News in brief from SkyEurope, Travelport GDS, Germanwings, Eurostar, bmi and Tristar
SkyEurope chairman resigns
Jason Bitter has resigned as chairman of Slovakian low cost airline SkyEurope.
SkyEurope, one of the largest low cost carriers in Central Europe, said Mr Bitter had left "by mutual agreement."
Vice chairman Nick Manoudakis succeeded Mr Bitter on July 3.
Last month SkyEurope announced that it had been granted protection from its creditors by the Bratislava District Court.
The airline said the move would give it time to carry out a re-organisation plan to "make the company more attractive for potential investors."
The carrier has seen a sharp drop in passenger numbers this year. March figures showed a 39% drop in volume year-on-year followed by a 27.5% decline in April.
SkyEurope's net loss grew to €59.4m in the year ending September 30 2008 from €24.1m year-on-year.
Travelport launches new re-pricing technology
Travelport GDS has launched its ticket re-pricing technology in the UK and Ireland.
Rapid Repricing was developed by Worldspan, a GDS, before it was taken over by Travelport.
The software enables agents connected to Worldspan and Travelport's other GDS Galileo to re-price and re-issue airline tickets up five minutes or less.
Jérôme Moisan, Travelport GDS's general manager for the UK and Ireland, said: "Travelport Rapid Reprice technology revolutionises the way the travel industry re-issues tickets and this cutting edge innovation is a shining example of how our agencies continue to benefit from the integration of Worldspan and Galileo GDSs."
Germanwings' passenger figures drop
German low cost carrier Germanwings reported a drop in passenger figures of 9.4% from 730,981 to 662,103 for June compared to the same month in 2008.
Thomas Winkelman, Germanwings' spokesman said that because of a cut in capacity, the airline's load factor rose by 0.1% from 81.2% in June 2008 to 81.3% last month.
Eurostar demand for Amsterdam jumps 22%
Cross-channel train operator Eurostar has reported a 22% rise in travellers between London and Amsterdam since full service resumed in February.
Eurostar said demand had grown since the channel tunnel fully re-opened following September's fire.
The announcement comes as Dutch and Belgian Railways unveiled a new high-speed service between Brussels and Amsterdam.
The Fyra high-speed service will connect with Eurostar services at Brussels-Midi than call at Antwerp, Rotterdam and Schiphol on its way to Amsterdam.
Eurostar said it expects demand for travel to Amsterdam to continue to grow when the new high-speed link-up begins next year.
www.eurostar.com [4]
bmi rolls targets business travellers with chauffeur service
British carrier bmi has extended its complimentary chauffeur service to include business class customers flying from UK regional airports.
The Chauffeur Drive service is now available from Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Manchester airports, as well as London Heathrow.
Bmi customers travelling on selected business class fares to Almaty, Amman, Azerbaijan [5], Beirut, Cairo, Damascus, Kyrgyzstan, Moscow, Saudi Arabia, Tel Aviv and Yerevan can now use the transfer service to and from the airport at each end.
The service is also available in the UK only for those travelling to Tehran and Tbilisi.
www.flybmi.com [6]
Tristar launches in Asia
Tristar has opened an office in Hong Kong to serve as headquarters for the Asia-Pacific region.
The chauffeur service said it was "almost impossible" to guarantee English speaking chauffeurs in the region.
Tristar said it had recruited a team of Mandarin, Cantonese and English speaking staff to work directly with regional suppliers and to aid customer relations.
Tristar has appointed David Wu as general manager in Hong Kong, who joins the company from Li & Fung (Trading) Limited.
Mr Wu brings with him "extensive experience in the service and merchandising industry," Tristar said.