February 15, 2022

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February 15, 2022

Singapore Airlines uses sustainable fuel on flights from Singapore

Singapore Airlines, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore CAAS and Singapore-based global investment company Temasek have selected ExxonMobil as their supplier for a pilot project to supply sustainable jet fuel (SAF). Starting in the third quarter of 2022, all Singapore Airlines and Scoot flights from Singapore will use sustainable jet fuel. The one-year pilot project is expected to save around 2.500 tonnes of CO2 emissions. As part of this pilot project, Singapore Airlines, with the support of CAAS and Temasek, will purchase blended SAF from ExxonMobil. For this purpose, Neste, the Finnish renewable fuels manufacturer, will supply 1,25 million litres of undiluted and unblended fuel made from used cooking oil and waste animal fats. This will then be blended with refined jet fuel at ExxonMobil's facilities in Singapore and delivered to Changi Airport via the airport's existing hydrant system by the end of July 2022. “Sustainable fuels are an important lever for decarbonisation and a critical step for the Singapore Airlines Group to achieve our commitment to net zero emissions by 2050. This pilot project underlines our commitment to decarbonisation and sustainability across all areas of our business. By working with our partners, we can accelerate and expand the adoption of sustainable fuels in Singapore,” said Lee Wen Fen, Senior Vice President, Corporate Planning at Singapore Airlines.

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Tunisia is also relaxing entry requirements

Tunisia is once again relaxing its entry requirements: As of today, fully vaccinated passengers no longer have to show a corona test. All that is required for entry is a vaccination certificate or proof of complete vaccination against the corona virus, as touristik-aktuell.de reports. Tourists who have been vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson can enter 28 days after the vaccination, all others 14 days after the second vaccination. The following applies to unvaccinated and not fully vaccinated travelers aged six and over: They must present a negative PCR test that must not be older than 48 hours at check-in, or present a negative rapid test that is no more than 24 hours old. According to the tourist office, rapid test or PCR test samples can be carried out upon entry. If these are positive, those entering the country must go into a five-day quarantine. If symptoms occur, this is extended by a further two days, it says. In addition, all those entering the country must fill out the Tunisian Ministry of Health's entry form online and print out and sign the two resulting documents in duplicate. According to the Tourist Office, the documents will be checked at check-in and must then be handed over to representatives of the Ministry of Health upon arrival.

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American flight attendant overpowers troublemaker with coffee pot

With the help of a coffee pot, an American Airlines flight attendant stopped a passenger who was trying to force his way into the cockpit. The captain decided to land in Kansas City immediately. There, the troublemaker was "greeted" and arrested by the police and FBI. The incident occurred on Sunday on an American Airlines flight 1775 from Los Angeles to Washington DC. At first everything was very quiet, but then a man tried to force his way into the cockpit. A flight attendant and four volunteer passengers then did everything they could to calm the troublemaker down. But it didn't really help. In desperation, a flight attendant grabbed a coffee pot and hit the troublemaker several times. This temporarily incapacitated him. In the cockpit, there was serious concern about the situation in the cabin, as could also be heard on the radio. The plane was able to land in Kansas City without further incident. The troublemaker was taken into custody by the police and FBI there. The background to his behavior is completely unclear. However, according to initial local reports, there is no suspicion of terrorism. The airline American Airlines stated, among other things: "We are grateful to our crew members who are always committed to the safety and care of our customers and who mastered the circumstances with the utmost competence and professionalism."

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ÖHV hotel sales study: Direct booking increases again in the crisis

Almost 7 out of 10 overnight stays are booked directly at the hotel. "The fact that the saying 'better direct' is not an empty phrase when booking hotels has been proven again during the pandemic," says Markus Gratzer, Secretary General of the Austrian Hotel Association (ÖHV), summarizing the results of a recent hotel sales study: 68,7 percent of bookings in the crisis year of 2021 were made via direct channels such as website, email or telephone: an increase of 7 percentage points compared to 2019! The sales study was prepared on behalf of the ÖHV by the renowned Swiss economic and tourism researcher Roland Schegg from the HES-SO Valais-Wallis: "The background to this development is changing guest needs. Especially in sensitive times, guests have a greater need for information. The direct contact person in the hotel is absolutely a reason to choose this route," explains Schegg. In addition, the guest structure has changed during the pandemic: there were fewer foreign guests and hardly any guests from long-distance markets, who traditionally tend to book via online booking platforms.

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Airport Association ADV: Omikron wave brakes travel requests

The first few weeks of 2022 show that the coronavirus pandemic continues to have a hold on airports. The still high number of infections and travel restrictions are slowing down demand. The years 2020 and 2021 already led to sharp drops in traffic. In 2021, only just over 30 percent of the pre-crisis passenger numbers were reached. Compared to the pre-crisis level in 2019, this was 170 million fewer passengers. Nevertheless, optimism for a reversal of the trend and hopes for easing of restrictions, which will also benefit air traffic, prevail. Currently, the weekly volume at all German airports combined is only just over a million passengers. "The pandemic is still depressing overall volume. We are now only at a third of normal levels. Airlines are currently continuing to cut back on their services because demand simply cannot recover due to the pandemic. The complicated travel restrictions and the high number of infections caused by the Omicron wave are hampering demand from passengers. A constantly changing patchwork of country-specific Corona regulations is unsettling travelers. High numbers of cases in the travel destinations are also proving to be a demand killer," says Ralph Beisel, General Manager of the Airport Association ADV. Nevertheless, representative surveys by the Airport Association ADV show that people's need for mobility is unbroken. The key factors for booking a flight are the easing of official travel restrictions. "There is a large pent-up demand for vacation travel. We are currently hoping for a revival for Easter travel. The easing of Corona requirements decided in many countries gives us hope," says Beisel. In the cargo sector, volumes have declined slightly for the first time in over a year, but are still well over 100.000 tons per week. For

