The weekly Head for Points travel trade newsletter

Welcome to your weekly trade round-up of UK business travel and travel loyalty news as well as our latest reviews and features.

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The latest UK business travel news:

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic announce their return to mainland China. This is the final Virgin Atlantic pre-covid route to be brought back.

Qatar Airways and Airbus have made up over the A350 paint issue. The A350 and A321 orders will be reinstated, and grounded aircraft brought back into service.

A government e-Gate trial will let 10 and 11 year olds use the system this Summer at selected airports.

Flyr is the latest Norwegian airline startup to go bust.

Emirates is offering a free night at Fairmont Dubai The Palm to Business and First Class passengers who book now.

Mandarin Oriental is coming to Mallorca.

Air France and KLM are offering good business class deals to the Middle East from the UK.

Qatar is introducing new insurance rules for passengers entering Doha.

British Airways is using long-haul Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft on selected Frankfurt, Berlin and Dublin flights this Spring.

British Airways has also wet leased a number of short haul aircraft from Titan to operate selected Heathrow routes in February and March.

Business travel stories we recommend from other sites

John Holland-Kaye to step down as Heathrow CEO this year (Reuters)

Travel Counsellors reports record January sales of £115 million (TTG)

Flyr’s bankruptcy: what went wrong? (Simple Flying)

Last of the jumbos: Boeing closes chapter with final 747 delivery (FlightGlobal)

Finnair to end in-flight retail service (Inflight)

Our latest travel reviews:

Rob heads to Heathrow to review the Sofitel London Heathrow Terminal 5. You’ve probably passed it many times, but what’s it like inside?

Rhys reviews the new PrimaVista lounge at Rotterdam The Hague Airport. It may be small, but it’s a pleasant place to hang out.

The latest UK travel loyalty news:

Stay at the new Virgin Hotel in Edinburgh for just 35,000 points per night. Offer extended, image above.

Marriott Bonvoy is cutting the elite qualifying nights earned at its Protea chain in Africa to 0.5 per night stayed.

How should you time your promotion to British Airways status to maximise benefits? Depending on timing you could hold status for 1-2 years.

Is it worth joining the Point A Hotels ‘A List’ program?

What is the best Star Alliance program for you? There are so many options and no ‘slam dunk’ winner.

Thank you for reading

Thank you for reading. Please drop me a note at rob@headforpoints.com with any feedback.

Head for Points is the UK’s largest business travel and frequent flyer website with 2.3 million page views per month. The majority of readers are London-based professionals who travel heavily for business and leisure. We have won five Business Travel Journalism Awards including ‘Editor of the Year’.

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See you next Monday.

Rob, Rhys and Sinead @ Head for Points

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