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October 11th 2021

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October 11th 2021

Montenegro Airlines is taking off as a rental car provider

Amely Mizzi 11 October 2021 19:39

The insolvent airline Montenegro Airlines is returning to passenger transport. Initially not in the air, but under the leadership of the insolvency administrator, the company is entering the rental car business and providing drivers. The insolvency administrator announced that a new transfer service has been launched. Montenegro Airlines offers trips in minibuses with a capacity of between eight and 18 seats. This measure is intended to generate income for the insolvency estate. At the same time, it was also announced that all Montenegro Airlines sales offices are resuming operations. These are to sell package tours and tickets for other airlines as well as the new transfer services. In the future, the company also plans to offer tourists excursions that can be booked in the offices. Since the insolvent carrier no longer flies itself, it is acting as a travel agent. It was recently announced that the administrator in Belgrade has applied for approval as a Part 145 maintenance facility. In the future, the company plans to offer services for the Embraer 195 and Fokker 100 models. According to the company, the first contracts with airlines have already been signed.

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Rail & Fly: Tour operators are liable for train delays

Jan Gruber 11 October 2021 19:06

The German Federal Court of Justice had to deal with the question of whether tour operators are liable if passengers who use included Rail&Fly services miss their flight due to a train delay. The court ruled in favor of the travelers. However, it depends largely on the form in which the service is offered or sold. The Federal Court of Justice takes the view that if this is included and advertised as a kind of "advantage", then it is part of the package tour contract. The consequence of this: the tour operator is liable for train delays. According to a statement from the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations, the case concerned a case from 2017. Two travelers had booked a package tour including Rail&Fly. The brochure contained, among other things, the following slogan: "Advantage: Train to flight 2nd class including use of the ICE." According to information obtained by the plaintiffs from the railway company, they were supposed to arrive at Düsseldorf Airport at 5:29 a.m. if the train departed from their home station at 9:27 a.m. In fact, the plaintiffs did not reach the airport until 11:35 a.m. By this time, the boarding process had already been completed. The plaintiffs were turned away and could no longer reach the plane, which took off on time. In a telephone call shortly after the plane took off, the defendant offered the plaintiffs the opportunity to book a replacement flight for an additional charge of 2.400 euros. The plaintiffs refused and began their journey home. With the lawsuit, they are seeking reimbursement of the travel price and compensation for lost holiday enjoyment amounting to 50 percent of the travel price. The Federal Court of Justice has now ruled that if the travel brochure describes a

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Hong Kong: Greater Bay Airlines has AOC in its pocket

Amely Mizzi 11 October 2021 18:33

Greater Bay Airlines is a new airline taking to the skies in Hong Kong. The necessary certificates were issued on October 8, 2021 by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Chinese Special Administrative Region. The Donghai United Group is involved in the new company. The group also holds 25 percent of the Chinese Donghai Airlines. Greater Bay will initially start with a Boeing 737-800. Two more units are to be added in the course of 2022. The fleet is expected to grow to 2026 aircraft by 30. Greater Bay Airlines has not yet started selling tickets. Subject to official approval, the airline plans to initially fly to Singapore, Bangkok and Phuket. The start of operations is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2021. According to the airline's own information, route rights for a total of 104 destinations have been applied for.

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Fewer flight attendants, more service - Swiss criticized

Jan Gruber 11 October 2021 18:05

According to the Kapers union, more personal service while reducing the number of flight attendants in Swiss business class is not possible. The cabin crew would be overworked. Swiss has overhauled the service concept in business class. What is new is that each C-class flight attendant is responsible for around 12 passengers and only looks after them. Previously, they were served together. At the same time, the number of flight attendants working in long-haul business class has been reduced. According to the Kapers union, the concept does not work in practice. It would "simply not be feasible". The fact that management wants to make the service "more personal" means that the previous division of tasks is no longer applicable. The result of this is that there would be stress and chaos in the galley. This is also said to be exacerbated by the fact that there is one less flight attendant available and, on top of that, the food and drinks have to be served individually - i.e. not from the trolley. Kapers also accuses Swiss of not taking into account concerns and criticism from the flight attendants and the union. Rather, they are stubbornly sticking to the new concept in the premium classes. When asked, a spokesperson indicated that there will be "necessary adjustments".

