Business travel

With plans to open new hotels in France and Europe, a new urban concept, digital check-in and a metamorphosis of hotel lobbies, Fabrice Collet, Managing Director of B&B Hotels, explains the dynamism of the budget hotel chain.

A new 25hours hotel opened its doors in Düsseldorf in May. This establishment offers a blend of French elegance and German sobriety in the centre of the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Minor International has announced that it has taken over Chinese tourism conglomerate HNA's stake in NH Hotel and will shortly launch a takeover bid to become the majority shareholder in the Spanish group.

Until now, Gulf carriers have resisted the temptation to introduce a fourth class of travel on their aircraft, the famous Premium Eco. Emirates has just taken the plunge, and it is likely that other carriers in the region will follow Dubai's example.

The world of hotels and restaurants came together on 4 and 5 June for the Food Hotel Tech exhibition. The event organisers brought together start-ups representing the latest trends in the industry.

AccorHotels could add a key sector to its business diversification strategy: air transport. The hotel group has announced its interest in taking over the French state's stake in Air France-KLM.

A United Polaris lounge opens its doors on 4 June in New York, one of the airline's largest hubs. The airline has set up a luxury offer for its business class passengers.

Finnair is planning a busy summer in 2019: on 31 May it announced that it would be stepping up its flights from Nice and Biarritz, as well as to Reykjavik and Warsaw.

On 30 May, Singapore Airlines announced the scheduling of an 18-hour, 45-minute flight over 16,700 km linking Singapore to New York. And it is already thinking of landing in Los Angeles.

Which are the busiest airlines on the planet? Perhaps not the ones you might spontaneously think of. According to OAG's latest barometer of the top 20 busiest routes, Asia is at the top of the list...

Good news for passengers on US domestic routes: service quality was up in 2017, according to a study by US universities.

According to forecasts published by SNCF on Monday, one TGV in three and one TER in two will be cancelled during the strike on 29 May.

The German group is launching a new 'Economy Light' fare to North America. The target is long-haul low-cost carriers on the North Atlantic, such as Norwegian, Level, Air Transat and Air Canada Rouge.

On 25 May, Delta launched a new flight between Indianapolis and Paris CDG. This is the only direct transatlantic flight between Europe and Indiana, and Delta's 13th destination from Paris airport.

Does a code-share agreement between Air France and Australia's flag carrier Qantas herald a future direct flight between France and Australia?

One Transilien out of 2, 3 TGV out of 5 and 2 Intercités out of 5: these are the SNCF forecasts for the strike day on 23 May.

With the spread of home automation and the emergence of the Internet of Things, hoteliers are working on ultra-connected rooms that respond to the touch of a finger, the eye, and soon the voice.

The AccorHotels group has signed an agreement with Ector. The start-up is now providing its services to members of the loyalty programme. Members benefit from the equivalence of their loyalty programme with that of Ector and earn points in the Accor Club for each euro spent with the valet parking service.

A partnership between CDS Groupe and the Dayuse.com platform aims to fill empty hotel rooms during the day with business travellers.

American car rental company Hertz is offering members of its loyalty programme unlimited 4G in Europe. To do this, Hertz is providing its customers with a smartphone that can connect up to five devices to the internet and provide 30 minutes of international calls per day.