Passengers travelling with British Airways and Malev will be able to earn and burn frequent flyer miles with either airline later this year.
And customers who qualify will also have access to both carriers' lounges. The benefits stem from an agreement between BA and the Hungarian flag carrier to start code sharing on each other's flights from November 1. Malev is scheduled to join the oneworld alliance, to which the UK carrier already belongs, early next year.
The north Portugal city of Porto looks set to become an increasingly important business travel hub. TAP (Air Portugal) is expanding services there as it runs short of elbow room at Lisbon, where a new terminal extension is not scheduled to open until 2009. And at the end of this month a new Metro line will open between the centre and the airport. TAP, which launched services from Porto to Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro last month, this week began operating three round trips a week to Newark, the alternative gateway to New York. The Metro system's Line E extension began operating on an experimental basis at the end of May. Until June 30, trains to and from the airport will depart and arrive at Campanha station, where passengers need to change. After that they will run to and from Estadio do Drago. The journey time is around 25 minutes. The airport station is opposite the entrance to the arrivals zone.
A 3,555 square feet penthouse suite incorporating a 10 seat cinema will be part of a major extension scheduled to open on July 1 at Stockholm's Grand Hotel. The waterfront property has acquired the adjoining Burmanska Palace, enabling it to add 76 new rooms and suites. The development also includes seven new conference rooms, whose opening will be phased in from September.