February 22, 2022

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February 22, 2022

Langenlebarn: Austrian Army takes over upgraded “Black Hawk”

On Tuesday, the Austrian Armed Forces received the third retrofitted S-70 "Black Hawk" transport helicopter from Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (ÖVP) at Brumowski Air Base. "I am pleased that we have succeeded in giving new impetus to this necessary modernization of our 'Black Hawk' helicopters. Three 'Black Hawks' have now been converted and are available in Austria. Two more were shipped to the USA after the contract was adjusted, where the series conversion is being carried out by the contractor. The remaining four are being modified at Fliegerwerft 1 in Austria. With the purchase of three more 'Black Hawks', we should then have all twelve available in Austria by 2025, using the latest technology," said the government member. On June 1, 2017, the contract was signed with the US company "ACE Aeronautics", whose offer included a completely new cockpit in addition to the replacement of individual technical components with limited usability, and nevertheless emerged as the best bidder from the competition. With this modification, the entire system, i.e. the entire cockpit, is replaced instead of individual avionics systems. Systems were also replaced that would only have needed to be replaced in the coming years. This means that no further upgrades are necessary for a long period of time. Due to this measure, it is expected that the availability and selective component replacement will be associated with significantly lower technical and therefore financial expenditure in the future. The new system is based on the integrated G5000H cockpit from Garmin, which meets all requirements for the use of airspace according to visual and instrument flight rules, in particular GPS-based approach procedures, now and in the future.

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Air Baltic suspends night flights to Ukraine

Last night, events surrounding the Ukraine crisis unfolded rapidly. The Latvian airline is reacting to the tense situation and temporarily suspending night flights to and from Ukraine until the end of the month. As a result of the temporary suspension, the airline has canceled five night flights between Kiev and Riga and two flights between Odessa and Riga. The affected passengers will be contacted promptly to offer them a rebooking on other connections, the airline said. Apart from that, Air Baltic will continue to offer flights from the Ukrainian capital to Riga and Vilnius. This week, there are daily connections between Kiev and Riga and two flights from Kiev to Vilnius on the program. "The safety of our passengers and employees is our highest priority. We assess the current situation before each flight and follow the recommendations of the official authorities. We are not taking any risks and are ready to adjust our flight schedule if necessary," it says in a press release.

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Salzburg: Eurowings takes on Stockholm

The airline Eurowings Europe will start a non-stop connection between Salzburg and Stockholm-Arlanda on May 28, 2022. This will initially be offered seasonally in the 2022 summer flight schedule. Eurowings Europe is currently planning to fly between the two cities once a week between May 28, 2022 and October 15, 2022. The service will take place on the Saturday of each day of operation. Eurowings Europe has a base in both Salzburg and Stockholm-Arlanda. The Austrian company is to be transferred to the new Maltese Eurowings Europe Ltd. over the course of the year and will therefore fly under Maltese AOC in the future.

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Sea Cloud Cruises only allows boosters on board

From the upcoming 2022 summer season, the shipping company Sea Cloud Cruises, which sails under the Maltese flag, will only allow people on board who can prove that they have had three vaccinations against Covid-19. This applies to both passengers and crew. Sea Cloud Cruises will set sail in April 2022 with a total of three tall ships. According to the company, the company has made a voluntary commitment to only allow people on board who can prove that they have had a so-called booster vaccination. The company believes that this will offer passengers the greatest possible safety. In addition, participation in a rapid corona test is required when boarding. In addition, it is recommended that passengers undergo a PCR test at their own expense before departure. However, the latter is not a prerequisite for being able to take part in the trip.

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From March 1, 2022: Israel will again allow unvaccinated people to enter the country

From March 1, 2022, Israel also wants to allow unvaccinated tourists back into the country. In the future, there will no longer be a distinction between vaccinated, recovered and unvaccinated people. Everyone must present a negative PCR test upon entry. Immediately after landing at an Israeli airport, you must undergo another PCR test. Only for your own citizens is it not necessary to take such a test before departure abroad. Unvaccinated Israelis also do not have to go into quarantine. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett justified the decision, among other things, by saying that the corona situation has improved considerably and that this is now to be taken into account. He also pointed out that without easing the restrictions, the trust of the population would be at risk.

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Düsseldorf: Eurowings launches new winter routes

The airline Eurowings plans to add three new destinations from Düsseldorf in the 2022/23 winter flight schedule. These are Agadir, Luleå and Kiruna. The group's sister company EW Discover will serve the first-mentioned city in Morocco from Frankfurt and Munich. From Düsseldorf, Eurowings will fly to Agadir with interruptions on Sundays from October 30, 222. The group's sister company Eurowings Discover will fly to this destination twice a week from Frankfurt/Main (November 2, 2022) and Munich (November 3, 2022). The flight days from Germany's largest airport are Wednesday and Friday. From the Bavarian capital, flights will be operated on Thursdays and Sundays. Luleå (Sweden) will be offered by Eurowings from Düsseldorf from December 22, 2022. The destination will be served on Thursdays and Sundays. There are currently some interruptions in the flight schedule. Kiruna, which is also located in Sweden, will be served every Sunday from December 24, 2022. Eurowings Europe will launch two new warm water routes from its Stockholm-Arlanda base in May 2022. This is Larnaka, which will be served on Wednesdays and Sundays. Flights to Mykonos will be on Saturdays.

