Business travel

EasyJet has just signed a partnership agreement with Monacair, enabling it to offer business travellers flying from Nice to the Principality a helicopter flight to and from the airport. Journey time: 6 minutes.

Moriyuki Tanemura is Executive Vice President France & Benelux at All Nippon Airways (ANA). He reports on the development of traffic between France and Japan.

Farida Chikhaoui, Sales Director France for Aer Lingus, looks back over the airline's recent developments and plans, both in terms of its network and in-flight and ground services.

A new lease of life for the Hôtel du Louvre, new meeting spaces at the Hyatt Regency - The Churchill in London, the acquisition of the Miraval group and the arrival of a hotel in the French Alps under the Hyatt Centric banner: the last few days have been full of announcements for the American group.

Scandic Hotels, Scandinavia's leading hotel group, has acquired eight new hotels, including the Grand Hotel in Oslo. Also in the pipeline is a new establishment at Helsinki airport.

The Peninsula Beijing has regained all its prestige following an extensive renovation programme. As well as offering the largest rooms in the Chinese capital, the palace elegantly blends traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design.

Concur has examined the role played by Airbnb in the business travel segment, analysing spending on alternative accommodation over two years. The results are clear: business travellers are increasingly using Airbnb for their business trips in France, Germany and the UK.

On 12 January, the directors of Qatar Airways inaugurated the airline's new lounge at Paris-CDG. This was an opportunity to reaffirm their ambitions in the French market, ahead of the inauguration of a new flight to Nice.

The arrival of French Blue on Réunion at the end of 2016 is forcing all airlines to rethink their strategy. In particular, Air Austral, Réunion's "national" airline.

The Tour des Jardins de l'Arche, a new skyscraper with almost 700 rooms under the IHG banner, is due to open in 2022.

By acquiring the Indian group Sarovar Hotels, Louvre Hotels has become a major player in a key Asian market.

European airlines have each announced their first results for 2016, showing overall growth in passenger traffic last year.

The daily newspaper Le Parisien has revealed the first details of the SNCF's new commercial offer aimed at Generation Z.

With its new AerClub frequent flyer programme, the Irish airline is joining the Avios points system common to all IAG group carriers.

Hotel suites embody the quintessence of savoir recevoir. When they are not being occupied by visiting celebrities or company directors, these exceptional rooms are also ideal for very special events.

The German airline has unveiled a number of new features, including the addition of Airbus A320neo and A350-900 aircraft to its fleet and the announcement of services to Nantes.

In 2018, Qantas will launch a brand new route between London and Perth, the first direct route between Europe and Australia. The Western Australian hub is set to become a mini-hub of strategic importance in the years to come.

Nantes airport is the most dynamic in the whole of France, recording the strongest growth in passenger traffic of all the regional airports. This performance should be seen in the context of the ongoing controversy surrounding the future Grand Ouest hub at Notre-Dame-des-Landes.

The Marriott group has just officially inaugurated a new establishment in Brussels. The Courtyard Brussels EU will focus particularly on the business clientele attracted by the neighbouring European institutions.

Last Friday, Lufthansa and Etihad signed a partnership that seemed impossible just a few months ago, and which could pave the way for other, more far-reaching agreements. The agreement includes code-sharing.