Business travel

Although all the players involved are united in their desire to automate the booking of meeting rooms, the complexity of the subject means that this is still a long way off. But that doesn't mean that progress hasn't been made.

For a long time, this was a real headache. But the world of hotel reservations now offers companies greater clarity when it comes to rationalising this major budget item.

Bertrand Gosselin replaces Agnès Ogier as head of Thalys. The rail company made the appointment official on Monday. Agnès Ogier joins the SNCF Group as Director General of Group Communication and Image

Eurostar has just begun selling tickets for its third daily service to Amsterdam and Rotterdam, which will start in June.

According to the Belgian media, a court ruling in December 2018 rendered the Uber platform illegal in Brussels. The VTC giant is nevertheless continuing its activities there, citing an "informative decision", and relying on the confusion between UberX and UberPOP.

In 2018, Nice-Côte d'Azur airport welcomed around 13.85 million passengers, 4.1 % more than last year.

According to preliminary figures released by the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), 4.3 billion passengers travelled by air in 2018: an increase of 6.1 % compared with 2017.

Lyon-Saint Exupéry airport has just welcomed a record 11 million passengers in 2018.

The opening of the first phase of the new Istanbul airport has been confirmed for 3 March. Turkish Airlines will be transferring a number of flights from January onwards, including a daily service to Paris Charles de Gaulle.

The new agreement between Star Alliance and Guangzhou Airport paves the way for new infrastructure to improve the experience of business travellers at the Chinese hub, including a Star Alliance lounge from 2019.

In 2022, London City Airport will open a new terminal to welcome business travellers in a 51,000 m² space. The first images of the project have just been published.

While Hainan Airlines is launching flights from Paris to Chongqinq and Shenzhen, Xiamen Airlines is now linking the French capital with Fuzhou. This further strengthens traffic between Paris and China.

Flightright recently ranked airports and airlines according to the flight delays and cancellations they accumulated in 2018. In total, €562 million in compensation would be owed to passengers.

The first Orient Express hotel, the hotel version of the legendary luxury trains launched by AccorHotels, will open in Bangkok in 2019.

Since 17 December, Air France has been offering passengers departing from Paris-Charles de Gaulle the option of checking in their baggage at Paris-Nord station. A service that business travellers should appreciate.

On 14 December, the city of Nice inaugurated the section of line 2 of the tramway linking the city centre to the Nice-Côte d'Azur airport terminals.

The budget brand easyHotel is to open a hotel at Paris-CDG in 2020. This project is part of the company's ambition to have 15 hotels in France within the next five years.

Directional Aviation's takeover of PrivateFly, synergies with the new owner's other companies, the advantages of private aviation in the corporate world... Interview with Adam Twidell, co-founder and CEO of PrivateFly.

Is it the spectacle of nature in its raw state or the softness of snow-covered mountain pastures? Is it the warmth of fireside chats or the intimate atmosphere of mountain hotels? There's no doubt that a little of all these factors combine to make seminars in the great white a unique experience.

Véronique Bertrand, Director of Meetings & Events France at Club Med, describes the projects and advantages of the villages for seminars in the mountains.