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(CNN) -- Find out what's affecting the life of the globe-trotting business traveler.

Yotel's capsule hotel comes to Heathrow Terminal 4.

Heathrow says hello to Yotel

Simon Woodroffe's capsule hotel concept opened at Heathrow Terminal 4 this week. Aimed at business travelers who want to stay the day before an early flight or for those with long transit times, the opening of the new 32 capsule hotel at the UK's busiest airport comes six months after the first Yotel opened at Gatwick airport.

Each of the cabins is equipped with desks, free wi-fi and wired Internet access workstations, and entertainment systems. Business travelers are able to make phone calls, catch up on emails and the latest business news on TV in peace.

"Yotel Heathrow will offer more passengers the chance to experience a little bit of luxury and relaxation right inside the worlds busiest airport," said Yotel CEO, Gerald Greene.

Another Yotel is set to open at Schiphol in 2008 and other destinations across the world are planned.

It's all Airbus for AirAsia

The booming low-cost Asian airline AirAsia is set to become the world's largest operator of Airbus A320s. The company's chief executive Tony Fernandes signed a contract at the Langkwai Airshow earlier this week for 25 more of the aircraft with an option for an additional 25, bringing the total number of planes up to 175 firm orders and 50 purchase options. The single-aisle planes are being bought to replace the airline's fleet of Boeing 737s.

"This purchase is an important step for us at AirAsia as it signifies our future aggressive route expansion plans in tandem to our expected traffic growth over the next decade," said Fernandes. "As the winner of CAPA Airline of the Year 2007, we are proud of this purchase as it further demonstrates our commitment to enhance AirAsia's position on our networks by incorporating the most modern and efficient aircraft in the market."

bmi starts flights to Cologne

Starting on February 11, 2008, bmi will begin a six-times-a-week service from East Midlands Airport to Cologne, Germany, filling the gap left by the withdrawal of easyJet from the route. Passengers will also be able travel onwards to other German cities including Hamburg on the flights of bmi regional's Star Alliance partner Lufthansa.

Peter Kenworthy, commercial director of bmi regional, said: "We are delighted to be launching services between East Midlands Airport and Cologne and we expect the route to be popular with both business and leisure travelers."

Silverjet buys new long-distance planes

The British business-class airline has announced that it will acquire two more Boeing 767 (ER) aircrafts to its fleet that will take to the air in March. These aircraft have an operational range of over 6,000 miles from London Luton Airport, Silverjet's base. In addition to New York Newark and Dubai, the aircraft will be capable of flying non-stop to Delhi, Johannesburg, Mauritius, Shanghai and Los Angeles carrying 100 passengers.

Lawrence Hunt, CEO of Silverjet said: "We are delighted to have completed the purchase of two further high quality long range aircraft on highly attractive terms relative to current aircraft prices, and to have announced another record set of traffic statistics. Yields continue to strengthen which is further testament to the market endorsement of our product. We are seeing very high numbers of repeat customers and New York sales in November was the best month to date."

UK passengers face above-inflation fare increases

UK rail passengers will be hit by ticket price increases above inflation next year.

Regulated fares that include season tickets, Savers and Standard Day Returns will rise by 4.8 percent, 0.6 percent above the current rate of inflation, says the Association of Train Operating Companies.

Price increases for unregulated fares that include Cheap Day Returns, long distance tickets and advance purchase fares will vary according to train operator. Average fare rises for unregulated fares will be around 5.4 percent, or 1.2 percent above current inflation.

Qatar Airlines flies to Sweden

Qatar Airways began non-stop scheduled flights between Doha, Qatar and Stockholm, Sweden making it the first Middle Eastern airline to serve the Baltic region.

Qatar's national airline has seen aggressive expansion over 2007. Nine new destinations include New York, Washington DC, Ho Chi Minh City and Bali.

Qatar Airways will operate an Airbus A319 in a two-class configuration of eight seats in Business Class and 102 seats in Economy on the Doha -- Stockholm route.

Currently the airline flies 58 aircraft to almost 80 destinations.

Czech airline CSA offers new flights

The Czech state-run airline CSA will introduce six new regular flights between Prague and cities in France, Syria, Greece, Kazakhstan, Russia and Georgia.

From March it will start services between Prague and France's Bordeaux and Kazakhstan's Almaty. Flights to Syria's Damascus, Georgia's Tbilisi and Russia's Rostov-On-Don will commence in April and to Iraklion on the Greek island of Crete in May.

The airline also plans to introduce five new charter flights next year to El Salvador, Italy, Greece and the Balkans. CSA, which offers flights to 104 destinations in 44 countries, carried a record of nearly 5.5 million passengers last year.

American Airlines to divest American Eagle regional airline

The parent of American Airlines, the US biggest airline, plans to sell or spin off its American Eagle regional carrier next year.

American Eagle operates regional jets that connect American Airlines hubs such as Dallas-Fort Worth with smaller cities. It has about 300 planes and operates about 1,700 daily flights to more than 150 cities in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. It generates annual revenue of about $2.3 billion.

Fort Worth-based AMR said in a statement that it is still studying whether to spin off Eagle to AMR shareholders, sell to a third party or divest the carrier in some other way.

American Airlines expects to continue using Eagle as a feeder airline. A sale or spin-off could reduce Eagle's labor costs, making it a cheaper supplier of connecting passengers for American. E-mail to a friend

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