In a time of belt tightening and increased fuel costs, airlines throughout the world are cutting back. No so with Bournemouth airport, as they’re investing £45 million in a series of upgrades that will more than double their current passenger volume.

Bournemouth Airport is owned by Manchester Airports Group, who are investing the money in the airport to build a new terminal and to increase the area for passengers and aircraft. They’re also hoping to install equipment that allows for the management of flights, both outgoing and incoming, in bad weather. (more…)

Popularity: 43% [?]

Business travel is no longer a quick one day away, but can stretch out into weeks or even months, which means that hotel costs can get very expensive very quickly.  As well as this, it can also affect staff morale – having to live out of a suitcase in the same hotel for months at a time.  Due to this, companies are starting to look for cheaper more accommodating options.  One of those that is starting to see a take up is the use of service apartments.

Serviced apartments can be cheaper than a lot of hotels, while also providing a better level of living away from home.  Having your own kitchen and front room, as well as more privacy than hotel can only help employees working away from home to cope better with being away for so long.  Serviced apartments can also provide broadband and provide a  laundry and cleaning service to remove the hassle from the employees.

Serviced apartments are definitely here to stay, and provide a wide range of benefits for you average business traveller who has to be away from home for more than few days at a time.

Popularity: 27% [?]

The following is our list of favoured companies that offer business travel insurance in the UK.

• www.travelinsurance.co.uk
• www.columbusdirect.com
• www.acebusinesstravel.com
• www.insureandgo.com

Its only a small list, but the sites mentioned do a very good job at providing travel insurance for business people.

In particular, Columbus currently have some great insurance deals for business travelers, but all companies in the list would be suitable for SME business travelers in the UK.

Popularity: 24% [?]

With electricity prices on the rise in the UK, Scottish and Southern Energy are making moves to both save money and the environment at the same time by using a fleet of fifteen Toyota Prius’s for their business travel around the UK. (more…)

Popularity: 19% [?]

BAA is suing Ryanair over unpaid landing fees.  Ryanair have failed to pay fees owed for landing at Stansted airport.    The argument first started in April when BAA raised its fees and Ryanair said that it would not pay the excessive fees.

There are two sides to this argument – yes BAA raised fees, but it was within the allowed band by industry watchdogs, as well as this, Ryanair received discounts in the past for using Stansted, but they do not receive the discounts anymore.  However, Ryanair are currently struggling, and these increased fess could push them over the edge, as they are already looking at making a loss for the year due to the high cost of oil.

There is a lot of interesting business travel news involving budget airlines at the moment – high oil prices are causing all sorts of issues!

Popularity: 17% [?]

Since the soaring fuel costs started to hit Britain a few months ago, nebusiness.co.uk have conducted a survey that found that over half of North East-based businesses have changed how they use business travel.

The financial sector has lead the way with several companies adopting very strict green travel plans.  However, its not the fact that its green, its more that its a cost-saving excercise, which you would expect from the financial sector. (more…)

Popularity: 13% [?]