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18.06.2026
Accor Acquires 28.9% Stake in Club Méditerranée
Paris: A strategic partnership that strengthens Accor’s
position in the global tourism industry
Accor has announced that it is acquiring a 28.9% equity
interest in Club Méditerranée. With the acquisition,
Accor will become the core shareholder in Club Méditerranée,
which enjoys forefront brand identity and expertise in the
leisure segment.
By becoming Club Méditerranée’s core
shareholder, with the full support of its management, Accor
will help the company to strengthen its profitability. Accor’s
position as an industry leader in Europe and a major force
in global tourism will also enable Club Méditerranée
to successfully pursue its strategy of moving up-market
and its development.
In creating this strategic partnership with Club Méditerranée,
Accor, which operates, out of 4,000 hotels, 200 leisure
properties in 35 countries, is reaffirming its commitment
to playing a leadership role in this growing segment that
is certain to become increasingly structured. For many years,
Accor’s strategy has been to offer a comprehensive
range of products and services worldwide to business and
leisure customers, who often overlap. “We are confident
in the Club Méditerranée management team and
the Chairman of its Executive Board, who have already gotten
the company’s turnaround off to a good start. With
Henri Giscard d’Estaing and his teams, we will quickly
and realistically study possible synergies as well as all
operating and marketing opportunities beneficial to both
companies. We will also promote cross-fertilization of experience.
The closer ties offer interesting prospects for both companies,”
said Jean-Marc Espalioux, Chairman of the Accor Management
Board, who emphasized “the image of leisure hotels,
for which demand will inevitably increase, reflects favorably
on all Accor hotels at a time when our properties want to
tailor their offers more closely to the changing tastes
of non-business, leisure and weekend customers.” |
16.06.2026
Air France: "Dedicate" Service Launched Three New
Destinations: Doha, Kuwait And Tashkent
Resounding Success of Air France's Tailor-Made Dedicate Service.
Air France is proud to announce the outright success of its
Dedicate Programme, launched in January 2004. This tailor-made
offer features scheduled routes and non-stop flights to some
of the more remote parts of the world, making life easier
for professionals travelling to construction and production
sites and other major areas of economic activity. The Dedicate-branded
routes connect these destinations to the global Air France
and SkyTeam alliance network.
On the strength of this success, Air France has launched
three new non-stop routes on 14 June: Paris - Doha (Qatar),
Paris - Kuwait and Paris - Tashkent (Uzbekistan).
Dedicate has now launched three new destinations since
its inauguration in January 2004 with Malabo (Equatorial
Guinea) and Pointe Noire (Republic of the Congo), which
are already boasting excellent results.
Since 14 June 2004, Air France is also operating a third
weekly flight on the Paris-Pointe-Noire route.
It will continue to operate two weekly flights to Malabo,
but the schedule has been changed to better meet customers
needs. Departure and arrival times in Malabo are designed
to facilitate connections and allow time for teams to rotate
and debrief on production sites – this organization
is known as "open flights".
Furthermore Air France is now operating its own A319 ER
(Extended Range), specially designed and configured to serve
Dedicate destinations.
The A319 ER comprises two cabins with a total of 82 seats,
including 28 in l'Espace Affaires and 54 in Tempo. This
configuration is very different from that offered on Air
France's other A319s, which seat 142 passengers.
By expanding its Dedicate offering, Air France shows its
commitment to corporate customers, including those working
in the oil and gas industries.
Dedicate is a tailor-made and innovative service: "The
rationale behind Dedicate is to enable a niche market of
professionals to gain efficiency, speed and comfort in their
trips to production sites," explained Bruno Matheu,
Senior Vice President, Marketing and Network Management.
Dedicate customers can benefit from all the traditional
services of a major airline combined with the standards
of private business travel.
It owes its success to its flight schedule, i.e. the frequencies
and timetables, and its cabin configuration, all of which
has been designed with corporate needs in mind.
