Energy behemoth Shell has selected FCM as its global travel provider to manage travel requirements across all businesses.
The multi-year contract will run from 2022.
According to FCM’s global managing director Marcus Eklund, the company triumphed due to its client-first approach that prioritises their needs and preferred systems without compromising on quality.
Over the course of the tender process, Shell welcomed FCM’s agile and instinctively collaborative method. FCM’s powerful technology capabilities were a differentiating factor in Shell’s decision to award the contract – specifically, its platform’s baked-in ability to deliver a globally consistent user experience alongside a wholly flexible open-platform solution.
This level of adaptability was crucially important for Shell to enable easy future integration of their preferred feature and functionality options on a market-by-market basis.
Commenting on FCM’s appointment, Shell’s global travel operations manager Julia Sullivan said: “We look forward to working with FCM and to leveraging their digital capability and innovative approach. Our joint goal is to make a positive difference to our employees’ travel experiences, supporting their well-being and empowering them to make more sustainable travel choices.”
FCM’s global managing director Marcus Eklund said in a statement that his company will “work in partnership with (Shell’s) global travel team to devise and implement a comprehensive programme that delivers on their goals, while making business travel simpler, safer and productive for their employees”.
Both companies share a commitment to travelling purposefully and will be developing a best-in-class travel programme of solutions and service offerings that will deliver safe, inclusive, seamless and sustainable travel experiences for Shell’s business travellers.
“Business travel is changing, and in FCM we have found a partner that understands the challenges and supports our ambition to establish a travel programme that is as progressive as possible when benchmarked against Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) frameworks,” added Sullivan.
In a bid to rebuild its global network to meet growing travel demand, Emirates will restart operations to Bali, London Stansted, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires progressively from May 1, as well as boost the frequency of flights to Nigeria, Mauritius and Singapore.
Starting from May 1, Emirates will operate five weekly flights to Bali, utilising a two-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, and further scale that up to a weekly service.
From August 1, the airline will resume operations to London Stansted with five weekly flights, utilising a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft that will come with First Class cabins. The route will be served daily from September 1.
Emirates will serve the UK with 110 weekly flights by October this year, to hubs such as London Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle and Glasgow.
Come November 2, Emirates will operate four weekly flights to Buenos Aires via Rio de Janeiro on the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and scale that up to a daily service.
Meanwhile, to cater to rising demand, services to Nigeria’s Lagos will be ramped up to 11 weekly flights from July 1 and double daily from September 1. Services to Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, will be operated five times weekly from May 1 and then daily from September 1.
Services to Mauritius will go from daily to nine weekly flights between April 9 and end-June, and then scaled up further to double daily from July.
The airline will also increase passenger services to Singapore from seven weekly flights, to 14 weekly flights, starting from June 23.