Editor's Note: Some linked articles may be behind subscription paywalls.
1. Fire at Luton Airport Suspends Flights
An overnight parking garage fire caused the Luton Airport near London to suspend flights until 3 p.m. Wednesday, the New York Times reports. The fire began Tuesday evening and was put out by Wednesday morning, but passengers were advised to not travel through the airport.
The garage partially collapsed, and an estimated 1,200 vehicles were damaged. Seven people, including six firefighters, were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
Easyjet, an airline that uses the Luton Airport as a hub, said in a statement that it will provide customers a chance to rebook or receive a refund for canceled flights.
2. Biden, FTC Propose New Junk Fee Rules
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration proposed another rule Wednesday that would crack down on junk fees, Reuters reports. The rule would “require businesses to disclose mandatory fees up front and an instruction to banks not to impose excessive charges for basic information such as account balances.”
The Federal Trade Commission also proposed a new rule Wednesday to ban hidden fees in industries such as car rental agencies, hotels and event ticketing providers, the Associated Press reports.
“The proposed rule would prohibit corporations from running up the bills with hidden and bogus fees, requiring honest pricing and spurring firms to compete on honesty rather than deception,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said. “Violators will be subject to civil penalties and be required to pay back Americans that they tricked.”
3. Brands, Investors Enter Spain’s Tertiary Markets
International brands and investors entering Spain have looked beyond the major markets and instead focused on the strength of secondary markets, forcing family hotel companies and independent hotels to become more efficient to keep up, HNN’s Terence Baker reports.
Ana Ivanovic, executive vice president and head of Spain hotels transactions at business advisory JLL, said sovereign wealth funds, especially those from the Middle East, contributed to 35% of the transaction volume in Spain this year, more than the typical number.
“In more traditional years, always it was private equity that was responsible for between 35% to 40%, and then [high-net-worth] individuals and owner-operators. [Sovereign wealth funds] usually made up 15%. We’ve not seen much Middle East investment for some time,” she said.
4. Wildfires Cause Evacuations in Argentina
Wildfires in Argentina’s central Cordoba province led to dozens of people evacuating their homes Tuesday, the Associated Press reports. Along with the efforts of 960 firefighters working to put out the flames, the hope is that expected rain Tuesday night and Wednesday morning will help calm the fires.
“I call on the population to respect the indications of the firefighters and authorities who are working in the affected areas,” Cordoba Gov. Juan Schiaretti said on social media. “The most important thing is to save lives, wherever evacuation is necessary, it will be done.”
5. Hilton Opens First Spark Hotel
Hilton opened the Spark by Hilton Mystic Groton in Mystic, Connecticut, on Tuesday, the first Spark-branded hotel to open, Yahoo Finance reports. Spark by Hilton, the company’s first economy segment brand, was launched in January.
"Spark is our fastest announcement-to-market brand in Hilton’s history, and we are excited to grow our portfolio of world-class brands with many more Sparks on the horizon,” said Matt Schuyler, chief brand officer for Hilton.