· Struggling Swiss has axed its London City to Geneva and Basel routes, blaming the downturn in the City. It will continue to fly to Zurich. Fans of the airline's unusually good catering will also be disappointed to hear that the free meals and snacks in short-haul economy have also gone. There's talk of a takeover. swiss.com

· Passengers with BA (ba.com) taking the Heathrow Express will no longer be able to check in their luggage at Paddington from the end of July.

· The airline is also suspending its Gatwick-Brussels, Gatwick-Bremen, Gatwick-Dusseldorf, Heathrow-Zagreb and Heathrow-San Diego routes in the autumn. They make way for new services from Manchester to Copenhagen and Gatwick to Turin and Dubrovnik, which will take off in October.

· BMIbaby (bmibaby.com) is switching its Glasgow-Cardiff service from Glasgow International to Prestwick. There's a sweetener in the form of free travel on ScotRail for all passengers choosing the route.

· "We will give you the most comfortable chair in the air which you can recline in for take-off and landing," Sir Richard Branson told Upper Class Virgin Atlantic passengers two weeks ago. The leather armchair flips over to become a bed and mattress. A return ticket to New York will cost £4,631. virgin-atlantic.com

· Midland Mainline is running extra trains to Manchester from London St Pancras in an effort to ease pressure on the West Coast line. The St-Pancras-Luton-Kettering-Wellingborough-Market Harborough-Leicester-Stockport-Manchester Piccadilly route runs hourly and the fares (from £20 return) include free tea or coffee. Alternatively, VLM (vlm-airlines.com) now flies from London City to Manchester.

· Ever been arrested? The US is tightening up its visa waiver scheme and, according to the rules, even those acquitted or whose convictions are spent under British law will have to apply for a visa a few months before travelling. The possibility of arrest and subsequent release does not appear in the US embassy guidelines at usembassy.org.uk/cons_web/visa/niv/vwp.htm.

· Two war zones are back on the route map. Air France has resumed services to Algiers, the scene of the 1994 hijacking of an AF jet, while KLM will fly weekly to Baghdad from September 1.