CityJet for Air France, is first and foremost the largest network out of London City airport with close to 70 daily flights, mainly operated with  Avro RJ 85 aircraft seating 95 passengers. Starting on 26 March 2007, CityJet for Air France will be offering 10 routes out of London City including eight new ones:

- Madrid
- Milan Linate
- Nice
- Zurich
and in cooperation with ScotAirways:
- Belfast Harbour Airport
- Dundee
- Edinburgh

These routes will be in addition to existing Air France services operated by CityJet out of London City: Paris-Orly (6 daily flights) and Dublin (5 daily flights).

CityJet for Air France, is also an exclusive product with a very short check-in time of 10 minutes (at London City Airport) and a wide-range of e-services in a small but very convenient airport which makes travel easy for customers. 

www.cityjet.com

2/16/2007 8:51:32 AM UTC    Comments 

VLM Airlines, the carrier which offers the largest number of flights from London City Airport, will introduce an additional return service to Manchester from 1st March, 2007, bringing the total of return flights to nine each weekday. At the same time, the carrier is optimising its schedule to offer a greater number of departures at peak times, allowing business travellers more flexibility when planning their meetings in either city.

VLM Airlines introduced its London City to Manchester service in September 2002. Despite intense competition from other airlines and rail services too, passenger numbers have grown each year since 2002. The route has become an established and popular link for business people travelling between Manchester and Central London, with over 113,000 travellers choosing to use the fast and convenient service in 2006.

2/15/2007 8:57:38 AM UTC    Comments 

Marco Polo Hotels will manage two new properties in China - Marco Polo Wuhan in Hubei and Marco Polo Chengdu in Sichuan.  Developed and owned by Wharf China Holdings Limited, parent company of Marco Polo Hotels, the hotels will be part of Times Square, a multi-purpose hotel, residential tower and retail complex.

Opening in 2007, Marco Polo Wuhan overlooks an urban waterfront park with outstanding views of the historic Yangtze River and will provide 375 guestrooms and suites. The hotel will include Marco Polo's signature Continental Club and Café Marco, a Chinese restaurant, a specialty restaurant and the Lobby Lounge.  Together with a wide variety of function rooms, facilities include a 350-seat Grand Ballroom, an internationally renowned spa, swimming pool, fitness center and tennis courts.

Opening in 2009, the luxurious Marco Polo Chengdu is located in the heart of the Central Business District and will provide 425 guestrooms and suites, each with an average size of 42 square meters. A wide variety of food and beverage options will be offered including Café Marco, a Chinese restaurant, a specialty restaurant, entertainment bar and lounges. Meeting and banqueting facilities will be designed to accommodate up to 650 guests.  An internationally branded spa, swimming pool, fitness center and tennis courts make up the recreational facilities of the hotel.
 

2/15/2007 8:56:58 AM UTC    Comments 

British Airways is taking a leaf out of the low cost airline’s book by imposing charges for extra bags checked in on flights from February 13.

Passengers on domestic flights will be charged £30.00 for extra pieces of luggage checked into the hold, £60.00 per extra bag for short haul flights and £120.00 for long haul. These prices are per leg adding an extra £240.00 to a return long haul flight. However, there is a 30% discount available for payments made online for travel by September 30.

The maximum weight is also being reduced with the airline allowing one bag to be checked in free of charge of up to 23kg (51lbs) in weight for World Traveller, Euro Traveller and domestic passengers. The allowance rises to two bags for those booked in World Traveller Plus and Club Europe and three bags for those flying Club World or first class.

Word Traveller passengers will continue to be allowed to check in two bags on flights to the US, Canada, Caribbean, Nigeria, Brazil and Mexico in line with the local government regulations.

www.ba.com

2/8/2007 12:03:20 PM UTC    Comments 

China Southern Airlines has started a twice weekly, direct service between Kathmandu in Nepal and Guangzhou. The service will operate every Monday and Friday using Boeing 757-200 aircraft.        

www.cs-air.com

2/6/2007 12:57:08 PM UTC    Comments 

The Fleming hotel in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district near to the Convention and Exhibition Centre has launched a dedicated floor for ladies. Named, Her Space, the rooms are purposefully decorated and equipped to cater to the expectations of today’s modern female traveller.