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VIE: Passenger numbers at about half of pre-crisis levels

Vienna Airport continued to handle significantly fewer passengers at the beginning of the year than before the corona crisis, but recorded a significant increase compared to January last year. The number of travelers, at 819.674 passengers, was four times more than in January 2021, but was 55,2 percent below the pre-crisis level of January 2019, the airport announced on Tuesday. At Vienna Airport, the number of local passengers fell by 2019 percent compared to the pre-crisis month of January 56,1, and the number of transfer passengers by 52,2 percent. Flight movements were down 46,1 percent and freight volumes by 2,1 percent. The passenger numbers of the Vienna Airport Group, including Malta Airport and Kosice Airport, were still 2022 percent below the pre-crisis level (January 55,4) in January 2019, but at 991.442 travelers, they were more than four times higher than in January of the previous year. At Malta Airport, passenger volume fell by 2019 percent compared to January 56,5. Kosice Airport recorded a 52,6 percent decline in travelers.

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Summer 2022: Springer Reisen flies with Austrian Airlines and Avanti Air

The Austrian tour operator Springer Reisen is offering numerous charter flights from Vienna, Graz and Klagenfurt in the 2022 summer flight schedule. Austrian Airlines will fly for the tour operator from the capital. Avanti Air will be used from Graz and Klagenfurt. Springer Reisen also combines the charter flights with ship transfers and thus offers vacation trips to numerous Greek islands. From Vienna, the destinations Skopelos and Alonissos are on offer. Austrian Airlines flies to Skiathos. From this island, passengers are transported on by ship. Santorini is also in the program with AUA. From there, transfers by ship are offered to Naxos and Paros as well as to the small Cyclades such as Amorgos, Folegandros, Koufonissi, Milos, Sifnos and Tinos. Kefalonia is also offered with Austrian Airlines. According to Springer Reisen, a private transfer to the hotel is included for this destination. The Skiathos flights from Vienna are offered on Saturday and Tuesday. From May 28, 2022 to September 24, 2022, flights will take place on Saturdays and from July 5 to September 6, 2022, flights will also take place on Tuesdays. There will be three flights to Santorini per week. From May 21, 2022 to October 29, 2022, flights will take place on Saturdays, from July 3, 2022 to August 28, 2022, flights will take place on Sundays, and from May 31, 2022 to October 25, 2022, flights will take place on Tuesdays. Austrian Airlines scheduled flights are also available for an additional charge. Kefalonia will be offered by AUA on Fridays from June 17 to September 16, 2022. Medium-haul Airbus A320 jets will be used. Flight times:

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Vietnam allows vaccinated people to enter the country again

Vietnam is allowing travelers from abroad who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus to enter the country again. The restrictions "on the transport of passengers on scheduled and unscheduled flights" will be lifted from Tuesday, the Vietnamese Civil Aviation Authority announced. All travelers must be fully vaccinated and observe a three-day quarantine at home or in a hotel. The country had been virtually isolated from the outside world since March 2020, which was a severe blow to the Southeast Asian country's economy, which is heavily dependent on tourism. In recent months, travel restrictions have been slowly relaxed.

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ANA will stay away from Vienna and Düsseldorf until at least the end of June 2022

The Japanese All Nippon Airways will not return to Vienna-Schwechat until at least June 30, 2022. The carrier announced that the route offered from Tokyo-Haneda before the corona pandemic will remain suspended. ANA did not give an exact date for the resumption. Although July 1, 2022 is being evaluated, this date has not been given as a binding date. In addition to Vienna, the Düsseldorf flights will also remain suspended. In Frankfurt am Main, however, the offer is being increased. All Nippon Airways temporarily suspended passenger flights between Haneda and Vienna shortly after the start of the corona pandemic. The resumption has been announced again and again, but "something" always got in the way - in the form of tightened entry and quarantine regulations. Japan practices particularly strict rules for entry and - apart from a few exceptions - mostly only allows its own citizens and people with residence permits into the country.

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Volotea goes into summer 2022 with a record offer

The low-cost airline Volotea says it is offering the most extensive summer schedule in the company's history. The carrier plans to add between 40 and 45 new routes. It also announced the opening of two new bases. According to the company, it has increased its capacity to 11 million seats, 41 percent more than in summer 2019. Volotea forecasts that it will carry between nine and 9,5 million passengers this year. "We expect the sector to begin to recover from the effects of the 5th wave from Easter and that demand will gradually grow until the summer season from April to October, by which time we expect to operate 41 percent more capacity than in 2019 before the pandemic. We made this decision after analyzing the latent demand in our markets and after maintaining an average seat occupancy rate of over 2020 percent since June 90," explains company boss Carlos Muñoz. A new base is being built in Lille, France. The airline has been present at this airport for around ten years and now wants to expand its offering with stationed Airbus jets. Volotea plans to offer around five million seats from France in the 2022 summer flight schedule. According to the airline, this is 54 percent more than in the same period in 2019. The share of French activities in the group's turnover is estimated at around 49 percent. However, Volotea is also closing a base, as it will no longer have any aircraft and crews in Genoa, Italy. In the past, the airline had spoken of this

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