I've got the best part of a day in this metal tube. The new ultra-long haul flight has become quite popular quite quickly for one simple reason: it saves passengers time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Singapore Airlines nonstop flight from Singapore to New York is the longest nonstop commercial flight in history. The airline also flies a 16 hour leg from Singapore to Los Angeles.

Singapore is not the only carrier to offer ultra long-haul flights. Caf‚ Pacific flies between Hong Kong and New York with a flight time of 15 hours 50 minutes. Continental offers the same service in about the same time. And Emerits (ph) flies nonstop between Dubai and New York. That flight takes about 14 hours.

A lot of preparation goes into the ultra-long haul flight. The aircraft is specially designed and the staff are specially trained.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They do give us training on fatigue management, during the long flight how to blend in with the time, to exercise, to take care of our diet, to eat lightly onboard.

QUEST: By avoiding stopovers, these flights can shave a couple of hours off your journey.

(on camera): If you've got to spend 18 hours in the air, imagine how grim it is if you've got to do it in economy, and that's why they've had to rethink the way economy seating layout, the seats, the amount of space available for the passengers. It can be so dispiriting if you're stuck in a seat like this for so many hours.

Executive economy is one of the ways they're trying to get around it.

(voice-over): Still, there's only so much you can do on a plane, and then there's the affect being in that specialized environment can have on your health.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the exposure to lower oxygen levels for up to 18, maybe 20 hours, this is abnormal for the human body. DVT, the problems really start after 12 hours.

Now I would imagine that there's going to be increase in heart attacks, for example, and this is going to be expected.

QUEST: Most seasoned travelers are aware f the health risk on a long haul flight. They may need a bit more assurance though from the airlines that flights on this length.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most obvious thing is, on ultra-long range flights, is to provide passengers with flight sacks, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) tabs for thinning the blood, with all sorts of healthy preventive measures.

QUEST: Even with all of the precautions, there is still the question of whether this type of nonstop really long flight will catch on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ultra-long haul will certainly have a role in the future of aviation, there's no question about that. People will prefer to go nonstop if nonstop is available.

QUEST: The nonstop service may be appealing to the business traveler. Analysts are skeptical about its worldwide appeal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Asia where the demand for the ultra-long haul comes from. It's connecting Asian cities to the U.S. East Coast, which is the big market.

Here in Europe, the routes to connect to most places that European business travelers want to go to don't need 18 hour capacity and endurance.

QUEST: And at the end of the day it may well be geography that will determine demand for the ultra-long haul flight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: For a plane enthusiast like me, this is as good as a dream. I'm at one of Boeings factories just outside Seattle. In a few years time, Boeing will be building the new Dreamliner, the 77, and it shows a stark difference in theory between the world's two big plane makers, Boeing and Airbus.

It's a difference that you and me, as flyers, will notice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST (voice-over): Boeing's 77 Dreamliner and the Airbus A380 Super Jumbo. They are the new generation of aircraft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Airbus has done is to commit to a very large aircraft, the A380, typically that will carry something like 550 people on most flights. It's very much bigger than what we have at the minute, and it's clearly going to be a different experience for the passenger.

With Boeing, they are developing an airplane called the 77. It's a middle-of-the-range aircraft, if you like. It's going to be a real workhouse for the airlines.

QUEST: The Dreamliner doesn't start flying commercially until the year 2008. The A380 takes to the air two years earlier. But the orders have already started rolling in.

Airlines like Emerits (ph), Air France, Qantas and Singapore as well as Virgin, have all placed orders for the Super Jumbo, and New Zealand, A&A, First Choice and Blue Panorama have ordered the Dreamliner, although that list is likely to increase dramatically.

Which plane you fly will depend on where you're going. The Dreamliner, after all, is a mid-sized plane, capable of flying to more destinations more frequently.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Boeing is saying is that with the 77, the aircraft is the right size that it will be possible to economically fly people from A to B without going via C.

QUEST: The A380 Super Jumbo, on the other hand, is a high capacity aircraft, and airlines are likely to offer fewer flights a day to fill the seats on each plane. They're likely to use this aircraft only between major hubs. New York and London, for instance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The vast majority of flights will be on maybe only a dozen or so routes around the world, and those are those very heavily traveled routes where enormous numbers of people need to be moved.