The female-friendly rooms are all adorned with fresh flowers, adding a soft, feminine touch to the room. Guests can also light the aroma oil that is provided in the room to create a soothing scent to unwind.

The rooms also provide additional facilities, including a jewellery box, leg massage machine and facial steamer, exclusive French toiletries and even some other easily forgotten yet very essential items such as an Emory board, sanitary napkins and hair clip. Ladies shavers are also available upon request.

Security on all floors of The Fleming is enhanced with key card access-only to each floor via the elevator.

www.thefleming.com.hk

2/5/2007 10:57:22 AM UTC    Comments 

British Midland has announces that it has acquired control of the Heathrow-based BA franchise airline British Mediterranean (BMED).

Nigel Turner, chief executive officer of the bmi group, said:  “Bringing BMED into the bmi group creates a business with a turnover in excess of £1 billion with substantial growth opportunities. The acquisition enables the bmi group to accelerate its strategy of expansion into medium-haul markets. BMED operates to 17 destinations in 16 countries and has no overlap with any current bmi route. Many of these destinations have restricted access to the market due to existing bi-lateral agreements. Synergies include BMED’s Heathrow base and the fact that it operates IAE engined Airbus A320 and 321 aircraft in a two class configuration”.

An agreement has been reached with British Airways that will see the franchise agreement and any other commercial agreements that exist with them continuing for a transition period until the end of the summer 2007 timetable.

www.flybmi.com

2/5/2007 9:06:07 AM UTC    Comments 

This summer, Air Canada is to double its daily Vancouver-Beijing service and increase the frequencies of its Toronto-Shanghai non- stop flights.

2/2/2007 8:30:09 AM UTC    Comments 

Forget predictable chocolates and the last minute flowers from the local garage.  For the perfect romantic break this Valentine’s Day, let Hand Picked Hotels whisk you away for a weekend with a difference. Each of the 14 luxury country house hotels located across the UK and Jersey are renowned for their sumptuous décor, idyllic surroundings and dedicated, personalised service.

A Valentine’s experience with a difference…

• Enjoy a luxury pampering session at Brandshatch Place Hotel & Spa, Kent
• Treat the one you love like royalty at Buxted Park Hotel, East Sussex. Steeped in over 800 years of history, you’ll be in good company with previous guests including royalty, prime ministers and film stars such as Marlon Brando and Gregory Peck
• Relax in the tranquillity of Chilston Park Hotel, Kent, with its Jane Austen style charm and scenic rolling parkland
• More active couples might like to book a quad biking or clay pigeon shooting experience, or why not try your hand at a more leisurely game of croquet in the stunning grounds of Crathorne Hall Hotel, North Yorkshire
• Ettington Park Hotel, Warwickshire, is a four Red Star Neo-Gothic mansion house featuring sumptuous décor and the option to stay in a romantic four-poster bed. Overlooking a 12th century church, it’s the ideal backdrop for a proposal
• Take a romantic stroll along the long sandy beach at L’Horizon Hotel & Spa in Jersey’s scenic St Brelade’s Bay – you’ll be sure to work up an appetite for a romantic dinner whilst watching the sun set over the horizon at The Grill restaurant
• Escape to the contemporary haven of Norton House Hotel, Edinburgh. Treat yourself to a special dinner at the award winning 3AA rosette Ushers Restaurant

www.handpicked.co.uk

2/1/2007 6:51:56 AM UTC    Comments 

British Airways is offering customers savings on flights of up to sixty five per cent from its year round air-fares to more than forty eight destinations if they book by the 6 February. More than 500,000 seats are available at the newly reduced prices for flights departing in the next few days, weeks and months. Many of the cut-price seats are available on flights departing in the next two weeks.

