The business of travelling for work
American airlines spreads its wings
What does Dublin have in common with Lima, Seoul and Dusseldorf? American Airlines will be flying scheduled services to these cities from next year.
The New York-Dublin AA route will begin on June 12th and operate year round. Premium passengers will have a separate check-in facilities and use of the executive lounge. On board the Boeing 757-200 there will be 14 lie-flat business class seats, Samsung Galaxy tablets and five-course fine dining. Prices start at €2,236 return.
The service will be the earliest leaving Dublin at 9am, arriving in New York at 11.30am local time and departing New York at 6.55pm. The service will operate in conjunction with joint business partners British Airways and Iberia, and customers will be able to collect points in the AA, BA or IB frequent flyer programmes. Flights are now on sale on americanairlines.com.
Greek airlines deal
Aegean Airlines has agreed to buy Olympic Air in a deal worth €72 million. The two carriers had tried to merge two years ago, but that was blocked by the European Commission.
Olympic Air was formed after the privatisation of the national carrier Olympic Airways and operates from Athens, Thessaloniki and Rhodes airports.
The separate brands of the two airlines will be maintained for the future but all administrative and commercial departments will merge. Aegean launched flights on Sunday from London Gatwick to Athens.
Winning goes on
No sign of a post-Olympics slump in hotel prices in London, despite the dozens of new properties that opened.
TRI Hospitality Consulting reported a 3.2 per cent rise in occupancy to 89.4 per cent, with revPAR, revenue per available room, at £123.33 per room last month.
Despite the challenging economic outlook and history of post-Olympic slumps in other host cities, London looks likes finishing the year up on 2011 figures. The figures for provincial hotels, however, are gloomy, with revPAR at £57.31.
Hotel at the Arch
Is nothing sacrosanct in these days of austerity? The UK government has leased London’s landmark Admiralty Arch to Rafael Serrano’s Prime Investors Capital for 99 years to convert it into a luxury hotel.
PIC operates London’s newest most expensive hotel, the Bulgari in Knightsbridge. The deal will be worth £60 million and see the Grade 1 listed building restored to house 100 luxurious rooms, fine dining restaurant, ballroom and a spa.
Straddling the entry between Trafalgar Square and the Mall leading to Buckingham Palace, it was commissioned in 1912 by Edward VII in memory of his mother Queen Victoria.
Free wifi at hotels
Say goodbye to wifi charges when you stay in any of the Guoman Hotels in London.
Bandwidth has been increased in the Cumberland Marble Arch, the Tower, Royal Horseguards, Grosvenor Victoria and Charing Cross Hotels. Broadband will be available all through the hotels at no extra charge. See guomanhotels.com.