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Travel news

Norwegians move into Denmark 

Norwegian Air Shuttle has set up a new base in Copenhagen after the collapse of Danish low-cost carrier Sterling, and has just started flying new routes. Norwegian Air, which competes with Scandinavian leader SAS, has stationed two aircraft in Copenhagen and is flying six routes, including to Aalborg, Stockholm and Oslo. Other routes, including to London, Amsterdam and Rome, will be added shortly. Norwegian Air and Sterling had signed a cooperation agreement for the busy Oslo-Copenhagen and Stockholm-Copenhagen routes but the deal was never implemented due to a probe by competition authorities.

Swiss Saver 

Among the deluge of seasonal (or recessionary) offers is Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts’ Winter Savers. All rooms booked through www.swissotel.com until 28 February will get a 20% discount on the best available rate for bookings of at least two nights. Swisshotel has 13 hotels throughout Europe and the Mediterranean.

Rezidor open up in Kazakh 

Brussels-based Rezidor Hotel Group has just opened its first Park Inn in Kazakhstan,  at Almaty Airport. The 133-room hotel is next to the international terminal and includes an all-day restaurant, two bars, and a conference room. The property is 5km from the railway station with international links to Urumqi, China and Moscow. Rezidor, one of the  fastest-growing hotel companies in the world, is also continuing to expand its portfolio closer to home. It operates the Radisson brand outside the US and opened a 296-room Radisson Ambassador Hotel, Paris Opera (formerly known as the Hotel Ambassador) last month. Meanwhile, the group plans to open the new-build 343-room Radisson Hotel, Paris La Defense in the middle of the financial district in 2011. 

80 years, 80 rooms, €80 

Concorde Hotels & Resorts has a novel offer to celebrate the 80th anniversary of The Hotel Martinez in Cannes: 80 rooms at the special rate of €80. For that price, accommodation for two is available in a double guestroom, including breakfast. The offer is valid for the entire month of February and online reservations only starting at noon on Friday, 9 January. The Martinez has 412 bedrooms and suites including the prestigious Penthouse Suite, one of the largest in Europe with a floor space of 1,000m2. It has three restaurants, including La Palme d’Or (which has two Michelin stars) and the Spa Martinez, which has just been given a major facelift.  www.concorde-hotels.com/martinez

Mobile check-in for all 

British Airways has unveiled plans to  launch a new web-based check-in service which can be accessed with any mobile  phone that allows for web connectivity. This latest announcement follows the highly successful July launch of a BA check-in application for Apple iPhone users which has seen 16,000 downloads in the first month of release. Now any mobile phone with an internet connection, may it be a Blackberry  or GPRS-enabled device, can check timetables, select seats and check-in.  www.ba.com/mobile

Paris hotels join the club 

Three upscale boutique hotels in Paris – the Keppler, the Marceau Bastille and the Hotel de Sers – have become the first in the French capital to display the Splendia membership plaque. This new development will move Splendia’s online booking platform towards becoming a fully fledged marketing affiliation in an aim to create an internationally recognised luxury hotel brand. With the European head office in Barcelona, the four-year-old Moroccan company represents more than 2,500 hotels. 