The move has been announced in the wake of the airport’s parent company dropping the BAA name last October, and announcing that the company’s airports would operate under independent titles.

With the sale of Stansted Airport expected to be completed in the coming months, the airport consortium decided that the name no longer be applied, as Heathrow would account for the lion’s share of their business (it is estimated at over 90%). The sale ends the long running legal dispute with the Competition Commission, which has already seen the sale of Gatwick and Edinburgh Airports; it will leave the company with four airports: Heathrow, Glasgow, Southampton and Aberdeen.

The Aberdeen International name is part of a project that will both change the airport’s branding and aims to expand its portfolio of destinations, with a particular focus on the leisure market. Recent route additions have mainly focused on the business community, with new flights to London City and Bristol airports giving increased transport options between the north-east, London and the south-west.

Further new routes are expected to be announced over the course of 2013, expanding the airport’s presence, particularly within the European market. Aberdeen will also see the benefit of the slots British Airways had to relinquish at Heathrow, when Virgin Atlantic begin domestic services between the London hub, Edinburgh and Aberdeen in April of this year, providing competition for BA.

Figures from December indicate that there is a growing demand for aviation in the north east, with passenger numbers increasing year-on-year. Domestic passengers showed the largest increase at 9.1%, but international travellers were not far behind, increasing by 7.2%. Not all the figures are as healthy, helicopter traffic at the airport – which handles most of the traffic for getting workers on and off the North Sea oil rigs – was down by 13.4%.

Speaking to the BBC, the airport’s managing director, Derek Provan, said: “this is an exciting time for the airport and for our customers”, later adding that it is “encouraging to see domestic and international traffic growing at such strong rate.”

No date has yet been set for the rebranding, however it is expected to begin within a matter of months.

The group, which accounts for 21% of capacity at the London hub, are currently spread out between terminals 1, 3 and 4 – with this latest development bringing them all together for the first time. Following the announcement Mark Schwab, chief executive, Star Alliance said: “We are delighted by today’s decision, which gives the green light for creating a new travel experience for our customers and allows our member airlines to operate an efficient hub in London”.

Star Alliance is the parent group to many of the world’s best-known airlines, including Swiss Air, United Airlines, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, US Airways, Air Canada; it is Heathrow’s second largest flight provider. The only larger group is British Airways’ parent company, IAG, who already have their own dedicated hub in Terminal 5.

Star Alliance will be joined in their new terminal by Aer Lingus and Virgin Atlantic’s domestic services. Aer Lingus, Ireland’s national carrier and Heathrow’s fourth-largest airline, will move from its current base in Terminal 1 late in 2014. Virgin’s new domestic services (which are due to begin in 2013) will initially operate from Terminal 1, but will be one of the first to move to Terminal 2 when it opens in 2014. Virgin Atlantic’s international operations will remain in Terminal 3; however the airport has already said that it will be working with Virgin Atlantic to bring all of their services together at some point in the future.

The new terminal building is part of the £11 billion expansion and refurbishment of Heathrow which has already seen the creation of a brand new terminal for British Airways – Terminal 5 – and the refurbishment of terminals 3 and 4. The old Terminal 2 was decommissioned and demolished following BA’s move to Terminal 5. The completion of the new Terminal 2 – at a cost of £2.5 billion to the airport – and the move of all Star Alliance and Aer Lingus’ services and Virgin Atlantic’s domestic flights will pave the way for the closure of Terminal 1 in 2016.

The $360m (£224m) deal will see Delta take the large stake from Singapore Airlines, ending a twelve-year investment by the Asian group. The airline is believed to have sold their stake after disappointing results – they bought the near half share in 1999 for £600m.

Collaboration between Delta and Virgin Atlantic could signal a greater expansion in the two airlines’ transatlantic network, providing stronger competition to the routes, which have been dominated by British Airways and American Airlines since they joined forces in 2010 to take a 60% share of the market. The deal, however, will have to pass through the Department of Transportation in Washington D.C., although in an email to customers on Wednesday evening, Steve Ridgway, Virgin Atlantic’s chief executive, said that they were “confident” of gaining the DOT’s approval.

The deal, which has been rumoured for some time, has sparked a very public war of words between Richard Branson and Willie Walsh (the chief executive of BA’s parent company IAG) online and in the media. Mr Walsh commented earlier this week, suggesting that Delta would not allow the Virgin Atlantic brand to last for long and that it would be gone all together within the next five years. Walsh also said that this was just a way for Delta to secure the much-coveted Heathrow take-off and landing slots.