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Vietnam resumes domestic flights

Jan Gruber 11 October 2021 17:31

The government of Vietnam largely shut down domestic air traffic due to the Delta variant. Now it is starting up again. For around three months there were almost no domestic flights, because these were only allowed to take place under very specific circumstances. On Sunday the time had come: Vietnam Airlines flew under VN214 from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. This meant that domestic traffic was resumed. However, domestic flight connections may only be used by people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or who have recovered. In addition, a seven-day home quarantine must also be undertaken domestically. The government of Vietnam wants to use this to contain the further spread of the coronavirus. This easing has little impact on tourists, because there is still a travel ban. There are plans to reactivate tourism on the islands first, but this has not yet been finally decided. The time horizon for a possible gradual opening is November 2021.

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Green Airlines has launched the 25-year-old Metroliner

Jan Gruber 11 October 2021 16:07

The French airline Chalair did not operate the charter flights of the ticket seller Green Airlines over the weekend for reasons that were not communicated in detail. The German company, which has had to face accusations of greenwashing in recent months, chartered at short notice from PAD Aviation and North Flying. The booking situation for flights between Paderborn and Sylt vv was not exactly great. On Friday, Green Airlines commissioned an Embraer Phenom 300 from PAD Aviation. On Sunday, however, the OY-NPG from North Flying was used. The last-mentioned aircraft is a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner, which was flown from Aalborg to Paderborn. From there, the 26-year-old turboprop aircraft operated Green Airlines' charter flights. The number of passengers was extremely low on both Friday and Sunday. Contrary to what its name would suggest, Green Airlines is not an airline, but a sales company that charters aircraft and markets the seats on its own account. With North Flying, the company is once again using a different airline. In the past, Green Airlines has had to change its “flight partners” noticeably often.

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Russia: Let L-410 crashed near Menselinsk

Jan Gruber 11 October 2021 15:06

A Let L-410 turboprop aircraft crashed in Menzelinsk (Russia) on Sunday. There were 23 people on board, including the crew. According to official information, at least seven people survived. The aircraft, which was configured as a transport aircraft, was actually supposed to carry parachutists to the jump. For reasons that are not yet clear, the RF-94591 crashed to the ground and, according to eyewitnesses, then caught fire. Local media reports, among other things, that a technical problem may have occurred, as the cockpit crew attempted an emergency landing. Unfortunately, this was not successful. Some of the survivors are said to be seriously injured.

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Again chaos and long queues at BER

Jan Gruber 11 October 2021 14:09

Compared to the time "before Corona", the number of passengers at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport is still manageable, but it still seems to be overwhelming. There were long queues on Saturday morning, but these are of our own making. In the Ground Services area, too few staff were deployed and at the same time many airlines believe that they have to force their passengers to the check-in counter under the guise of "document checks". An activity that - unless there are different official regulations in the destination country - could also be carried out during boarding. A spokesman for BER emphasized that the airlines themselves are responsible for the speed at the check-in counters. Some passengers reported that waiting times of over two hours were not uncommon. Many travelers also had to be patient at the baggage carousels. Currently, only Terminal 1 is in operation at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. The handling complexes 2 and 5 are not being used due to the low number of passengers. Furthermore, many employees at both the operating company and numerous service providers are on short-time work.

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Government confirms: Air India goes to Tata Sons

Amely Mizzi 11 October 2021 13:07

For many years, the Indian government tried to sell the state carrier Air India, which had already run into difficulties before the corona pandemic. Now the airline is going to the Tata Sons group. There has been speculation for several days that the group of companies mentioned will be awarded the contract. Tata plans to merge its own holdings and subsidiaries with Air India. The Indian government has now given the green light for the merger. The purchase price will be around two billion euros. This means Air India is finding its way back to the founding family, as the carrier was originally founded in the 1930s as Tata Airlines. It was nationalized in the 1950s. Low-cost airlines, among others, put Air India under increasing pressure. The government originally only wanted to partially privatize it, but has now decided to sell it completely. The low-cost airline Spicejet also bid, but lost.

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India resumes issuing tourist visas

Jan Gruber 11 October 2021 12:09

India wants to gradually reopen to tourism. The Interior Ministry announced that visas for tourists will be issued again from Friday. The move is justified by the fact that around two-thirds of the population have antibodies. These are said to result from previous illnesses and vaccinations. This was determined based on a large-scale study. India now wants to reopen to tourists - after a "break" of almost one and a half years. The entry regulations for holidaymakers have not yet been finally published. However, it can be assumed that full vaccination against Covid-19 will be a basic condition for obtaining a visa and entering the subcontinent.

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