July 8

More articles from the category

July 8

Korean Air sells catering and duty free

Korean Air announced on Tuesday that it will sell its duty free and inflight catering businesses. The private equity fund “Hahn & Company” has been granted exclusive negotiating rights. After the board meeting, Korean Air signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hahn & Company to continue negotiations and later discuss details of further steps such as due diligence. To overcome the ongoing crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Korean Air is also currently selling land in downtown Seoul and its shares in Wangsan Leisure Development Co. Ltd. In addition, the airline is increasing its capital by issuing new shares by the end of July 2020.

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Lion Air crash: Boeing concludes settlement

The US aircraft manufacturer Boeing has reached a settlement with numerous relatives of the Lion Air 737 Max crash. The jet crashed shortly after takeoff in October 2018. According to the manufacturer, the company has reached a settlement with over 90 percent of the victims' relatives. On October 29, 2018, 189 people were killed in the crash of a Boeing 737 Max. At first, the company tried to blame the operator Lion Air, but massive design and software problems soon became apparent, leading to a worldwide flight ban that continues to this day.

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Munich drives up Terminal 1

Due to increasing passenger numbers, Munich's Franz Josef Strauss Airport reopened modules C, D and E of Terminal 1 for passenger handling on Wednesday. Among other things, 6.000 floor markings were previously applied. With today's reopening, most of the airlines previously based in Terminal 1 have returned to their traditional terminal building. Only Eurowings, Qatar Airways, Tuifly, SunExpress and Pegasus Airlines will initially remain in Terminal 2 of Munich Airport. Check-in for all flights of these airlines will continue to take place in the central area Z.

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Austria introduces quarantine for Romania and Bulgaria

Anyone who wants to enter Austria from Bulgaria or Romania must now go into quarantine again or present a negative corona test. Austria is now extending the highest level travel warning to the Balkan countries of Bulgaria and Romania. This could also have fatal effects on tourism, especially in Varna and Burgas, because returnees must now present a negative corona test in Austria or go into quarantine for 14 days. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz explained that the reaction was urgently necessary due to the recent sharp increase in the number of cases. It is still unclear what effect this will have on the flight offers of Ryanair/Lauda, ​​Wizzair, Austrian Airlines and other carriers. However, it can be assumed that one or two holidays could be cancelled due to the travel warning and the associated quarantine on returning to Austria. In particular, guest workers who have been in their homeland will be subject to stricter controls. Checks on those returning from the Balkans are to be massively increased both by land and by air. In this context, Schallenberg also pointed out that breaking quarantine is subject to hefty penalties and that if a test is positive, this is also a criminal offense. In Romania, however, a court overturned the isolation. According to the judges, there is no valid law on which the order is based. The government now wants to make improvements, but the opposition is putting up considerable resistance. This could well have contributed to Austria's decision.

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Wirtschaftsbund: AUA should finally pay back

The carrier claims that 70 percent of the debts owed to travel agencies have already been paid. However, the chairman of the Tyrolean Economic Association, Franz Hörl, doubts this and refers to its own circular campaign. In a media release, the Tyrolean Economic Association reiterated its demand that Austrian Airlines pay off its debts to travel agencies immediately. Announcements must be followed by actions, said chairman Franz Hörl. A circular campaign has shown that the situation at travel agencies has not changed. It is also thanks to the actions of State Secretary Magnus Brunner and our persistent demands that there is now obviously movement in this matter, which is burdening the economy," said Hörl. Austrian Airlines claims that it has already refunded around 70 percent of travel agency bookings. The chairman of the Tyrolean Economic Association doubts this, however: "The feedback from the industry paints a completely different picture. There are still a large number of travel agencies that have not received a single cent since March. This is particularly beneficial for the travel agency industry in the current situation, and for some it even secures their livelihood. The reimbursement of advance payments already transferred reduces the financial pressure. This is about justified refunds! Now Austrian really needs to step up the pace in processing the case.”

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International comeback in Rostock

In Rostock-Laage, too, international air traffic came to a complete standstill due to the corona pandemic. On Tuesday, however, the comeback was celebrated, as the holiday airline Corendon Europe started a non-stop connection to Heraklion. According to the airport, there were 737 passengers on board the Boeing 800-96. Rostock-Laage was already hit hard last year by various route closures, but also by the bankruptcy of BMI Regional. The Mallorca route, served by Lauda, ​​and Vienna, served by Level Europe, have now also been canceled.