QUEST: Aside from (AUDIO GAP), there may be other limitations. Larger planes weigh more. More weight means higher fuel costs and that could get passed on to the passenger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

QUEST: From high capacity aircraft to more frequent flyers, in a few years' time you'll have the option to fly on the world's two newest planes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Now you wouldn't want to go too far on a plane with this sort of inside. It wouldn't be very comfortable. After all, this has still got about two weeks ago before it will look like an aircraft we'd recognize.

Coming up after the break we'll show you the latest thinking in passenger comfort.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Hello. I must be dreaming. Well, appropriately enough I'm on the Dreamliner, Boeing's new 77 plane that goes into service in 2008. Actually, this is a mockup of what the plane will be like, but it gives us a good idea of the sort of thing we'll be experiencing onboard in the future.

Take for example these new larger windows. Boeing says it's so more passengers can have a view. And the lighting is different too. Passengers can control the amount of light coming in through the window shades, because passenger comfort is a trend that all airlines are seeking to achieve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST (voice-over): If you're on the road, you spend a lot of time on planes, so comfort onboard is king.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only 13 percent of business travelers work onboard a flight, so that is one of the probably few occasions that business travelers get to relax a little bit and have some downtime.

QUEST: That's a trend that even aircraft manufacturers recognize.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our focus on the 77 Dreamliner was to create a healthier and more comfortable environment by focusing on lighting and the architecture of the airplane interior, so that when you enter the space you feel as though you're welcomed.

We also have higher humidity inside the interior cabin and in addition to that a lower pressure altitude so that you don't feel when you're flying on the airplane like you're climbing an 8,000 foot mountain.

QUEST: With less than 300 seats, Boeing's new 77 will have more space onboard, which means a lot more elbow room for passengers.

Airbus says the shear size of its new A380 Super Jumbo will not only ensure more space to move around, it will also allow for recreation areas, like bars and lounges, although most analysts believe airlines will stick to a more traditional format.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think at the end of the day they have to fill the aircraft with what it was designed for, which is carrying passengers. You know, they are expensive investments, so first and foremost it is about seating passengers.

QUEST: There may be more frills on the planes of the future, but at the end of the day most of us just want to know if we can get a good night's sleep.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Travelers may need to get into the hotel and rest and perform the next day.

QUEST: In simple terms, this means choosing the airline with the most comfortable seats.

On the one hand, there's the flat bed seat. On the other, the angled bed seat. Studies show that more passengers prefer the flat bed. Only British Airways, Virgin, Atlantic and South African Airways have fully flat beds in business class. Air Canada, Air New Zealand and Iberia are all planning to install them next year.

Many airlines save the flat beds for their first class passengers, although that's a trend that's also changing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a real trend now to the improvement of business class, and I think the gap between the two has partially played into that change.

QUEST: It's partly to do with economics, which means more airlines are likely to change their format in business class to attract more passengers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The meals in business class are very good and there will be a dilemma for many of the airlines to take the first class cabin out and increase the seat capacity from business class.

QUEST: A trend towards a bigger and better business class means more options for the international executive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: You'll be delighted to know that I'm not really flying this plane, which is just as well, because I have no idea what I'm doing. But luckily I do have a lot of technology that's going to help me, a bit like today's business traveler, which simply bristles with technology. You'll have to excuse me, I do have a plane to fly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST (voice-over): Fingerprinting, facial recognition, iris scanning. More airports are installing biometric technology to identify passengers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Biometric is something which -- a physiological characteristic, which is used to identify. They are generally a very good way of identifying people because it's much harder to forge a physical characteristic of someone than to forge a passport.

QUEST: The United States already uses a combination of fingerprinting and facial recognition. Similar tests are underway in Germany and Scandinavia. Other countries will follow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, America particularly is sort of pushing for people to have biometric passports, so that put pressure on other countries. I think it's fairly likely that it will become widespread if not, you know, universal within the next 5, 10 years.

