Business travel

Air France is inaugurating its new lounge in Terminal 2G on 1 March. The airline has thought big by increasing the space dedicated to business travellers fivefold.

Norwegian, Wow Air, French Blue: long-haul low-cost offers are flourishing on the transatlantic network. Liligo has examined the phenomenon in a study which, according to the travel search engine, calls into question the pricing policies of low-cost carriers, which are being counter-attacked by traditional airlines.

Last January, B&B Hôtels launched a plan to renovate 160 hotels in order to give a very contemporary feel to its budget and design hotel concept.

Pentahotels opened a hotel at Paris CDG in June 2016. This subsidiary of the Asian luxury group Rosewood - the same group that took over the Crillon - presents a lifestyle concept that contrasts with "classic" airport hotels.

Penalised by the very difficult year experienced by Parisian establishments, the French hotel industry recorded a fall of -4.01TP3Q in its revenue per room according to Deloitte In Extenso.

The launch by Air France of a discount airline has been approved by the pilots.

Iberia and Vueling are joining forces to strengthen the air link between Madrid and Barcelona, with greater flexibility for business travellers.

KLM, the Dutch carrier, and Air Mauritius are partnering to offer year-round services between Amsterdam and Mauritius.

The Novotel Paris Les Halles has unveiled a new seminar concept, Atelier H, with seven modular studios decorated in vintage style and a "home from home" feel.

Onefinestay, the specialist in the rental of top-of-the-range private residences, is adding new tourist destinations to its offering. This expansion reflects the desire of its owner, AccorHotels, to strengthen its position in a buoyant segment.

The hotel industry is doing rather well in Asia, and the ASEAN community is no exception. Thailand and Vietnam in particular are experiencing a boom in tourist arrivals.

A one-year experiment that ended in failure: the Dutch management of the low-cost Transavia - a subsidiary of Air France-KLM - threw in the towel on its Munich base to concentrate the airline's development on France and the Netherlands.

In Germany, air transport grew by 3.4% in 2016 across all airports, representing 223.2 million passengers. This is certainly a positive result, but it is qualified by the ADV, the German airports association. According to the ADV, Germany's airports are losing ground in the face of European competition...

Ryanair has become Europe's biggest airline in terms of passenger numbers, while the top 15 European carriers already include six low-cost airlines.

While the Warwick Group has just acquired The Capital hotel in Knightsbridge, Yotel has announced its arrival in central London in 2018.

EasyJet is expanding its French catalogue by adding five new routes in France, and will be making its debut at Calvi airport.

Worldhotels has just been acquired by the American voluntary chain Associated Luxury Hotels, expanding the global footprint of these two brands, which distribute over 600 establishments and almost 200,000 rooms worldwide.

Eurostar is opening a lounge in Paris, on the second floor of the Gare du Nord. This new meeting place for business travellers offers a cosy setting reminiscent of a Haussmann-style flat.

The German design chain 25Hours is to take over the former Mercure Paris Gare du Nord. From now until 2019, the hotel will undergo a highly contemporary metamorphosis, all without closing.

The Hilton Group is upgrading its loyalty programme. No longer called Hilton HHonors, but Hilton Honors, it can now be used to combine points and euros to book a room, as well as to shop on Amazon.com.