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June 9, 2022

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June 9, 2022

Hong Kong drops PCR test requirement for travelers in transit

Granite Pireci June 9, 2022 19:04

Travelers who want to travel to another destination via Hong Kong no longer have to present a negative PCR test. However, the entry requirements for the Chinese special administrative region remain unaffected by the relaxation for transit travelers. Since June 1, transit passengers in Hong Kong no longer have to present a PCR test when continuing their journey. Due to the strict regulations of the Hong Kong authorities, who are pursuing a zero-COVID strategy, there had long been entry and transit bans, and recently a PCR test was also required for transit. There are currently only a few flights to Hong Kong from Germany, with only Cathay Pacific flying to the East Asian metropolis from Frankfurt am Main on June 16, 21 and 28 with an Airbus A350-900. In addition, in Europe, the airline currently connects London Heathrow, Manchester, Paris and Amsterdam with Hong Kong. From July, flights from Germany will be increased slightly. Reopening of the lounges for transit travelers With the removal of the PCR test requirement for transit travelers, the "The Pier" lounge near Gate 65 is also reopening for passengers who are making a stopover in Hong Kong. The lounge can be used every day from 5:30 a.m. until the last Cathay Pacific flight of the day. To be considered a transit passenger, the stay at the airport must not last longer than 24 hours. In addition, luggage and passengers must already have been checked through to the last destination. The airport in Hong Kong is a popular stopover airport for travelers on their way to Australia or New Zealand.

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Tyrolean Jet Services orders “flying cars”

Amely Mizzi June 9, 2022 18:31

The Austrian business jet operator Tyrolean Jet Services has decided to buy Pal-V Liberty flying cars. These are to be used for regional aviation services on the so-called last mile. The on-demand airline belongs to the Swarovski Group and is one of the largest business jet operators in Austria. In the future, the company also wants to operate so-called flying cars. As part of the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition, a corresponding purchase agreement was signed with the Dutch provider Pal-V. "The emerging market for advanced air mobility is a hot topic at EBACE. We represent the FlyDrive segment of this new market, in which numerous brands are presenting their latest innovations for the emerging market. Instead of going from platform to platform or from airport to airport, we offer the possibility of going from door to door by plane. This FlyDrive segment will mark the beginning of the Advanced Air Mobility market." said Pal-V boss Robert Dingemanse The aircraft is not only intended for private individuals, but will also be used by professionals for taxi services, observation and inspection flights. With a flight range of 400-500 km and a top speed of 180 km/h, the Pal-V Liberty can fly from Paris to London and drive into the city. Currently, the Pal-V Liberty has received road approval and can be seen on the streets of Europe. The vehicle is currently undergoing an extensive demonstration of conformity program to complete the final phase of EASA certification. Just recently, the Slovak Civil Aviation Authority granted initial aviation approval to a competing model.

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Berlin: Verdi calls on Easyjet employees to go on warning strikes on Friday

Jan Gruber June 9, 2022 18:22

Passengers of the low-cost airline Easyjet must prepare for numerous cancellations and delays at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport on Friday, June 10, 2022. The Verdi union is calling on the approximately 450 flight attendants to go on a warning strike. The employee representatives had already indicated a few days ago that such industrial action could occur if the Easyjet management did not submit an improved offer. According to a statement by Verdi negotiator Holger Rößler, no such offer was received and the members are now calling on the workers to stop work. To put it simply, in addition to the job cuts announced by Easyjet at the Berlin-Brandenburg site, the issue is the flight attendants' wages. These are said to have not been increased in the last two years. Easyjet has offered a salary increase and a one-off payment for the coming year. From the point of view of the Verdi union, however, the carrier's current offer is too low and would not take into account the current additional burden or the sharply increased cost of living. At the Berlin-Brandenburg location, a strike is scheduled to take place between 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. on Friday, June 10, 2022. The cabin crew represented by Verdi have been called upon to stop work. It is currently not foreseeable how many flight attendants will actually take part in the warning strike. Passengers must expect many cancellations and significant delays throughout the day.

