True colours on show at summit

“Some guys have all the luck,” sang Rod Stewart in 1984. And he should know. But he should have changed “guys” to “budget airlines”, if the evidence of last week’s Travel Summit 2004 is anything to go by.

As the second day’s session opened, Simon Lilley, general manager marketing at low-cost airline Flybe.com, took the stage as chairman – only to find the colour for the backdrop and other conference materials was rather reminiscent of another well-known budget carrier. “Thanks you for the orange backdrop – it’s made me feel very much at home. And the easyJet guys must be very pleased,” was Lilley’s response, as easyJet head of marketing Alistair Buckle suppressed a chuckle…