Business travel

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has just announced its fifth inauguration in Mexico in 2013 alone, with the opening of the Holiday Inn Mexico Buenavista. An impressive pace, which testifies to the ambitions shown by the hotel group on the Mexican market.

Air Canada is confirming its ambitions for business customers in Europe with the inauguration of a business lounge at Frankfurt airport. The new Maple Leaf Lounge at the Star Alliance hub is the airline's 21st lounge, and its fourth in Europe.

Lyria is proposing a new range of fares with an emphasis on flexibility to better meet the needs of business travellers. The Lyria Flex fare will be aimed primarily at business customers, while the Semi-Flex offer and a fortiori the Non-Flex fare will target the leisure segment.

Iberia has just unveiled its new visual identity: the logo presented on Tuesday 15 October is intended to symbolise the transformation of the airline, which aims to be "strong, modern, competitive and forward-thinking". The makeover is due to begin by the end of November.

The inauguration of the new Radisson Blu hotel in Algiers Hydra will mark the arrival of the Carlson Rezidor group in Algeria. The hotel is due to open its doors in early 2015, around twenty kilometres from the airport.

Eva Air is gaining in visibility on the French market, where the Taiwan-based airline is launching a fourth weekly flight. Its entry into the Star Alliance network should help strengthen its profile in France and Europe, as Manuel Le Gouellec, Sales Director France for Eva Air, explains. Interview by Florian Guillemin

A ninth Ritz-Carlton hotel opened its doors in China this week, in Chengdu. The 353-room establishment marks the arrival of the American hotelier in south-west China, in a particularly dynamic business destination.

Business travel by air will be disrupted this Thursday 10 October by a strike notice issued by the UNSA-ICNA and SPAC-CFDT unions. The DGAC is forecasting a drop in overall traffic of 10% from French airports.

Air France will be adding a daily flight to Jakarta from 30 March 2014, extending its Paris-Singapore route.

Air Caraïbes has just launched a new all-digital press offer, via the iZipress application. The tool, developed by Adaptive Channel, allows business travellers to download up to 21 titles - daily newspapers, magazines, novels and the airline's own magazines - onto their iPad and other Android tablets, to browse through during the flight.

HRS and EPSA have published a study on hotel expenditure in French business travel, based on the views of both buyers and travellers. The document provides a relevant overview of the sector, and identifies attractive potential for optimisation for the various players involved.

Eric Dodin, Managing Director of Europcar in France, intends to give the car rental company new impetus in the French market, particularly with business customers. In a difficult economic environment, he intends to base Europcar's dynamism on the values of excellence in customer relations and on new approaches to mobility.

The "hand baggage only" fares introduced by British Airways in early 2013 are now available at Heathrow and London City. Nine short-haul destinations are concerned, including Paris. The airline is also launching a new range of fares tailored to business customers: Semi-flex.

Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) is strengthening its offer for French business travellers by introducing a daily frequency between Paris and St Petersburg, via Kiev.

Business travellers in Northern France will soon be able to count on a new option for their business trips to the Netherlands. Thalys will be adding a new link between Lille and Amsterdam from April 2014.

HRS and AirPlus signed a strategic partnership agreement on Wednesday, enabling the leading online hotel reservation service for businesses to integrate AirPlus payment solutions into its "Global Payment" offering.

The IHG group will be opening a new hotel in London in 2015: the Crowne Plaza London - Albert Embankment aims to establish itself as a new leading business address for meetings in the British capital.

EasyJet is stepping up its presence at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, with the launch of new flights to Seville and Krakow. The airline is also increasing the frequency of several routes.

Rafet Sisman heads up the Turkish Airlines teams in Paris. Building on the airline's good results over the last few years, he takes an ambitious look at its position in France and around the world. 

Emirates is adding a new business destination to its already extensive catalogue: the airline will be linking Dubai with Kabul's Khwaja Rawash airport (Afghanistan) from 4 December.