Airlines continue to struggle as the effects of the worldwide recession holds back passenger numbers. Two recent examples of the dilemma which is still affecting the world’s airlines are demonstrated in reports by Qantas and JAL. Qantas, the Australian national flag carrier has recently reported a fall in annual net profits of nearly 4.5 percent for the period June 2009 to June 2010. It made 112 million Australian dollars (£64m) during the year, compared to A$ 117 million in the previous period.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has set up a number of international telephone ‘hotlines’ to help foreign visitors get updated 24-hour tourism information and have their queries answered about any aspect of travel and tourism to and within Thailand. This Global Number Services project is an extension of the TAT Call Center, which is based in Bangkok. According to monitoring statistics, over 80 per cent of the calls are from Thai tourists or domestic calls.

Thai Airways International (THAI) has finalised a purchase agreement with Airbus for the firm order of seven A330-300s, confirming a commitment announced at last month's Farnborough Air Show. Deliveries will begin at the end of 2011 and the newly ordered aircraft will join an existing fleet of 20 A330-300s at THAI flying to destinations across the Asia-Pacific region.

For the second time in less than two months, a UK Travel company has ceased trading, leaving passengers stranded. On Thursday, Birmingham based Sun4U posted the following notice on its website: 'Sun 4 U Limited has ceased trading as of 11th August 2010 at 2100hrs. For further information please contact ABTA's claim handlers CEGA on 01243 621 500.’