Corporate Travel News For Europe/MEA

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announced (19-Dec-2017) its first A330-300 (PH-AKA) fitted with the new 'World Business Class' cabin completed inaugural service on Amsterdam-Havana sector. In addition to the new design, features include fully flat convertible seats and a new IFE system. The cabin refit for the remaining 20% of KLM's fleet will be complete by the end of 2018. Refurbishment of business class cabins on the remaining four A330-300s has commenced, with completion expected in Jul-2018. KLM's eight A330-200s will follow, due for completion in Oct-2018. The carrier's Boeing 747s and 777-200/300s have completed cabin refits and all 787s feature the new cabins. [more - original PR]

easyJet extended (19-Dec-2017) the 'Worldwide by easyJet' connecting services programme to Milan Malpensa Airport. Details include:

• Passengers can connect to easyJet and other carriers' long haul services via the airport's connection product ViaMilano;
• Airline partners Neos and Norwegian now offer connecting services from Milan to long haul destinations in Africa, Asia, the US and Caribbean;
• One third of all easyJet services are now able to connect to airline partner and other easyJet services;
• New partners and additional connections to be rolled out at other European airports. [more - original PR]

SunExpress Germany extended (19-Dec-2017) its onboard retail management contract with Retail inMotion for three years. The airline's onboard retail programme consists of 30 F&B items and nearly 70 boutique and duty free articles. Retail inMotion is part of the LSG Group. [more - original PR]

Qatar Airways launched (19-Dec-2017) daily Doha-St Petersburg Pulkovo service with A320 equipment on 19-Dec-2017. The aircraft is configured with 12 flatbed business class seats and 120 economy class seats. [more - original PR]

airBaltic announced (19-Dec-2017) plans to launch twice weekly Tallinn-London Gatwick service from 27-Mar-2018. airBaltic CEO Martin Gauss said: "The new route linking London with the Estonian capital Tallinn will strengthen the connection between the heart of Europe and the Baltic States". [more - original PR]

Avianca Brazil CEO Frederico Pedreira noted that following the launch of international services to Miami, Santiago and New York, the carrier's next move could be to Europe, stating: "Madrid, Lisbon and London are attractive destinations for our internationalisation and we are looking at these and other markets" (Panrotas, 18-Dec-2017). Expansion to Europe is not concrete.

Tunisair plans to launch weekly Tunis-Bilbao charter service with A320 equipment, effective 14-Jun-2018 (Routes Online, 15-Dec-2017). According to OAG, Tunisair will be the sole operator on the route.

LATAM Airlines Group SVP cargo Andrés Bianchi stated LATAM Cargo's planned Boeing 767F consolidation will allow the carrier to "build a schedule that's more robust and less vulnerable to market fluctuations" (CargoForwarder Global, 17-Dec-2017). He added: "It has successfully provided the bulk of our capacity on North America-South America markets and we can build on that base to support our European operation". The carrier plans to add services to Boston, Lisbon, Rome and Tel Aviv in 2018.

Iberia and Air Nostrum announced (18-Dec-2017) plans to increase capacity in Santander by 25% in 2018. The carriers will offer a combined average of 30 weekly Madrid-Santander frequencies in 2018, deploying around 365,000 seats p/a. The carriers plan to increase capacity by 37% during summer 2018. Madrid-Santander demand increased 12% year-on-year in the 10 months to Oct-2017. Santander has important markets in Mexico, US, Italy, France and the UK and Iberia plans more efficient connections to stimulate the destination. [more - original PR - Spanish]

Qatar Airways introduced (18-Dec-2017) the 'Qsuite' business class product on Doha-New York JFK service. The product was rolled out on London Heathrow and Paris CDG services and will soon be introduced on Washington Dulles service. 'Qsuite' features "industry first" double beds and private cabins for up to four passengers with privacy panels that stow away. [more - original PR]