Round-up In The Air Crowded skies  Transatlantic skies are getting even more crowded with business travellers. Eos Airlines is to add flights from Paris to New York's JFK airport next autumn and from London Stansted to New York's Newark next spring. Meanwhile, American Airlines has just introduced a daily non-stop service from JFK to London Stansted on newly reconfigured Boeing 767-300 aircraft offering lie-flat seating in Business Class. And, just to up the ante, Virgin Atlantic has introduced what it claims is the world's fastest airport check-in: its new Upper Class Wing at Heathrow's Terminal 3. The airline claims it will enable its business passengers to move 'from limo to lounge in under 10 minutes'. Web rip-off  Airline ticket buyers may not be getting the whole story when they book online. Airfarewatchdog.com reports that some booking engine or 'aggregator' sites exclude certain airlines, either because these airlines will only sell seats on their own site, or sometimes because the airline refuses to pay the aggregator or online travel agency a listing fee. And this can change over time. A site may list an airline temporarily in order to demonstrate the financial consequences of being delisted or an airline may add or remove its fares owing to a dispute over commissions, the report said. Travel goes luxury Luxury businesses are continuing to expand into the travel arena, underscoring how much they depend on travel retail and duty-free sales for large chunks of their revenues. Hermès International has just created a whollyowned subsidiary, Hermès Voyageur, for 'the organisation of high-class voyages... which reflect the values of the Hermès group'. Meanwhile, LVMH's investment vehicle, L Capital Partners, is to launch a fund targeting potential luxury brands in emerging markets in Asia and aims to spend up to €490m in India alone, including buying real estate to create luxury hotels and spas. Checking In Flagship opens  Following a soft launch this summer, the Grand Hotel Amrâth Amsterdam, the city's latest five-star hotel will become fully operational this month. The waterside development, formerly a historic shipping hall, has 138 rooms and 25 suites, a basement spa and – most unusually for Amsterdam – a swimming pool. The hotel has several meeting and conference rooms while the ornate highceilinged restaurant is being positioned as a venue for presentations and fashion shows. All guestrooms have flatscreen television and free Wi-Fi. The hotel is the flagship of the Amrâth group, a family business which owns 14 hotels in the Netherlands.
www.amrathhotels.com Raffles returns Raffles Hotels & Resorts is moving back into Europe, signing an agreement to manage the historic Le Royal Monceau hotel in Paris. After a huge refurbishment, Le Royal Monceau will re-open 'as a 21st century French masterpiece, fully restored to its former glory under the creative eye of famous French designer, Philippe Starck'. Raffles will also introduce several environmentally friendly practices, such as the use of hybrid cars, a solar energy heated swimming pool and recycling processes for water. Raffles also opened a hotel in Dubai last month.
www.raffles.com No to mobiles A Business Travel Show survey by YouGov has found that nearly half of us do not want mobile phones on planes despite the fact it could be a reality within months. 46% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that mobiles should be allowed on planes. This is double the number of voters – 23% – who agreed. Airlines including Air France, BMI and Ryanair are already planning to install and test phone masts ahead of receiving the green light from the Civil Aviation Authority. |