News

Britain?s annual dash for winter sunshine is showing a marked North / South divide with an increase in bookings of up to 46% at northern airports compared to last year.

SWISS will be further expanding its range of services between London Heathrow and Geneva on January 10.

An additional aircraft will be stationed in Geneva to operate the new flights. SWISS and British Midland (bmi) also plan to collaborate more closely on their services between the UK and Switzerland.

From January 10,? SWISS will offer six new daily services between London Heathrow and Geneva and will be increasing its number of seats from the UK to Switzerland by up to 30 per cent.

SWISS CEO Harry Hohmeister, said: ?It?s our business success in and to Geneva that?s enabling us to further expand our network and take active advantage of the market opportunities here.?

The new services between London Heathrow and Geneva will be operated by two aircraft of the Airbus A320 family. In an initial phase, one of these will be provided by bmi, SWISS? new sister airline within the Lufthansa Group.

An additional aircraft will be stationed in Geneva to operate the new flights. SWISS and British Midland (bmi) also plan to collaborate more closely on their services between the UK and Switzerland.

From January 10,? SWISS will offer six new daily services between London Heathrow and Geneva and will be increasing its number of seats from the UK to Switzerland by up to 30 per cent.

SWISS CEO Harry Hohmeister, said: ?It?s our business success in and to Geneva that?s enabling us to further expand our network and take active advantage of the market opportunities here.?

The new services between London Heathrow and Geneva will be operated by two aircraft of the Airbus A320 family. In an initial phase, one of these will be provided by bmi, SWISS? new sister airline within the Lufthansa Group.

TTA Worldchoice has launched a new software package for its members designed to help them to understand, manage and insure against the risks of booking non-packaged travel arrangements.

The Travel Trust Association has launched a new system that speeds up the payment process between its members and suppliers and removes paperwork by being completely online.

TTA operations director, Gary Lewis said: ?This is an online direct debit system that takes into account the subtleties of a TTA members trust account. It saves suppliers and members? time and speeds up the business of getting payments authorised through the trustee. Without doubt our members? lives are going to be made easier.?

Since launching the scheme at the beginning of November TTA have 225 members signed up and over 35 Business Partners loading payments.

Any member who trades with a supplier on TAPS will be signed up within the next 3 months and one of the benefits is that a TAPS supplier does not have to be an ATOL holder.

Bedbanks and other accommodation providers can benefit from quicker payment processes and have their money guaranteed through TAPS.

Gary Lewis said: ?The entire system is online, is growing every week with suppliers and will revolutionise the way TTA members make payments.?

TTA operations director, Gary Lewis said: ?This is an online direct debit system that takes into account the subtleties of a TTA members trust account. It saves suppliers and members? time and speeds up the business of getting payments authorised through the trustee. Without doubt our members? lives are going to be made easier.?

Since launching the scheme at the beginning of November TTA have 225 members signed up and over 35 Business Partners loading payments.

Any member who trades with a supplier on TAPS will be signed up within the next 3 months and one of the benefits is that a TAPS supplier does not have to be an ATOL holder.

Bedbanks and other accommodation providers can benefit from quicker payment processes and have their money guaranteed through TAPS.

Gary Lewis said: ?The entire system is online, is growing every week with suppliers and will revolutionise the way TTA members make payments.?

Travel Trust Association (TTA) and Worldchoice are to make the Travel Foundation?s Make Travel Greener quiz available to agents in a drive to raise awareness of sustainable tourism.

Connections, the specialist independent travel division of Titan Travel, is to launch its expanded second edition Elegant River Cruises brochure, which has been given a new look for 2010 plus the addition of three new itineraries to China for the first time.

Page & Moy has introduced new packages to its Far East programme including a Shanghai, Xian and Beijing Solar Eclipse tour; a 12-day Colourful Tour of Vietnam & Cambodia and a ten-day Southern China & Hong Kong option.

Norwegian has launched a new frequent flyer programme called Norwegian Reward, which is set to benefit both leisure and business travellers across all three Scandinavian countries.