Virgin Group’s outspoken president, Mr Branson, retorted by saying that he would give BA staff a million pounds if the brand disappeared within the time and suggested that Mr Walsh should do likewise if the airline was still around. Mr Walsh responded by saying that unlike the multi-billionaire Branson, he did not have a spare million, so suggested a ‘knee in the groin’, stating that this would be “as painful to him as it might be to me”. Whilst some have said this is just International Airlines Group trying to get publicity in their competitor’s headlines, others have raised similar questions over the deal.

A jubilant Branson said on the Virgin blog on Tuesday: “For almost three decades Virgin Atlantic has been punching above its weight. We fought hard to stop BA and American Airlines getting together but they created a complete giant across the Atlantic. Now we are partnering with Delta we can give them a real run for their money which is, I suspect, why BA’s chief executive has behaved the way he has over the last couple of days.”

The busiest day for the airline will be Friday 21^st of December, with just under 102,000 people due to fly on the airline’s routes, with many jetting off abroad  and thousands of others flying home in time for Christmas. There will also be some 27,000 passengers, 845 pilots and 2,473 cabin crew in the air on Christmas day.

Thursday the 2^nd (of January) will see the largest number of post-New Year travellers, with 91,000 scheduled to fly.

New York is, once again, topping the list of long-haul destinations for the festive period. Getting a bit of winter sun (or avoiding the rain, sleet and snow in the UK) is popular again this year with Miami, Cape Town, Dubai and Hong Kong making up the rest of the top five. Closer to home, the most popular short-haul city destination is Edinburgh. Following it are Geneva, Glasgow, Amsterdam and Manchester.

Head of sales for BA in the UK and Ireland, Richard Tams, said: “We’re looking forward to flying nearly two million customers over the festive period around our network. In past years we’ve seen a couple of peaks in travel, but this year it’s really concentrated around December 21. We’ll be getting into the festive spirit serving mince pies and roast turkey on board, and on Christmas Day 845 pilots and 2,473 cabin crew will be doing their best to give our customers the very best service.”

This new route is the latest part of British Airway’s expansion in its Asian operations, which it sees as a way of capitalising on the rising demand for travel to the continent, and in particular the rise in demand for business travel to the Far East. The airline will be using slots at the London hub which were made vacant after BA’s parent company, International Airlines Group, purchased BMI and integrated the routes of the two airlines.

Using a fleet of four-class Boeing 777s, there will be six flights each week to Seoul. The flights to South Korea have been timed to get passengers there for the start of the working day, whilst flights to London have been scheduled to enable passengers to benefit from a large number of connections from the airline’s Terminal 5 hub to other destinations in the UK, Europe and further afield.

The new route has also been given an unexpected boost BA chief executive, Keith Williams, has revealed, by the unprecedented success of YouTube sensation Gangnam Style. Talking about the route, Williams said “When we decided to launch Seoul, we were basing it on the strong demand from business travellers in both directions given the city’s strong economic base. That demand remains, but we couldn’t have foreseen the enormous response to the current Gangnam Style phenomenon when we announced the route. It is really helping to put Seoul on the map for UK travellers looking for an exciting and fun destination.”

Passengers flying between the two cities will have four cabin options on the route: First Class, Club World Class (business class), World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and World Traveller (economy). Flights start at £650, including taxes and charges.

Without the remedy slots, British Airways would have been the uncontested provider of flights between Scotland and Heathrow, following the acquisition of BMI by BA’s parent company, International Airlines Group, earlier this year.

Whilst details of the new short haul services are yet to be announced, it is expected that the flights will begin around the 31^st of March 2013, and will operate using narrow-bodied Airbus A320s. Virgin Atlantic CEO, Steve Ridgway, has said that details of the flight schedules will be released in the next fortnight, with the opportunity to purchase tickets shortly afterwards. He has confirmed, however, that there will be multiple flights each day between the two Scottish cities and the Capital.

Mr Ridgeway said in a statement: “We have fought hard for the right to fly short haul and take a strong challenge to British Airways within these shores. For 28 years both airlines have battled for customers all over the world and it has meant that British consumers have ultimately had some of the world’s best flying and lowest fares.

“This is the beginning of an exciting new era in Virgin Atlantic history and we now feel a responsibility to everyone that has supported us in this challenge. Passengers can look forward to a great short haul service with us but most importantly reap the benefits from the re-injection of vital competition we can provide on these routes.”

The decision to award all of the remedy slots to Virgin Atlantic ends months of speculation over who would get the much-coveted Heathrow space. Whilst it was always known that the slots were reserved for domestic services – and always likely to be used for Edinburgh and Aberdeen flights – many had wondered if the slots would be split between more than one airline. Industry experts will now be looking to see whether Virgin Atlantic does provide the level of competition to British Airways that their bid was based on.

