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March 3, 2022

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March 3, 2022

Edelweiss is ramping up the North America program again

Jan Gruber March 3, 2022 19:40

The holiday airline Edelweiss flew to the United States of America again on Wednesday after a break of almost two years. The comeback flight went from Zurich to Tampa Bay (Florida). The route will be served every Wednesday and Friday. "Today is a special day for Edelweiss. We have waited a long time for this moment. We are very pleased that we can now offer our guests holiday destinations in the USA and Canada again," said company boss Bernd Bauer. On Monday, March 28, 2022, Edelweiss will resume nonstop flights to Las Vegas. This destination will also be served twice a week, and from June even three times a week. Just in time for the holiday season in the USA, Edelweiss will also open the Zurich-Denver route from June 13. This destination will be served every Monday and Friday until September. From May 15, 2022, Edelweiss will fly to Vancouver again. This route will initially be served on Tuesdays and Sundays. From June 2022, flights will also be operated on Saturdays. The reactivation of the Calgary route is announced for June 5, 2022. This destination will be served every Wednesday and Sunday. With the new holiday destinations, Edelweiss will offer 59 destinations in 19 countries on short and medium-haul routes and 19 destinations in 13 countries on long-haul routes this summer.

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Schauinsland-reisen donates 50.000 euros for Ukraine aid

Granite Pireci March 3, 2022 19:04

Schauinsland-reisen managing director Gerald Kassner is donating 50.000 euros to help Ukraine. Many of his employees have also decided to join him. "We are deeply affected by the impact on the Ukrainian population. That is why we want to help people," said Kassner. Russia and Ukraine are not destinations on Schauinsland-Reisen's offer, but the entire team at the Duisburg-based tour operator is shocked by the human suffering - the dead and injured. "As a travel provider, we stand for peaceful coexistence and want to promote mutual understanding and cultural exchange," said the managing director. "With our donations, we want to show that we are not leaving the victims of the war in Ukraine alone."

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Dubai: PCR test requirement for vaccinated travelers has been lifted

Granite Pireci March 3, 2022 18:04

Fully vaccinated people can now re-enter Dubai without any problems, and the PCR test requirement before departure has been lifted. Passengers entering the UAE with Emirates now only need to present valid proof of vaccination against Covid-19 to the airline. "The update of the Covid-19 entry regulations by the NCEMA is a positive expression of the easing situation. More and more destinations are reopening their borders and regulations are also being relaxed nationally. Dubai is still a popular travel destination and we expect the latest developments to have a positive impact on demand for flights from Vienna," says Martin Gross, Emirates Area Manager for Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia. Digital and analog vaccination certificates must have a QR code to be valid. In printed form, a certificate of recovered status can also be used as a travel document, although there can be a maximum of one month between recovery and entry. Unvaccinated travelers must still present a negative PCR test result that is no older than 48 hours.

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Dortmund: Foundation stone laid for new police building

Amely Mizzi March 3, 2022 17:08

A new police building is being built on the Dortmund Airport site. The foundation stone was laid on Wednesday by airport boss Ludger van Bebber, Mayor Thomas Westphal and North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul, among others. By 2024, a new office building for the Dortmund police is to be built on the former P3 car park at Dortmund Airport on behalf of the client, Flughafen Dortmund GmbH. The Dortmund police had previously put out to tender a rental contract with a construction obligation. After a tendering process lasting almost two years, the airport was awarded the contract as the new landlord and developer. The new building is intended to relieve the spatial situation of the Dortmund police on Markgrafenstrasse in the city center. On the 27.000 m² site, which was previously used as car park 3, a building ensemble with 31.000 m² of gross floor area (GFA) is being built, the structures and equipment of which are geared to the requirements of police buildings. "For me, the least we can do is create the conditions for the police officers in North Rhine-Westphalia so that they can do their job as well as possible. The new building at Dortmund Airport offers the ideal conditions: thanks to the direct motorway connection, the airport police can get to any location quickly and have a state-of-the-art infrastructure here that will also position them well in the digital world," said the Minister of the Interior, Herbert Reul, at the groundbreaking ceremony. "It's finally really getting started! We are delighted that, after an intensive tendering process, our location has been chosen for this important police infrastructure. It is by far the airport's largest investment in more than 20 years and underlines our importance in the

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Elbe Flugzeugwerke is converting 29 A330s into freighters

Jan Gruber March 3, 2022 16:03

Elbe Flugzeugwerke was able to land a major contract: The company was commissioned to convert 29 Airbus A330s into cargo planes. The Air Transport Service Group wants to further expand the fleet, which currently consists of 117 aircraft. The work is to be carried out at various Elbe Flugzeugwerke locations and at ST Engineering. Recently, more and more passenger aircraft are being converted into freighters, as global demand remains high. Conversions of the Airbus A321 are currently in particular demand. This is also due, among other things, to the fact that the competing model Boeing 757F has become quite expensive on the used market due to high demand.

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March holidays: Hamburg expects 30.000 passengers per day

Jan Gruber March 3, 2022 15:03

Hamburg Airport is expecting around 30.000 passengers per day during the upcoming March holidays. This is the first major wave of travel this year. It is currently assumed that the weekly average volume will be around 58 percent of the pre-crisis level. At the weekend, the number of flights will increase from around 85 take-offs and 85 landings to almost 120 take-offs and 120 landings per day. In total, around 40 airlines fly to around 90 destinations directly from Hamburg Airport. "Based on the increasing demand, we can clearly see that northern Germans want to get out and travel to the sun again after a long winter. Beach destinations such as the Canary Islands or Mallorca are particularly popular, but long-distance trips via the Dubai hub are also in demand again. In addition, there are the classic ski destinations," says Katja Bromm, Head of Communications at Hamburg Airport. "We expect particularly high occupancy at weekends and in the early hours of the morning. However, once all the holiday planes have taken off, the terminals will empty again. This uneven capacity utilization, combined with an increased need for controls due to ongoing Corona regulations, makes planning more difficult for all airport service providers. We therefore recommend that all passengers allow a little more time than usual and use our tips to prepare well for their trip."

