In this part we will further extend our research into the field of technology, evaluating British Airways' biggest threats for the next 7-37 years. We will then explore technological enhancements, which could positively, interfere with the organization's future. We will criticize British Airways and the airline industry by making a comparison between the high-speed rail and the traditional air. The advantage in the high-speed rail sector notably dominated the market on short-haul routes. There are two crucial factors that led to the increase in aviation prices:.
• Air Passenger Duty (APD) increase by 8%. Analyses indicate that 16% of the British people will aim to fly on short-haul routes (less than 4,000 miles) or book a flight from a non-UK airport on account of the tax. It is expected that by 2016, a family of four will pay a tax of 500 £ on long haul routes (Hughes, 2012).
• Middle East Oil Crisis. As a result of the rising Middle East tension, British Airways increased its surcharge prices by 44% on journeys less than nine hours and by 33% for longer flights (Smith, 2012).
Therefore, analysis show that it is a better value and much more convenient to travel to short-haul routes using high-speed train if accessible. An example of this study is carried out by Trend (2008). The author notes that Eurostar's value is much less than 50% the cost of British Airways to Paris.
High-speed rail is different from Air travel in a number of respects. The chart below shows that many travelers are discomforted in some airport facility sectors like security check-in, where they are many complications. Compared with airlines, high-speed rail offers less complexity and shorter transit times. In contrast the required duty of arriving at least an hour prior to departure limits traditional air passengers. As a conclusion, it is stated by Paterson (2010) that the train is much greener than the aircraft (Peterson, 2010).