QUEST: Japan Airlines has already tested a new biometric system of identification at Tokyo's Narita Airport.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) maybe air traveler should be (UNINTELLIGIBLE) checking at the security gate and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and boarding. Passengers don't have to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) anymore.

QUEST: Passengers register their face and iris scans in a computer and are given a biometric ID card. That card is then used to identify the passenger when they check in at security, even the boarding gate.

So far, though, it hasn't proved to be entirely foolproof.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Particularly if it is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) but immigration at this time is still jammed.

QUEST: It's still unclear whether you'll have to register separately in different countries or whether there will be a common database shared by all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would be very easy to share that information, but it certainly raises a lot of issues for travelers who may not want their government to share data with foreign governments as well.

QUEST: It's just the beginning stages of biometric identification. One thing is certain: biometrics at airports and by aircraft is a trend that will arrive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: This is the best videogame I've ever tried.

Coming up after the break, the trends in hotels, your home away from home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: And welcome back to CNN BUSINESS TRAVELER, aboard the A345, the longest flight in the world.

Now one of the objects of the airline is to make the aircraft more hospitable, more homey, more welcoming, with areas like this, for instance, where you can meet other passengers, have a snack, take a piece of fruit.

I'm about 10 hours into my flight and this is my home from home for the time being, but just further down the road, of course, at my destination is my hotel, my just home from home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a great feeling when you walk into a hotel and you feel the passion and lifestyle around it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's really important to get the basics right, to have a good check in, to have a nicely setup room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: High speed Internet connection is crucial and if you can have wi-fi, so much the better.

QUEST (voice-over): When you're constantly on the road, a hotel room becomes more than just a place to lay your head at night. There are clear trends in how hotels are answering the demands of the business traveler. A big watch word is connectivity, and that means improving technology.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You tried to go into the e-mail through your TV in your room, but as it's not broadband, it's not fast enough, and so everybody gets very impatient with it now.

This is changing. Broadband is now going into the rooms and so you now are going to have your own PC/flat screen TV interactive in your room, and as fast as you've got in your office.

QUEST: But just because it's a business trip doesn't mean it's all about work. Hotels are trying harder to make the room an optimum place to relax, and that's a trend being driven by women. According to some surveys, more than 40 percent of business travelers are women and that number is growing fast.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To know that there is a fresh fruit bowl in the room, or special soap and body cream there waiting for you, the little things, the personal touch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's becoming more of a home. There are more ladies traveling, and they want something which is more comfortable.

QUEST: Hoteliers are waking up to the fact they need to provide more than the basics to keep attracting guests. Sure, a comfortable bed is good, a decent, comfortable room is better, and once you're snug in your room, you don't want to have to think about safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I consider hotels to be safe in general, just as long as your door is locked. I trust the hotel to keep me safe in a hotel room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the old days, hotels were typified by huge doormen who stood there at the top of the steps, and that was what guarded the place, but now it's all being done by much more subtle means.

Security is taken very seriously now in the hospitality industry.

QUEST: With all of that taken care of, it seems all we have to worry about is remembering our room number.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: So, some 18 hours 30 minutes and change, and we finally arrive in New York, and my mammoth flight is at an end.

Now, if you've got any thoughts about some of the trends we've been talking about, especially the long haul flight -- do you look forward to taking one? And when it comes to ultra-long haul, do you dread the possibility?

Drop me an e-mail, it's the usual e-mail address Quest@cnn.com.

And you can read more about all of these stories at our Web site. It's at CNN.com/businsstraveller.

But that's CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER for this month. I'm Richard Quest. Wherever your travels may take you -- however long your flights -- I hope they're profitable. I'll see you next month.

END

TO ORDER VIDEOTAPES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF CNN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE THE SECURE ONLINE ORDER FROM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired September 12, 2004 - 08:30:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: Imagine flying non-stop London to Perth or maybe Madrid to Manila. Nonstop flights, the ultimate aircraft, biometric identification, electronic check in.
We're at the Boeing factory in Seattle talking trends in travel on the next CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER.

Hello and welcome to CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER. I'm Richard Quest at Changi Airport in Singapore. I'm about to board the longest flight in the world. It's going to take me 18-1/2 hours to get from Singapore to New York. I'm going nonstop, because the ultra-long haul flight is a new trend for the business traveler. And you're coming along for the ride.

