Business travel

Linked to the Palau de Congresos de Catalunya, the Gran Melia Torre Melina is giving a new lease of life to one of Barcelona's leading business hotels, the former Rey Juan Carlos I.

With the Deutsche Bahn strike barely over, the Verdi transport union is calling for staff to strike on 1 February at airports and on some public transport services.

The signing of an agreement between the Qatari and Madagascan authorities for the launch of air services between the two countries is set to result in the rapid introduction of a daily Doha-Antananarivo flight. Such a flight would reshuffle the cards in terms of air connectivity in the region, including neighbouring Reunion Island.

With 8.1 million passengers in 2023, Basel-Mulhouse international airport is 11% down on the record set in 2019. It could possibly surpass this performance in 2025.

The majority of flights operated by Finnair will be cancelled due to strike action starting on Thursday in Finland.

After its design-led budget hotels, Motel One is now tackling lifestyle and upmarket accommodation with The Cloud One. A dozen hotels are expected by 2026.

For Marcel Riwalsky, the 'brains' behind the Aviation-Event conferences, the general public is more interested in the evolution of supply and prices than in the environment. He also stresses the importance of Central Europe for world aviation.

Ultra-luxury and lifestyle, new architectural icons: Dubai will continue to see the emergence of new flagship hotels in 2024.

Frontier Airlines is set to challenge the monopolies on hubs-to-hubs routes, competing with American Airlines, Delta and United on their turf.

Now merged with Thalys, Eurostar will have carried almost 19 million passengers in 2023, an increase of 22% compared with 2022.

Turkish Airlines will be operating its first flights to Australia on 15 March, with 3 weekly frequencies.

Trenitalia has entered into a partnership with valet parking service Ector to simplify the arrival of business travellers at Paris and Lyon stations.

The Lufthansa Group is to equip all its Airbus A220, A319/320/321 aircraft with wifi from the end of 2024. The free messaging service will then be available on Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and, for the first time, Swiss.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport will soon be connected for the first time by a direct flight from Paris CDG by Air France.

The Green Key label grew by 45% this year, rewarding many new establishments. These include a large number of Accor hotels, as well as Best Western, Appart'City and Le Bristol in Paris.

Lufthansa has suffered a setback with the temporary refusal by the European Union to acquire a stake in the Italian airline ITA. The EU is expected to make its final decision in June.

Shaken by competition on its most profitable routes, SNCF is considering scrapping some loss-making TGV services or, at the very least, reducing its daily service, according to Le Parisien.

Next spring, the Radisson RED lifestyle brand will be adding a new destination to its list of major European cities: Berlin.

With openings galore and new projects being signed in droves, hotel groups are enjoying a record number of developments.

Seoul Incheon airport is getting a new premium area with the inauguration of a lounge in the colours of the oneworld alliance.