in brief

in brief

&#42 balkan airlines resumes operations

Cash-strapped Balkan Airlines is to resume flying on Wednesday in a bid to retain its slots at Heathrow and Dubai. The Bulgarian flag carrier is currently in receivership and trustees need to raise income to pay outstanding landing charges. It will operate five times a week from Sofia using a Tupolev 154.

&#42 Club Travel 2000 changes name to CT2

Club Travel 2000 has changed its name to CT2 Holidays and has dropped the Costa Del Sol from its Wintersun 2001/02 brochure to focusexclusively on the Canaries.

&#42 Heathrow-lagos service from virgin

Virgin Atlantic is planning to launch a daily-direct Boeing 747 service between Heathrow and Lagos by the end of the summer. The British and Nigerian Governments have agreed to allow two airlines from each country to operate between London and Lagos. The route is currently served by British Airways and Nigeria Airways from Gatwick.

&#42 Raffles buys hotels from renamed swissair

Raffles Holdings has more than doubled the number of hotels in the group with the purchase of Swissotel Hotels and Resorts from the SAirGroup for about £167 million. Meanwhile, the SAirGroup hasreverted to its formername of Swissair.

&#42 Bmi transatlantic launch is delayed

BMI british midland has been forced to delay the launch of its transatlantic services because orderedAirbus A330-200s have not yet been delivered.

&#42 See Analysis page 8