n abta opposes ryanair
ABTA is to announce action against Ryanair this week as the carrier continues to ban agents from charging service fees (Travel Weekly March 6). It is expected to test the airline’s fee policy through legal channels. Meanwhile, Ryanair has cut £25 off Web bookings until midnight tomorrow and launched a 5m-seat sale with prices leading in at £1 return, plus tax, from Stansted to Frankfurt.
n air france bid
Air France is set to make a formal bid for loss-making British Airways subsidiary Air Liberte. Its board has agreed in principle to a purchase.
n KLM UK ends link
KLM UK is scrapping its codeshare agreement with Norwegian carrier Braathens on March 27. The Stansted-based airline KLM UK will not have a UK domestic network this summer so the codeshare agreement was irrelevant. Braathens flights affected are Stansted-Oslo and Bergen, Newcastle-Oslo and Stavanger, Aberdeen-Stavanger and London City-Malmo. Agents should issue Braathens tickets using the BU flight code.
n BSI gains BAE account
Rosenbluth International has chosen the specialist management service provider BSI Group to handle a major UK hotel-booking account on its behalf. The BSI Group will carry out hotel-booking services for BAE Systems from May 15. The account is worth £10m a year.
n Salmon leaves avis
Clare Salmon is leaving her post as European group director of marketing at Avis Europe. Salmon is to be commercial director of Transacsys, the e-commerce arm of vending machine manufacturer Girovend.