April 29, 2022

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April 29, 2022

Condor announces long-haul flights from Munich and Düsseldorf

The German holiday airline Condor plans to offer long-haul flights from Düsseldorf and Munich again in the 2022/23 winter flight schedule. For the time being, the planned routes from the two German cities are to be served with Boeing 767s. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Condor plans to fly from Düsseldorf to Punta Cana. On Tuesdays and Sundays, it flies to Cancún. From Munich, travelers will fly to Punta Cana on Thursdays and Saturdays. From Frankfurt am Main, Condor's home base, 21 long-haul destinations are to be served. New flights include Johannesburg, among others. Connections to Mombasa have also been resumed. In addition, flights to New York, Toronto, Los Angeles and Seattle several times a week will continue. In addition to North America, Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, Grenada and Tobago are on the program, as well as Seychelles, Maldives and Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

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DLR and NASA retire Boeing 747SP “Sofia”

The Boeing 747SP with the registration N747NA, also known as "Sofia", will be retired in September 2022. NASA and DLR have been operating this aircraft together as a research laboratory since 2014. The continued operation of "Sofia" was already under review under the presidency of Donald Trump. Ultimately, however, it was decided to continue using the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. But it is set to end for good in September 2022. NASA and DLR have jointly decided to decommission the aircraft. "SOFIA's flight operations have made an outstanding contribution to the long history of German-American cooperation. We are looking forward to building on this," emphasizes NASA Science Director Thomas Zurbuchen. "In a joint workshop in the summer, we want to work with DLR on new projects in future scientific fields." SOFIA's scientific data is available to astronomers worldwide in the NASA archives. The Boeing 747 SP, converted into an observatory for infrared astronomy, completed its five-year main mission in 2019 and was extended by a further three years until 2022. The SOFIA cooperation between NASA and the German Space Agency at DLR is agreed in a mutual agreement. It determines the distribution of the work packages. Germany supplied the world's only 2,7-meter telescope, which is built into the fuselage of SOFIA, and contributes 20 percent of the operating costs. In return, groups of scientists from Germany were allocated around 30 scientific flights per year. NASA had bought the used Boeing 747 and converted it accordingly to install the telescope. NASA also operates the observatory in Palmdale, California, SOFIA's home airport.

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Lufthansa Airbus A350 “Munich” – first aircraft with improved Business Class

An Airbus A350-900 with the registration D-AIVC was christened after the city of Munich today at Munich Airport by Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder. The plane will now take off from the Bavarian hub to Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver in Canada. The AUA parent company recently brought all of its Airbus A350s to the Bavarian capital after parts of the fleet were stationed in Frankfurt due to the pandemic. In addition to the current 17 aircraft of this type, a total of four more Airbus A350s are coming to Munich. Lufthansa is leasing these four A350s, which were previously used by Philippine Airlines. One of these leased Airbus A350s was transferred from Frankfurt to Munich just this week and christened "Munich" in the state capital. A little later, the aircraft with the flight number LH494 will leave the airport at around 15:45 p.m. and fly towards Canada, landing at Toronto-Pearson Airport at 18:30 p.m. local time. Passengers on this first flight can look forward to a significantly improved business class with a 1-2-1 configuration. The seats come from Thompson Aero and were already installed in Philippine Airlines aircraft. The design of the seats has been adapted for use under the German flag. They shine in a subtle shade of blue. The seats also offer a much larger screen for the in-flight entertainment system and various charging options with USB ports and sockets in business class. In addition, the seats offer a massage function, a completely flat and approximately two-meter-long reclining surface and more space in the back area. These seats will also offer more storage options. However, the service concept will not change for the time being.

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Greece says goodbye to CoV entry restrictions

From May, travelers to Greece will no longer have to show proof of a test or vaccination to enter the country. This was decided by the government in Athens. Good news for travelers to Greece: From May 2nd, there will no longer be any entry regulations for tourists. After the obligation to fill out the Passenger Locator Form was abolished on March 15th, vacationers will no longer be subject to any entry restrictions from next Sunday. According to a decision by the Greek government, travelers, regardless of where they come from, can enter Greece without valid proof of a Covid 19 vaccination, Covid recovery or a Covid test. This is reported by the travel portal About Travel. The current easing measures are initially to apply until August 31st. Accordingly, the Greek government reserves the right to reassess the corona situation in the country for the autumn. In this context, the Greek Health Minister also speaks of not abolishing, but rather suspending the measures over the summer months.

