Business travel

The melia group will be opening a second hotel in Lima in three years' time: the Tryp by Wyndham hotel confirms the Spanish hotelier's interest in the Latin American market, already illustrated recently by the announcement of five Innside by Melia hotels in Chile.

Air France is continuing its drive to win back business customers with the launch of the "Best and Beyond" plan: an upmarket long-haul offer which will concern all classes from First to Economy, and will touch on all aspects of the travel experience, in particular in-flight comfort and personalised quality of service. For a total investment of over 500 million euros.

TAP Portugal is speeding up boarding for business travellers by introducing a new service at Orly West airport: fast track.

The hotel reservation platform Hotel Corporate System (HCorpo) is becoming a key player in the business travel market. So much so that it is aiming to become the the benchmark solution for business hotels, by developing a network of increasingly interesting partnerships, including with major TMCs. Chairman Stéphane de Laforcade talks about HCorpo's ambitions, objectives and plans for the coming months, including a new solution dedicated to Meetings & Events.

The opening up of cross-Channel rail services to competition is becoming clearer: the Intergovernmental Commission recently issued an operating licence allowing Deutsche Bahn to enter the Channel Tunnel. Eurotunnel is delighted with this step.

Emirates was awarded the Skytrax title of "World's Best Airline" in 2013 at the World Airline Awards held during the Paris Air Show. The Dubai-based airline thus succeeds Qatar Airways, ranked in 2nd place.^th position this year, with Singapore Airlines completing the podium.

The InterContinental Osaka hotel opened on 18 June in the Grand Front Osaka district: a new luxury address for business travellers in Japan.

On Monday, Air France-KLM and Jet Airways announced an extension to their code-share agreements, effective from 19 June, covering three new destinations: Chennai, Calcutta and Hyderabad.

Marseille airport has recently introduced a free Wi-Fi connection, with 20 minutes' free access.

The inauguration of The Oberoi, Dubai marks the Indian hotel group's arrival in a leading business destination, with a luxurious 252-room property.

Thalys could see a competitor emerge in 2015 on the Paris-Amsterdam route, in this case the Dutch company Travelteq, which plans to run five return trains a day.

On 12 June, Sabre presented its new Sabre Rail SNCF graphical interface, which gives rail reservations a facelift by combining simplicity and efficiency. Available since April 2013 in its pilot version, the new tool will notably lead to the disappearance of ATB printers.

On Wednesday, American Airlines inaugurated its new transatlantic route, linking New York-JFK airport to Dublin every day.

The strike action launched by air traffic controllers on Tuesday 11 June has led to the cancellation of 1,800 flights at France's main airports. This disruption was anticipated by the DGAC, which had asked airlines to halve their flight schedules ahead of the strike.

Beware of unpleasant surprises at boarding time: EasyJet is reviewing its policy on the size of baggage accepted in the cabin, with effect from 2 July. Some suitcases could be relegated to the hold if they take up too much space.

Business travel will be disrupted from 11 to 13 June by a strike by air traffic controllers. The French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) is trying to anticipate this by calling on airlines to halve their flight schedules.

The Ascott group will be launching its first two Citadines Apart'hotels in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) in early 2014. More than 300 new flats are planned, marking the brand's arrival in the Gulf region.

Accor and HRS Group are strengthening their global partnership through a new strategic agreement covering both the leisure and corporate segments.