Business travel

Unique architecture, a festive atmosphere, design: W Sydney has just opened its doors in the bustling Darling Harbour district.

Airlines have received permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) to increase their frequencies this winter. More flights to Beijing are expected from Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Munich and Paris.

In January, Swiss will launch a new business route between Zurich and Rotterdam, a first for the airline.

Paris, Brussels, Madrid, Vienna and a host of other projects: the voco brand, part of the IHG Group, is on a roll in Europe.

British Airways has just completed the modernisation of its lounges at Heathrow airport.

After more than two decades away from the French market, Qantas has confirmed its return to Paris with the launch of four weekly non-stop flights to Perth in Western Australia.

Two new destinations on the network, Abu Dhabi and Raleigh-Durham, and several seasonal routes in Europe mark the Air France winter schedule. KLM, for its part, is launching three daily flights on the Amsterdam-Marseille route.

Caen Airport will close on 11 March. Nothing definitive, however: it will reopen just over a month later.

Planned to be part of the Hyatt group, the Grand Hansa Helsinki will finally open its doors under the NH Collection brand early next year.

New York, New York... JetBlue is doing it again in Paris with the announcement of a second daily flight between CDG and JFK. The airline will also be adding a Paris-Boston route, and will be discovering two other European capitals.

Local authorities recently celebrated the completion of plans to modernise and extend Terminal E at Boston Logan Airport.

In collaboration with SBB, Swiss is extending its Air Rail network to Geneva airport. Passengers travelling to or from Lausanne, Fribourg or Bern stations can now choose Geneva airport for their air/rail connections.

Far from the standardised hotels of yesteryear, Novotel is moving towards a new generation of more design-led, more urban hotels. All orchestrated by new openings.

CSR, teleworking, bleisure, well-being: Saskia Gentil, Senior VP Sales Europe and North Africa at Accor, looks back at the major trends driving business travel and meetings and events.

More and more flights are being cancelled in Beirut. The Lufthansa group was the first to announce the suspension of its flights, while the national carrier Middle East Airlines reduced the number of its daily flights. However, flights to France are still operating.

Vietnamese airline Bamboo Airways, which launched its first long-haul routes to Europe last year, has decided to suspend them for good and is refocusing on regional services. After the bankruptcy of MYAirlines in Malaysia, this restructuring demonstrates the fragility of new entrants in South East Asia.

The excellent development of Austrian Railways ÖBB's Nightjet services is reflected in the increase in traffic on the Paris-Vienna route, which will become a daily service in October 2024. The Paris-Berlin route will also be launched on 10 December.

A new logo with the upper-case A becoming lower-case. This is the minimalist transformation of the avianca company, which is completing its status as a point-to-point carrier...

With Air France's announcement that it will withdraw completely from Orly to leave the way clear for its subsidiary Transavia to operate routes, it is fair to ask how much clout the French airline still has at the airport to the south of Paris.

Business activity, adoption of electric vehicles by companies, recharging points: Pierre-Olivier Bard, France Director of the Avis Budget Group, reviews the latest developments in car hire.