Kayak introduces Custom Airports functionality
Blog announcement: http://blog.kayak.com/2009/04/30/custom-airports-seriously/

Chinese travel search engine Baidu to launch a travel page
Chinese search engine provider Baidu.com has formally launched a travel page at lvyou.baidu.com in time for the Labor Day holiday to provide travel information collection services. Lvyou.baidu.com is more like a topic page, covering information about hot tourist destinations, scenic spots photos, hot travel agencies and travel news focus, aggregating partial contents of Baidu.com and Baidu Knows (zhidao.baidu.com) to bring more convenience to Baidu’s users.
http://www.chinatechnews.com/2009/04/28/9660-chinese-travel-search-engine-baiducom-launches-travel-page/

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Topaz: Airfares cheaper through agencies
Airfares booked last year through corporate travel agencies cost on average $61 less than identical itineraries booked through airline Web sites or online travel retailers, according to a Topaz International study on client data released this week. That figure, however, does not include agency transaction fees or servicing charges, Topaz president and CEO Brad Seitz noted. Comparing the same itinerary publicly available online with fares booked through travel management companies, Topaz found agency fares were either the same or less costly nearly 92 percent of the time, down slightly from the nearly 95 percent rate reported in 2007.
http://www.btnonline.com/businesstravelnews/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003968250

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Expedia signs distribution deal with Virgin Blue and its Australian subsidiary V-Australia
Under the agreement, Virgin Blue and V-Australia flights will be available to customers on all Expedia-branded sites worldwide, including Expedia.com.au in Australia and Expedia.com in the US, and on US discount travel site Hotwire. The flights will also be available to business travelers through travel management leader Egencia, which launched its full-service corporate travel offering in Australia last year.
http://peanuts.aero/low_cost_airline_news/airline/21591/59/V+Australia+and+Expedia+sign+agreement

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AA: intermediaries to one day pay for selling AA tickets
American Airlines CEO Gerard Arpey has a dream: getting travel agents to pay American for selling its tickets. In a conference call discussing the airline’s earnings report, Arpey was asked by UBS analyst Kevin Crissey, “What kind of distribution cost savings might there be out there?” Arpey responded that he hoped to push those costs down, and maybe even reverse the flow.

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