Business travel

Starwood is strengthening its corporate offer with the launch of the new SPG Pro loyalty programme, the "business travel" version of its Starwood Preferred Guest offer. SPG Pro will enter the business travel market in October, targeting business travel and meeting organisers in a bid to win market share in the global B2B market.

The Marriott Hotels brand is making its debut in a booming business destination: Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, is adding a new five-star establishment to an increasingly dense hotel portfolio, where the group now has five representatives.

The ME Miami hotel is due to open in spring 2015, marking the brand's arrival on the North American market.

Ryanair is making a revolution by officially launching its conquest of the business travel market with the presentation of its new Business Plus offer, designed to appeal to European business travellers. The aim is to reconcile attractive fares with a move upmarket, with the introduction of fast track, flexible tickets and Premium seats.

On 26 August, Accor announced the acquisition of 13 hotels in the United Kingdom. These acquisitions are part of the strategy of HotelInvest, the Group's hotel owner and investor.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has published its ranking of the busiest routes in 2013. The Hong Kong-Taipei route tops the list. The New York-Paris route comes tenth.

In just over a month, one of the icons of the Moscow hotel scene will welcome its first guests under its new identity. The emblematic Moscow - or Moskva - hotel, whose contract was initialled by Stalin in his day, is to be rebranded under the Four Seasons banner, providing the hotel group with a prime showcase just a stone's throw from Red Square.

Icelandair has just completed a record July: never before has the airline carried so many passengers. Traffic even reached... the national population of Iceland.

Momondo has published a study dedicated to in-flight Wi-Fi. The flight comparator aims to give leisure and business travellers a clearer picture of the different pricing structures introduced by the major airlines for in-flight Internet access.

Crowned in June for its punctuality rate, Iberia relinquished first place in the Flightstats rankings to Saudi Arabian for July.

Air Berlin is putting its Business Class up for auction. The airline is now offering passengers the chance to bid for an upgrade to Business Class on long-haul flights. The new service, dubbed Airberlin exquisite, is still unprecedented in Germany but has already been tried out by other airlines.

The Al Mourjan business lounge was inaugurated this week by Qatar Airways at the new Hamad International Airport. Once again, the airline has spared no expense, both in terms of space and top-of-the-range facilities to welcome business travellers from all over the world in the best possible conditions. A must for the new airport inaugurated in the second quarter of 2014.

A partnership between RATP, its advertising agency Média Transports and Orange has resulted in a particularly welcome experiment for business travellers: the introduction of free Wi-Fi on board the Roissybus.

The first half of 2014 was a good one for Thalys. The rail company recorded an increase in traffic and sales.

Business travellers can now enjoy free, unlimited access to the wifi network when passing through Munich airport.

Hilton is making a major breakthrough in the integration of mobile technologies within the business hotel sector, with new features long-awaited by business travellers, in particular room selection and the use of smartphones for check-in and door opening.

On 29 July, Egencia and Hyatt formalised the signing of a multi-year agreement to integrate the American hotelier's properties into the Egencia Preferred Rate (EPR) programme of the business travel agency, starting in August.

Parisian motorists will soon have access to a new parking meter system, via the PMobile application, which will offer greater flexibility and responsiveness. The first full-scale tests are scheduled for the autumn.

Eurostar this week confirmed its decision to link Marseille to London from 1 January.^er May 2015. It remains to be seen exactly what this new route will entail, particularly in terms of the frequency offered to business travellers.