News in brief from Rezidor, JAL and Air France, the US DoT and SkyTeam, and the ERA
Date for Rezidor's Russian flagship announced
The Rezidor Hotel Group (RHG) is to open the Radisson Royal Hotel, Moscow, its Russian flagship property, on December 1 this year.
The 507-room hotel will include 38 serviced apartments, four restaurants and a conference centre with space for up to 1,000 delegates.
Conference facilities include nine meetings rooms, a 450 square metre ballroom, business centre and library.
The property is situated near to Moscow's political centre, and will be run by Rezidor in partnership with JSC Ukraina Hotel.
www.rezidor.com
JAL and Air France strengthen code share
Japan Airlines (JAL) and Air France will extend their code share agreement from July 7 to include daily flights between Paris and Istanbul.
The new agreement expand JAL's European offering to 13 destinations including Paris to Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Lyon, Munich, Prague, Stockholm and Warsaw.
JAL currently serves 32 European cities through code shares with Air France and Alitalia and its oneworld alliance partners including British Airways and Iberia.
The new Istanbul code share departs Paris at 1905 and arrives in Istanbul at 2325 every day. The returning flight leaves Istanbul at 0900 and arrives back in Paris at 1140.
www.jal.com www.airfrance.com
US makes SkyTeam anti-trust demands
The US Department of Transportation (DoT) has ordered SkyTeam members to prove that operating transatlantic flights under anti-trust immunity benefits customers.
SkyTeam carriers Delta Air Lines, Air France-KLM, Czech Airlines and Alitalia all operate flights between Europe and the US as part of an alliance with anti-trust immunity.
The DoT has issued a final order to SkyTeam airlines to file annual reports detailing alliance goals and how these will benefit passengers.
The DoT said it was clear future agreements would become more complex and highlighted the need for better reporting by airlines.
www.dot.gov www.skyteam.com
Passenger demand drops 10.7% - ERA
The European Regions Airline Association (ERA) has reported a 10.7% decline in passenger demand for the first three months of 2009.
Load factor also fell to 58.4% this year from 61.4% in the same period in 2008. Capacity also fell 4.8%.
ERA director general Mike Ambrose said: "The industry is facing its worst ever crisis and costs have been cut back as far as they possibly can while yields are continuing to decline.
"Yet the need to steer regulators away from inefficient and unnecessary cost burdens and towards more beneficial projects still remains.
"The need to work together through collective action and a unified voice has never been so important."
The Association has reported a sharp rise in new members, with six news airlines in the past three months. 14 companies, including associate and affiliate member airlines, have joined since January.
www.eraa.org