JetBlue
seeking O'Hare slots
JetBlue applied for slots that would allow
it to start service at Chicago's O'Hare Airport in
November. The carrier asked the Federal Aviation Administration for
eight arrival slots at O'Hare between 8 a.m. and 7:59
p.m.
West
Paces ventures into Asia
West
Paces Hotel Group signed a deal to bring its
Capella and Solis brands to
Asia. Under the deal,
Kwee, a hotel developer in Singapore, and West Paces will form a
hotel management company called West Paces Hotel Group Asia. The
50/50 joint venture will develop properties in gateway cities and
resort areas in China (including Hong Kong), India, Indonesia, and
Thailand. The first, Capella Singapore, will open in 2008 on
Sentosa Island.
SuperClubs opens another
Sonesta
SuperClubs opened the 142-room
Sonesta Brasilia in Brazil's capital, the second
property it is managing in Brazil under a franchise agreement with
Sonesta International Hotels. The Sonesta Sao Paulo, its sister
property, opened in 2004.
Numbers
up in Aug. for mishandled bags
The
mishandled baggage rate for U.S. airlines climbed
to 8.08 per 1,000 passengers in August, up from
6.5 in July -- a deterioration that might be attributable to the
20% increase in checked baggage that occurred after new airport
security rules were implemented on Aug. 10.
But there is some
chance for relief: The number of checked bags should decline with
the Transportation Security Administration's recent relaxation of
the new rules to let passengers carry on some liquids.
Low-fare
gambit: AirTran-on-Hudson
AirTran disclosed plans to add
Stewart Airport in New York's Hudson Valley to its
system with daily nonstops to Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and
Tampa, starting Jan. 11 (Tampa and Fort Lauderdale begin at five
flights a week and go daily in mid-February.)
Fore!
Golf arrives on Anguilla
Anguilla gets its first golf course next
month with the scheduled opening of the Greg Norman-designed
18-hole Temenos Golf Club, a component of the St.
Regis Resort, Temenos Anguilla, which debuts in winter
2008.
Hyatt to
reflag more AmeriSuites
Global Hyatt
Corp. struck a deal to convert 18 AmeriSuites
properties owned by Equity Inns into Hyatt Place
hotels, Hyatt's upscale, select-service brand. Hyatt will continue
to manage the properties for 10 years. Global Hyatt acquired the
AmeriSuites brand from the Blackstone Group in January 2005 and
decided to convert all of them into Hyatt Place properties.
Cathay
announces seat upgrades
Cathay
Pacific unveiled several cabin upgrades, with the
installation scheduled to begin in January. Changes will include more space and privacy in first class
with a seat that can be used as an armchair, chaise lounge or
extra-long and wide bed; a business-class seat that reclines to a
fully flat bed; and a new "fixed back" economy seat that lets
passengers recline without intruding on the passengers behind them.
Economy-class passengers also will get, for the first time, audio
and video on demand.
California bans insurance
company
California has ordered Trip
Assured to stop selling trip cancellation insurance in the
state because the company is not licensed to sell insurance in
California and because its cancellation contracts are not
underwritten by an insurance company. Trip Assured has been selling
contracts in the state since May 2003.
California is the
sixth state to issue Trip Assured a cease-and-desist order.
Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas are the
others.
Agency
clients insure more trips
New research from
the U.S. Travel Insurance Association shows
that 77% of travelers who booked
vacations with agents last year bought travel insurance. Travelers
who don't book through agents were half as likely to buy insurance,
the survey said.
The UStiA said
travelers are more likely to insure trips that are long, involve
several travelers, and/or require significant prepayments. Also,
17% of those who buy travel insurance said they have filed a claim
at some time.
USTOA
signs up Swain Tours, again
Swain
Tours has rejoined the U.S. Tour Operators
Association. The firm had been affiliated with the USTOA
through the membership of its former parent, the Travel Corp., but
had to reapply after it was reacquired in July by founder Ian Swain
-- a process that required a waiting period.
Friends
& Colleagues
Jens
Bischof was named Lufthansa's vice president, the
Americas. Bischof has been with the Lufthansa Group since 1990 and
most recently was in charge of coordinating Swiss' integration into
the group. " " " ResortQuest Hawaii, formerly Aston Hotels &
Resorts, appointed Glenn Okamoto general manager
of the new ResortQuest Kauai Beach at Makaiwa. Okamoto most
recently was the general manager of the Courtyard by Marriott,
Kauai, now the ResortQuest Kauai Beach at Makaiwa. " " "
Lloyd Van Horn has been named resort manager at
Topnotch Resort and Spa, a AAA Four-Diamond property in Stower, Vt.
Van Horn joins Topnotch after a year and a half as resort manager
at Lajitas, the Ultimate Hideout, a golf and spa retreat located in
Lajitas, Texas, along the Rio Grande. " " " Adrian
Norbury was appointed director of marketing at the Hotel
Crescent Court, a Rosewood Hotel, in Dallas. He has more than 20
years of hotel management experience, most recently as director of
sales for Hotel Crescent Court and the Mansion on Turtle Creek, a
Rosewood Hotel, also in Dallas. " " " Hilton Grand Vacations Club
announced the appointment of Olivier Chavy as
regional director of East Coast operations. Chavy has more than 20
years' experience in hospitality. Most recently, he served as
general manager of Hilton Arc de Triomphe Paris.