Business travel

Boston joins the club of business destinations served by Iberia with aircraft equipped with its new Premium Economy class.

American Airlines has just announced some new European destinations that will be joining its flight programme in summer 2018.

Air Berlin filed for bankruptcy on 15 August. A loan granted by the German government is currently enabling the airline to maintain its flight schedule, pending a possible takeover by the Lufthansa group.

Marriott has shortlisted eight start-ups to join the TestBED European acceleration programme. Two French solutions are on the list.

Qatar's isolation by its neighbours is having a positive effect: the government of the small Emirate has just revised its conditions for granting visas, offering free travel and flexibility to 80 countries.

Munich continues to grow as part of Lufthansa's hub strategy, with more capacity on intercontinental routes.

The arrival of Airbnb and others on the long-stay market is encouraging hotel residences to reinvent themselves around innovative concepts, surfing on the very current trends of co-working and co-living.

The W Bellevue hotel has opened its doors in the high-tech suburbs of Seattle. The new establishment is clearly banking on the business clientele of the digital giants based in the area.

Air France is experimenting with immersive in-flight entertainment, offering virtual reality headsets projecting 3D films and series. The test phase began on 1 August and could be extended.

Flightright has published a study on "Black Days" in the airline industry: these spikes in flight cancellations hit French airports particularly hard in July.

French air transport is gaining strength. At the end of June, air traffic in France was up by 5.9%, giving a total of 76.9 million passengers, some 4.3 million more than in the same period of 2016. June was about average, with growth of 5.7%.

Bordeaux airport is now facing competition from the high-speed line, which brings the destination within 2 hours of Paris. But the new line does nothing to dampen the airport management's optimistic outlook. While traffic is expected to stagnate or increase slightly in 2017, the long-term growth outlook for the airport remains excellent. Interview by Luc Citrinot.

Six months after Brussels Airlines' first flight to India, the Belgian carrier is revising its ambitions upwards with the addition of a new...

Thailand's national airline will be opening a new route to Vienna at the end of October. This confirms its pre-eminence on routes between Europe and South-East Asia.

Air France-KLM's development is part of the ongoing consolidation movement in the airline industry. The Franco-Dutch group is opening up its capital to Delta Air Lines and China Eastern and acquiring 39% of the shares in Virgin Atlantic. Air France-KLM is thus positioned as the European pillar of the world's leading airline network.

Alternative accommodation, collaborative working: AccorHotels is continuing to open up to sectors outside the hotel industry by creating a JV with Bouygues Immobilier to develop Nextdoor coworking spaces, while bringing together its luxury residence rental offer under the onefinestay brand.

The arrival of VTCs has turned the urban travel sector on its head, forcing taxis to improve their services. This new competition is weaving its web in the business travel market. Business customers are benefiting from this development, in terms of choice, quality, fares and expense management.

On Thursday, Air France unveiled the identity of its new low-cost airline, announced several months ago. "Joon" will be based at Paris-CDG, will take to the skies this autumn, and will set off for long-haul destinations in summer 2018.

Following the announcement of the creation of easyJet Europe in Austria, what are the strategies of the other British airlines to deal with the consequences of Brexit in European skies?

Easyjet is to set up a European subsidiary in Vienna to avoid possible restrictions on traffic rights when Great Britain leaves the European Union.