China Southern’s CEO says that he is interested in forming an alliance with either Qantas or Virgin Australia. The airline intends to boost the number of Australia flights by almost 50 percent by the end of 2015. …
Royal Jordanian now partners with Hertz and members can earn 500 Royal Plus miles for each rental and 1,000 miles for booking a car from the Hertz Prestige Collection. …
The Essex House, a landmark hotel on the southern end of New York City’s Central Park has been sold and reopened as the JW Marriott, the first hotel of the JW Marriott brand in New York City. The Essex House most recently was a Jumeirah property and was a Marriott property from 1969 to 1985. …
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group (associated with Club Carlson) plans to increase its portfolio by at least 50 percent to reach at least 1,500 hotels in operation by 2015. …
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels now partners with Qatar Airways Privilege Club and members can earn 500 miles for qualifying stays at over 120 Millennium & Copthorne properties across Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa. …
Virgin Atlantic is launching its first U.K. domestic route between London Heathrow and Manchester from March 13, 2013. …
Delta is launching nonstop service between New York JFK and Vancouver, Canada from June 6, 2013. …
Rumor has it that if Southwest Airlines can jump all the hurdles it needs to start international service, the destinations could include the Caribbean, Central America, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. …
Southwest Airlines is adding its 79th destination starting March 9, 2013. The airline will begin serving Branson, Mo. with daily nonstop flights to Dallas, Houston (Hobby) and Chicago (Midway) and Saturday-only service to Orlando. SWA is assuming all Branson flying from AirTran Airways. …
Etihad Airways has bought stakes in Air Berlin, Virgin Australia, Aer Lingus and Air Seychelles and is negotiating an alliance with Air France/KLM. …
Qatar Airways is expanding its U.S. route network with a daily flight from Doha to Chicago (ORD) starting April 20, 2013 to join the current routes to New York (JFK), Washington (IAD) and Houston (IAH). …
Etihad Airways is launching daily nonstop flights from Washington, D.C. to Abu Dhabi starting March 31, 2013. …
Aerolineas Argentinas is now an official member of SkyTeam. The carrier is the alliance’s first South American member airline, adding 40 new destinations to the SkyTeam network and now, travelers can fly nonstop between South America and Australia as part of a SkyTeam Round the World itinerary. By the end of this year, Aerolineas Argentinas will implement SkyPriority airport services for Elite Plus, first and business class passengers worldwide. …
Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. and Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group have announced a merger agreement under which Hertz will acquire Dollar Thrifty. Hertz also plans to sell the Advantage side of the business to the company that operates Rent-a-Wreck, U-Save and others. …
A Virgin America Lounge at LAX is scheduled to open this fall. …
With the upcoming iPhone Passbook feature, you can use your iPhone or iPod Touch as a mobile boarding pass for airlines supporting Passbook and the feature will automatically display the boarding pass when you arrive at the airport.