We're going to find out how grueling the flight really is and whether it's likely to catch on. Also, the future of flights. What the world's next generation of planes will offer you on your travels. We're at Boeing's plant in Seattle for a look at their plans for the Dreamliner 77.

And technology trends. What exactly is biometric identification and should you be worried about it?

So the plane has taken off and we're well on our way and I've got the best part of a day in this metal tube. The new ultra-long haul flight has become quite popular quite quickly for one simple reason: it saves passengers time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Singapore Airlines nonstop flight from Singapore to New York is the longest nonstop commercial flight in history. The airline also flies a 16 hour leg from Singapore to Los Angeles.

Singapore is not the only carrier to offer ultra long-haul flights. Caf‚ Pacific flies between Hong Kong and New York with a flight time of 15 hours 50 minutes. Continental offers the same service in about the same time. And Emerits (ph) flies nonstop between Dubai and New York. That flight takes about 14 hours.

A lot of preparation goes into the ultra-long haul flight. The aircraft is specially designed and the staff are specially trained.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They do give us training on fatigue management, during the long flight how to blend in with the time, to exercise, to take care of our diet, to eat lightly onboard.

QUEST: By avoiding stopovers, these flights can shave a couple of hours off your journey.

(on camera): If you've got to spend 18 hours in the air, imagine how grim it is if you've got to do it in economy, and that's why they've had to rethink the way economy seating layout, the seats, the amount of space available for the passengers. It can be so dispiriting if you're stuck in a seat like this for so many hours.

Executive economy is one of the ways they're trying to get around it.

(voice-over): Still, there's only so much you can do on a plane, and then there's the affect being in that specialized environment can have on your health.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the exposure to lower oxygen levels for up to 18, maybe 20 hours, this is abnormal for the human body. DVT, the problems really start after 12 hours.

Now I would imagine that there's going to be increase in heart attacks, for example, and this is going to be expected.

QUEST: Most seasoned travelers are aware f the health risk on a long haul flight. They may need a bit more assurance though from the airlines that flights on this length.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most obvious thing is, on ultra-long range flights, is to provide passengers with flight sacks, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) tabs for thinning the blood, with all sorts of healthy preventive measures.

QUEST: Even with all of the precautions, there is still the question of whether this type of nonstop really long flight will catch on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ultra-long haul will certainly have a role in the future of aviation, there's no question about that. People will prefer to go nonstop if nonstop is available.

QUEST: The nonstop service may be appealing to the business traveler. Analysts are skeptical about its worldwide appeal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Asia where the demand for the ultra-long haul comes from. It's connecting Asian cities to the U.S. East Coast, which is the big market.

Here in Europe, the routes to connect to most places that European business travelers want to go to don't need 18 hour capacity and endurance.

QUEST: And at the end of the day it may well be geography that will determine demand for the ultra-long haul flight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: For a plane enthusiast like me, this is as good as a dream. I'm at one of Boeings factories just outside Seattle. In a few years time, Boeing will be building the new Dreamliner, the 77, and it shows a stark difference in theory between the world's two big plane makers, Boeing and Airbus.

It's a difference that you and me, as flyers, will notice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST (voice-over): Boeing's 77 Dreamliner and the Airbus A380 Super Jumbo. They are the new generation of aircraft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Airbus has done is to commit to a very large aircraft, the A380, typically that will carry something like 550 people on most flights. It's very much bigger than what we have at the minute, and it's clearly going to be a different experience for the passenger.

With Boeing, they are developing an airplane called the 77. It's a middle-of-the-range aircraft, if you like. It's going to be a real workhouse for the airlines.

QUEST: The Dreamliner doesn't start flying commercially until the year 2008. The A380 takes to the air two years earlier. But the orders have already started rolling in.

Airlines like Emerits (ph), Air France, Qantas and Singapore as well as Virgin, have all placed orders for the Super Jumbo, and New Zealand, A&A, First Choice and Blue Panorama have ordered the Dreamliner, although that list is likely to increase dramatically.

