Business travel

British long-haul carrier Virgin Atlantic is to launch flights to five new destinations. These include Sao Paulo, its first route in South America.

The 25Hours chain is continuing its expansion outside Europe. After Dubai, the chain, which is part of the Accor group, will open a hotel in Jakarta by the end of the year.

The "CleanCities" campaign, run by a European coalition to encourage towns and cities to switch to zero-emission transport by 2030, has published its results for 42 towns and cities. Paris is well placed in 3rd position.

After the restaurants, the List now turns its attention to the 1000 best hotels in the world. Top of the list is the Hotel Cipriani in Venice, ahead of the Peninsula Shanghai and the Savoy in London.

Luxury brand Fairmont is to welcome a new jewel to its collection of British hotels: the Luton Hoo, a historic mansion suited to hosting top-of-the-range events.

KLM is expanding its new business class, which will now be fitted on the Dutch airline's Boeing 777s. These new Jamco seats feature a sliding door.

A more expensive journey for those who would take their car or a taxi to reach Manhattan: this is what residents and visitors to New York can expect, as the city has just obtained the green light for a city-centre toll, the first of its kind in the United States.

JetBlue landed at Paris-CDG for the first time on Friday, and the New York-based airline will be offering daily service from JFK. Jayne O'Brien explains how JetBlue intends to change the game on the French market and more generally on the transatlantic route.

The loss of air connectivity at European airports in 2022 compared with 2019 will reach 16%. This is the result of a very detailed report by the Airports Council International ACI-Europe, published by the research institute SEO Amsterdam Economics.

To support the electrification of its fleet, Avis France will be installing charging points for electric vehicles in its largest branches.

While the Radisson group is adding a new partnership for the deployment of recharging solutions in its European hotels, the French hotel industry is also seeing this offer expanded, notably by B&B.

Accor's management has outlined its strategy for the coming years, with more concentrated development and a more consistent network for its historic brands, and major growth opportunities for its luxury and lifestyle brands.

After a period of profound transformation, the Accor group is consolidating its growth strategy around a new organisation and ambitious objectives.

London Gatwick has just announced the start of renovation work on its North Terminal. The investment is in excess of £10 million.

The new airline created by the merger of Eurostar and Thalys is back to pre-pandemic levels. This recovery can be attributed more to leisure customers than to business traffic, which is still struggling.

Hong Kong station will reopen for baggage check-in from 5 July, according to Bloomberg. This facility offered to all passengers had been closed since 2020.

On 14 June, Air Tahiti Nui launched two weekly flights between Paris CDG and Seattle, with onward flights to Papeete. The flight will be continued during the winter season, according to the airline's management.

On the heels of the inauguration of a revamped lounge in Seattle, Alaska Airlines is unveiling a partnership with the Clear Plus programme. Members of the airline's frequent flyer programme will be able to use this biometrics-based queue-saver service at some fifty US airports.

The launch of a direct Paris-Berlin TGV line should finally go via Saarbrücken rather than Strasbourg, despite lobbying from the French side. Nevertheless, the decision seems rational from a geographical point of view...

With a luxury SO/ hotel due to open in Dubai this summer and a more accessible Tribe arriving in Düsseldorf, Ennismore, in charge of Accor's lifestyle brands, is continuing to expand around the world.