June 18

More articles from the category

June 18

Vienna: Lauda removes 94 flying employees

The airline Lauda announced on Thursday evening that the 12 pilots and 82 flight attendants who did not consent to the new collective agreement would be dismissed. According to managing director Andreas Gruber, there will be no layoffs among the flying staff in summer 2020 beyond these 94 people. As reported, Ryanair will no longer let the airline Lauda fly on its own account under OE flight numbers, but in the meantime almost all connections have been switched to the FR code. Lauda will then act as a wet lease provider for its sister company Ryanair DAC on many routes. Lauda boss Andreas Gruber said that this change would have commercial advantages for Lauda. The Lauda fleet will settle at 30 Airbus A320s. This was originally supposed to be increased to 38 aircraft this year. In Vienna, ten A320s will be operated on behalf of Ryanair DAC. In the original plan before the Corona crisis, 16 A320s would have been flown on the airline's own account and an additional three Boeing 737-800s from Ryanair would have been wet-leased. All planned acquisitions of further Airbus A320s have not taken place due to the effects of the Corona pandemic. Existing contracts are to be renegotiated. In the future, Lauda will be positioned as a pure wet-lease operator. This means that the carrier will no longer operate flights on its own account under the OE code, but will fly on behalf of other airlines. These are naturally sister companies within the Ryanair Group, which, in addition to Lauda, ​​includes Ryanair DAC (= operating airline Ryanair), Malta Air, Buzz and Ryanair UK. The parent company is the listed Ryanair Holdings plc. For passengers, this means in concrete terms that in the future they will be formally

Continue reading "

Ryanair tries to capitalize on Level bankruptcy

Level management has not even submitted its insolvency application to the Korneuburg Regional Court yet, and Ryanair is already advertising "rescue fares". The chaotic press release speaks of nine destinations starting at 8,99 euros, but only one destination is listed at this price. The Irish budget airline is trying to capitalize on the bankruptcy of its competitor Level Europe and says it is offering special fares starting at 8,99 euros on nine routes from Vienna. The press release seems extremely chaotic, however, because the list of destinations only contains one destination that is offered at this price. Given the fact that almost all Lauda routes have already been switched to Ryanair flight numbers, it is hardly surprising that the parent company has taken over the marketing and public relations itself. Route Flights per week Tickets from Vienna – Barcelona 9 12.99€ Vienna – Palma 9 26.99€ Vienna – Malaga 7 8.99€ Vienna – Santander 2 28.99€ Vienna – Larnaca 2 19.99€ Vienna – Paris Beauvais 2 22.99€ Vienna – Kos 1 51.99€ Vienna – Rhodes 2 19.99€ Vienna – Heraklion 2 29.99€ “Level customers can continue to enjoy the lowest fares and most reliable service by switching to Ryanair. To support customers affected by the suspension of Level flight operations, we have activated special fares. Until the end of October, customers can fly from Vienna to nine summer destinations from just 8,99 euros, and these special fares are bookable from now until midnight on Sunday 21 June only on the Ryanair.com website. As these amazingly low fares will sell out quickly, customers should look out for them now on

Continue reading "

ADAC gives Stuttgart a special “award”

Airport is test winner in the bus station category. There are so many prizes and awards in the aviation industry that you could almost think that every airport and every airline has some kind of award. Stuttgart Airport has now received an award that is quite unusual for an airport: The ADAC awarded the airport the test winner award in the bus station category. "The Stuttgart Airport bus terminal is an important element of the transport hub at the airport, which connects the motorway, S-Bahn and flights. Since its launch in 2016, the long-distance bus terminal at the airport has been very well received, both for long-distance bus routes and for regional lines. The dense route network is important, and it is also important to us that the bus station, as well as the route to and from the terminal, is barrier-free and therefore easy for everyone to manage," said airport boss Walter Schoefer in a press release.