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Germany wants to make it easier for children to enter the country

The German government has apparently come to the realization that the almost complete coverage of the globe with Corona travel warnings is no longer putting off almost anyone. Now they want to revise the definition of "high-risk area". Contrary to many assurances, Germany bases this classification, which is automatically linked to a travel warning, exclusively on the seven-day incidence. In many European countries, this is currently in the four-digit range. It is therefore not surprising that an enormous number of countries have been given this "negative seal of approval". What was still partly understandable and possibly sensible with the Delta mutation, only creates confusion with Omikron. The German government wants to designate fewer countries as high-risk areas, effective from March 4, 2022. A current draft from the Federal Ministry of Health also shows that in future children under the age of twelve should also be exempted from quarantine if they come from high-risk areas. Above this age, the same rules as for adults should apply. According to the ministry's statement, high-risk areas will only be designated in the future if a more dangerous mutation than in Germany is circulating there. The consequence of this is that, according to the current information, Omikron is no longer relevant. For travelers, this means that, according to the current information, entry registration will no longer be required. There will also no longer be quarantine for vaccinated and recovered people. Unvaccinated children coming from high-risk areas should be able to test themselves free after five days. The regulations to be issued by Karl Lauterbach (SPD) are not yet final and definitive. In Germany, the Federal Minister of Health issues a so-called model regulation. The actual regulations are a matter for the state, so it is up to

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Norwegian considers refloating on Airbus

Only last year, Norwegian Air Shuttle was able to get rid of a large order that it had placed with Airbus. An insolvency procedure in Ireland played a significant role in this. Now the company is once again looking at aircraft from the European manufacturer. Norwegian was able to reach an agreement with Airbus to cancel the previous order quite easily, as the aircraft manufacturer was able to retain most of the advance payments that had already been made. On the other hand, a legal dispute was sparked with Boeing, as this manufacturer insists on US law and is not at all willing to take the existing Max order off the books almost free of charge. However, Norwegian needs new aircraft in the medium term. The atmosphere between the former "dream partners" is downright poisoned, as the airline is suing for around one billion US dollars in damages in both the USA and the UK. The background to this is the "teething problems" and delivery delays that were encountered at the beginning of the use of the Boeing 787 aircraft. In the meantime, all long-haul aircraft have been phased out and Boeing 737s are currently used almost exclusively within Europe. The conditions for replacing the existing 800 models with Max are therefore extremely poor. Norwegian knows this only too well, as its CEO confirmed this to the Reuters agency. The airline has therefore met with Airbus and is already negotiating a possible order from the European airline. The chances of an order from Airbus are therefore quite good. The company parted ways on good terms last year, as the deal that led to the cancellation of the 88 A320neos was said to have been quite good for the manufacturer. Norwegian is

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Helvetic will fly at least six machines for Swiss

The airline Helvetic Airways will fly a total of six Embraer jets on behalf of Swiss in the 2022 summer flight schedule. As reported, E195-E2s will also be used for the first time. Before the corona pandemic, Helvetic was in the air with eight Embraer 190-E1s for the Lufthansa subsidiary. The sharp drop in demand led to the temporary suspension of wet leasing, which, however, quickly started up again - on a reduced scale. The airline is currently flying with the Embraer 190-E2 aircraft type for Swiss. As reported, Helvetic Airways will soon also be flying with two units of the largest variant, the E195-E2, on wet lease for the Swiss Lufthansa subsidiary. Swiss confirmed on request that it will temporarily lease six Embraer jets from the regional airline. It is expressly not ruled out that more could be added over the next few months. Last year there were rumors that Helvetic Airways could fly for Eurowings from Stuttgart. This contract could not be secured because the Lufthansa low-cost subsidiary opted for five Airbus A220-300s from Air Baltic, which will be stationed in Düsseldorf. Avion Express will also operate seven A320s from Stuttgart and three from Düsseldorf. Another wet lease partner is Tuifly.

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Altenrhein: Peoples flies to Rennes

The Austrian regional airline Peoples will serve a total of eleven holiday destinations in the 2022 summer flight schedule. The French city of Rennes is new to the program. The route currently flies up to five times a week between Altenrhein and Vienna. The Peoples main route is to be increased to six weekly rotations with the change in flight schedule. Depending on how demand develops, the company plans to expand further. Before the Corona pandemic, the regional airline sometimes flew up to three times a day between Altenrhein and Vienna. At times there were also considerations to gradually increase this to four rotations per day on weekdays. The Corona pandemic has caused demand in "Ländle traffic" to collapse sharply. This is currently only recovering slowly.

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