Houston Gains New Downtown Enrollment Center for Global Entry Program in Partnership Between City of Houston and Customs and Border Protection

HOUSTON, 2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — Due to strong international trade and commerce, the City of Houston marks the opening of a satellite enrollment center for the Global Entry program on the mezzanine level of the historic City Hall Visitor’s Center. Houston Mayor Annise Parker embraced the new satellite center not only as Houston’s Mayor, but also… Read the full press release

AFTER LARGEST GUEST LISTENING EXERCISE IN ITS HISTORY, HYATT MAKES FIRST STEP IN EVOLUTION OF GUEST EXPERIENCE

Insights From Women Inspire Launch of New Amenities and Services CHICAGO, 2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — Guest request communication cards, a service providing frequently forgotten items, and new healthy, balanced menu offerings are a sampling of new features available at Hyatt hotels and resorts around the world as a result of Hyatt’s effort to listen more to guests and… Read the full press release

Agoda.com partners with Philippine Airlines to bring great hotel deals to airline customers

2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — Agoda.com, Asia’s leading hotel booking site and part of Nasdaq-listed Priceline Group (Nasdaq:PCLN), has teamed up with Philippine Airlines (PAL) to offer customers of the Philippines’ flagship carrier access to Agoda.com’s inventory of over 100,000 hotels worldwide. As the first and oldest commercial airline in Asia, Philippine Airlines has been carrying people… Read the full press release

Tercera jornada de huelga: se cumplen los servicios mínimos sin incidencias

A las 20:00 habían operado 116 vuelos, todos los previstos a esta hora. Madrid, 2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — La tercera jornada de huelga en Iberia está transcurriendo sin incidencias en los aeropuertos y cumpliéndose los servicios mínimos. Hasta las 20:00 horas han operado 116 vuelos -el 100% de los previstos a esa hora-, y hoy se espera… Read the full press release

Marriott International Reports on Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2012

BETHESDA, Md., 2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) today reported its fourth quarter and full year 2012 results, including the following highlights: • Fourth quarter diluted EPS totaled $0.56, a 22 percent increase over prior year adjusted results.  Full year 2012 diluted EPS increased 31 percent over 2011 adjusted results to $1.72; • North American… Read the full press release

Hilton Terminal 5 Wins Seven Awards

LONDON, 2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — Hilton London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 is celebrating after winning a total of seven accolades at the Annual Hotel Recognition Awards. In a series of award wins across categories including Team of the Year, Guest Recognition Award and Manager of the Year, many of the employees at the leading hotel excelled at… Read the full press release

AIRPORT COMMISSION OKAYS $7 FARE FOR NEW LAX FLYAWAY® STOP AT EXPO/LA BREA; FARE AT FLYAWAY® VAN NUYS TO RISE $1 TO $8 ONE-WAY

Los Angeles, California, 2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — In anticipation of a new LAX FlyAway® bus service between the Metro Rail Exposition Line rail station at La Brea Avenue and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) this spring, the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners today approved a one-way passenger fare of $7. To encourage ridership, the Board also… Read the full press release

Lufthansa Group continues to make headway with SCORE earnings improvement programme

More than 2,500 SCORE projects launched About 800 SCORE projects already implemented Executive Board plans to close Lufthansa AG’s Cologne head office and the Norderstedt location of Lufthansa Revenue Services GmbH Lufthansa CityLine considering relocating its head office from Cologne to Munich 2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — One year after the launch of the Group’s earnings improvement… Read the full press release

Macau received 930,000 visitors during Spring Festival golden week with a year-on-year increase of 15%

2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — According to preliminary statistics, Macau registered 936,974 visitor arrivals (including foreign workers and students) during February 9 and 15 (Golden Week Holidays in Mainland), marking a growth of 15.4% compared with last year’s Spring Festival golden week. Among them, close to 630,000 visitors came from Mainland China, marking an increase of 25.5%…. Read the full press release

Horizon Air Names Carl Allen Managing Director of Technical Services in Maintenance