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ANA wants to return to profitability next year

As the Covid-19 pandemic comes to an end, All Nippon Airways is already benefiting from the recovery of the Japanese economy and the increased demand for air travel, especially domestically. The company closed the past fiscal year with a net loss of the equivalent of around 1,06 billion euros, but expects to return to profitability in the current fiscal year thanks to the ongoing recovery and rigid cost management. Accordingly, the ANA holding company achieved total sales of the equivalent of around 7,53 billion euros. With operating expenses of the equivalent of around 8,8 billion euros, the company ended up with an operating loss of the equivalent of 1,28 billion euros. Despite the significant impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, passenger demand increased significantly compared to the previous fiscal year. Thanks in part to strong freight demand, which led to record-breaking revenues, operating revenues significantly exceeded the same period last year. Although the ANA Group still recorded an operating loss, the reduction in fixed costs - for example, personnel costs, depreciation and maintenance costs - limited the losses and improved the profit situation compared to the previous year. The airline carried a total of 825.000 passengers on its international routes and achieved a 56,8 percent increase in revenue in this segment compared to the previous year. Due to the current situation in Ukraine, the Tokyo/Haneda - London and Tokyo/Haneda - Paris routes were suspended again from March this year. However, the Tokyo/Haneda - Frankfurt and Tokyo/Narita - Brussels routes will continue to be served, using alternative flight routes to avoid Russian airspace. ANA has started to transfer several North American routes from Tokyo/Haneda to Tokyo/Narita Airport from July 2021.

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German airports: almost half of the travelers are back

In March 2022, more passengers were counted at the airports again. Compared to the pre-crisis level, however, almost half of the travelers from 51,1 were missing (-2019 percent). 9,4 million passengers used German airports. Compared to March 2021, the volume is therefore significantly higher (+377,8 percent). Cargo volume remains stable at a high level: 453.588 tons means 4,3 percent less than in the previous year, but an increase can be seen compared to 2019 (+3,0 percent). The number of commercial flight movements, with 120.969 take-offs and landings, was more than twice as high as in March 2021 (+123,0 percent), and compared to 2019, more than two-thirds of all commercial flights were carried out again (-32,8 percent). "In March, the volume increased compared to the previous months in all traffic segments. The removal of corona restrictions and relaxed entry regulations stimulated passenger demand. In some market areas, more than half of the travelers were welcomed again. In particular, the comparison with the previous year shows that air traffic is growing significantly again. The lack of transport offers to Russia and Ukraine is statistically insignificant, as market demand was already at a very low level due to the pandemic," says the press release from the airport association ADV. Cargo volume continues to increase, but cannot keep up with the previous year's dynamics Air freight demand was also at a high level in March, but has lost momentum. Compared to February, the volume increased by almost 50.000t to 453.588t of cargo handled. Compared to the strong dynamics of the previous year, this corresponds to a rate of change of -4,3 percent. The Russia-Ukraine war is having an impact on air freight development: The airspace closures

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HAM: Eurowings is adding three more holiday destinations to its flight program

At the weekend, Eurowings will start its scheduled service to three holiday destinations from Hamburg. From Saturday, April 30, the German airline will fly to the Greek port city of Chania once a week. The service to Portugal will also be expanded to include Lisbon and Porto. Flights to the Portuguese capital will also be offered twice a week from Saturday. A day later, the connection to Porto will follow with two weekly flights. "The connections to Greece and Portugal come at exactly the right time: May is the best time to travel in southern Europe. Temperatures are constantly above 20 degrees, and the sun shines almost every day. I am therefore all the more pleased that our passengers with Eurowings now have even more choice to three popular European sunny destinations. The connection to Chania on Crete is particularly good news. After all, last year Greece became one of the most popular holiday destinations for northern Germans," says Dirk Behrens, Head of Aviation at Hamburg Airport.