Continue reading "

Long distance level wobbles acutely

Within the International Airlines Group, Level Europe is already the first victim to disappear from the market due to insolvency. But the long-haul activities that were built up under the Level brand from Barcelona (Iberia) and Paris-Orly (OpenSkies) are also currently in acute danger. While IAG was quite successful in Spain as Level, it never worked particularly well in Vienna, Amsterdam (Level Europe) and Paris-Orly (OpenSkies). Both capacity utilization and yield fell far short of expectations, which repeatedly led to CEO Willie Walsh being asked uncomfortable questions at investor conferences. Now the entire Level project is being put to the test and the first facts have already been established with the insolvency application of the Austrian subsidiary. Officially, the International Airlines Group does not want to comment at all on the possible abandonment of the Level brand, but confirms that the sale remains closed. A date for the resumption of Level long-haul flights has not yet been set, and there are whispers from Barcelona and Orly that the long haul could also become a victim of the Corona crisis. There is a rumor going around that the A330s currently used under the Level brand will fly from London Gatwick under the British Airways brand in the future. IAG has not commented on this. The further development of the Level brand will probably be decided in the next few days, as Orly Airport will be back online from June 26, 2020. Slots at this Paris airport are generally considered to be particularly sought after.

Continue reading "

Ryanair buries the Lauda brand

Launched just over two years ago as a "second brand" and pushed with a lot of money, the Lauda brand is now over. In future, only wet lease flights will be operated and many employees will soon lose their jobs. The Ryanair Group is burying scheduled flights on behalf of its subsidiary Lauda and with it the brand of the branch to Stuttgart and Düsseldorf in Vienna. All connections from the Austrian capital are now offered under the FR code. Those that continue to be operated by Lauda as part of a wet lease agreement are marked with the note "operated by Lauda". Exceptions to this are currently some non-Schengen destinations for which Ryanair itself has to obtain approval. One example of this is Kiev-Boryspil. Destinations such as Beirut can be booked from the winter flight schedule. The use of the OE code is required for reasons of aviation law, although its inclusion seems extremely questionable. The Turkey routes, which would also have to be flown under Lauda flight numbers, have since been cancelled without replacement. The Lauda brand, which Ryanair promoted as a "secondary brand" at great expense, particularly in Austria, Germany and Mallorca, will be abandoned. Ryanair will obviously be relying on the single-brand strategy again in the future. In future, Lauda will only be a wet lease operator that will fly on behalf of Ryanair, following the example of Buzz and Malta Air. This will also have a significant impact on the headquarters in Schwechat. All Austrian Lauda employees have currently been notified of their termination with the Lower Austrian Employment Service. The notification that was sent in the struggle for the collective agreement has not yet been withdrawn. No employee has actually been given notice of termination so far, but they are currently in the process of being dismissed due to

Continue reading "

New base: Wizzair is based in Dortmund

With three aircraft that will be used on 18 new routes, Wizzair wants to really take off in Dortmund. The carrier decided to set up its first base in Germany. The Hungarian low-cost airline Wizzair will station three Airbus A320s at Dortmund Airport, thus opening its first base in Germany. The first two aircraft will arrive on August 1, 2020 and the third a week later. In total, the carrier will add 18 additional destinations from Dortmund. These are Alghero, Bari, Catania, Naples (Italy), Athens, Corfu, Heraklion, Thessaloniki, Santorini, Rhodes (Greece), Fuerteventura (Spain), Reykjavik (Iceland), Lisbon (Portugal), Zaporizhia (Ukraine), Marrakesh (Morocco), Suceava (Romania), Split (Croatia), Podgorica (Montenegro). "We expect that, due to the new destinations, we will be able to welcome around one million additional passengers per year at Dortmund Airport. For 2020, we initially expect 250.000 extra passengers," predicts Guido Miletic, Head of Marketing and Sales at Dortmund Airport. "The stationing of three aircraft is a great sign of Wizz Air's trust in the Dortmund location and the result of a long-standing and successful partnership. The announcement gives us every reason to believe that we will be able to restart well after the Corona shutdown and offers a real perspective," says airport boss Udo Mager.

