Radius Travel has kicked off the year by welcoming two new partners into its global agency network: the UK's Travel and Transport Statesman and Switzerland's Kuoni Business Travel.

Turkish Airlines has commenced a new service from London Gatwick to Ankara, the Turkish capital.

Regional airline Flybe is to be acquired by Connect Airways, a consortium comprising Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital.

Finnair will increase capacity on its schedule between London Heathrow and Helsinki this summer by over 20% with the addition of another daily departure and a change of aircraft on some services.

The cost of flights within the UK and Europe are expected to rise by 2% in the year ahead but could drop to some global destinations, according to a new report from American Express Global Business Travel.

A daily service between Leeds Bradford Airport and Munich has been announced by flybmi.

Flybe franchise partner Eastern Airways will introduce a double-daily service between London City and Newcastle airports this month.

Eurostar will add a third daily service from London St Pancras to Rotterdam and Amsterdam this summer "in direct response to customer demand".