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Pobeda and the Dobrolet déjà vu

Jan Gruber March 3, 2022 14:03

In the next few days, Aeroflot's low-cost subsidiary Pobeda will be reminded of its predecessor Dobrolet. The short-lived low-cost airline lost its entire fleet following the Russian annexation of Crimea. Lessors had to confiscate the aircraft due to sanctions. At the time, Aeroflot's management actually suggested that everything would be different with the launch of Pobeda and that such a scenario would no longer exist. At the time, the Kremlin propagated that Russian aircraft would be used, but they ended up using leased Boeing 737-800s. And that is precisely what is now a problem for the low-cost airline. The majority of the Pobeda fleet is leased by lessors from the West. Due to the sanctions imposed on Russia, they must complete the contracts by the end of March 2022 and reclaim the aircraft. This means that the Aeroflot subsidiary, as well as other Russian airlines, are at risk of losing hundreds of aircraft. The supply of spare parts is also in acute danger, as Boeing and Airbus no longer want to supply them. Pobeda boss Alexei Tankevich announced to the Tass agency that the company he heads intends to take legal action against the withdrawal of the aircraft, but he had to admit that numerous lessors had already asked them to return the aircraft. According to CH-Aviation.com, 25 Boeing 737-800s are leased from Russian lessors, but the rest are leased from Western suppliers, including Avolon. Regardless of this, the difficult supply of spare parts is likely to become a serious problem for Pobeda. The memories of its predecessor, the Dobrolet, have thus become reality.

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February 2022: Wizz Air with a significant drop in passengers

Jan Gruber March 3, 2022 13:08

The low-cost airline Wizz Air had a total of 2022 passengers on board in February 1.921.153. This means that it carried significantly more passengers than in the same month last year, when it only had 382.928 passengers. However, Wizz Air had to take a significant hit in direct comparison with January 2022. In the first month of the current year, it had 2.396.684 passengers. The carrier significantly thinned out its offerings in several steps. Flights to the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine have been suspended due to airspace closures imposed as a result of the Russian Federation's military attack on Ukraine. Wizz Air currently has three Airbus A320s in Kyiv-Zhulyany and one in Lviv. It is currently unclear when it will be possible to fly out. Some of the staff fled to Poland on foot. The load factor in February 2022 was 91 percent, which is significantly better than in January 2022, when the load factor for that month was reported at 79,6 percent. For comparison: In February 2020, which was still largely unaffected by the corona pandemic, Wizz Air had 3.014.341 passengers with a load factor of 93,8 percent.

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Corona year II: Swiss made a loss of 427,7 million francs

Amely Mizzi March 3, 2022 12:05

The Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss was able to reduce its loss to 427,7 million Swiss francs last year. The first year of Corona ended with a loss of 653,8 million Swiss francs. Operating income was 13,7 percent higher than in 2020 and is reported at 2,1 billion Swiss francs. Swiss also benefited from an increase in capacity, especially in the summer months, and continued strong demand for freight. Nevertheless, it was less than half of the pre-crisis level of 2019. As expected, it was not possible to build on the black figures of the third quarter in the fourth quarter due to seasonal factors. Nevertheless, Swiss was able to substantially improve its operating result compared to the same period last year, reaching CHF -36,3 million, more than CHF 200 million above the previous year's figure (Q4 2020: CHF -239,1 million). In the same period, the Lufthansa subsidiary was able to significantly increase its operating income. It amounted to CHF 734,6 million, more than doubling compared to the previous year (Q4 2020: CHF 310,9 million). "With the transformation that we successfully started in 2021, we are well positioned to continue to be successful in the market. Now it is a matter of continuing the transformation: This year, the focus is on increasing our capacities by up to 2019 percent compared to 80 and increasing the stability of our flight schedule," says company boss Dieter Vranckx. According to the company's own information, the company has never used more than half of the 1,5 billion Swiss franc loan guaranteed by the Swiss Confederation. Towards the end of the year, the company was able to

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Lufthansa remains deep in the red

Amely Mizzi March 3, 2022 11:06

The Lufthansa Group closed the 2021 financial year with an adjusted EBIT of -2,2 billion euros. This was significantly better than in the first year of Corona, when there was a loss of 2020 billion euros in 5,5. Revenue rose by 24 percent to 13,6 billion euros. Compared to the pre-crisis level, the structural decline in personnel expenses, excluding one-off restructuring expenses, effects from short-time working and temporary measures, was 10%. With the implementation of further planned measures, the decline will be 15 to 20 percent. At the end of last year, the Lufthansa Group employed around 105.000 people, a good 30.000 fewer than before the start of the Corona pandemic. “2021 was a challenging year for the Lufthansa Group and its employees. And 2022 is also beginning with developments that worry us as citizens of this continent. Our airlines connect people, cultures and economies. We stand for international understanding and peace in Europe and the world. Our thoughts are with the people in Ukraine and with our colleagues there, to whom we are providing all possible support. The Lufthansa Group has used the past financial year to continue to renew itself. We have resolutely and consistently pushed ahead with and implemented the transformation and restructuring of the company. The Lufthansa Group is more efficient and sustainable today than it was before the pandemic. Even in the two most financially difficult years in our history, in which painful cuts were unavoidable, we acted in a socially responsible manner and secured 105.000 jobs in the Lufthansa Group on a long-term basis. We are very confident that air traffic

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