Bloomberg Air Berlin Plc is introducing business-class seats in Europe in a push to position the airline in a more lucrative segment of the market following years of losses. The carrier will begin reserving the first row of German and European flights later this year for premium customers, who will enjoy priority check-in and boarding, fast-lane security and lounge access ...

  Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd. said it doesn’t want the remaining eight A380s it still has on order because the dozen it operates now are sufficient to meet demand, further dimming future sales prospects for the largest passenger plane that’s struggled to find buyers. “Our intention is that we’re not taking those aircraft,” Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said ...

  CONCORD / AP In a small town just south of New Hampshire’s capital, General Electric runs two plants filled with workers building jet engines for the world’s leading airlines. With 800 workers, GE Aviation is the largest employer in town. But in the next five to 10 years, about a third of those workers are expected to retire. The company ...

  Bloomberg For real estate developers such as Jeff Peterson, losing construction workers who can hang drywall, install plumbing and pour concrete in the San Francisco Bay area has become routine. “Guys are literally going to jobs and saying to the concrete crew, ‘Hey, what are you making per hour?’” said Peterson, a purchasing director at Trumark Cos., a San ...

  Bloomberg US farmland values in 2016 dropped for just the second time in almost three decades after grain and soybean prices extended a slump, eroding grower profit and capping a decade-long boom when land costs jumped 65%. Farmland values in the lower 48 states, including land used for crops and for livestock, declined $10 to $3,010 an acre, the ...

  Bloomberg U.K. house-prices fell by the most in five months after Britain’s decision to quit the European Union, although it’s still too early to tell how much Brexit has damped the market, Halifax said. Prices dropped 1 percent in July, the biggest slide since February, reversing a 1.2 percent gain in June, the mortgage lender said in a statement ...

  Bloomberg An ambitious project to make central Moscow more pedestrian friendly has drawn mixed reactions from the city’s residents: some love the upgrade, others worry the soul is being ripped out of historic neighbourhoods. Bulldozers and drills are humming away around the centre as more than 50 roads are being torn up, a quarter of the total number chosen ...

  RELAXNEWS We may be in the midst of summer, but fashionistas are already thinking about updating their wardrobes for fall and winter. One key upcoming trend to keep in mind is blue in its myriad shades. We’ve got the lowdown. Electric blue, pale blue, turquoise, navy and lavender: the fashion houses are giving all shades of this cool color ...

  Relaxnews French fashion house Carven is suspending its menswear line and bidding goodbye to designer Barnabé Hardy. The label is making the move in a bid to focus on its womenswear line, reports WWD. “Barnabé Hardy has been the soul of Carven’s men’s collection since 2015,” Chief Executive Officer Sophie de Rougemont told the site. “It has been an ...

  AFP Rami Kashou’s designs are worn by Hollywood stars and royalty but for the past few days he has been back home in the occupied West Bank rather than London, Paris or New York. As on most days, Yasser Arafat Square in central Ramallah was crowded with pedestrians, taxis with screaming horns and fruit sellers lugging their goods on ...