Which plane you fly will depend on where you're going. The Dreamliner, after all, is a mid-sized plane, capable of flying to more destinations more frequently.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Boeing is saying is that with the 77, the aircraft is the right size that it will be possible to economically fly people from A to B without going via C.

QUEST: The A380 Super Jumbo, on the other hand, is a high capacity aircraft, and airlines are likely to offer fewer flights a day to fill the seats on each plane. They're likely to use this aircraft only between major hubs. New York and London, for instance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The vast majority of flights will be on maybe only a dozen or so routes around the world, and those are those very heavily traveled routes where enormous numbers of people need to be moved.

QUEST: Aside from (AUDIO GAP), there may be other limitations. Larger planes weigh more. More weight means higher fuel costs and that could get passed on to the passenger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

QUEST: From high capacity aircraft to more frequent flyers, in a few years' time you'll have the option to fly on the world's two newest planes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Now you wouldn't want to go too far on a plane with this sort of inside. It wouldn't be very comfortable. After all, this has still got about two weeks ago before it will look like an aircraft we'd recognize.

Coming up after the break we'll show you the latest thinking in passenger comfort.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Hello. I must be dreaming. Well, appropriately enough I'm on the Dreamliner, Boeing's new 77 plane that goes into service in 2008. Actually, this is a mockup of what the plane will be like, but it gives us a good idea of the sort of thing we'll be experiencing onboard in the future.

Take for example these new larger windows. Boeing says it's so more passengers can have a view. And the lighting is different too. Passengers can control the amount of light coming in through the window shades, because passenger comfort is a trend that all airlines are seeking to achieve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST (voice-over): If you're on the road, you spend a lot of time on planes, so comfort onboard is king.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only 13 percent of business travelers work onboard a flight, so that is one of the probably few occasions that business travelers get to relax a little bit and have some downtime.

QUEST: That's a trend that even aircraft manufacturers recognize.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our focus on the 77 Dreamliner was to create a healthier and more comfortable environment by focusing on lighting and the architecture of the airplane interior, so that when you enter the space you feel as though you're welcomed.

We also have higher humidity inside the interior cabin and in addition to that a lower pressure altitude so that you don't feel when you're flying on the airplane like you're climbing an 8,000 foot mountain.

QUEST: With less than 300 seats, Boeing's new 77 will have more space onboard, which means a lot more elbow room for passengers.

Airbus says the shear size of its new A380 Super Jumbo will not only ensure more space to move around, it will also allow for recreation areas, like bars and lounges, although most analysts believe airlines will stick to a more traditional format.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think at the end of the day they have to fill the aircraft with what it was designed for, which is carrying passengers. You know, they are expensive investments, so first and foremost it is about seating passengers.

QUEST: There may be more frills on the planes of the future, but at the end of the day most of us just want to know if we can get a good night's sleep.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Travelers may need to get into the hotel and rest and perform the next day.

QUEST: In simple terms, this means choosing the airline with the most comfortable seats.

On the one hand, there's the flat bed seat. On the other, the angled bed seat. Studies show that more passengers prefer the flat bed. Only British Airways, Virgin, Atlantic and South African Airways have fully flat beds in business class. Air Canada, Air New Zealand and Iberia are all planning to install them next year.

Many airlines save the flat beds for their first class passengers, although that's a trend that's also changing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a real trend now to the improvement of business class, and I think the gap between the two has partially played into that change.

QUEST: It's partly to do with economics, which means more airlines are likely to change their format in business class to attract more passengers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The meals in business class are very good and there will be a dilemma for many of the airlines to take the first class cabin out and increase the seat capacity from business class.

QUEST: A trend towards a bigger and better business class means more options for the international executive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: You'll be delighted to know that I'm not really flying this plane, which is just as well, because I have no idea what I'm doing. But luckily I do have a lot of technology that's going to help me, a bit like today's business traveler, which simply bristles with technology. You'll have to excuse me, I do have a plane to fly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST (voice-over): Fingerprinting, facial recognition, iris scanning. More airports are installing biometric technology to identify passengers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Biometric is something which -- a physiological characteristic, which is used to identify. They are generally a very good way of identifying people because it's much harder to forge a physical characteristic of someone than to forge a passport.

