International Airlines Group announced this week that they are leasing seven new Airbus aircraft for Aer Lingus. The long range A321neos will be delivered in 2019 and 2020, mainly to replace existing long-haul aircraft. The planes will be used between Dublin and the US east coast and will provide additional services for connecting passengers. The configuration will be 186 seats between business and economy class. The A321neo LR is billed as the most fuel efficient long range narrow body aircraft.
Marriott Hotels, having acquired Starwood Hotels last year, are moving further into expansion mode. They have ambitious plans to grow their luxury and full-service brands – which include Ritz Carlton, St Regis, the Luxury Collection and the Autograph Collection – across Europe. Marriott expects to add 22,000 rooms by 2020. The largest portion of the expansion will come in their affordable lifestyle brand Moxy Hotels. The first Moxy in New York will open in the summer. The Shelbourne in Dublin is a Marriott Renaissance and Powerscourt Hotel is a Marriott Autograph hotel.
A new study, The dark side of business travel: a media comments analysis, by the University of Surrey and Lund University analyses the impact business travel can have on individuals. The study is an in-depth look at how hypermobility can affect individuals with a specific focus on its impact on health, social life and family time. The survey highlights that frequent business travellers either "flourish" or "flounder". The "flourishing hypermobile" views frequent business travel as an integral part of their happiness and identity, whereas the "floundering hypermobile" experiences frequent business travel as a source of unhappiness that endangers their health and psychosocial wellbeing.
The report concludes that it will be up to individual organisations to develop policies to help protect their employees from the negative aspects of business travel.
Looking for a way to pay for the proposed border wall between Mexico and the US, the Trump administration is looking to make cuts to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the coastguard budget. They have short memories. They have forgotten the huge queues at airports last year and how the airlines and airports had to help out the TSA. The plan would also see an increase in the TSA security fee from 2018.
jscales@irishtimes.com