January 26, 2021

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January 26, 2021

Nose landing gear: Pegasus A320neo crashed in Basel

At Basel-Mulhouse Airport on Tuesday shortly after 12:00 p.m. there was a landing accident involving an Airbus A320neo operated by the Turkish airline Pegasus. According to initial information, the nose gear of the TC-NBH malfunctioned. No one was injured in the incident. However, the tires on the nose gear burst. Based on the abrasion marks visible in photos, it is suspected that this may have blocked. The local authorities are now investigating the cause of the incident and the Airbus A320neo. The TC-NBH was en route from Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen to Basel-Mulhouse. Flight PC939 is said to have proceeded without problems - apart from the landing. Pegasus sent the TC-NBN as a replacement aircraft to pick up the passengers who were booked from Basel-Mulhouse to Istanbul-SAW. Due to the incident, the runway was temporarily closed. Pegasus did not comment on the matter.

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Aviation Summit: focus on vaccinations and tests

On Tuesday, an aviation summit chaired by State Secretary Magnus Brunner was held at the invitation of the Austrian Climate Protection Ministry. The Vida trade union also took part in the conference, which was held online due to the corona pandemic. Aviation has been hit by the corona crisis like hardly any other industry. The number of airlines flying to Vienna has almost halved from 75 to 38. Flight movements in Austria decreased by over 64 percent, while the number of passengers at domestic airports even decreased by three quarters. "Due to the severe impact, attempts were made at national and European level to support the aviation sector as best as possible in this crisis. Nevertheless, the gross value added of aviation in Austria fell by 2,54 billion euros, almost halving," said the Climate Protection Ministry in a press release. Employee representatives report that short-time work has made it possible to keep employment in the badly affected industry comparatively stable. "A corresponding extension of short-time work IV is therefore appropriate. Otherwise, Austria is threatened with job cuts, with long-term migration and, as a result, a sustained shortage of highly qualified staff when aviation starts up again after the end of the pandemic," says Vida department head Daniel Liebhart. "The federal government has launched numerous support measures in response to the crisis. Measures such as short-time work and the investment premium also benefited the aviation industry. Thanks to short-time work, 95 percent of jobs in the industry were able to be retained, but the crisis still claimed almost 2.300 jobs," said State Secretary Magnus Brunner (ÖVP). "The pandemic has made time in

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Vereinigung Cockpit and Tuifly start mediation

The management of the holiday airline Tuifly and the pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit have now been able to agree on mediation. This is now being prepared and is scheduled to take place in February 2021. The fronts between the employer and the union have been hardened for several months. In addition to the financial crisis contribution, the VC is also demanding protection against dismissal for the pilots. The Tui Group was saved from collapse in several tranches with state aid amounting to several billion euros. "It is good that the standstill is finally over and we can work on a solution again," says Marcel Gröls, who is responsible for collective bargaining policy on the VC board. "We look forward to constructive discussions and are confident that management is as interested in an agreement as we are." The company's most recent plans included massively reducing the fleet and jobs at Tuifly. In the cockpits, around 50 percent of the workforce, and thus up to 270 pilots, are threatened with dismissal, according to the pilots' union.

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Chamber of Labor: You should pay attention to this when booking a vacation

Anyone who books their vacation now in Corona times should be careful and take uncertain factors into account. Travel warnings apply to almost all countries in the world! Sometimes, cancellations cannot be made later for free. The AK advises: book at short notice. If possible, agree in writing in the contract that cancellation is free of charge up until the start of the trip. Attention: If, on the other hand, the organizer cancels the trip, no cancellation fees may be charged! Book your vacation now - this is what you should consider: Find out about the current status of security warnings and further developments in the individual countries on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Book trips at short notice and do not make too high advance payments. The deposit may not be more than 20 percent of the trip price. Any amounts above this may not be insured in the event of insolvency! Find out about the cancellation fees for a trip before booking. It would be ideal if you could agree in writing with the contractual partner that cancellation is free of charge up until the start of the trip. Keep travel documents. Many travel cancellation insurance policies have an exclusion clause in their contracts in the event of a pandemic or epidemic. The insurance then generally does not cover any cancellation costs resulting from the cancellation or termination of a trip. Package tour - this is what you should bear in mind when booking: Travel price refunded: If the trip is cancelled by the tour operator, no cancellation fee is due. You can request a refund of the entire travel price. You do not have to accept a voucher or rebooking. No free cancellation: Be careful, as there is an increased risk of corona in almost all countries, you must take this into account when booking in the middle of the corona crisis.

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Around 100 flight students are suing Lufthansa Aviation Training

According to the Cockpit Association, around 100 student pilots are suing Lufthansa Aviation Training for fulfillment of the training contracts they have concluded in order to be able to continue and complete their training. The cases are being heard before the Frankfurt am Main Labor Court. The background to this is that the Kranich subsidiary wants to outsource the majority of its cadets to external providers and justifies this with the declining demand for pilots for its group-owned airlines due to the corona pandemic. As far as the Cockpit Association is aware, no student pilot in the training course for the MPL license, which qualifies for flying in the cockpit at Lufthansa Passage, has yet accepted LAT's "outsourcing offer". "The young people do not want to be forced into a unilateral change to their training contracts. If they were outsourced to external flight schools, they would be at a disadvantage in that they would no longer meet the criteria for direct employability at Lufthansa and would therefore have to go through a new selection process with high failure rates. This direct employability at Lufthansa has always been an elementary component in the recruitment of new student pilots. For the majority of them, it was crucial in deciding on the expensive and demanding training at Lufthansa. For this reason, their training must also take place at the Lufthansa pilot school in Bremen, as per the contract,” the VC wrote in a press release. At the moment, LAT only wants to continue training those flight students who have already successfully completed their training phase in Phoenix (USA). However, the company is now demanding up to 35.000 euros from them. This has not been the case so far and, in the VC’s view, represents a

