News in brief from SWISS, Eastern Airways, Ryanair, Spendvision and Visa
SWISS to start new Manchester service
SWISS is to launch a twice weekly direct service between Geneva and Manchester from December 20.
The new service will be operated in an Avro RJ100 and will run until next April.
Gregor Koncilja, SWISS's UK and Ireland country manager, said: "We are delighted to be reintroducing connection between the UK and Switzerland, which was so popular last season.
"It demonstrates our commitment to both tourism in the Lake Geneva area and to our customers in northern England, north Wales and Scotland."
www.swiss.com/uk
Eastern strengthens Norwegian offering
Eastern Airways has expanded its Norwegian network with two new services out of Newcastle and Aberdeen.
The UK regional airline now flies daily from both UK cities to Bergen, Norway's second largest city.
A daily flight now operates between Newcastle and Bergen during the week departing at 1030 and arriving at 1335. The return flight leaves Bergen at 1430.
Daily flights between Aberdeen and Bergen operate every day except Saturday. The flight departs Aberdeen at 0840 and arrives in Bergen at 1110, with a return service at 1615.
Chris Holliday, Eastern's coo, described Bergen as a "major centre for the oil and gas industry."
www.easternairways.com
Spendvision to power Visa EMS
Visa has launched a new expense reporting system through an alliance with specialist company Spendvision.
Visa IntelliLink Spend Management provides enhanced data capture, non-card spending and alerts, new reporting tools and integrated travel booking.
Spendvision was chosen for its "proven, industry-leading platform," Visa said.
The Visa branded platform is available to its commercial card issuers and will gradually replace other Visa systems.
www.corporate.visa.com www.spendvision.com
Ryanair traffic jumps 17%
Budget airline Ryanair has reported a 17% year-on-year rise in passenger traffic.
Figures for September show traffic at 6.1m passengers compared to 5.2m in the same month last year.
Ryanair, Europe's largest low cost carrier, also saw a slight improvement in load factor of 1% year-on-year.
Ryanair spokesperson Stephen McNamara said the airline had carried three times as many passengers as British Airways on European routes.
www.ryanair.com