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Etihad puts Vienna on hold

The Gulf carrier will return to Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Munich and Zurich in mid-July 2020, but the new addition to the Vienna destination will have to wait longer. Etihad Airways had actually wanted to fly between Vienna-Schwechat and Abu Dhabi several times a week with Boeing 22-2020s since May 787, 9. However, due to the strict entry regulations in Austria and the United Arab Emirates, the start was postponed first to June 2020 and then to July 2020. A new start date has now been announced: October 25, 2020. The Gulf carrier is currently planning to start the non-stop route between the two cities only at the beginning of the 2020/21 winter flight schedule period. This postponement comes as little surprise, as the route is considered to be quite risky in the industry, as Niki was previously only able to achieve extremely modest booking numbers between Vienna and Abu Dhabi vv despite the Etihad codeshare. Ultimately, the lack of demand was the decisive factor in abandoning the route. Etihad now wants to be more successful with its own aircraft, but due to the corona pandemic, the first flight had to be postponed several times. In Germany, however, the aircraft of the state carrier of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi will soon be seen again. Connections to Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Munich are to be resumed in mid-July 2020. Etihad Airways will then also fly to Switzerland again. According to the airline's statement, the Zurich flights will be served first.

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Trump makes Lufthansa difficult to create

The once profitable routes between Europe and the United States are currently unprofitable because most potential passengers cannot use them at all. There is no prospect of normality and a stock market magazine sees Donald Trump as the culprit. The extremely critical situation in the United States in connection with the spread of the coronavirus could prove extremely disadvantageous for network carriers such as Lufthansa. According to the trade magazine “Der Aktionär”, airlines that rely on the hub-and-spoke concept are particularly suffering from the fact that the once highly profitable transatlantic routes cannot be operated or can only be operated to a very limited extent. The newspaper writes that the MDAX group Lufthansa was able to achieve the highest profit margins between Europe and the United States of America before the outbreak of the pandemic. Citing Kranich CEO Carsten Spohr, “Der Aktionär” reports that demand on long-haul routes has been “rather disappointing”. Within Europe, however, new bookings and capacity utilization are said to be above original expectations, which were cautiously low. According to Spohr, half of the long-haul aircraft are normally scheduled for transatlantic flights to the USA. He now hopes that traffic will return to normal from September 2020. The trade magazine “Der Aktionär” takes a completely different view in this regard, however, and points out that the behavior and decisions of US President Donald Trump are currently unpredictable and that his government has not yet managed to contain the pandemic in any way. There are still more new infections in the United States than in any other country in the world. In addition, Trump continues to

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Vienna: Flixbus increases presence at the airport

Numerous passengers from Styria and neighboring countries use long-distance buses to travel to Vienna Airport. The service was largely suspended due to the closed borders. Now Flixbus is also increasing its presence again. Graz is still on pause, however. The green long-distance buses operated by Flixbus will now be seen more frequently at Vienna-Schwechat Airport, as the passenger transport company is gradually resuming its routes. The Graz-Vienna Airport route, used by many passengers from Styria, is still on pause, however. Flixbus and Dr. Richard have not yet announced a specific date for the resumption. Flixbus is currently concentrating on restoring traffic from Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary to Vienna-Schwechat Airport. Bus connections from Bratislava (including the airport), Györ, Budapest (including the airport), Trnava, Brno, Prague and other cities in Slovakia and the Czech Republic to Vienna Airport are now offered. Competitors Slovak Lines and Regiojet have been present in Schwechat again for several weeks, albeit on a significantly reduced scale. The long-distance bus lines that connect Vienna Airport with cities in the neighboring countries of Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary are considered an important "supplier of passengers", especially in low-cost air traffic. The domestic connection between Graz and Austria's largest airport has also been very popular so far. However, the time of resumption has not yet been set.

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Complicated travel in times of Corona

More and more countries in Europe are requiring advance online registration of planned entry. Other countries are making it compulsory to fill out forms. An overview. After Greece caused resentment in the tourism industry at the end of June 2020 with a new entry procedure that was introduced at very short notice, other holiday countries have now followed suit and also require advance registration. This is already the case in Spain, Italy and Cyprus (south), for example. Anyone wishing to enter Greece must complete a questionnaire online at least 48 hours before the scheduled date. A QR code is then sent to them, which must be shown either in printed form or digitally on a smartphone. The airlines were instructed by NOTAM to check the presence of the barcode before departure at the check-in counter or during boarding. Anyone who appears at a Greek border crossing without this QR code - regardless of whether by air, sea or land - risks being turned away and a fine of 500 euros. Greece carries out random PCR tests for the coronavirus. The costs for this are borne by the state, but it may happen that you are not allowed to leave the hotel until a negative result is available. Cyprus introduced the so-called “Cyprus Flight Pass”. This must be applied for online no later than 24 hours before departure. There are no further measures for travelers coming from countries listed by the government as Category A countries. If you come from Category B, you may be refused the issue of the Cyprus Flight Pass or be required to present a negative COVID-19 test taken in advance.

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