Alaska Airlines’ board of directors has elected Wayne Newton as vice president of airport operations and customer service effective today. In his new role, Newton will oversee airport operations in 84 cities and a team of more than 2,700 employees and contractors. He replaces Jeff Butler, who is now Alaska Airlines’ vice president of guest and inflight services – Virgin America. “Wayne knows this business inside and out and is perfectly suited to lead one of our largest...
Southwest Airlines Co. announced today several Leadership promotions from within the Company’s ranks. Ryan Green is promoted to Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer; and Bill Tierney is promoted to Managing Director Marketing. Within Corporate Delivery & Technology, Erika Linford is promoted to Vice President, Corporate Delivery—Commercial, Customer, & Ground Operations. Chris Monroe has been promoted to Senior Vice President Finance. Monroe will continue to serve as...
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) asked the Canadian Government to improve the competitiveness of its aviation sector by prioritizing the elimination of Crown Rents over consideration of airport privatization. “The Canadian government has already pocketed about C$5 billion as the historical landlord of airport property. That’s a C$5 billion disincentive to travel, to visit this wonderful country or to plan a business trip. Eliminating Crown Rents would boost Canada’s GDP...
Austrian Airlines will add a new long-haul destination in North America to its flight schedule in the summer of 2017. Starting on 10 April 2017, Austrian Airlines will be flying to Los Angeles, California’s largest city. The metropolis is not only well known for Hollywood, but also for its multicultural flair and its status as an important business location. In its summer 2017 flight schedule, Austrian Airlines will offer a total of up to 44 weekly nonstop flights from Vienna to North America...
American Airlines today has committed to make a US$200 million equity investment in China Southern Airlines, creating a strong foundation for a long-term relationship between two of the world’s biggest carriers. China Southern is the largest airline in China and is the ideal carrier for American, the largest airline in the world, to build a relationship within this critically important market. “China Southern’s extensive network within China touches developing and thriving markets that only a...
Benchmark, a global hospitality company, has named Tobby Rau director of operations for The Grove Resort & Spa Orlando. The 878 room all-suite hotel, which is a Benchmark Resorts & Hotels property, opened its first phase on March 10, 2017, just minutes from Walt Disney World® Resort in Orlando, Florida. Bill Lee, The Grove’s general manager, made the announcement. “It is a pleasure to have Tobby as a key part of The Grove Resort & Spa Orlando opening team,” said Mr. Lee. “He...
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has hailed a bold display of #LondonisOpen artwork newly on show at Heathrow. The now-iconic David Shrigley art will be featured at the airport over the next six weeks. The first Heathrow #LondonisOpen campaign, worth an estimated £200,000 of advertising space, has been donated by the airport to the Mayor’s campaign to show that London is united and ready to welcome the world, for both business and leisure. Almost ten million passengers from across the world...
Porter Airlines and Bombardier Commercial Aircraft announced today that the airline’s fleet has grown to 29 aircraft with Bombardier’s delivery of another Q400 turboprop. Porter exclusively flies Q400 airliners. Porter’s home base at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is known as one of the world’s best urban airports. It is located within three kilometers of the city’s central business and entertainment districts. Approximately 2.7 million passengers used the...
Fraport, which operates Frankfurt Airport, works constantly to upgrade and extend its services for an even better passenger experience. The offerings include diverse opportunities for them to relax (under the heading of Relaxation World), work (Business World) and enjoy themselves (Entertainment World and Family World). And these efforts are greatly appreciated by air travelers, whose online votes have therefore put Frankfurt Airport among the world’s top ten in the 2017 Skytrax Awards for the...
Qatar Airways’ participated in the Qatar-UK Business and Investment Forum taking place in both London and Birmingham this week under the patronage of Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani. This significant event included a roundtable meeting with UK Prime Minister Ms. Theresa May and was attended by senior Qatar and UK political representatives such as the UK’s Secretary of State for International Trade, Dr. Liam Fox and...
