Next year prices for rail travel on most fares will drop ‘for the first time in a generation’ following price caps that have been set up this month. This is great news for business travel and has not happened for many years.

On a yearly basis permitted fare hikes are calculated with increases limited to one per cent higher than the Retail Index Price. The figure for last year was five per cent which gave rail operators leeway to increase fares by six per cent. However following the economic downturn this year’s RPI figures stood at -1.4 per cent which has ensured operators have to lower their fares by 0.4 per cent in 2010.

This cap is applicable to all UK regulated rail fares except for West Yorkshire and South Eastern PTE franchises. These franchises have been permitted to increase prices by three per cent as funding for ongoing investment in services.

The Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis commented on the news by saying:

“This is good news. For the first time in a generation passengers across the country will see their fares fall. Drops in fares should encourage more people to travel by train, which is good for the economy and the environment.”

Popularity: 7% [?]

Qantas have reported losses of 87 per cent on their full-year profits as of the end of June this year. That equates to AUS $181 million losses reasons for which have been cited as industrial action, the economic downturn, A380 introduction costs and also the Swine Flu pandemic.

The CEO of Qantas, Alan Joyce, is quoted to have said that despite the credit crunch:

“the diversity of the Qantas Group’s operations had contributed to it being one of the few airline operators worldwide to produce a full-year profit”

He went on to say that the 2008/09 financial year was a year of two contrasting halves for the airline with the initial half being largely favourable with high demand and a good operating environment. However commenting about the latter end of the year Joyce said:

“During the second half, the environment deteriorated, with domestic and international competitor capacity continuing to grow and demand in key markets softening quickly as the global slowdown hit. This was compounded by one-off events during the year, including protracted industrial action, H1N1 influenza and the costs associated with introducing the new Qantas A380.”

The profits had slumped to AUS$181 million from the previous year’s AUS $1,408 million. Demand for both business travel and domestic flights were to blame.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Hilton Hotels is in the process of launching a new mobile service for customers in the UK. This will allow leisure and business travel customers to book hotel rooms via their mobile phones.

This mobile service can be accessed by entering the Hilton.co.uk site on your mobile device. Using Mobile Travel Technologies, a Dublin based specialist, the service provides access to change existing bookings and view information and pictures about hotels. Information about facilities and even directions to the hotel can be viewed.

The Hilton Mobile Service has been integrated with the Hilton Honors loyalty scheme which enables members to see a points summary and also book quickly as certain field will be populated already on the booking form.

For iPhone users there is a Web App version and combined with the GPS capabilities in iPhone users can also see a list of Hilton hotels in the vicinity with the distance calculated from the user’s current location.

The vice president of brand web sites at Hilton Hotels, Geraldine Calpin commented:

“By launching local mobile services for Hilton customers in the UK, we not only improve customer service, but create a new distribution channel for our products.”

According to Mobile Travel Technologies (MTT) this use of mobile travel services is expanding by twenty per cent per month. MTT founder and executive director, Gerry Samuels said:

“Mobile technology is playing an increasing role in new marketing and distribution strategies of major hotel chains. As consumers increasingly take advantage of the convenience of mobile to make bookings and make changes on-the-go, hotel chains are now seeing strong revenue growth as well as having a customer service advantage.”

Popularity: 13% [?]

This week any passengers travelling through Heathrow airport may find themselves immortalised in a book to be written about the famous airport following a collaboration between Alain de Botton, the Swiss philosopher, and BAA.

De Botton was commissioned by the airline to write about a week of life at Heathrow airport for a book using characters based on business travellers, domestic passengers and staff within the story.

De Botton is carrying out his research for the book sat at a desk in T5 and during his stay will have access to all areas of the airport. The book will be entitled A Week At The Airport: A Heathrow Diary and will be published this September when 10,000 copies will be handed out free to Heathrow passengers.

De Botton has featured travel in his work before when in 2003 The Art of Travel was published which was a look at the philosophy of travel. When commenting on his latest book de Botton said:

“I have always found airports mesmerising. If you wanted to take a Martian to a single place that best captures everything that is distinctive and particular to modern civilisation, in its highs and lows, you would undoubtedly take them to the airport. This is where you can see in action all the big themes that we otherwise know just as abstractions: the power of technology, globalisation, the environmental debate, consumerism, the frenzy of the modern workplace and the dreams of travel.”

Popularity: 5% [?]

There are plans by the Rezidor Hotel Group to expand their Park Inn brand across the globe over the following three years with new launches in Poland, Norway, Dubai and Tunisia announced recently.

Norway will be seventh hotel for Park Inn and will be located in Steinkjer, in Nord-Trøndelag county. It will house 110 rooms and is due to open in 2011. Featuring an all day restaurant and meeting spaces it will be situated next to a water spa, water park and a gallery which will exhibit the work of Jakob Weidemann who is a well known Norwegian abstract artist from the 1950’s modernistic art movement. This new Park Inn will appeal to both leisure and business travelers.

The chief executive and president of Rezidor, Kurt Ritter, said that the group saw Norway as one of the biggest markets. He went on to say:

“With almost 6,000 rooms in operation, the country accounts for 10 per cent of our existing portfolio.”

The Park Inn Wroclaw will have 206 rooms and will be opened in 2012 which will coincide with Poland hosting the UEFA European Football Championship. This is the second Park Inn located in Poland. The other is situated in Krakow and opened early this year. When Park Inn Wroclaw opens it will be the closest hotel to Mikolaj Kopernik International Airport featuring a lobby bar, restaurant and conference facilities for business travelers.

