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August 9, 2021

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August 9, 2021

Winter flight schedule: Ryanair is expanding in Karlsruhe

Jan Gruber August 9, 2021 13:05

The low-cost airline Ryanair is increasing its 2021/22 winter flight schedule from Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden. Among other things, the Portuguese capital Lisbon will now be offered twice a week. The carrier also plans to fly from this airport to Tenerife South, Stockholm-Arlanda, Seville, Kiev-Borispil, Fes, Valencia, Agadir and Zagreb. The connections will mainly be operated by the subsidiary Malta Air. The Zagreb route will also be served by aircraft from Lauda Europe. Not all of the routes that Ryanair has announced as "new routes" are actually a first in the FKB flight schedule. The low-cost carrier had already offered many of them in the past, but had abandoned them for various reasons. Some were also served by competitors.

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Hot iron: United introduces mandatory vaccination

Amely Mizzi August 9, 2021 10:00

Following Cathay Pacific, United Airlines is now also introducing compulsory vaccination for its workforce. Previously, like competitor Delta, it only required this for new hires. Anyone who cannot prove that they are fully immunized by autumn now risks losing their job at the Star Alliance member. Hardly any topic has been more controversially discussed in the industry in recent months than a possible compulsory vaccination for airline and airport employees. While Qantas stated very early on that it only wants to transport vaccinated passengers in the future and recently also announced a requirement for staff, possible obligations have so far only applied to new hires. Delta and Air Baltic, for example, have communicated this in this way. A few weeks ago, Cathay Pacific was the first airline in the world to inform its workforce that they must provide proof of full vaccination against Covid-2021 by the end of August 19. Otherwise, their employment may even be terminated. In contrast to mainland China, the vaccination rate in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region remains significantly lower. The pressure that Cathay Pacific is putting on its staff is nevertheless high. In the United States of America, the issue of compulsory vaccination is considered constitutionally sensitive. Therefore, until recently, no airline had dared to tackle this “hot potato”. United Airlines is now making a start and is requiring its employees to show that they have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by the autumn. Around 67.000 people are affected. Although the memo states very discreetly: those who refuse can face termination of their employment contract. What seems to make sense from the point of view of combating the pandemic could, however, be particularly dangerous in the United States.

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Tips: This is how entering Ukraine works

Jan Gruber August 9, 2021 09:35

A few days ago, Ukraine changed its entry regulations so that only fully vaccinated people can enter the country without any restrictions. Those who have been tested must also install the so-called Vdoma app and undergo another test in Ukraine within 72 hours. Alternatively, you can leave the country again within 72 hours. In any case, people who can show a negative antigen or PCR result upon entry can stay in Ukraine for up to 72 hours. Vaccinated people are not affected by this requirement. An insurance policy that covers corona diseases on Ukrainian territory must still be presented. This is sold extremely inexpensively via the official tourism website VisitUkraine.today. All information relevant to entry can be found there on a daily basis. Entering Ukraine at a glance: Which vaccines are accepted? You must be fully vaccinated. Accepted are: Pfizer / BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson's Janssen, AstraZeneca / Vaxzevria, AstraZeneca / Covishield (India), AstraZeneca / SKBio (South Korea), Moderna / Spikevax, Sinopharm, CoronaVac (Sinovac) Which proof is accepted? All national and international vaccination certificates, preferably in English, Ukrainian or Russian. How old can corona tests be at most? 72 hours from the swab Is insurance mandatory? Yes. The policy must be presented on paper or on a smartphone at the border control. Who has to take a second test in Ukraine? Anyone who is not fully vaccinated and wants to stay longer than 72 hours. Where can you find official information on entry and insurance? On the official homepage of the tourism office at this link. The graphic below is intended to explain the current regulations in a simplified manner:

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Austrian Airlines wants to get rid of even more employees

Amely Mizzi August 9, 2021 09:05

Last year, Austrian Airlines received state aid from the Republic of Austria and a loan guarantee. Since then, many jobs have been cut and now, according to company boss Alexis von Hoensbroech, another 500 jobs are to be cut. So far, the carrier has not announced any "real" layoffs, as many areas of the company are still on short-time work. Rather, these were voluntary resignations without replacements and golden handshakes. As a result of the closures of ground stations in the federal states, almost all those affected opted for the social plan and against a takeover by the airport subsidiary (Klagenfurt) or ISS (Linz). In Salzburg, there was no possibility of transferring to the airport. Innsbruck is thus the only AUA ground station that remains besides Vienna. Alexis von Hoensbroech explained that the number of employees fell from 6.999 employees in summer 2019 to 6.132 employees. This represents a decrease of around nine percent. But it will not stop there, because they want to get rid of around 500 more employees. This means that AUA has wanted to reduce its workforce by 1.350 full-time positions since the beginning of the corona pandemic. It is still unclear how this will be done, as it is not yet clear whether the goal can be achieved through natural fluctuation and golden handshakes. Redundancies cannot be ruled out, but this is nothing new, as Hoensbroech had already announced this some time ago. The union and the opposition criticize AUA's behavior and are disappointed that the government did not demand job guarantees when granting state aid.