The Ajman Palace Hotel, managed by HMH – Hospitality Management Holding, was declared the GCC winner of the ‘Best Ramadan’ award at the glittering 2017 GCC Food and Travel Awards ceremony held at Palazzo Versace in Dubai last evening. Congratulating the team about this extraordinary achievement Ferghal Purcell, COO of HMH, said, “It is a very proud moment for us to receive this prestigious and exclusive industry recognition. It is an immense achievement based on our three years’ endeavor...
airberlin welcomes the agreement announced today between the Berlin and Brandenburg Employers’ Association (Allgemeiner Verband der Wirtschaft für Berlin und Brandenburg) for the employers and ver.di representing employees in the pay dispute affecting ground handling services at Berlin’s airports. Thomas Winkelmann, Chief Executive Officer of airberlin, said of the decision announced this morning: “The agreement between the partners to the deal is great news. Stable, smooth...
US lodging services revenues are forecast to reach $185 billion in 2021, according to Lodging Services: United States, a report recently released by Freedonia Focus Reports. Traditional hotels and motels are expected to outpace other segments of the industry amid increasing demand from business travelers, fueled by the geographic dispersal of business operations. While hotels face stiffening competition from providers of alternative lodging services, such as Airbnb and HomeAway.com (Expedia)...
Marriott International, Inc. today announced the expansion of its extended-stay brand, Residence Inn by Marriott, with the signing of two new properties in London. With additional openings in Amsterdam and Aberdeen this year, Residence Inn expects to more than double its European portfolio in 2017. The opening of Residence Inn London – London Bridge expected in Q2 2017 will mark the debut of the company’s industry-leading extended-stay brand in the capital, and the opening of Residence...
Josh Leibowitz, Senior Vice President for Cunard North America and Chief Strategy Officer for Carnival Corp, was part of the panel “Guest-centricity Delivers on the Experience of Travel” at the Adobe Summit 2017 in Las Vegas – the world’s premiere digital marketing conference. The top leaders and thinkers in digital came together at the annual event March 18-22 to discuss how to create and market outstanding customer experiences. With over 150 attendees at the panel...
“Made in Germany” is the most highly regarded quality label for goods and services around the world, outshining other major exporting nations’ trust marks such as “Made in USA” or “Made in UK”. This is one of the findings from Statista’s Made-In-Country Index (MICI). Statista, one of the world’s leading databases for business-relevant facts and information, sought to find out which countries around the globe enjoy the best reputation as...
MGM Resorts International today announced the appointment of Aaron Fischer as chief strategy officer. Fischer, who is presently based in Hong Kong and serving as senior vice president of corporate development for MGM Resorts, has been working closely on strategies for the global development of integrated resorts in Asia. He will relocate to the company’s corporate headquarters in Las Vegas. As chief strategy officer, Fischer will be responsible for leading MGM Resorts’ enterprise...
Flybe, the largest independent regional airline in Europe, based in Exeter, launched service from Heathrow Airport this morning. Heathrow Operations Director Derek Provan said: “Earlier this year Heathrow reduced domestic passenger charges by £10 and it’s great to see the benefits of that coming through with Flybe’s new services to Aberdeen and Edinburgh boosting choice for our passengers. “More airlines flying routes to Scottish airports means more flights, more choice for families and more...
“We don’t believe in ‘business as usual’ – and are always seeking engaging and effective ways to further our industry,” explains Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group. One of the ways the IMEX team has done this for IMEX in Frankfurt 2017 is through its education offering: a comprehensive program of free education running across all three days of the trade show, 16 – 18 May, combined with its brand new EduMonday, 15 May. Brand new – EduMonday EduMonday will combine contemporary learning...
The US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that US airlines and foreign airlines serving the United States carried an all-time high of 928.9 million systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in 2016, 3.5 percent more than the previous record high of 897.9 million reached in 2015. The systemwide increase was the result of a 3.3 percent rise from 2015 in the number of passengers on domestic flights (719.0 million in...