Popularity: 9% [?]

If you travel regularly with work then it can take a huge toll on your Pilates routine. Business travel can seriously impede any fitness regime you have and the combination of business meals and snatching food on the move between airports can start to have an impact on your waist line. Pilates is a great way of staying trim and also correcting those bad posture habits that you may pick up on long haul flights but how do you keep it going when you are travelling across the globe?

The easiest way is to learn some Pilates routines that you can do on the move. You can find Pilates exercises on the internet and simply follow the exercises on your laptop or if you have your own preferred routine write them down. You could also take a DVD with you as most hotels geared up for business travellers have a DVD player in the room.

However finding a class in the city of your stay is the most enjoyable way of keeping up with your Pilates regime. You’ll find Pilates classes in most business cities across the world and with a little persistence you should be able to find a class. In fact many hotels offer classes as part of their leisure facilities. Visiting different classes will breathe new life into your understanding of Pilates and give you a welcome break from the treadmill of business travel.

Popularity: 12% [?]

There are due to be new flights included in the flight portfolio of Etihad Airways to Hyderabad in India from November. This initial four times per week flight will increase to a daily flight from 2010.

Hyderabad, the state of Andhra Praddesh’s capital city, is the seventh Indian destination to be offered by Etihad. These flights are served by the Airbus A320 which has 120 economy seats and a further 20 seats for business travel. The CEO of Etihad, James Hogan, commented on the new flight when he said:

“Etihad has made no secret of the fact that it wants to build up its Indian services and looks forward to expand its flying programme to the country with the launch of this exciting new service. Hyderabad is a key Indian destination not currently served directly from Abu Dhabi.”

The airline views this addition as a great opportunity not only for Etihad Airlines but also the wider Hyderabadi community working and living in the Emirate where the news of the flight has been welcomed.

In addition to increasing point-to-point traffic the airlines expects Hyderabad to be an important addition to the Etihad network. The airline forecasts popular traffic flow between India and both Europe and North America.

Etihad is also looking to secure flights to Abu Dhabi and also other Indian destinations such as Bangladore.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Hilton has made known that it is due to expand the Doubletree brand within the UK and is set to open properties in Milton Keynes and Bristol by the end of 2009.

In Bristol Hilton is in the process of converting the Cadbury House Hotel and Country Club which is a four star rated hotel. It will be launched as the Doubletree by Hilton and will offer leisure and business travelers a selection of seventy two rooms, a meeting space, health club and spa amenities and a top restaurant and bar. This Bristol South hotel is located just thirteen miles southwest of Bristol and is close by to the village of Congresbury. For business travel it is a handy ten minutes drive to the Bristol International Airport.

At the same time Doubletree will open a newly built hotel within the MK Dons Football Club at Milton Keynes. It will be fully integrated into the professional sports complex which is situated at the front of the stadium at the west stand. It will boast 127 guest rooms with many having a prize view of the football pitch and access to the stadium seating.

Both hotels are part of franchise agreement and are due to open by the end of this year. Doubletree now has seven UK hotels open or under development and Hilton is also rolling out the brand across Europe.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Icelandair has launched a triangular service offering which aims to link Rejkjavik to both Glasgow and Manchester. The Glasgow route will be launched next month starting off with a twice-weekly service running on both Thursdays and Sundays. This will then increase to four times per week from 25th September 2009.

From 25th September 2009 there will be an increase in flights to Manchester and another two flights will be added to coincide with connecting flights to the airline’s North American destinations. These will include Halifax, Boston, New York JFK, Minneapolis, Toronto and Seattle.

Flights will run Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday departing from Reykjavik at 0800 and arriving at Manchester at 1135. The flight will then depart from Manchester at 1225 to arrive in Glasgow at 1330. The next flight from Glasgow will then be 1420 to arrive at Reykjavik at 1540.

Those travelling from Manchester to Reykjavik will have to travel via Glasgow but returning passengers can travel direct. The same applies to outbound business travel from Glasgow but the returning flight will be routed via Manchester.

There are also opportunities to connect to the US and Canadian destinations offered by Icelandair. These extra flight will be of great value to Manchester and Glasgow travelers although some may find the extra time on the triangular flight a drawback.

Popularity: 14% [?]

The airline’s first luxury lounge in Europe has been opened by Etihad Airways at Germany’s Frankfurt Airport. This lounge of 275 square metres can hold up to fifty passengers.

The lounge is situated in Transit Area E which is ideally located next to the gate used most often by Etihad. Business travelers on First class and business class flights have access to this facility up to three hours before they depart on their flight.

There is a wide selection of foods available at various dining facilities which will cater to most world tastes and a wooden paneled business centre caters for those who want to keep productive with workstations and telephone facilities available with free calls within the Frankfurt region.

There is also a prayer room, a plush seating area cover in luxurious Italian leather and shower amenities for passengers to use when they need to freshen up.

The chief commercial officer of the airline, Peter Baumgartner said:

“Our new facility offers a luxurious lounge area in a truly superb environment that will provide Etihad’s premium customers with a range of entertainment options if they want them, or plenty of other ways to simply sit back and enjoy some relaxation prior to boarding their flight.”

There will be another premium lounge opening at London Heathrow Airport at Terminal 4.

Popularity: 12% [?]