Manchester Airport signs new hotel deal

Manchester Airport has agreed a deal with Premier Travel Inn which will see the completion of a new 168-bed hotel nearby.

The seven-storey building is expected to help the airport meet the demand for accommodation from a rising number of passengers in the future, the Manchester Evening News reports.

John Atkins, strategy and development director for Manchester Airport Developments, said that the agreement was an "important step" for the airport in its efforts to provide hotel accommodation for its customers.

"The Travelodge, which opened last year, has proved to be very successful and together with the Tulip Inn, which is due to be completed by the autumn, Manchester Airport Developments will have completed nearly 600 new hotel bedrooms on the site within three years," he remarked

The airport recently announced that all its landside areas would be smoke-free from May 14th, several months before the national ban on smoking comes into effect.

The entire airport is to provide designated smoking areas in the departure lounges, but will be completely smoke-free on July 1st.

• British Airways boss underlines Heathrow Airport importance
• Emirates completes move to new terminal in Dubai
• New US airport runways welcomed
• New campaign invites holidaymakers to Paris
• Tokyo 'the world's culinary capital'
• Observation wheel to open in Melbourne
• Visitors offered Christmas bonuses in Brussels
• Stansted Airport eco-certification extended to 2011
• United Airlines to resume flights from London to Denver
• US airspace expanded for holiday period