Hunt and Palmer to expand
Hunt and Palmer, a major air charter company, is to open new Italian office next month. The company whose headquarters are in the UK already has offices in France, Germany, Switzerland, Jordan and Australia and recently opened a new office in Barcelona, Spain.
KDS appoints UK sales director
Paris-based KDS has appointed Matthew Frost as its UK sales director. The move is part of the IT company's plans to boost its sales teams following a €11m cash injection from two London-based investment firms last year.
Mr Frost, 44, has 20 years of experience in the IT industry and was most recently UK sales manager for the AWD business process management solution at DST International.
Stephane Donders, senior vp with KDS, said the UK market was the most mature in Europe for travel management and was a KDS priority.
Iberia reports 20% increase in business class
Iberia has reported a rise of 20% in the number of business class travellers since it introduced its new Business Class seats on long haul flights last May.
The Spanish national carrier said the new seats were now available on 70% of its Airbus A340 fleet with the rest being equipped this spring.
Hotelzon appoints new director strategic alliances
Hotelzon International, the Finland-based hotel booking agency, has appointed Michael Madison as its new director strategic alliances.
Mr Madison, who will also be a member of the company's management group, will be in charge of the use of online booking tools and travel management systems as well as heading the company's activities in Southern Europe.
He has previously worked with Hertz and dohop.com, an Icelandic flight search engine.
Alitalia barred from Volare purchase
An Italian court has barred troubled carrier Alitalia from buying Volare, a low cost carrier which went out of business in 2004.
It said the use of €38m to buy the airline would be an illegal use of state aid.