With not a tinge of sadness, Jeff Clarke, chief executive of Travelport, owner of the Orbitz online travel site and the Galileo reservations system, explained why the stunning view of New York's Central Park he enjoyed from his office would soon be his no more.

"We can't afford this," he says, gazing over the trees in the muted colours of winter. Blackstone, Travelport's new owner, oredered a move to more modest quarters: perhaps a step towards recouping the $900m in equity the buy-out firm spent to buy the company from Cendant, the US conglomerate, last year.