WASHINGTON, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Slovakia and the United States signed a bilateral agreement in Washington on Wednesday that paves the way for Slovaks to visit the United States without first procuring a visa.

MADRID, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - The tie-up between British Airways and Spanish national carrier Iberia will take longer than expected due to the downturn in the aviation sector, BA president Willie Walsh said in an interview published Monday.

MONT-SAINT-MICHEL, France, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - France's stunning Mont-Saint-Michel, the coastal abbey set atop a tidal island, was erected in 708 to warn unbelievers of the terrible power of the Christian God.

MONT-SAINT-MICHEL, France, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - France's stunning Mont-Saint-Michel, the coastal abbey set atop a tidal island, was erected in 708 to warn unbelievers of the terrible power of the Christian God.

HANOI, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - Demand for air travel continued to slow in August as the sector endures a 'perfect storm' of rising fuel costs and the global financial crisis, an industry group said Tuesday in Hanoi.

LONDON, Sept 29, 2008 (AFP) - Thomas Cook, the British travel group, said Monday it had pulled out of discussions on merging its German low-cost airline with Lufthansa's Germanwings and TUIfly Germany.

'We have withdrawn from discussions with Lufthansa and TUI Travel in relation to a potential merger of Condor, Germanwings and TUIfly Germany,' Thomas Cook said in a statement.

WASHINGTON, Sept 16, 2008 (AFP) - The US government on Tuesday offered to arrange to fly Americans out of Bolivia after encouraging them to leave unrest there.

WASHINGTON, Sept 16, 2008 (AFP) - The US government offered Tuesday to arrange to fly American citizens out of Bolivia after encouraging them to leave unrest there.

CORFU, September 15, 2008 (AFP) - Britain's bankrupt tour operator, XL Leisure Group, chartered nine flights to bring 1,500 stranded holidaymakers home from Corfu Monday, a company spokesperson told AFP.

LONDON, September 14, 2008 (AFP) - A small British tour operator specialising in holidays in Turkey has ceased trading just days after the collapse of another group, XL Leisure, left 85,000 holidaymakers stranded, regulators said Sunday.

LONDON, September 14, 2008 (AFP) - Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson flew to the rescue of holidaymakers left stranded abroad after Britain's third largest tour operator collapsed, newspapers reported Sunday.

LONDON, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - Britain was plunged into travel turmoil Friday as the country's third largest tour operator went bust at the same time as the Channel Tunnel remained closed due to a fire.

HELSINKI, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - Finnish airline Finnair said Friday it would start flights from Helsinki to Istanbul in Turkey next March to serve business and leisure passengers.

LONDON, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - Britain's third largest tour operator was on the brink of bankruptcy Friday, stranding up to 85,000 holidaymakers worldwide, as soaring fuel costs and the credit crunch had left it clinging to survival.

LONDON, September 12, 2008 (AFP) - Britain's third largest tour operator grounded all its flights on Friday, stranding tens of thousands of holidaymakers, as soaring fuel costs and the credit crunch left it on the brink of bankruptcy.

XL Leisure Group trades under a host of names, including Travel City Flights.

NAIROBI, September 9, 2008 (AFP) - Congo and Kenya on Tuesday signed an open-skies agreement that opens up the way for direct flights between the two African nations.

Congolese Civil Aviation Minister Emile Ouosso and Kenyan Transport Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere initialled the agreement in Nairobi.

LONDON, September 7, 2008 (AFP) - Britain warned travellers Sunday against all but essential travelling to Cuba after Hurricane Ike strengthened to an 'extremely dangerous' Category 4 storm while closing in on the island nation.

MADRID, September 4, 2008 (AFP) - Spanair, the airline involved in a crash last month week that killed 154 people in Madrid, had a technical problem Thursday with one of its planes that had to make an unscheduled landing, a spokesman said.

GENEVA, September 3, 2008 (AFP) - Global airlines are expected to post a combined loss of 5.2 billion dollars in 2008 on a 'toxic' combination of high oil prices and falling demand, industry association IATA warned Wednesday.

SINGAPORE, September 2, 2008 (AFP) - Singapore on Tuesday advised its citizens to postpone travel to Bangkok after the Thai government declared a state of emergency in the capital following deadly street clashes overnight.

LONDON, August 28, 2008 (AFP) - British travel firms TUI Travel and Thomas Cook said Thursday that they are in talks with Germany's Lufthansa about a merger of their respective airline units TUIfly Germany, Condor and Germanwings.

PARIS, August 28, 2008 (AFP) - French hotel and services group Accor on Thursday reported declining first-half profits, but said it expected its annual pre-tax operating profit to be higher than in 2007.

Accor posted a net profit of 310 million euros (458 million dollars) in the first half of this year, a 48 percent drop compared with the first six months of last year.

CHICAGO, August 26, 2008 (AFP) - A computer glitch caused mass delays at airports across the United States, authorities said Tuesday.

The computer system that the Federal Aviation Administration uses to process flight plans at six major airports crashed on Tuesday afternoon, and delays soon approached two hours.

Israel on Wednesday issued a severe warning claiming that Lebanon`s Shiite Hezbollah militant group ...

A `perfect storm` of soaring fuel costs and slipping demand could cost global airlines 6.1 billion ...

More than 30 people were injured, three of them seriously, after a coach crashed with a car in ...

British opposition leader David Cameron on Sunday urged the government to hit the Russian elite`s ...

European travel firm TUI Travel said on Thursday that net losses deepened in the first nine months ...

A baggage handlers` strike which caused major chaos at Brussels international airport for two days ...

Bad behaviour abroad, often fuelled by excessive drinking, has sent the number of Britons arrested ...

Negotiators failed Monday to end a baggage handlers strike which badly affected flights at Brussels ...

The Romanian foreign ministry issued a warning to Romanians on Monday not to travel to Georgia, and ...

Croatia attracted about 5.9 million tourists in the first seven months of 2008, up two percent from ...

Canada Sunday urged its citizens in Georgia to evacuate as Russian attacks spread across the country

Canada Sunday urged its citizens in Georgia to evacuate as Russian attacks spread across the country

Canada Sunday urged its citizens in Georgia to evacuate as Russian attacks spread across the country

Canada Sunday urged its citizens in Georgia to evacuate as Russian attacks spread across the country

Britain urged travellers to leave Georgia as soon as possible Sunday, after the explosion of ...