Business travel

Qatar Holdings' hotel project with Harrods should eventually lead to the opening of a luxury hotel in Paris. In any case, the French capital is one of the stated objectives of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, which will first focus on other business destinations.

Cebu Pacific has also announced plans for an in-flight Wi-Fi connection, to be offered to the airline's business travellers from next year.

Etihad Airways is launching a new range of online services to make it easier for travellers to manage their journeys via the airline's website.

Deloitte-In Extenso has published a report on hotel performance in France for the month of May 2012, a month in which most business travellers stayed away from French establishments: the calendar, favourable to bank holidays, seems to have massively limited business travel.

Toulouse airport is making WiFi access free and unlimited from 2 July: good news for local business travellers, or those on business trips to the pink city.

Las Vegas airport has just opened its new Terminal 3, the first platform of its kind to be inaugurated since 2001 and the events of '11/09'. In addition to its symbolic dimension, McCarran airport's new showcase brings a number of practical benefits to business travellers.

The Pullman Paris Montparnasse hotel has completed its transformation after several months of work, which has given it a new look and a modernised welcome for business travellers. The other four Pullman hotels in Paris are preparing to follow suit over the coming months. 

Spanish hotelier RIU is setting its sights on the Big Apple, opening its first hotel in New York in mid-2015.

This week, the Jury Palace honoured three new establishments, all located in the PACA region, bringing to twelve the number of "flagships of the French hotel industry".

Delta Air Lines is stepping up the pace on in-flight connectivity, announcing the extension of its Wi-Fi offer to its international network for 2013.

Bangkok is preparing to welcome a sixth Best Western establishment: the Best Western Plus Grand Howard hotel will be inaugurated in August.

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has announced the opening of two new properties in Asia, including a hotel in Makati that business travellers to the Philippines will be able to enjoy from 2016.

SkyTeam welcomes the arrival of Lebanese carrier Middle East Airlines, bringing the number of alliance members to 17.

A new air fare comparison service has arrived on the market, with a revised ambition: to establish itself as the "comparator of all comparators", while at the same time denigrating the performance of Google Flight Search.

Air France is changing the rules governing the boarding of passengers departing from Paris - Charles-de-Gaulle: from 1 July, business travellers will have to present themselves at least 40 minutes before take-off time - compared with 30 minutes at present - for short and medium-haul flights.

American Airlines has inaugurated its new daily service to Manaus from Miami, bringing the airline's Brazilian network to 14 destinations.

Amadeus' rail strategy is moving ahead at high speed: the GDS has just formalised a worldwide distribution agreement with Trenitalia, with a view to distributing the Italian carrier's content via all Amadeus channels.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Vienna will open its doors at the end of August in the centre of the Austrian capital, becoming the brand's first hotel in the country.

All Nippon Airways will soon be offering its in-flight connectivity service to French business travellers. The airline will be connecting to Wi-Fi on its international flights from summer 2013.