Asia

We deliver to the four corners of China How did the idea of setting up French bakeries and patisseries in Beijing come about? Benjamin Devos - It was in 2003, I had just finished hotel management school in Lausanne and was doing a work placement in a Beijing hotel. I realised that quality bakeries were sorely lacking....

An app to measure air quality How did you come up with the idea of launching an environmental start-up in Beijing? Yann Boquillod - I first came here twenty years ago to work for Nokia. Then I got married. That's when the question arose...

Situated 120 km south-east of Beijing, Tianjin was for a long time just a port, somewhat off the coast of the Yellow Sea. Nowadays, it takes just 35 minutes by train to reach this ancient, peaceful town split by the Hai He river, which was the site of Gustave Eiffel's workshops during the...

On a Friday evening, the cars speed along Sanlitun Road. Ultra-fashionable young people are being dropped off in front of the new restaurants opening one after the other in the most sought-after district of the moment. This is the epicentre of modern Beijing, where the InterContinental Sanlitun opened at the end of 2016, in an extravagant tower looking...

The notorious annual average concentration of PM2.5, the fine particles known to damage the lungs and cause cancer, has finally fallen. While it still stood at 100 microgrammes per m3 of air in 2009, it has been reduced to 57 microgrammes in 2017, a huge step forward, but not yet...

"In Beijing, I've always preferred to live in the hutong district, where life is truly relaxed. That's where I opened my gallery, near the Lamas temple. Unfortunately, this area, with its traditional houses, is in the process of being transformed, and may well disappear. But it's the Beijing I love. Amongst...

BEIJING IDENTITY CARD Currency: In June 2018, 1 Yuan = 0.13 Euros Area code: + 86 (China) 10 (Beijing) 22 (Tianjin) Time difference: +6 hours GETTING THERE FINNAIR, the Finnish airline which in 1988 was the very first in Europe to operate a direct service to China, now offers a daily flight between Paris and Beijing via...

The opening of the new Terminal 2 at Seoul Incheon International Airport in February symbolises the ambitions of both Korean Air, Korea's national airline, and the national airport authorities. Incheon is ideally located in North Asia - the continent's largest air transport market - as it incorporates the most important...

China Eastern and Japan Airlines are to join forces in a joint venture, the first of its kind in Asia, under an agreement that should become a reality next April, if approved by the anti-trust authorities in China and Japan. This joint venture is the logical follow-up to the open skies agreement signed in...

There are lots of ideas and projects What role do French companies play in Astana and Kazakhstan? Pascal Bréant - France is the third largest international investor in Kazakhstan. French companies have invested 13 billion dollars over the last ten years, the vast majority of which in the...

It's not always easy for business travellers or travel managers to plan a multi-transport trip in the Mekong sub-region, which officially includes Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and Vietnam. Now they have a solution at their fingertips with Baolau, the first site to integrate all...

What if, in a few months' time, companies started flying their staff via Bombay (Mumbai) for business trips to Australia? This would have seemed an unusual route to take a few years ago, but in the future the major Indian airports should become true global hubs, like Abu Dhabi or...

Business travellers used to criss-crossing Asia will be delighted. Between now and 2020, Singapore Airlines (SIA) will be reorganising its offer in South-East Asia, a rationalisation which will involve a move upmarket on its regional routes as well as the disappearance of its Silk Air subsidiary. Currently, with its fleet of 33 Airbus A320s and...

"Barthélémy Bauters, Sales Director of the Hôtel des Arts Saigon, an MGallery property managed by the Accor group, is totally satisfied: "Every month, we break the ceiling on occupancy rates and the outlook for the coming months is excellent. "Ho Chi Minh City is an astonishingly dynamic metropolis with...

A forum held earlier this year in Bangkok took stock of developments in the Thai capital, analysing in particular the implications for the hotel sector. According to the forum's organiser, Bill Barnett, Managing Director of consultancy firm C9 Hotelworks, the development of the city's infrastructure will have a lasting effect on the city, which is in the throes of...

Hertz is looking to cater for business travellers by extending its VTC offering in Asia. The service, soberly named Hertz Chauffeur, enables a driver and his vehicle to be booked for a half-day or a full day. The service is now available in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and...

27.5%: this is the amount of the shareholding that Uber will receive from its rival Grab in exchange for its withdrawal from South-East Asia. A decision that had been announced many times and regularly denied by Uber's management. Now it's a done deal. For a week now, Grab and Uber have been one and the same, with Grab...

On 22 March, Cathay Pacific's brand new Business Lounge will open its doors in Hong Kong. Located on the 7th floor of Terminal 1, at Gate 16, The Deck will welcome First and Business passengers, as well as certain members of the Marco Polo Club and oneworld frequent flyer programmes. It will be...

South Korea is currently in the spotlight with the Winter Olympics. How does Korean Air fit into this Olympic epic? Ludovic Froidure - It is indeed a major event. In fact, our CEO was Chairman of the Korean Olympic Committee. We have launched new flights between Seoul and Yangyang airport, to make it easier...

Following the agreement reached with Uber, AirAsia passengers will now be able to book rides to and from 52 cities in 16 markets in Asia-Pacific and the United States where AirAsia operates and where the Uber app is available. The agreement is a major first for Uber, which will boost its profile in Asia,...