SEATTLE, 2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — Carl Allen has been named managing director of technical services for Horizon Air, sister airline of Alaska Airlines. Allen takes responsibility for the carrier’s core engineering, technical service and fleet propulsion engineering, as well as its technical publications, maintenance and reliability programs. He is based at Horizon Air’s Operations Center in… Read the full press release

Call for PATA Face of the Future Submissions

Bangkok, 2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Face of the Future award is open for submission until February 28, 2013. The winner will receive exposure global media exposure via PATA Communications channels, a round-trip economy flight to Frankfurt with accommodation to visit the IMEX, May 21- 23, 2013, and an opportunity to attend the PATA… Read the full press release

Lufthansa Group invests in modern fleet

2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — Investment in the future: Executive Board recommends to Supervisory Board that Lufthansa purchase 108 aircraft for the entire Group / Focus on customer comfort and operational efficiency / The Group’s medium and long-term requirements for short and medium-range aircrafts will be met with Airbus and Boeing aircraft At its meeting today, the… Read the full press release

Houston Obtiene Nuevo Centro de Inscripción para el Programa Global Entry en Asociación entre la Ciudad de Houston y Protección de Aduanas y Fronteras

HOUSTON, 2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — Debido a un fuerte comercio internacional, la Ciudad de Houston marca la apertura de un centro satélite de inscripción para el programa Global Entry ubicado en el nivel mezzanine del Centro para Visitantes del histórico edificio del Ayuntamiento. La alcaldesa de la ciudad, Annise Parker, acogió el nuevo centro satélite no… Read the full press release

Hilton London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 To Work With Rosetta Stone

LONDON, 2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — Hilton London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 is set to work on a joint project with Rosetta Stone, the leading provider of language learning solutions. With the hotel increasingly hosting global business conferences and events, the partnership will support their expertise in welcoming international events, leisure visitors and regular travellers, alongside Rosetta Stone’s… Read the full press release

Alaska Airlines Names Betsy Bacon Managing Director of Cargo

SEATTLE, 2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — Alaska Airlines’ Betsy Bacon has been named managing director of Alaska Air Cargo. Bacon, an eight-year veteran of the airline, previously served as director of cargo operations and compliance, where she was responsible for the airline’s network of cargo centers and customer locations. Prior to that, she was regional cargo sales… Read the full press release

Polish Airlines: The first decision – we fly more frequently across the Atlantic

Warsaw, 2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — Today, the CEO of LOT Polish Airlines Sebastian Mikosz presented the assumptions of the new stage in the reorganisation process of the Polish air carrier. He presented flagship destinations in the LOT Polish Airlines network as well as changes that are about to take place in the company. “The nearest future… Read the full press release

Cathay Pacific releases combined traffic figures for January 2013

2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for January 2013 that show a drop in the number of passengers carried compared to the same month in 2012, alongside a significant year-on-year increase in cargo and mail tonnage. Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,327,071 passengers… Read the full press release

Focus on Eastern Europe: airberlin and NIKI to retain a strong commitment to Russia in 2013

2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — airberlin and NIKI will continue their commitment to Russia in 2013 as part of their strategy for Eastern Europe. “Russia is an important core market for airberlin and NIKI and forms part of our strategy for Eastern Europe. We are very pleased that our stable market position in Russia is steadily developing… Read the full press release

Hilton London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 By Numbers

LONDON, 2013-02-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — Hilton London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 has calculated some interesting facts based on welcoming 75,000 leisure and business guests since opening on 31 August 2011. During this time 45,000 guests have stayed in the luxury hotel’s 350 bedrooms, which equates to 252,000 towels and 95,000 sheets being washed and prepared, 40 staff… Read the full press release

Alaska Airlines Wins On-Time Performance Award Three Years in a Row

SEATTLE, 2013-02-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — FlightStats.com has named Alaska Airlines the No. 1 on-time major carrier in North America for the third year in a row. Alaska’s average on-time rate for 2012 was 87.26. The average on-time performance was 79.62 percent among North American carriers. “This award is a credit to the more than 12,000 Alaska… Read the full press release

