Corporate Travel News

European Commission unconditionally approved (12-Dec-2017) the proposed acquisition of certain assets of airberlin by easyJet. The Commission concluded the transaction would not adversely affect competition in the EU Single Market. Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said: "Our decision enables easyJet to grow its presence at Berlin airports and start competing on new routes to the benefit of consumers". As previously reported by CAPA, the acquisition includes easyJet entering leases for up to 25 A320 aircraft and offering employment to up to 1000 former airberlin crew. [more - original PR]

Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter reported (12-Dec-2017) the Tourism Research Australia International Visitor Survey for the year to Sep-2017 shows total visitors to the region rose 4.2% year-on-year to just under 1.1 million, while total spending declined 4.1% to AUD1.2 billion (USD907 million). Mr Winter said the record number of holiday makers within the arrivals figures "shows that the Gold Coast still takes pride of place on people's holiday itineraries and that the appeal and marketing of the destination is strong". The region represents almost half of all holiday visitors to Queensland, with 843,000 holiday visitors over the past 12 months. Mr Winter said Chinese visitor arrivals reached a record 305,000 (+3.4%) and this growth continued to play an important part in the city's economy. Japan is "another source market that we have seen a big jump from", with 69,000 visitors (+23.4%) and "that trend has been over a couple of years", added Mr Winter. [more - original PR]

Condor plans to commence three times weekly Frankfurt-Kuala Lumpur service from 05-Nov-2018 to 22-Apr-2019, according to a 11/12-Dec-2017 GDS inventory and timetable display. The route will be operated by Thomas Cook Airlines UK A330 aircraft. According to OAG, Condor will be the route's sole carrier. [more - original PR - German]

Tourism Western Australia (WA) reported (12-Dec-2017) international visitor spending for the year ending Sep-2017 declined 0.4% year-on-year. The number of international visitors to WA increased 2.8% over the same period. Tourism WA attributed the drop in overall spend, despite the increase in visitor numbers, to the type of visitor WA is attracting. The State is seeing more leisure visitors and less employment related visitors, most likely attributable to current economic conditions. Other key highlights include:

• Strong growth in visitor numbers from the US (up 19.7%), Malaysia (up 12.7%), China (up 17.3%) and Indonesia (up 12.8%), driven by growth from the leisure sector, which is made up of the holiday and visiting friends and relatives segments;
• Notable declines were seen in the number of visitors from New Zealand (down 13.7%) and the UK (down 4.5%);
• WA also experienced a drop in the number of visitor nights, down 5.1% to 27.3 million;
• The VFR segment was up 2.5% to 403,100 visitors but behind national growth of 7.2%;
• International visitor numbers in the education segment increased 7.6% to 49,200 visitors, lower than the average national growth of 14.4%;
• The business segment remained stable with 0.8% growth to 101,100 visitors. [more - original PR]

Airways New Zealand (Airways NZ) and AirMap partnered (13-Dec-2017) to launch a three month trial of AirMap's unmanned aircraft system traffic management (UTM) platform in New Zealand. Airways NZ called for drone operators to take part in the trials, with the AirMap platform to provide planning and management tools for both commercial and recreational drones. With AirMap's free iOS and Android apps, drone users will be able to seek necessary airspace and public landowner approvals to operate, file flight plans and access real time information about other aircraft in the area. Airways NZ CEO Graeme Sumner said the trial is an "important step in investigating how Airways could develop a UTM system", adding: "There is potential for New Zealand to become a test-bed for the UAV industry". [more - original PR] [more - original PR - II]

Eurowings announced (12-Dec-2017) plans to introduce a business class offering on selected long haul services by the end of Apr-2018. Branded as 'BIZclass', the carrier will offer larger seats with more legroom and the capability to convert into a fully flat bed. Eurowings' existing booking classes - Basic, Smart and Best - will remain unchanged. Eurowings CEO and COO Oliver Wagner said the carrier is "fine-tuning the product and have some great surprises in store", while confirming plans to present the concept in Mar-2018. "We see strong demand for another top product from our company on routes with a higher proportion of business travel, for example on US flights from Düsseldorf to New York, Miami or Fort Myers", said Mr Wagner. [more - original PR]

Austrian Airlines announced (12-Dec-2017) plans to conduct renovation work on all operated lounges at Vienna International Airport from 13-Dec-2017 to spring 2018. Austrian Airlines operates three Business Class lounges and two Senator lounges at Vienna. Each lounge will introduce a new interior "with a focus on the issues of Austria and individuality", with works to be conducted in a phased approach for lounge customers to be unaffected. [more - original PR - English/German]

Finnair announced (12-Dec-2017) customers using iOS devices can now use Apple Pay mobile payment to purchase tickets, ancillary products and upgrades. Finnair chief digital officer Katri Harra-Salonen stated: "Apple Pay is widely used in several countries, and for us it is a natural addition to the payment methods available for the growing number of customers using our services with Apple mobile devices". [more - original PR - English/Finnish]

Jetstar Group and Travelport entered (12-Dec-2017) new multi year agreement, offering access to content from Jetstar Airways, Jetstar Asia, Jetstar Pacific and Jetstar Japan to over 68,000 travel agencies globally. Jetstar Group will also deploy Travelport's 'Rich Content and Branding' merchandising solution, allowing the four airlines to display branded fares and ancillary content in a graphically rich and visual way. The branded fares and ancillary content for Jetstar Group carriers is now available for all agents using Travelport's travel commerce platform. [more - original PR]