United Airlines has ordered 25 Airbus A350XWBs and 25 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, with options on another 50 of each type. The aircraft will be delivered between 2016 and 2019.
Garuda Indonesia will reintroduce European operations from June 1, 2010, after an absence of five years.
Travel management consortium GlobalStar has signed three new partners - in Oman, Bahrain and Kazakhstan - as part of a membership drive in the Middle East and central Asia. The group expects to announce a further four new recruits this month.
Brussels Airlines become the 26th member of the Star Alliance.
Continental Airlines has moved to a 'cashless cabin' - accepting credit and debit cards for on-board purchases - although cash is still accepted for duty-free purchases and (for the time being) on Continental Express, Continental Connection and Continental Micronesia flights.
Qatar Airways has broken into the Australia market with the launch of three flights a week between Doha and Melbourne. Sydney fl ights are planned this year. Qatar's 85th destination, Melbourne, is being served with Boeing 777-200s.
Swissôtel has launched a new mobile site which allows bookings and reservation management by web-enabled mobile device, while Accor has come up with an iPhone search and booking application.
Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has launched CWT Telepresence, which enables clients to set up virtual meetings via Tata Communications' network of telepresence suites. Tata has a string of publicly available suites in the US, the UK, India, South Africa and the Philippines, and recently struck a deal to manage additional units in Starwood hotels worldwide. CWT Telepresence not only enables buyers to substitute virtual meetings for face-to-face contacts, CWT says, but it also allows companies to hold meetings which would not previously have been cost-effective.
South African Airways has increased frequencies between Johannesburg and the Namibian capital, Windhoek, from 14 per week to 20, effectively introducing three flights per day, excluding Saturdays, on the route. At the same time, new departure and transfer lounges have been opened at Cape Town and Johannesburg Airports respectively.
Hogg Robinson Group (HRG) has retained the travel management business for KCA DEUTAG, a leading onshore and offshore drilling and engineering contractor.
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) has accused the region's government-administered security agencies of thwarting efforts to speed travellers through Asia's airports. Airport security checks are unnecessarily fastidious, the 17-member organisation complains, creating queues and congestion at major gateways. "Governments continue to impose onerous security procedures, which often appear to be based on fear rather than a balanced evaluation of threats and risk assessments," the AAPA says.
Glasgow's Royal Scottish Automobile Club building has been re-opened as a 100-room fi ve-star boutique hotel, named Blythswood Square. Part of the Town House Collection group, the property has been converted at a cost of £25 million. Town House also operates four boutique hotels in Edinburgh - The Bonham, Channings, the Howard and The Edinburgh Residence.
Air travellers can once again check in at London's Paddington station, courtesy of Heathrow Express. At present, the facility is limited to just four airlines - Delta, Finnair, Iberia and United - using three Common Use Self Service (CUSS) machines, which issue automated boarding passes.
East Midlands Trains has introduced a new hourly link between Sheffield and East Midlands Airport at Castle Donington. And passengers travelling from Chesterfi eld will also benefit from 16 new direct services to and from the airport.