Travel Roundup: Las Vegas Sands' Unexpected Profit, Vancouver's Floating Hotel, Airbus Delays Delivery Again and More

Las Vegas Sands reports unexpected profit – Las Vegas Sands Corp. the casino company headed by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, reported an unexpected first quarter profit. The company reported an adjusted profit of $8.9 million, or 1 cent a share, beating the 2.5-cent average loss projected by analysts.  [Source: Bloomberg]

Vancouver’s floating hotel in time for Olympics — Newwest Special Projects, an Edmonton-based company, paid more than $10 million to charter a Norwegian Cruise Line vessel and market it as a 1,119-room floating hotel during the Winter Olympics. Owner Dennis Laliberte said that tour operators have already taken up to 15 per cent of the rooms, which range in price from $1,050 to $6,600 a person for a three-night stay. The floating hotel will have the usual cruise amenities and also meals, 24-hour room service and a shuttle. Laliberte said he got the idea last summer after considering similar ventures that worked during the Olympics in Sydney and Athens. [Source: Vancouver Sun]

Airbus changes delivery for A380 again — Airbus cut its 2009 delivery target for the A380 superjumbo again Wednesday, saying the economic crisis was causing deferrals from customers. The European plane maker now expects to deliver 14 of the double-decker aircraft, down from 18. The company reported it expected 20 deliveries next year. [Source: Reuters]

Southwest Airlines reaches labor agreement — Southwest Airlines Co. says it has reached a tentative agreement with its customer-service employees, offering pay raises. Although many details weren’t available, the four-year contract covers 5,300 employees and would be retroactive to last year until October 2012. The workers are represented by the machinists’ union and will hold a vote on the contract. Southwest has about 35,000 employees. [Source: Associated Press]

American Express closes business travel call center — American Express will close its Business Travel call center office in High Point, N.C., laying off about 100 employees. A spokesman for the company said the business travel unit has been affected by the drop in calls and transactions. The call center opened in 2005. [Source: Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area]