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ANA puts Vienna and Munich on hold

It has not yet been determined when the Japanese All Nippon Airways will return to Vienna and Munich. According to the carrier, the resumption of the two connections to Tokyo is still on hold. Demand is "continued to be monitored very closely and responded to flexibly". The Tokyo Nariata-Düsseldorf route is to remain suspended until October 30, 2021. The destinations Stockholm, Milan-Malpensa, Moscow and Istanbul will also be postponed. The daily connection between Tokyo Haneda and Frankfurt am Main is to continue to operate. Those long-haul connections that will continue to be served are to be increasingly served with Boeing 787s. The use of this model is expected to bring ANA cost advantages. For the 2021 financial year, the airline expects the domestic routes to generate the majority of its earnings. In Japan, the network is being reorganized to be able to serve routes with higher demand in particular. Carrier hopes for business within Japan On ANA's domestic routes, all changes or suspensions to the flight schedule are reviewed and published monthly due to the ongoing effects of Covid-19. As soon as an increase in demand is expected, the airline can react quickly and flexibly and either increase the flight frequency or serve the route with larger aircraft. The large aircraft used in domestic operations will also be retired early. Aircraft for international routes will also be temporarily used on domestic routes. Operating smaller and medium-sized aircraft reduces costs, so the use of larger aircraft will be reduced by 50 percent compared to the previous financial year. Depending on demand, the company will continue to reduce the number of flights on the

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Photo gallery: This is how the AUA-B777 OE-LPD is doing in Teruel

With the OE-LPD, Austrian Airlines transferred its newest Boeing 777-200 to what is known as long-term storage in Spain. The long-haul jet will probably remain parked in Teruel for a year. There, the "Spirit of Austria" will join numerous Airbus A340-600s and Airbus A380s from Lufthansa, among others. Half of the parent company's superjumbo fleet is already in long-term storage in Teruel. The remaining aircraft will be transferred from Frankfurt to the Spanish airport within the next few days. In the photo gallery below, which was provided by Austrian Airlines, you can see the OE-LPD and the overall situation at Teruel Airport:

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Viennese startup wants to bring flat-rate airline into the air

A Viennese startup wants to launch a new airline with a flat-rate tariff model in April 2020. For a fixed monthly fee, customers will be able to use a certain number of flights. Rented Airbus A319 and A321 aircraft will be used. SupremeFly is based in Vienna's first district, but does not want to start from Schwechat, but from Bratislava. The company explains to Aviation Direct: "Bratislava Letisko is primarily more cost-effective in terms of operations and more flexible in terms of flight handling." The first route is expected to go to Istanbul from April 2021. Other destinations to be added this year are: Tunis/Algiers, Cairo, Marrakesh, Beirut, Amman and Benghazi. Company founder Ahmed Taieb intends to continuously expand the route network over the next few years: "The upcoming destinations targeted for 2022/23 include Jeddah, Berlin, Cologne/Bonn, London, Paris, Madrid, Moscow, Kiev, among others." Flat rate models between 79 and 999 euros per month The business model provides for three flat rate models. The cheapest will cost 79 euros per month and includes four flights per month to two destinations. The family package includes up to eight flights, in-flight catering and the transport of children up to five years old for 149 euros per month. For 999 euros per month there is unlimited flying on the route network, in-flight catering, transfer to/from Bratislava, WiFi and lounge access at the Slovakian capital airport. At the moment, SupremeFly is not collecting any binding registrations with payment obligations, only non-binding expressions of interest. As soon as things get started, interested parties will be contacted and can then decide whether they want to book or not. The business model and how the idea came about

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Biden reintroduces entry bans

That was to be expected: New US President Joe Biden has renewed the entry ban for Europeans. And even expanded it. Because from now on, the tightened measures to protect against a mutation of the coronavirus also apply to foreign travelers from South Africa. "The national emergency caused by the coronavirus outbreak in the United States continues to pose a serious threat to our health and safety," says the proclamation signed by Biden yesterday. "This is not the right time to lift restrictions on international travel," the White House spokeswoman is quoted as saying by ORF. About a week ago, outgoing US President Donald Trump ordered an end to the entry ban, which has now lasted for almost ten months. 

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Balearic Islands: Ibiza will be closed

The Balearic government is pulling the ripcord and tightening the Corona measures again. Going out is only possible under certain exceptions until at least January 30th. Only essential trips are now permitted. These include visits to the doctor, caring for relatives, professional duties, visits to educational institutions, visits to authorities and the like. The police will significantly increase controls at the port and at the airport. The Corona pandemic has hit Mallorca's neighboring island significantly in recent days. At Christmas there was a 14-day incidence of 159 cases per 100.000 inhabitants, but there are now 1.970 cases, making it the highest incidence of any of the Balearic Islands during the entire pandemic. Formentera is also being hit similarly hard. The highest Corona warning level has also recently been imposed there, reports mallorcazeitung.es.

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