Business travel

Canadian luxury group Four Seasons has just opened a new hotel in Tokyo's Otemachi financial district, offering 170 rooms and 20 suites.

Air France serves 20 domestic destinations from Orly airport and is reopening its lounges there. Air France will also be resuming services to the French West Indies from Orly this winter, with a daily service to Guadeloupe and Martinique in December.

Despite the covid-19 crisis, Ethiopian Airlines has inaugurated a new terminal at Addis Adeba airport, enabling the carrier to strengthen its hub, which has become the leading airport for transfers between Africa and the rest of the world. 

Marked by a significant fall in visitor numbers, the top-of-the-range Parisian hotel industry is back in business from 1 September.

Amsterdam-Schiphol has been Europe's busiest airport for several months now, ahead of Paris-CDG, Frankfurt, Istanbul and London-Heathrow. This result is attributable to the hub's central geographical position and the growing importance of the KLM hub.

Nascapp intends to carve out a place for itself in the field of mobility in all its forms, from motorbike taxis to VTCs, all the way to helicopters.

Every year, air transport gives way a little more to rail in Switzerland. Proof of this is the launch of the "Flugzug" service by Swiss between Geneva and Zurich airport. Another project under way is the shortening of journeys to Milan.

The German Ruby Hotels group has announced two new hotels in Stuttgart and London as part of its expansion plan to reach 25 hotels by 2023.

The renewed vigour of the covid-19 pandemic around the world is leading to the reactivation of quarantines around the world. Both Lufthansa and SNCF are responding by continuing to offer total flexibility on tickets purchased by passengers. 

Finnish carrier Finnair has confirmed the network it will operate until the end of March 2021, when the summer timetable comes into force. The carrier is cancelling flights to 10 destinations on its intercontinental network. In Europe, Lyon and Nice have also been removed from the network.

After Chicago in June, the chain founded by chef Nobu Matsuhisa and actor Robert De Niro is unveiling a new hotel in Warsaw.

Eurostar will operate a direct service between the Netherlands and the UK from 26 October 2020, with a 4-hour journey between London and Amsterdam.

With the hotel industry in dire straits following the cancellation of all trade fairs and events in the French-speaking city until the end of the year, the cantonal government has decided to offer CHF 100 (€92.5) for any visitor staying at least two nights in a hotel between now and 31 December 2020.

Delta Air Lines will be the last airline to continue to block the middle seat in economy class on its domestic routes in the United States. It will be one of the few US airlines to do so, while all its competitors will revert to previous practices from October. 

According to Le Figaro, the Accor group is considering a possible merger with British hotelier IHG. For the time being, however, no further steps have been taken.

The Mondrian lifestyle brand, jointly owned by Accor and sbe, is opening in Seoul. This is the first hotel in Asia to launch the brand's international expansion, which is due to open in Cannes next year.

Last week, the European Union removed Morocco from the list of countries considered safe from a health point of view. However, this decision does not mean that flights between France and Morocco will be suspended.

Korean Air has just published its timetable for the IATA winter season, which begins on 25 October. The carrier confirms that it will continue to serve Paris-CDG with one daily frequency.

Keolis is closing its doors at Orly and Roissy CDG with the suspension of these coach services.

The return of quarantine to the UK for travellers from several countries - including France - has hit a sector in disarray.