Dedicate completes the Air France network of "oil
and gas" destinations, such as Aberdeen, Caracas, Dubai,
Houston, Luanda, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Riyadh, Tehran and
many more.
Scheduled to fly from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Europe's
leading hub, Air France flights will connect these destinations
to the Company's vast global network as well as that of
the SkyTeam alliance. |
15.06.2026
NH Geneva Airport: NH Hoteles presents itself for the first
time in Switzerland
NH Hoteles has made the first public presentation of the
company in Switzerland, in the first Swiss hotel to have undergone
a refurbishment according to the NH style. The NH Geneva Airport
was one of the hotels that belonged to the Krasnapolsky hotel
chain before it was bought by NH Hoteles. It is being operated
on a lease basis and it has been renovated according to the
NH Hoteles' standards of quality, decoration and services.
The NH Hoteles company offers 561 rooms in Switzerland,
distributed in 4 different hotels: the NH Geneva Airport,
strategically located 5 minutes from Geneva's city centre
and 2 minutes away from the airport; The NH Fribourg, right
in the city's financial centre; the NH Lucerne in the heart
of Switzerland and the NH Zurich-Airport located next to
Kloten airport.
NH Hoteles is well known for the quality of its services
and facilities. They are very carefully decorated in order
to cater for all tastes and made in a uniform way to make
its clients feel comfortable. They offer state-of-the-art
technology to help guests with aspects related to communications,
work and entertainment.
One of the features that the NH client appreciates the
most is the homogeneous nature of the product as a whole.
The NH client knows that by staying at any of the chain's
hotels they will encounter no unpleasant surprises.
One of NH Hoteles priorities is to offer its guests top-quality
cuisine (the chain has 11 Michelin stars distributed among
its collaborators and own restaurants). The hotel chain's
other two main qualities are to offer its clients a refined
décor as well as cutting-edge technology.
The NH Geneva Airport has 189 rooms, including 18 "junior-suites".
This 4-star hotel, managed by Stella van der Sluis, is perfectly
equipped to provide its guests with the highest levels of
comfort and quality.
The 4-storey hotel is strategically located 2 km away from
Geneva International Airport, the railway station, the trade
fair complex and the Palexpo Conference Centre.
All the rooms in the hotel have air conditioning. Furthermore,
each room is equipped with telephone, cable television,
wireless Internet access, safe, mini bar, tea & coffee,
hairdryer, bath kit and a choice of pillows.
The hotel has 4 fully equipped conference rooms capable
of holding up to 80 people. The conference attendees will
enjoy completely equipped function rooms as well as various
rest areas.
The NH Geneva Airport also has a restaurant with a capacity
for up to 120 people, as well as a cocktail bar. The hotel
also has handicap facilities, breakfast buffet, bicycle
and car rental service, as well as additional services such
as laundry and baby-sitters. The guests may use a 4-storey
underground car park with over 160 parking spaces, easily
accessed from the hotel. |
14.06.2026
SWISS to serve London City from Basel
Swiss International Air Lines will serve London City Airport
from Basel from August 30. The flights to and from City Airport,
which is conveniently close to London’s central business
district, will be operated thrice daily on weekdays and daily
at the weekend using Saab 2000 equipment. The current Basel
– London (Heathrow) services will be withdrawn from the
start of the 2004/05 winter schedules.
Travellers between Basel and London will again enjoy direct
service to and from the latter’s popular City Airport.
SWISS will be introducing a new thrice-daily weekday service
on the route on August 30, offering attractive early-morning
and late-evening frequencies for the business travel community
along with a midday flight. Weekend services on the route
will consist of a Saturday morning and a Sunday evening
flight in each direction, catering for the needs of weekend-break
travellers.
City Airport is within easy reach of all key parts of London.
The Canary Wharf financial district is just five to ten
minutes away, the City banking quarter is a 15-to-20-minute
journey, and the West End shopping and entertainment district
is only 25 to 30 minutes away. Passengers using the airport
also appreciate the short distances to and from the gates
and the generous check-in deadlines. |
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