Corporate Travel News For Europe/MEA

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TAP Air Portugal launching Lisbon-Paris air bridge from mid Sep-2023

16 September, 2023

TAP Air Portugal announced (14-Sep-2023) plans to launch eight times daily Lisbon-Paris "Ponte Aérea" [air bridge] service from 18-Sep-2023. The service offers passengers a free change to another flight on the same day, check-in until 45 minutes before departure, and Accesso No1 and Fast Track services in Paris and Lisbon, respectively. The measure is a response to growing demand for travel on the route, and was designed to meet the needs of frequent passengers. The Ponte Aérea service is also available on services between Lisbon and Porto, Funchal and Madrid. [more - original PR] [more - original PR - Portuguese]

Emirates and Maldivian establish interline partnership

15 September, 2023

Emirates and Maldivian announced (14-Sep-2023) an interline partnership to enable customers to access 16 popular holiday destinations in the Maldives beyond Malé, effective 15-Sep-2023. The agreement follows on from a MoU signed in 2022. Destinations that will be available to Emirates customers via Malé are: Dharavandhoo Airport, Faresmaathodaa Airport, Funadhoo Airport, Fuvahmulak Airport, Gan International Airport, Kooddoo Airport, Hanimaadhoo Airport, Kulhudhuffushi Airport, Hoarafushi Airport, Kaadedhdhoo Airport, Kadhdhoo Airport, Madivaru Airport, Maafaru International Airport, Maavarulu Airport, Thimarafushi Airport and Ifuru Airport. [more - original PR]

Flight Centre CEO: Qatar Airways decision a 'real blow' for Virgin Australia

14 September, 2023

Flight Centre Travel Group CEO Graham 'Skroo' Turner, speaking at the CAPA Australia Pacific Aviation Summit, commented (14-Sep-2023) on a decision by federal government to deny Qatar Airways additional flights into Australia. Mr Turner said: "Virgin Australia has a codeshare with Qatar Airways, and they desperately need more capacity particular from Qatar, so if anybody will lose out on the decision it will be Virgin". Mr Turner added: "It's a real blow for them".

Lufthansa launching two US routes from Frankfurt in summer 2024

13 September, 2023

Lufthansa announced (13-Sep-2023) plans to launch the following US routes from Frankfurt in summer 2024:

  • Minneapolis: Five times weekly from 04-Jun-2024;
  • Raleigh Durham: Five times weekly from 06-Jun-2024. [more - original PR]

Air France-KLM and Etihad Airways sign MoU to expand partnership

8 September, 2023

Air France-KLM and Etihad Airways signed (07-Sep-2023) an MoU to enhance their collaboration across passenger operations, loyalty programmes, talent development and maintenance. Air France-KLM and Etihad contemplate expanding their codeshare and interline agreements initiated in 2012. Initially, more than 40 new routes covering destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Australia have been made available for booking, effective immediately, for travel from winter 2023/24. The MoU also proposes the ability for both Flying Blue and Etihad Guest members to earn and redeem miles with Air France, KLM and Etihad. The airlines will also explore terminal co-location, reciprocal lounge access and ground handling, among other initiatives. Etihad operates daily services from Abu Dhabi to Paris CDG and Amsterdam Schiphol. Air France will commence daily Paris CDG-Abu Dhabi service on 29-Oct-023. As previously reported by CAPA, in Aug-2023 Air France-KLM signed an MoU with Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism to expand connectivity between Europe and Abu Dhabi. [more - original PR] [more - original PR - II]

Emirates and United Airlines expand codeshare partnership to Mexico

6 September, 2023

Emirates Airline and United Airlines expanded (05-Sep-2023) their codeshare partnership to include Cancun, Cozumel, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey, Puerto Vallarta, San Jose Del Cabo, Leon/Guanajuato and Queretaro via Chicago or Houston. Mexico is the first country outside of the US to be added to the carriers' codeshare agreement. The carriers' codeshare network now includes 134 destinations accessible from United's US gateways with 100 additional points across the Americas accessible on an interline basis. [more - original PR]

Air Canada to operate 100% of pre-pandemic trans Atlantic capacity in summer 2024

6 September, 2023

Air Canada announced (05-Sep-2023) the following planned frequency adjustments for summer 2024, compared to summer 2023:

  • Montreal-Athens: Increase to three times weekly from Apr-2024 and further increase to daily from May-2024 to Oct-2024;
  • Montreal-Barcelona: Increase to four times weekly from Apr-2024 and further increase to five times weekly from May-2024 and to six times weekly from Jun-2024 to Oct-2024;
  • Montreal-Casablanca: Increase to six times weekly from Jun-2024 to Sep-2024;
  • Montreal-Lisbon: Increase to four times weekly from Apr-2024 and further increase to five times weekly from May-2024 to Oct-2024;
  • Montreal-Milan: Increase to daily from Jun-2024 to Sep-2024;
  • Montreal-Nice: Increase to five times weekly from Jun-2024 to Sep-2024;
  • Montreal-Rome Fiumicino: Increase to nine times weekly from May-2024 to Sep-2024;
  • Montreal-Venice: Increase to three times weekly from Jun-2024 to Oct-2024;
  • Toronto-Athens: Increase to four times weekly from Apr-2024 and further increase to daily from May-2024 to Oct-2024;
  • Toronto-Barcelona: Increase to five times weekly from Apr-2024 and further increase to daily from May-2024 to Oct-2024;
  • Toronto-Copenhagen: Increase to daily from May-2024 to Sep-2024;
  • Toronto-Lisbon: Increase to daily from Apr-2024 to Oct-2024;
  • Toronto-London Heathrow: Increase to four times daily from Apr-2024 to Oct-2024;
  • Toronto-Manchester: Increase to six times weekly from Jun-2024 to Sep-2024;
  • Toronto-Rome Fiumicino: Increase to 12 times weekly from May-2024 to Sep-2024;
  • Toronto-Venice: Increase to four times weekly from Jun-2024 to Oct-2024.

The carrier plans to operate 100% of its peak summer 2019 trans Atlantic capacity in 2024 amid a "robust" recovery in its largest international market. [more - original PR]

EUROCONTROL: Intra European traffic at 93% of 2019 levels in late Aug-2023

6 September, 2023

EUROCONTROL reported (04-Sep-2023) the following highlights for European aviation, for the period between 23-Aug-2023 and 29-Aug-2023:

  • The network recorded 32,450 average daily flights, +5% year-on-year, -0.5% week-on-week and at 92% of 2019 levels;
  • Intra Europe: 25,197 daily flights, -1% week-on-week and 93% of 2019 levels;
  • Intercontinental: 6421 daily flights, unchanged week-on-week and 87% of 2019 levels;
  • On the intercontinental network, the main regional flow was Europe-Middle East (1740 daily flights, 98% of 2019 levels);
  • The only flows above 2019 levels are with the North Atlantic (+3%) and North Africa (+6%);
  • Flows with other Europe (including Russia) remain reduced at -76% compared to 2019;
  • UK-US was the top long haul country pair, with 320 average daily flights, unchanged week-on-week and +2% compared with 2019;
  • Mainline (+17% compared to 2022), regional (unchanged) and low cost (+3%) sectors are recording growth since the pandemic;
  • Business aviation (-8%) and all cargo (-7%) are recording fewer flights year-on-year, with both segments levelling off. The charter sector also recorded 2% fewer flights. [more - original PR]

Flight Centre Americas business the largest corporate operation in FY2023

31 August, 2023

Flight Centre Travel Group announced (30-Aug-2023) the following highlights from its corporate travel business in FY2023:

  • New total transaction value (TTV) milestones were established in all geographic segments, with Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) business topping its previous record by 59%, Asia by 24%, the Americas by 15.6% and Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) by 10.5%;
  • The Americas business was the largest corporate operation, generating 31% of group corporate TTV, just ahead of ANZ (30%), EMEA (28%) and Asia (11%);
  • Corporate transaction volumes exceeded pre-COVID-19 levels, "well ahead" of the estimated industry wide recovery of 70% to 75% of FY2019 transaction levels;
  • FCM secured new, contracted accounts with annual spends in the order of AUD1.6 billion (USD1 billion) with wins typically coming from competitors;
  • More than half of Corporate Traveller's wins (uncontracted) were previously unmanaged accounts;
  • Bottom line results were impacted by significant upfront costs incurred in winning and onboarding a large volume of accounts secured, with around 1000 new sales and support staff added to the corporate workforce during FY2023. The business also invested in leading tech platforms, with Melon deployed in the UK and new features added to the global FCM platform. [more - original PR]

US TSA adds four international carriers to PreCheck programme

29 August, 2023

US TSA announced (28-Aug-2023) the addition of Cayman Airways, French Bee, Titan Airways and ZIPAIR to the TSA PreCheck programme. The expedited screening initiative enables low risk travellers to access a more efficient screening experience at over 200 US airports. The additions bring the number of PreCheck participating domestic and international carriers to 90. [more - original PR - US TSA] [more - original PR - Cayman Airways]

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