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VIE: New photovoltaic system on the roof of car park 3 goes into operation

Vienna Airport continues to rely on solar energy: the seventh photovoltaic system at the site was recently put into operation on the roof of parking garage 3. Around 1.440 solar modules deliver an output of around 640 kilowatts peak. The next and biggest milestone is also imminent: Austria's largest photovoltaic system is currently being built on the airport site and will soon go into operation. A total of eight systems will then generate around 30 million kilowatt hours of solar power, covering around a third of Vienna Airport's annual electricity needs. With these and other measures, Vienna Airport will be CO2023-neutral from 2 onwards. "Vienna Airport is consistently continuing its climate protection offensive: we have put seven photovoltaic systems into operation since 2016 and the eighth - and largest system in Austria - is currently being completed. With these measures and the supply of CO2-neutral district heating by OMV, the airport is taking a big step towards becoming a green airport. We will be running the airport completely CO2-neutral as early as next year," says a delighted Günther Ofner, CEO of Flughafen Wien AG. And he continued: “This is also an important contribution to greater security of supply and reduced dependence on foreign countries.” Eight photovoltaic systems at the airport in the future With the new system, seven systems are now in operation on the roofs of Hangar 7, the old winter maintenance hall, the Air Cargo Center, on the site of the former sewage treatment plant, on the roof of Office Park 4, and on parking garages 8 and 3. A total of around 8.500 solar panels on a total area of ​​around 18.000 m² currently supply around 3,6 million kilowatt hours of solar power. This figure is rising to around 30 million kilowatt hours.

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Air traffic controllers union warns of numerous failures in summer 2022

The air traffic controllers' union Trade Union Eurocontrol Maastricht warns that there could be many flight cancellations in the summer of 2022, especially in Eastern Europe. The reason for this is said to be that many air traffic control providers have implemented tough Corona austerity measures and are therefore not sufficiently prepared for the sharp increase in demand. "The traffic density in European airspace will not only return to pre-Corona levels in the next few months, but will even significantly exceed them," emphasized TUEM President Stefan Pille. "The air traffic control providers therefore urgently need to get out of Corona mode and build in sufficient buffers to handle these traffic volumes." In some cases, considerable relief measures are said to have already been implemented as a result of the pandemic. According to traffic figures from Eurocontrol, which controls the airspace over the Benelux countries and northwest Germany from Maastricht, regular traffic there will return to the level before the outbreak of the Corona pandemic in March 2020 as early as April. There are also two special effects: the war in Ukraine, with changed flight routes and a significant increase in military air traffic, has led to a significant increase in traffic density throughout Europe. On the other hand, due to a system change in the neighboring French sector, many alternative routes will have to be flown in the Maastricht Upper Area Control Center (MUAC) sector in 2022. "This is a massive increase in traffic compared to the peak of the corona pandemic that we have to deal with," says Pille. The union sees it as positive that individual national air traffic control authorities have now moved away from their austerity measures. However, this is not yet the case, especially in Eastern Europe. The employee representatives cite Poland in particular as a cautionary tale, because the fronts there are in

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Norse Atlantic Airways plans to take off on June 14, 2022

The long-haul start-up Norse Atlantic Airways plans to start commercial flight operations on June 14, 2022. The first flight will be from Oslo to New York-JFK with a Boeing 787. The plan is to initially fly to this destination twice a week. For the time being, this US metropolis is the destination that will be flown to most frequently in the 2022 summer flight schedule. The frequencies will be gradually increased to daily. Norse Atlantic Airways initially plans to increase this to three rotations per week as of June 23, 2022. Daily flights are expected to begin on July 4, 2022. Fort Lauderdale is the second destination to be served from the Norwegian capital. The first flight on this route is scheduled for June 18, 2022. Initially, flights will be three times a week. Norse Atlantic Airways plans to offer Orlando flights from Oslo at the same frequency from July 5, 2022. The young Norwegian airline's Dreamliners are expected to fly to Los Angeles three times a week from August 9, 2022. Tickets for the announced routes will soon go on sale via the carrier's homepage, among other places. Norse Atlantic Airways' launch is smaller than originally announced. Some aircraft will be temporarily dry leased to Air Europa.

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