The Irish county of Fingal is set to receive a much needed employment boost after car hire giant Hertz announced plans to create up to 100 new jobs at the Swords Business Park outside of Dublin.
Seeking to expand its European services, Hertz, the world’s largest rental car organisation, will upgrade Dublin operations at the Swords based rental centre. The announcement was made at the centre by Mary Coughlan, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Coughlan highlighted the successful partnership that the Dublin area and Hertz have had over the years as testament to the strong work ethic of the [...]

Car rental customers are facing up to the prospect of increased charges in the months ahead thanks to the ongoing dramas that have beset the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota.
The short term effect of the massive recall of thousands of Toyota vehicles, which left many car hire operators frantically withdrawing suspected faulty models from their fleets, has started to impact on the wallet of both rental customers and companies as tightening supplies have coupled with ongoing tightening purse strings to push prices up.
A survey on car hire bookings across four of the main airport rental operations in the US by Expedia [...]

The Australian travel industry is bearing the emotional scars of the recession in addition to the material damage as authorities have disclosed an alarming rise in disruptive behaviour and air rage, leaving airlines concerned at the level of baggage left over from the economic crisis.
The increase of low-cost or budget carrier market share is thought by many to be the primary reason behind the massive 65 percent rise in reported cases in the Australian skies last year. Government statistics reveal that in 2007 there were 64 disruptive incidents, a figure which quadrupled in 2008 to 279. In 2009 there were [...]

The announcement by Ford that the group recorded an increase in sales of 24 percent compared with last January has been tempered with the car manufacturer’s disappointment that more were not sold to regular customers.
The majority of the new sales were from government and rental car fleets. According to Ford, car sales for the period were up overall by a massive 43 percent but this figure was inflated by those companies who had earlier reduced their fleet sizes now buying back their lost stock.
Total sales in other areas saw crossover vehicles up by 20 percent while sports utilities recorded an [...]

North America has been usurped from its position atop the world’s leading air travel market with the Asia-Pacific region now reaching the watermark point where it has overtaken its main rival on the global stage.
According to new data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) this week, the Asia-Pacific region hosted 647 million air passengers last year. The details were released at an industry conference ahead of the Singapore Air Show which featured all of the major international operators. This represents a significant increase on the 638 million that flew across North America as that region continues to suffer [...]

A corner is slowly being turned by hire car companies, even without the massive boost expected from the World Cup this year.
Reassuringly for rental operators who suffered a miserable 2009 the initial reports of the December holiday period should at least bring some sunshine to a bleak UK winter, as a return to something approaching normally was seen as holidaymakers created a noticeable spike in demand for hire vehicles.
CEO Keith Rankin of the Avis Rent A Car owners Barloworld Automotive said that coastal cities in particular experienced a demand spike last month, with the Avis fleet even running out of [...]

The multi award winning carrentals.co.uk comparison source has declared that trends seen this year across Europe are likely to continue in 2010, as reduced fleet sizes continue in times of economic downturn. Although the recession shows slow signs of a recovery, the plans implemented by the continent’s leading rental operators will not be reversed any time soon.
The summer peak period is forecasted once again to mirror the chaotic scenes witnessed in areas such as Spain, where popular holiday destinations such as Alicante, Malaga and Valencia all selling out of their fleets well in advance. Worse news is that the highly [...]

Revenues are still undergoing a depression at the White-van man’s group said the rental organisation in a statement yesterday.
However, despite the reduction in turnover the Northgate group said that the last 6 months had shown some improvement in pick-up utilisation rates. The company attributed the slow but sure signs of improvement in the second half of the year to a increased second-hand vehicle sales and a reduction in fleet size. CEO Steve Smith said that the results were as to be expected given the economic downturn which has led to a reduced customer base. Smith claimed that while the first [...]

A new survey by Europcar has discovered that a change in driver habits has been brought about by the recession.
With the chilly winter months looming large, the cost of extended driving holidays and lengthy travel times have forced a rethink by British drivers in how best to avoid wear and tear on their own vehicles while making the most of their motoring time.
With reliability and peace of mind at a premium during the holiday season, a phenomenal 85% of respondents to the Europcar survey have agreed that they have altered their driving habits as a direct result of the economic [...]

On Wednesday, Air France-KLM announced a loss of €147 million for the second quarter, forcing the group to declare that it would be cutting up to 1,700 jobs.
The massive second quarter loss represents a five-fold increase on last year’s second quarter loss of €27 million. In the six months of operation up till the end of September the total operating loss for Air France-KLM was a staggering €543 million with the negative impact of fuel hedges being the main cause of the fall.
Air France-KLM is Europe’s largest airline in revenue and claimed that the recession and reduction in premium traffic [...]