Alex Alt appointed president of Sabre Hospitality Solutions

Chief operating officer takes on leadership role SOUTHLAKE, 2013-02-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — Sabre Hospitality Solutions today announced the appointment of Alex Alt to president and general manager, effective April. He replaces Felix Laboy, who has decided to leave to pursue personal interests. Alt joined Sabre in April 2012 as chief operating officer for Sabre Hospitality. In… Read the full press release

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Appoints Locauto Rent as Partner in Italy

Enterprise Extends European Footprint to Fourth New Country in 12 Months to Reach 85% of the European Car Hire Market LONDON, 2013-02-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — Enterprise Rent-A-Car today announced the appointment of its second European franchisee, Locauto Rent in Italy, as the next step in a planned programme to establish the flagship brand across Europe. This agreement… Read the full press release

lowcostbeds.com joins Travelport Rooms and More™

Langley, UK, 2013-02-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — Travelport Rooms and More™ – the industry leading hotel booking engine – has announced the addition of lowcostbeds.com, a major hotel provider, to its accommodation portal. Lowcostbeds.com, the Swiss based hotel provider – a part of the Lowcosttravelgroup – currently operates in 95 countries around the world, with the promise of… Read the full press release

Gulfstream G650 to make Middle Eastern Debut at Abu Dhabi Air Expo 2013

Gulfstream G650 to make Middle Eastern Debut at Abu Dhabi Air Expo 2013 Over 10,000 visitors expected to visit Al Bateen Executive Airport  Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2013-02-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), today announced that Gulfstream has selected Abu Dhabi Air Expo to display its G650 aircraft for the first time in… Read the full press release

IHG Announces Double Digit Operating Profit Growth in 2012

Another year of industry-leading performance in key markets as IHG prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary 2013-02-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — 226 new hotels and the launch of two new brands are just some of the milestones achieved by IHG last year. The strong Preliminary Results announced by the company today demonstrate how IHG is increasing its global… Read the full press release

SIA Opens SilverKris Lounge In Seoul

2013-02-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — Customers of Singapore Airlines travelling from Seoul can look forward to a more luxurious experience on the ground with the official opening of the Airline’s SilverKris Lounge at Incheon International Airport. The lounge features wireless Internet access, a business centre with desktop computers, shower rooms and restrooms, televisions, as well as a… Read the full press release

Star Alliance Introduces enhanced Asia Airpass – Fare Products Streamlined

2013-02-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — Star Alliance is launching an enhanced Asia Airpass for travel across the Asian continent, which in addition to the 15 countries and territories already offered, now includes Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Its scope has further been extended to include all Star Alliance destinations in Japan and additional flights to India…. Read the full press release

UNWTO and Italy advance accessibility in Tourism

Milan/Madrid, 2013-02-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — Ensuring that tourism facilities and sites meet the needs of persons with disabilities, both as a key means of promoting tourism for all and as an engine for market growth, were the main focus of the International Conference on “Accessibility in tourism: an ethical value, a business opportunity” (14 February 2013, BIT… Read the full press release

JAL Group Airlines Awarded Number One for On-time Arrivals in 2012

TOKYO, 2013-02-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — Two JAL Group airlines received the highest recognition for their on-time performance in the calendar year 2012, by an independent aviation performance-tracking company FlightStats. Japan Airlines – the Group’s main operating carrier achieved an on-time arrival rate of 90.35% for its domestic and international flights operated between January and December 2012 and… Read the full press release

CAA’s GA safety publications overhauled

2013-02-18 — /travelprnews.com/ — The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is to strengthen its provision of safety information to general aviation pilots from this spring. The CAA announced today that the publishing group, Archant, will begin producing general aviation safety material on its behalf. Archant, publisher of Pilot magazine, has been awarded a contract to write… Read the full press release