Continue reading "

IAG sends Level Europe bankrupt

Less than two years after the first flight, which was accompanied by a 1-cent ticket campaign, the IAG subsidiary Level Europe GmbH is filing for bankruptcy. The Austrian experiment is thus over for IAG. The International Airlines Group is sending its Austrian subsidiary Level Europe into bankruptcy. The carrier will cease business operations with immediate effect and will shortly file an application for insolvency without self-administration with the Korneuburg Regional Court. Flight operations will no longer be resumed. Rumors of a possible "exit" from IAG's Vienna project, which was poorly received by the market, have been circulating for some time. The company has not been particularly forthcoming about the restart in recent days and the announcement of the bankruptcy should now make it clear why. The Corona pandemic has thus claimed its first airline victim in Austria. Level Europe explains in a press release that it has been hit particularly hard by the Corona crisis. The company asks holders of tickets booked directly through Level to contact the insolvency administrator after the appointment of the insolvency administrator. If the booking was made through a partner, such as a travel agency, this should be contacted. Vouchers and flight tickets issued by Level Europe are therefore worthless with immediate effect following the filing for insolvency and the already announced cessation of business operations.

Continue reading "

Bern faces a difficult future

Last year, the airport posted a loss of around 1,5 million Swiss francs. 2020 will be even more difficult due to the corona crisis. The in-house brand FlyBair is due to take off shortly. The 2019 financial year was extremely difficult for the Swiss airport Bern-Belp, because the home base carrier was no longer available when SkyWork went bankrupt in the summer of 2018. The number of scheduled flights was therefore extremely manageable. In the summer of last year, only five destinations were offered from Belpmoos. As a result of the reduced offer, the number of staff at Flughafen Bern AG had to be reduced. A total of 2019 passengers flew to/from Bern in 35.787, which corresponds to a decrease of 76 percent. At the same time, the number of flight movements fell by 7,4 percent. Accordingly, the annual loss in 2019 was around 1,5 million Swiss francs. Since the airport management was unable to attract a new airline to Bern-Belp, the Board of Directors decided in August 2019 that an in-house, virtual airline should be founded. Due to the corona crisis, FlyBair's first flight was not scheduled. The operational operation of the connections is carried out by Helvetic Airways with Embraer 190. Corona crisis hits Bern-Belp Airport hard In view of the corona pandemic, the Board of Directors has adjusted the strategic options and taken immediate measures. This will enable the corona crisis to be overcome in order to then be able to make the definitive option when market developments become clearer. In any case, flight operations can continue. The effects of the crisis surrounding the coronavirus have led to drastic losses in earnings for Flughafen Bern AG since mid-March. Liquidity security and cost-cutting measures were immediately examined and implemented, and short-time work was introduced.

Continue reading "

VC appeals to the TUI supervisory board

The travel group was one of the first recipients of billions in state aid. The VC is annoyed by the planned job cuts at its subsidiary Tuifly. Now it is hoped that the supervisory board will pull the emergency brake. The German pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit is appealing to the supervisory board of Tui AG to reject the board's planned halving of the Tuifly fleet and the associated job cuts. The pilots' representatives also point out that state aid must be used to secure jobs and not to cut them. "Vote against your board's plans for Tuifly! We urgently appeal to you to assume your responsibility towards everyone involved and to consider the interests of employees, customers, society and shareholders equally. Tui's good reputation, especially in politics, must not be risked by economically extremely questionable and socially irresponsible decisions," said VC President Markus Wahl. Tui AG was one of the first recipients of billions in state loans during the Corona crisis. The Cockpit association now sees the risk that the company would jeopardize access to further aid through "hasty decisions." The plans of the Tui board have already met with considerable criticism in politics. "The round table with Lower Saxony's Minister of Economic Affairs Althusmann has shown that the state will not stand idly by while German jobs are cut," the VC said in a press release.

Continue reading "

Friday: Verdi calls for rallies

Receiving state aid and at the same time firing employees? In Verdi's eyes that is completely unacceptable. For this reason, demonstrations are taking place across Germany on Friday. The Verdi union is calling on aviation employees to take part in a protest on Friday from 12:00 noon. The focus of the protest will be in Frankfurt am Main, but there will also be actions in Bremen, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Stuttgart. The aim of the rallies is to draw attention to job losses and lower wages in the aviation sector. Verdi is particularly angry that numerous companies in Germany are receiving state aid, some of which amounts to billions, while at the same time threatening to cut wages and eliminate thousands of jobs. The union is demanding that the aid from the Federal Republic of Germany should not only benefit entrepreneurs, but also the approximately 300.000 employees in this sector.

Continue reading "