QUEST: The United States already uses a combination of fingerprinting and facial recognition. Similar tests are underway in Germany and Scandinavia. Other countries will follow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, America particularly is sort of pushing for people to have biometric passports, so that put pressure on other countries. I think it's fairly likely that it will become widespread if not, you know, universal within the next 5, 10 years.

QUEST: Japan Airlines has already tested a new biometric system of identification at Tokyo's Narita Airport.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) maybe air traveler should be (UNINTELLIGIBLE) checking at the security gate and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and boarding. Passengers don't have to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) anymore.

QUEST: Passengers register their face and iris scans in a computer and are given a biometric ID card. That card is then used to identify the passenger when they check in at security, even the boarding gate.

So far, though, it hasn't proved to be entirely foolproof.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Particularly if it is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) but immigration at this time is still jammed.

QUEST: It's still unclear whether you'll have to register separately in different countries or whether there will be a common database shared by all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would be very easy to share that information, but it certainly raises a lot of issues for travelers who may not want their government to share data with foreign governments as well.

QUEST: It's just the beginning stages of biometric identification. One thing is certain: biometrics at airports and by aircraft is a trend that will arrive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: This is the best videogame I've ever tried.

Coming up after the break, the trends in hotels, your home away from home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: And welcome back to CNN BUSINESS TRAVELER, aboard the A345, the longest flight in the world.

Now one of the objects of the airline is to make the aircraft more hospitable, more homey, more welcoming, with areas like this, for instance, where you can meet other passengers, have a snack, take a piece of fruit.

I'm about 10 hours into my flight and this is my home from home for the time being, but just further down the road, of course, at my destination is my hotel, my just home from home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a great feeling when you walk into a hotel and you feel the passion and lifestyle around it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's really important to get the basics right, to have a good check in, to have a nicely setup room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: High speed Internet connection is crucial and if you can have wi-fi, so much the better.

QUEST (voice-over): When you're constantly on the road, a hotel room becomes more than just a place to lay your head at night. There are clear trends in how hotels are answering the demands of the business traveler. A big watch word is connectivity, and that means improving technology.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You tried to go into the e-mail through your TV in your room, but as it's not broadband, it's not fast enough, and so everybody gets very impatient with it now.

This is changing. Broadband is now going into the rooms and so you now are going to have your own PC/flat screen TV interactive in your room, and as fast as you've got in your office.

QUEST: But just because it's a business trip doesn't mean it's all about work. Hotels are trying harder to make the room an optimum place to relax, and that's a trend being driven by women. According to some surveys, more than 40 percent of business travelers are women and that number is growing fast.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To know that there is a fresh fruit bowl in the room, or special soap and body cream there waiting for you, the little things, the personal touch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's becoming more of a home. There are more ladies traveling, and they want something which is more comfortable.

QUEST: Hoteliers are waking up to the fact they need to provide more than the basics to keep attracting guests. Sure, a comfortable bed is good, a decent, comfortable room is better, and once you're snug in your room, you don't want to have to think about safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I consider hotels to be safe in general, just as long as your door is locked. I trust the hotel to keep me safe in a hotel room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the old days, hotels were typified by huge doormen who stood there at the top of the steps, and that was what guarded the place, but now it's all being done by much more subtle means.

Security is taken very seriously now in the hospitality industry.

QUEST: With all of that taken care of, it seems all we have to worry about is remembering our room number.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: So, some 18 hours 30 minutes and change, and we finally arrive in New York, and my mammoth flight is at an end.

Now, if you've got any thoughts about some of the trends we've been talking about, especially the long haul flight -- do you look forward to taking one? And when it comes to ultra-long haul, do you dread the possibility?

Drop me an e-mail, it's the usual e-mail address Quest@cnn.com.

And you can read more about all of these stories at our Web site. It's at CNN.com/businsstraveller.

But that's CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER for this month. I'm Richard Quest. Wherever your travels may take you -- however long your flights -- I hope they're profitable. I'll see you next month.

END

TO ORDER VIDEOTAPES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF CNN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE THE SECURE ONLINE ORDER FROM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com