Business travel

The Expedia group and its business travel subsidiary Egencia have reached an agreement with Air France KLM. Customers of the business travel agency will not be affected by the new tax imposed on bookings made via GDS.

With the 2018 summer timetable, Air Corsica is increasing the frequency of its flights on international routes, in particular to Belgium and London. Jean-Baptiste Martini, the airline's Sales and Marketing Director, explains the carrier's strategy to Voyages d'Affaires.

As on Tuesday, 4 April promises to be a difficult day for business travellers. The SNCF strike has led to the cancellation of 6 out of 7 high-speed trains. The company expects a "gradual return to normal service on Thursday 5 April".

Grab, the leading shared-vehicle platform in South-East Asia, has just absorbed the business of its competitor Uber. Uber is withdrawing from all markets in the region in exchange for a shareholding.

As expected, industrial action is disrupting business travel this Tuesday 3 April. Strikes at Air France and across the SNCF network are expected to affect many business travellers.

R.evo at Vienne Hotel, Khos at Rosewood: the hotel industry is working hard to find answers to the rumours of a predicted 'disruption'.

At a time when the unions are engaged in a major industrial action against the change in the status of SNCF, the example of the opening up of the rail market in Germany is instructive. The transformation of Deutsche Bahn's status and the emergence of competitors has not really dented the popularity of the national carrier. Nor have they reduced ticket prices...

The carrier easyJet has opened a new base in Bordeaux. This will enable the airline to provide more seats this summer while strengthening its route network.

Aigle Azur is reaffirming its position as France's second largest airline. And it intends to gain even more visibility with the launch of new long-haul routes in June.

Regus is continuing to develop its Spaces coworking spaces in Paris. The world leader in business centres will be opening a new Spaces in the Halles district in the autumn, ahead of the one expected early next year in La Défense.

On Monday, Rennes airport became the 20th in easyJet's French network, with the inauguration of a Lyon-Rennes route that should attract many business travellers.

After Emirates and Qatar Airways, it is now the turn of Australia's Qantas to offer a very long-haul flight, linking London and Australia non-stop for the first time. While we wait for a non-stop service between Paris and Australia?

Meridiana, the regional carrier acquired by Qatar Airways, has become Air Italy. Its ambition is to become the benchmark for air transport in Italy.

Düsseldorf and Munich will be taking over most of the long-haul routes operated by Eurowings from Cologne. The idea is also to attract business travellers.

The Trenitalia subsidiary, which operates a night service between Paris and Rome and day trains between Marseille and Milan, plans to respond to regional calls for tenders for TER services and to take part in the opening up of TGV lines to competition in 2020.

Air France plans to operate the vast majority of its flights on 23 March, despite the strike. Another notice has been given for 30 March.

Ryanair's entry into the capital of the new LaudaMotion airline makes Vienna one of the low-cost air transport capitals of Europe.

At his annual press conference in Berlin, the Chairman of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, reaffirmed the carrier's determination to continue to assert itself as a global air transport giant.

The Global Meeting Exchange event organised in Montreal gave AccorHotels group executives the opportunity to meet event organisers from around the world and showcase their international ambitions in the luxury and upmarket segments.

With Sure Hotel by Best Western in the economy segment and the BW Signature Collection by Best Western in the upper mid-range, Best Western has two new brands to strengthen its presence in France. All this, without forgetting to pursue its strategy of moving upmarket.