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Vilnius: Heston fleets three Airbus A330s

Amely Mizzi August 9, 2021 08:30

The airline Heston Airlines will take over a total of three Airbus A2021-330s from mid-August 200. These will be purchased through the leasing company Avolon and will be used as both cargo and passenger aircraft. These are three long-haul jets that were previously used by Aeroflot under the registrations VQ-BBE, VQ-BBF and VQ-BBG, reports CH-Aviation.com. Two aircraft will initially fly as so-called Preighters and the third unit will be used for passenger flights from the start. At a later date, Heston plans to transport passengers with all three A330-200s. The carrier, based in Vilnius, was founded last year. The fleet currently consists of two Airbus A320s. The introduction of an identical aircraft has already been announced. The company specializes in providing ACMI and charter services. AOC and operating license were only granted in May 2021.

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Green Airlines now employs the public prosecutor

Jan Gruber August 9, 2021 08:05

After the ticket seller Green Airlines received the proverbial “blue letter” from German Airways, they chartered an ATR72 turboprop aircraft from the French Chalair for at least the past weekend. The capacity utilization of the flights, however, had absolutely nothing to do with “green”. For example, there were only a single-digit number of passengers on the Friday flight. However, this is unlikely to be an isolated case, as sources at Paderborn Airport have said that previously there were “a maximum of around 190 passengers” on board the Embraer 30. There were “almost never any outliers at the top, but rather down into the single-digit range”. The new PAD boss Roland Hüser told the Westfalen-Blatt newspaper that the capacity utilization was around “30 to 40 percent”, which largely corresponds to the figures given. According to Chalair, the flights for last weekend were put on sale at a time when no contract had been signed. The company also did not want to confirm that the flights would be operated on behalf of the ticket seller next weekend. No comment was made. Karlsruhe Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating Green Airlines' business practices could also have repercussions on another "frontier", as the Karlsruhe Public Prosecutor's Office is conducting an investigation against the managing director in connection with Green Airlines' activities. The authority is apparently taking a closer look to see whether there is criminal conduct in connection with charter flights that have been sold but not paid for by Green Airlines to the operating carriers or not even contracted. This is clear from the letter from Aviation Direct that was made available to Aviation Direct.

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UK: Ryanair announces Newcastle base

Amely Mizzi August 9, 2021 07:35

Low-cost airline Ryanair has announced the opening of a new base in Newcastle. With two Boeing 737s stationed there, 63 weekly flights to 19 destinations are to be operated. The service is scheduled to begin operations in March 2022. Among other destinations, the low-cost airline will then fly from the UK city to Ibiza, Menorca, Zadar, Paphos, Chania, Bergamo, Riga, Fuerteventura, Tenerife South, Las Palmas and Krakow. In the 2021/22 winter schedule, without a stationed aircraft, there are 22 flights to seven destinations from Newcastle. "We saw huge demand for travel from Newcastle this summer as British customers flocked to the beaches of Spain and Portugal, and now customers will have a much wider choice next summer with these 12 new routes," said company boss Eddie Wilson.

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Again: Wizz Air postpones the Salzburg comeback again

Jan Gruber August 9, 2021 07:03

The low-cost airline Wizz Air Hungary is postponing its comeback in Salzburg again. After countless delays, Kyiv-Zhulyany and St. Petersburg were supposed to be served from mid-September 2021, but this time too, nothing will happen. In the summer of last year, Wizz Air started serving destinations from Austria's second-largest airport at short notice. After just a few weeks, the carrier stopped flights again and has since then regularly postponed the resumption of services from Salzburg. Kyiv-Zhulyany and St. Petersburg were supposed to be served from September 2020, but even a one-year delay will not happen. Salzburg will now only be served from the capital of Ukraine from March 28, 2022. St. Petersburg has been postponed to December 17, 2021. Varna, which was postponed by around a year shortly before the first flight, is still planned for June 13, 2022. The routes to the Balkan region that were served at short notice last year will no longer be reactivated. Given the frequency of changes to the start dates of Wizz Air routes planned for Salzburg, it remains to be seen whether the dates now made public by the carrier will hold or whether they will be pushed back again.

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