News in brief from Helsinki Airport, HRG, Starwood and Golden Tulip
Helsinki Airport re-organised
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is being re- organised with national carrier Finnair moving all its operations to Terminal Two.
The re-organisation ends the previous format of having domestic flights from one terminal and international ones for the other.
From this Wednesday (August 5) Finnair will join its oneworld partners, including BA, in Terminal Two.
Tomi Hanninen, Finnair's UK sales director, said: "After the move, Finnair check-in and departure gates will be much closer to each other.
"Distances from one to the other will be cut in some cases from as much as a kilometre to as little as several dozen metres.
"Finnair staff and facilities will serve our customers under a single terminal roof in the future."
www.finnair.com
Chinese companies focus on cost control
A new survey by Hogg Robinson Group (HRG) of Chinese companies has found their main focus is on cost control.
The poll found that Chinese companies were being forced to make dramatic cuts in travel spend by the recession.
The survey was carried out by HRG at the Corporate Travel and Expense Management Forum held in Beijing on July 14-15.
More than half the companies (56%) said they had downgraded form business to cabin class on airlines but 60% said senior staff could still travel premium class.
Nearly one third of corporate questioned (32%) said they were aiming to save more than 20% on their travel budget while 52% had targeted savings of up to 20%.
A substantial majority of companies (72%) said they were ready to downgrade "traveller experience" to save money.
But the survey also found that more than half the companies believed the recession would end in 2010 while
52 per cent of corporates were planning to save up to 20 per cent in travel expenses while 32 per cent were targeting to save more than 20 per cent in 2009.
More than half the companies believed the recession would end in 2010 while 52% said corporate responsibility, including security and environmental issues were higher on the agenda than a year ago.
www.hrgworldwide.com
Starwood completes Golden Tulip buy-out
Starwood Capital has announced the completion of its acquisition of Golden Tulip Hospitality BV's franchise business.
The deal includes development and representation businesses, joint venture interests, trademarks and intellectual property for brands related to Golden Tulip and Tulip Inn.
www.starwood.com www.goldentulip.com