AIR

United Airlines To Expand Ted Service By 20 Percent
March 03, 2005 -- United's low-fare airline-within-an-airline Ted is planning to expand its fleet by 20% and increase its service from its Denver, Washington Dulles and Chicago hubs to markets in Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean this year, employees were told yesterday.

AA Alters Contracts: Carrier Replaces Complex Terms With Single Discounts
March 7, 2005 - American Airlines is reworking discounting agreements with its large corporate accounts by reducing certain complex contract terms to single, individualized discounts.

Delta Adding New Point-to-Point Service, New Destinations from Hubs
March 1, 2005 – Delta will offer two new summer destinations from Atlanta, the world’s largest hub, and one new destination from its Salt Lake City hub. It will also begin point-to-point service, in May, between Fort Lauderdale, Fla, and Nassau, Bahamas.

Continental pilot leaders give thumbs-up to new agreement
March 07, 2005 -- Leaders of the pilots union at Continental Airlines last week unanimously agreed to approve and support a new labor agreement and now will send the deal to union members for a ratification vote.

Continental to Issue Stock Options to Employees in Connection With Pay and Benefit Reductions
March 1, 2005 -- Continental plans to issue to its employees stock options for approximately 10 million shares of Continental's common stock in connection with the previously announced pay and benefit reductions. The 10 million shares represent approximately 15 percent of the currently outstanding shares of common stock of Continental. This program applies to all U.S.-based employees, except officers and members of Continental's board of directors, and international employees where practical based on foreign laws and regulations.

Northwest Airlines Announces Nonstop Service Between Lansing And Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
March 3, 2005– Northwest Airlines announced new nonstop service between Lansing and convenient Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. One daily flight will be offered beginning June 9.

Northwest To Fly Madison – Washington Nonstop
March 2, 2005– Northwest Airlines today announced that it will begin offering the only nonstop service between Madison’s Dane County Regional Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, beginning June 9, 2005.

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Withdrawal of services between Gatwick and Oviedo
Air Nostrum* has announced the withdrawal of their services between Gatwick and Oviedo, from 28 April 2005. * This service is operated by Air Nostrum on behalf of Iberia under a codeshare.

Star Alliance Member Carriers Now Flying from the New Central Japan International Airport (Nagoya)
February 18, 2005 — The Star Alliance member carriers flying to Nagoya, Japan, have all switched their operations to the new Central Japan International Airport (Centrair). The move includes locating all Star Alliance carriers at Centrair under one roof and the opening of a Star Alliance lounge. At the new single-terminal airport, the Star Alliance member carriers can now offer customers a reduced average minimum connecting time of one hour for transfers between international and domestic and vice-versa. This compares to an average minimum connecting time of more than one hour at Tokyo-Narita, rising to two hours when a change of terminal is involved.

ANA Signs Contract For Rolls-Royce Engines To Power Its Fleet of Boeing 787s From 2008
March 3, 2005 – ANA (All Nippon Airways) yesterday signed a $1 billion contract to purchase 110 Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines to power its fleet of Boeing 787 aircraft scheduled for delivery starting in 2008.

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CAR/RAIL

Empire, Luxury Chauffeured Car Co. Merge Into GTS
February 28, 2005 -- Chauffeured car service provider Empire International today merged with Los Angeles-based CLS Worldwide Services LLC. The two companies will operate under the umbrella of GTS Holdings Inc., yet they will continue to market their brands and sell to clients independently.

Rent From Avis for a Week and Receive a Free Weekend Rental for Future Use
February 28, 2005 - Through June 25th, customers who complete a qualified weekly rental of five days or longer will receive a coupon for a free weekend rental. Customers may earn up to three free certificates valid for travel through December 16, 2005.

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HOTELS

Marriott Embraces E-Folio Effort: About 1,500 Hotels To Transmit Data To MasterCard Clients
03.07.2005 - About 1,500 Marriott International properties in the United States and Canada in April will begin to electronically transmit line-item folio details to some MasterCard International corporate clients under an agreement announced last month.

April Hotel Rates To Jump Significantly
March 03, 2005 -- JP Morgan Chase analysts released data today predicting hotel rates in key business travel destinations to be an average of 20 percent higher this April than in April 2003. The data show projected rate increases exceeding 20 percent in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York. New York is expected to have the highest expected monthly increase of 29 percent. JP Morgan Chase based the forecast on rack rates quoted by hotels in local markets.

Choice Privileges Rewards Program Kicks Off 2005
February 24, 2005 -- Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) has implemented several new features to the Choice Privileges rewards program to give its most frequent guests Elite status, allow all members to use the Internet to manage their accounts, and enhanced the redemption options to include the ability to redeem points for free nights at all Choice Hotels locations worldwide. The Choice Privileges rewards program is available at the mid-scale locations of Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion and MainStay Suites.

Check in, or out, with machine-like precision (USA Today)
March 3, 2005 - Taking a cue from the airline industry, Hyatt Hotels and Embassy Suites announced last week that they will let guests bypass the front desk by using self-serve check-in/check-out kiosks, which will be installed at North American properties over the next 18 months.

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OTHER INDUSTRY RELATED NEWS

IATA Rule Changes Provide Int'l Fare Savings
March 7, .2005 - Almost two months after the International Air Transport Association relaxed several key restrictions in its fare purchasing rules, buyers and travel management companies are identifying opportunities to construct cheaper air itineraries.

E-Fulfillment Capabilities Maturing
March 7, 2005 -- The latest wave of automated fulfillment technology features are enabling corporate customers using online booking tools to achieve touchless rates averaging around 90 percent. Business travel buyers increasingly are attaining online booking adoption levels high enough for automated fulfillment to yield significant savings.

Airlines gird to battle higher security fee
March 4, 2005 -- White House proposal to collect another $1.5 billion in aviation security fees has roiled cash-strapped U.S. airlines, who brand the move unfair taxation at a time they can least afford it.

U.S. Wants Passenger Names before Flights Depart
February 24, 2005-- The Department of Homeland Security is drafting a rule that will require airlines to pass on passenger manifest information as much as an hour before the departure of international flights bound for the United States, officials confirmed to United Press International Thursday.

Study: Airfares Lower But Far From Simple
March 02, 2005 -- Published one-way airfares in the domestic market fell an average of 7 percent, or $20 to $266, between late December and early February, according to a Travel Analytics study commissioned by the National Business Travel Association. Made available this morning to NBTA members, the study also suggested "many corporate buyers should see an additional 10 percent or greater drop in their average ticket prices due to relaxed ticket restrictions, but this will vary widely by buyer."

New Distribution Systems Secure Funding
March 02, 2005 -- Two companies seeking to bring new competition to the travel distribution realm today each announced new funding as they pursue travel agency business. Both G2 SwitchWorks and Toronto-based Farelogix--a newer name on the scene--identified new sources of capital and reiterated their value propositions as alternatives to existing global distribution systems.

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