InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed a franchise deal with the UK hotel group Queens Moat Houses to run 16 of its properties.
IHG will convert 11 of the hotels into Holiday Inns and two to its higher class brand Crowne Plaza.
The future of the remaining three will be decided later. One is likely to become a Crowne Plaza and the other two Holiday Inns.
All the 13 properties to be converted have been acquired on a 20 year basis. IHG said they will undergo “significant” refurbishment.
The deal will bring the number of IHG properties in the UK to 227 with 31,909 rooms.
The two new Crowne Plazas will be in Nottingham and Glasgow while among the new Holidays Inns will be one at Manchester Airport.
Andrew Cosslett, ceo of IHG, said: “This deal is another important step in the development of our brand portfolio in the UK market. We continue to add to our franchise business and are delighted to be furthering our relationship with Queens Moat Houses.”
Air France KLM report first quarter boost
Air France KLM said that it had had a good first quarter for 2005-06 with a “strong performance” of its passenger business.
The merged airline said turnover was up 5.5% to €5.19bn and passenger revenues up 6.6% from €3621m to €3859m compared with the first quarter for 2004-05.
Passenger traffic also rose by 6.5% compared with the same period in 2004-05 and the load factor was up 1.2% to 79.5%.
The airline will publish its full first quarter results on September 2.