Corporate Travel News For Europe/MEA

Lufthansa announced (25-Oct-2023) it will reintroduce A380 aircraft on daily Munich-Los Angeles service from 26-Oct-2023. The carrier stated: "With air travel surging in demand, the added capacity that the A380 brings to the LA region will provide the much-needed increased volume that the market requires". The aircraft is equipped with eight seats in first class, 78 in business class, 52 in premium economy and 371 in economy. As previously reported by CAPA, Lufthansa decided in 2022 to reactivate the A380, due to the sharp rise in demand for travel and the delayed delivery of ordered aircraft. By the end of 2025, eight A380s will be redeployed for service to and from Munich. [more - original PR]

SUNRATE and Sabre announced (24-Oct-2023) an agreement to help improve and automate the business payments experience for travel companies in Asia Pacific. SUNRATE's virtual commercial cards (VCC) will be integrated with Sabre's Virtual Payments, enabling stakeholders such as online travel agencies and travel management companies on Sabre's platform to use SUNRATE's VCCs for business payments, including payment to airlines, hotels and suppliers worldwide. SUNRATE VCCs allow the settlement of card spends in more than 15 currencies. [more - original PR]

EUROCONTROL reported (25-Oct-2023) the following highlights for European aviation, for the period between 16-Oct-2023 and 22-Oct-2023:

• The network recorded 29,768 average daily flights, -1.9% week-on-week, +8% year-on-year, and at 93% of 2019 levels;
• Intra Europe: 24,475 daily flights, -2% week-on-week and 95% of 2019 levels;
• Intercontinental: 5564 daily flights, -2% week-on-week and 87% of 2019 levels;
• On the intercontinental network, the main regional flow was Europe-North Atlantic (1374 average daily flights, 6% above 2019 levels), overtaking the Europe-Middle East flow, affected by reduced traffic to and from Israel;
• Europe-North Africa is recording the highest growth compared to 2019 (1195 average daily flights, +14%);
• UK-US was the top long haul country pair, with 331 average daily flights, -1% week-on-week and +9% compared with 2019;
• Mainline (+21% compared to 2022), low cost (+7%) and regional (+2%) sectors are recording growth since the pandemic;
• All cargo (-4%) is levelling off with no more rebound effect from 2022 events such as Omicron or the start of the Russia/Ukraine war;
• Business aviation (-2%) is also levelling off, with commercial airline activity now almost closing the gap between 2023 and 2019;
• The non-scheduled segment (-3%) was affected by decreases in flows to and from Poland and Israel. [more - original PR]

Air France-KLM, via its official website, announced (24-Oct-2023) the following minimum connecting time (MCT) changes at Paris CDG:

• Between Terminal 2E and Terminal 2F:
  • Decreasing to 60 minutes from 16-Dec-2023 to 07-Jan-2024;
  • MCT of 80 minutes from 17-Jun-2024 to 01-Sep-2024 remains unchanged;
• Between Terminal 2F Schengen and Terminal 2F non-Schengen:
  • Increasing to 60 minutes as of winter 2023/24;
• Between Terminal 2G and Terminal 2F non-Schengen:
  • Increasing to 80 minutes as of winter 2023/24.

Virgin Atlantic Airways launched (23-Oct-2023) three times weekly London Heathrow-Male service with Boeing 787 equipment. British Airways also operates on the route, according to OAG. [more - original PR]

Emirates Airline and Batik Air (Malaysia) announced (23-Oct-2023) a new codeshare agreement, providing Emirates passengers with access to eight southeast Asian destinations using a single ticket and one baggage policy. Effective immediately, Emirates will codeshare on the following services operated by Batik Air Malaysia:

• Kuala Lumpur-Penang;
• Kuala Lumpur-Kota Kinabalu;
• Kuala Lumpur-Kuching;
• Kuala Lumpur-Langkawi;
• Kuala Lumpur-Johor Bahru;
• Kuala Lumpur-Denpasar;
• Kuala Lumpur-Jakarta;
• Kuala Lumpur-Singapore.

Malaysia's Minister of Transport YB Tuan Anthony Loke stated: "We are pleased with the partnership, which has the potential to strengthen Malaysia's role as a prime gateway to the region. We hope to see an increase in KLIA traffic, especially to facilitate connectivity to regional destinations". Emirates currently operates three times daily Dubai-Kuala Lumpur service. [more - original PR - Emirates] [more - original PR - Batik]

United Airlines notified (20-Oct-2023) US Department of Transportation (DoT) of its intent to terminate its codeshare agreement with Aer Lingus effective 27-Oct-2023. The parties entered the partnership in Jul-2008. [more - original PR]

Emirates Airline announced (19-Oct-2023) it has expanded its inflight meal preordering service to 92 routes globally with the addition of 30 new routes to destinations including Riyadh, Jeddah, Delhi, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur. The carrier reported over 10,000 meal preorders have been delivered on over 3000 flights to date. As previously reported by CAPA, the service allows business class passengers to preselect their main course between 14 days and 24 hours prior to departure to reduce food wastage. [more - original PR]

Cathay Pacific extended (22-Oct-2023) its suspension of three times weekly Hong Kong-Tel Aviv service until 31-Dec-2023. The airline is the sole scheduled operator on the route, according to OAG. [more - original PR]

British Airways announced (19-Oct-2023) plans to resume daily London Heathrow-Abu Dhabi service with Boeing 787-9 equipment from 20-Apr-2024, following a four year hiatus. The carrier plans to operate the service on a year round basis. [more - original PR]