Andrew Crawley, head of sales, said: "We recognise that many customers may have delayed booking their flights on British Airways due to the threat of strike action. Now the strike has been called off we have decided to further reduce many of our air fares so air travellers can take advantage of the higher-than-usual seat availability over the coming weeks at excellent prices. The reduced air fares are a superb opportunity to book a last minute spring break to a destination of choice."

Many of the destinations in the sale have already been reduced as part of the airline's current World Offers sale, however they have been discounted further for one-week only.  

Some of the best savings are on flights to the United States with air fares starting at £199 to New York (saving up to £208 from the year-round fare), Boston and Philadelphia from £239, Orlando and Tampa from £279, Denver from £289 and San Francisco from £289 (saving 40%).

Flights to Dubai will start at £199, Hong Kong from £299, Beijing from £299 return and Tokyo from £299 return. Discounts have also been extended to shorthaul services with flights to Zurich, Bologna and Pisa starting at £30 one-way Milan from £39 or Lisbon from £44.

www.ba.com

1/31/2007 5:37:06 PM UTC    Comments 

Air Malta has announced that it will absorb the increase of the UK Airport Departure Tax for those passengers who have purchased their ticket before 6th December 2006 and will be travelling on Air Malta scheduled services on or after 1st February 2007.

On all its UK flights, Air Malta offers an enhanced level of in-flight service including free audio visual programming, the popular in-flight magazine – Skylife; free newspapers and a complementary drink. Air Malta allows passengers the possibility to pool 20kgs and 30kgs free baggage allowance for economy class and Club Class passengers respectively. The airline also boasts of a young fleet, which by next year will have an average age of 2.5 years and will be one of the youngest fleets in Europe and throughout the world.

www.airmalta.com

1/31/2007 5:36:15 PM UTC    Comments 

The Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly, London’s finest Art Deco property, celebrates its 80th Anniversary in 2007.  On 29 January as part of a year of celebrations, hotel guests, local residents and staff toasted 80 years of world-class service and hospitality at the hotel, part of the Sheraton Hotels & Resorts portfolio. The Park Lane Hotel was one of the first hotels in London to offer ensuite bathrooms in all bedrooms.  These days the hotel is a lasting tribute to the splendour of the 1920’s with a stunningly restored 11,000 square feet Ballroom.

In the 30s it played the elegant host to high society weddings, parties and events. At the dawning of the Second World War, due to its size and depth, Westminster decided the Ballroom could be the substitute venue for the House of Commons, should the Palace of Westminster be damaged.   In addition legend has it that there was a tunnel connecting the Ballroom to Buckingham Palace should Churchill ever need secret visits to the King during war time.   In recent years it has set the scene for many famous films, from The Poseidon Adventure, Brideshead Revisited, the End of the Affair, Wings of a Dove and Golden Eye to Shanghai Surprise and Mona Lisa.
 
www.sheraton.com/parklane 

1/31/2007 5:35:30 PM UTC    Comments 

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts has launched 2007 Valentines packages at participating hotels in Europe Africa & Middle East. Starting from 115Euro per room per night, this romantic package includes full breakfast for two, bottle of wine and a cheese plate on arrival and 4pm late check-out to make the most of your time together. The Sheraton Enjoy Every Moment package will attend to the details so you can focus on each other. This Valentine’s reconnect with the one you adore and enjoy every moment at hotels such as:

· Sheraton Real de Faula Golf Resort & Spa, Costa Blanca, Spain

· Sheraton Diana Majestic Hotel, Milan, Italy

· Sheraton Lisboa Hotel & Towers, Lisbon, Portugal

· Sheraton Salzburg, Austria

· Sheraton Miramar, Red Sea, Egypt

This offer is valid for stays booked by February 18, 2007 and completed between February 9 and February 18, 2007.
To book visit www.sheratonpromotions.com/valentine

1/31/2007 5:34:29 PM UTC    Comments