The additional capacity commitment preceded South Africa’s Minister for Tourism, Mathinus Van Schalkwyk, taking part in an open discussion at World Travel Market last week. The discussion focused on the on-going debate between governments from around the world and the travel sector about authorities spending millions on destination-focused advertising and then creating barriers for visitors, such as air duties, access routes and convoluted visa procedures.

Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, CEO of Cape Town Tourism, welcomed the country’s involvement in the debate, urging authorities to make access to the country easier to encourage visitors, especially as air travel is hit by the ever-increasing costs of fuel. “Air access and affordability is critical to a long-haul destination, particularly as carbon fuel costs rise” she said, “ It’s vital that we have an airline orbit that is both competitive for its investors and user-friendly for travellers. Our country’s leadership on this could move us into a priority position in the African travel market.”

Her words – and the additional capacity – come as Cape Town’s summer tourism season begins. The additional capacity has been negotiated over the last year and is now coming to fruition as many international airlines start services from across the globe – especially Europe – to capitalise on the increasing demand.

This week saw German airline, Condor, begin its first twice weekly service from Frankfurt to Cape Town, they follow several other new, or re-introduced, routes. October saw the majority of new services beginning with British Airways increased their daily service between Cape Town and Heathrow (until March 2013) to twice daily; followed by Air France who has resumed its seasonal, three-times-a-week flights from Paris. Swiss airline, Edelweiss, Turkish Airlines and Lufthanasa have also increased service levels for the summer season with two, four and five flights a week, respectively. The other big re-introduction is from Virgin Atlantic, which has restarted direct daily flights from London, which will continue through until April 2013.

This big introduction of seasonal flights is a massive boost to the city, and with such a large additional capacity now available permanently it is surely a matter of time until Cape Town becomes a year-round destination of choice. Their next challenge, as Wesgro CEO Nils Flatten has stated, is to get more of these flights to be year-round operations, as British Airways is currently the only major European operator to offer such a service.

The poll, released as World Travel Market (one of the largest business-to-business travel exhibitions in the world) got underway in London this week, represented the views of many of the world’s top travel executives. Its release also coincides with the beginning of Sir Howard Davies’ government-commissioned investigation into the future of the aviation industry in Britain.

Of the 1,300 executives surveyed, 34% backed the building of the additional runway at Heathrow, whilst only 20% believed that the new aviation hub in the Thames Estuary – backed by London mayor, Boris Johnson – was the solution.

“It is clear that senior travel executives from around the globe are in favour of expanding the UK’s primary airport with a third runway at Heathrow.” Said World Travel Market’s director, Simon Press. He continued by saying: “Expanding other airports in south-east England is more popular than building a new airport which suggests that our overseas colleagues think the UK Government should steer clear from an ambitious if expensive solution when there are better options available.”

The government has so far dismissed the idea of Heathrow having a third runway, but there have been suggestions in recent months that MPs are willing to consider the idea. Last weekend Prime Minister, David Cameron, was quoted in the Times as saying that Boris Johnson was wrong to dismiss the idea of the third runway at Heathrow and that he would not have a veto on any decision regarding the hub’s expansion. He said: “In the end the decision is a national decision that the government has to lead.”

In a new twist to the on-going saga, Heathrow Airport Holdings – formerly BAA – has said this week that it wants the government to look at a report from the Free Enterprise Group (a think-tank of Conservative MPs) which suggests a four-runway hub at (or near) Heathrow would be the best way to compete with other European cities, such as Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt – all of which have airports with four runways.

British Airways, who were a sponsor of Team GB, ran a large advertising campaign during the games urging Britons to stay at home to support their athletes and followed the Games with another campaign and promotion called the ‘Thank you Great Britain Sale’, which ended on the 25th September.

Accompanied by the hashtag #HomeAdvantage, BA’s Olympic campaign told holiday makers to shun the usual August holiday peak and instead stay at home to support Team GB. Slogans such as ‘The anthem won’t sing itself’ and ‘On your marks, get set, STAY’ were a regular sight in magazines, newspapers and billboards during the Games. Following the success of Team GB at the Games the ‘Thank you Great Britain sale’ took place from the end of August through most of September; the airline’s way of thanking those who stayed at home to support their athletes.

IAG have said that the two campaigns “positively impacted” passenger figures, with increases in both premium and leisure travel. Strong levels of business travel in September helped British Airways and fellow IAG carrier Iberia, with premium traffic increasing by 8% compared to the same period last year. Leisure traffic was also up on 2011’s figures, showing a 4.6% year-on-year increase.

The month of September also marked the sixth month in operation of Iberia’s low-cost offshoot, Iberia Express. In that time it has carried 1.5 million passengers and has had a punctuality rating of 94%. Over the winter period the airline will fly to 16 destinations, 9 in the UK and a further 7 international.