April Business Travel Product News
Each month we round-up our pick of the most useful business travel stories and product news. We'll aim to cover news on important new air and rail routes, major hotel openings, loyalty schemes and more besides.
Feel free to suggest items you'd like to see covered here too and we'll always do our best to respond.
BA Club Europe
British Airways have introduced Club Europe on all BA mainline and BA CityFlyer UK services from 1 April.
Customers can expect lounge access, extra space, complimentary food and drink, dedicated check-ins, priority boarding and increased baggage allowance.
Schengen Visa Changes
The application process for Schengen Visas has changed recently.
You now need to apply at the embassy of the country you are planning to spend the most time in, known as 'the main destination', rather than at the first port of entry.
Please refer to this website for full information
Lufthansa Group and Cathay Pacific sign Codeshare Deal
Lufthansa Group and Cathay Pacific have signed deals covering codeshare and frequent flyer agreements.
The new deal offers Lufthansa Group customers – Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Swiss – improved connections from Hong Kong towards Australia and New Zealand. From 26 April onwards, passengers arriving in Hong Kong from Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Zurich will be able to transfer to Cathay Pacific under one booking, with checked baggage through to the final destination and collect miles on the respective codeshare flight segments.
The new destinations via Hong Kong with Lufthansa Group are: Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns and Auckland. Cathay Pacific passengers can now reach 14 different European destitnations with their ticket, thereby broadening options for existing flights to Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Zurich.
Stansted Airport Expansion
Stansted Airport has received permission to go ahead with plans for a new £13 million arrivals building. The 34,000 metre-square building will span three levels to accommodate the airport's growing customer footfall. Work will begin this summer on what will be the UK's first airport to offer dedicated arrivals and departures terminals.
Read more about the project here.
New Norwegian Air Routes
Low cost carrier Norwegian has announced two new transatlantic routes from London Gatwick. From this September, Norwegian will fly direct to Seattle (four per week) and Denver (three per week). Both routes will be flown by two-class B787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Learn more here
Hotel Indigo Opens in LA
Hotel Indigo are set to open their first hotel in Los Angeles this year. The 350-room, 18 floor hotel will be located in the heart of the steadily-developing downtown LA, in easy walking distance of the entertainment area and the Staples Centre.
Read more here.
BA brings Biometric Boarding to Heathrow
British Airways has become the first UK airline to offer automated biometric boarding gates at Heathrow Airport. Following a trial last summer, BA is now operating three biometric gates for domestic flights, employing facial scanners which promise a smoother boarding experience for customers.
Read the full story here.
While you're here, why not also take a read of some of our other business travel news stories?