You love Nepalese food and did not attend the Nepal Europe Summit? You missed out! The long anticipated Nepal Europe Summit after ITB Berlin finished last week after traveling to Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Prague and Warsaw. The Nepal Summit was organized and attended by the Nepal Tourism Board under the leadership of CEO Deepak R Joshi and senior officer for brand promotion and corporate marketing Shradha Shrestha in cooperation with the global team of eTurboNews in Hawaii, Duesseldorf...
At least two luxury liners have big plans for the charming Hue in central Vietnam as more tourists are drawn to the city’s scenery and history. US-based Royal Caribbean International and Hong Kong-based Star Cruises have said they will bring a combined 150,000 foreign tourists to the central city of Hue this year, according to media reports. “Tourist arrivals in Hue via cruise ships have grown since 2015, when the city’s Chan May Port was upgraded for bigger vessels,” Le Huu Minh, a...
The third aircraft from a batch of 100 planes Iran has purchased from European aviation giant Airbus following the 2015 landmark nuclear agreement with the P5+1 group of countries has landed in the Iranian capital of Tehran. The long-haul A330-200 touched down at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport on Saturday, a day after it was officially delivered to Iran in the French city of Toulouse. Farhad Parvaresh, the managing director of Iran’s national flag carrier Iran Air, attended the ceremony to...
Dubai International Airport and its flag carrier Emirates began implementing a ban on laptops and tablets on direct flights to the US Saturday (March 25), on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. More than 1 million people are expected to pass through the busiest international airport as the city marks UAE spring break, Dubai Airports’ senior vice president for communications Anita Mehra said. An estimated 260,000 travelers were expected to pass through each day from Friday...
Unabashed by international sanctions, cash-strapped North Korea is calling for foreign businesses to invest in an international cruise ship in a bid to boost tourism. According to the proposal listed on the Mount Kumgang region website, the country needs $20 million to buy the 30,000-ton Royale Star, a Soviet-era cruise ship capable of carrying 1,000 passengers. The liner can operate a casino business, even though gambling remains strictly prohibited in the country. It is currently docked at...
Prime Minister Theresa May has reportedly vowed to break the 1964 London Convention and ban European fishing vessels from waters 6 to 12 nautical miles from British shores. The convention would allow some European fishermen to catch in British waters even after Brexit, when the UK will no longer be part of the EU common fisheries policy. A notice period of two years will be given to EU fishing groups. The end of the agreement would see foreign vessels lose out significantly, as 58 percent of...
Turkish Airlines now introduces its new in-flight mobile connectivity through “eXPhone” for an uninterrupted communication on board. As an extension of Wi-Fi and live TV availability on its Boeing B777 and Airbus A330 aircrafts, Turkish Airlines now offers a mobile internet connectivity by eXPhone to its guests, by April, 2017. By using this service, passengers will be able to send text messages (excluding voice messages), check their e-mails and browse internet (including social media...
China Southern Airlines Company Limited has noted from recent media coverage which reported that, inter alia, the Company is in discussion with a third party on the strategic cooperation. In response to the News, the Company, having made due enquiries, wishes to clarify as follows: As at the date of this press release, the Company is in the negotiation of a possible major strategic cooperation (“Possible Transaction”) with a third party. The Company wishes to emphasize that the...
Howard Eng, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), announced today that Jill Sharland, the GTAA’s Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, is leaving the GTAA effective March 23, 2017. The GTAA’s Board of Directors has appointed Ian Clarke as the GTAA’s interim Chief Financial Officer, effective April 10, 2017. Mr. Clarke has served as a Director of the GTAA since 2012, including as a member and Chair of its Audit Committee...
As part of its strategy of internationalisation, Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week continues to centre its campaign to promote the show and attract buyers, promoters and influencers on the USA which, in addition to the European countries, is the potential market of greatest interest to the brands taking part in the show due to its role as a commercial powerhouse and a global amplifier of fashion trends. Among this year’s stars is the Venezuelan-born, New York based designer Ángel Sánchez, who...
