Business travel

It's official as of December 1: XL Airways and La Compagnie are joining forces to form a new entity that will capitalise on the complementary nature of the two carriers, particularly on the Paris-New York route. Laurent Magnin will head the new entity.

A new Choice Hotels address will open its doors next year in Athens. It will be the group's first hotel in the Greek capital.

Berlin, Amsterdam and Hamburg will soon welcome the descendants of the Sir Hotels group, launched three years ago. Another establishment is also planned for Ibiza.

Finding a technological solution to improve the customer experience in the event of flight disruptions: this is the spirit in which Air France launched its Priorité Client hackathon on 26 November, which was held for 48 hours at the Zalthabar in Levallois Perret.

A white paper published by International SOS points out the lack of guidance on the use of collaborative economy players in business travel.

In April 2017, Korean Air will launch a new direct flight to Barcelona: a first from North-East Asia. At the same time, the airline is expanding its services to several American airports.

SnapCar, the VTC service dedicated to business travellers, will officially launch in Lyon on 12 December. Other destinations in France and Europe are in the pipeline.

The NH group is continuing its efforts to enhance the Collection, a range of top-of-the-range hotels aimed particularly at business travellers. Two new addresses have just been officially inaugurated on the Spanish hotelier's domestic market, in Madrid and Barcelona.

Booking.com unveils "the 8 most anticipated trends in the world of travel in 2017", with business travel and, above all, bleisure coming in second place.

The decision has been taken. Singapore Airlines will be eliminating its low-cost Tigerair subsidiary, which it acquired in full in 2014, during 2017.

Malaysia Airlines has no plans to return to continental Europe before 2020 or 2021, even though the airline has just confirmed that it will be renewing its entire long-haul fleet.

G7 taxis are launching a new "Connect" service, enabling passengers to pay for their journey directly from their smartphone once they are in their taxi.

Lufthansa will soon be launching two new strategic routes for French business travellers in the "Grand Ouest" region. Nantes and Bordeaux will be linked to the airline's two hubs: Munich and Frankfurt airports.

Following in the footsteps of travel agencies, Airbnb is continuing to weave its web in the world of business travel. A centralised payment solution will be launched with AirPlus in 2017.

Reconciling business and leisure travellers: this is essentially the credo of V.Pro, the new booking and service tool unveiled on 15 November by Voyages SNCF. In anticipation of a "business" section planned for early 2017.

A study published by Concur confirms the dominant role played by rail in the European business travel market, and analyses the behaviour of these business passengers.

AccorHotels is continuing its shopping spree in the trendy hotel market by acquiring a stake in Germany's 25hours Hotels. The objective is clear and fully assumed: to give the brand the global reach it aspires to.

L'instant Paris officially opened its doors on 7 November at Paris CDG airport. This new space, dedicated to connecting passengers, includes a hotel and comfortable areas to improve the time spent in transit.

British Airways will soon be returning to Nantes, nine years after the airline last landed at France's ninth-largest airport.

The approval of the project for a third runway at Heathrow opens up new horizons for the London airport, which is already projecting itself as a new European hub and plans to cover new destinations.