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Frankfurt Airport recommends booking parking spaces in advance

Granite Pireci June 9, 2022 18:05

The Frankfurt airport operator Fraport strongly recommends booking a parking space in the airport's parking garages in advance. Frankfurt Airport expects an increased number of passengers during the summer holidays and expects up to 200.000 passengers a day. Many of them come to the airport in their own cars. Fraport therefore strongly recommends booking a parking space in advance. A total of 14.000 parking spaces are available at the two terminal buildings - all within walking distance of check-in and baggage claim - including parking spaces for electric vehicles. The fee for advance booking is cheaper than at the barrier, according to the airport operator Fraport. Alternatively, passengers at the airport can travel by public transport. The Frankfurt Airport air traffic hub has good connections - the long-distance, regional and bus stations offer around 1.300 connections every day. An average of 220 trains stop at the long-distance station every day. The regional station under Terminal 1 has an average of 250 stops a day. The bus station records around 850 departures every day.  

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South Africa: BA franchisee Comair to be liquidated

Amely Mizzi June 9, 2022 17:36

The South African airline Comair is facing final closure because neither the management nor the insolvency administrator have managed to raise the necessary funds to continue business operations. Comair is one of the oldest private airlines in South Africa and operates primarily under the Kulula brand. It is also a franchisee of British Airways and operates flights under its brand on its own account. Or rather: conducted, because flight operations recently had to be suspended again. The carrier then had to file for creditor protection proceedings. A few weeks ago, the planes were briefly grounded because the Civil Aviation Authority had banned them from flying due to violations of regulations. Although these were cleared up, the airline was not in the air for very long after that, because bankruptcy followed. It was initially confident that it would be able to make a new start in the third quarter of 2022 at the latest, but this hope is likely to have been dashed. The insolvency administrator has applied to the responsible court to initiate liquidation because the remaining financial resources are insufficient. Despite intensive efforts, no fresh money could be raised or a serious investor found. As a result, the long-established carrier, which was founded in 1946, is now facing legal liquidation.

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Lot Polish Airlines advertises connecting flights to the Balkans

Granite Pireci June 9, 2022 17:02

Flights from Switzerland to the Balkan countries are notoriously fully booked in summer and usually very expensive. Competition can't hurt: the Polish airline Lot is now also explicitly advertising connecting flights via Warsaw. From Zurich, the flight leaves for Warsaw at 10:25 a.m., arriving in Sarajevo at 16:30 p.m. The total flight time is 6:05 hours, including a 2:20 hour layover in Warsaw. From Geneva, the flight also leaves at 10:25 a.m., with a connection in Warsaw and arriving in Sarajevo at 16:30 p.m. The flight time is 6:05 hours, including a 2:05 hour layover in Warsaw. LOT also lists connections from the surrounding area. From Stuttgart, departure at 10:35 a.m., arriving in Sarajevo at 16:30 p.m. From Munich at 07:00 a.m., arriving in Sarajevo at 12:25 p.m. LOT Polish Airlines flies to Pristina four times a week. Flight LO-587 departs Warsaw every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at 10:15 and arrives at its destination at 12:30. On the return journey, LO-588 departs at 13:20 and arrives in Warsaw at 15:50.

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Citrus: S7 Airlines calls off low-cost project

Amely Mizzi June 9, 2022 16:32

The Russian airline S7 Airlines actually wanted to launch its low-cost subsidiary Citrus this year. This plan was abandoned because the planned aircraft were not available due to the sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation. Before the Russian army's military attack on Ukraine, numerous carriers announced that they wanted to convert into low-cost airlines or launch corresponding subsidiaries. In most cases, aircraft from the manufacturers Boeing and/or Airbus were planned for this purpose. This was also the case with S7 Airlines. The plan was to equip Citrus with modern Airbus A320neos, but the sanctions mean that it cannot get hold of brand new aircraft. The supply of spare parts for the ones it already has is uncertain. Although the Russian government wants to use "home-made" aircraft, S7 Airlines believes that it cannot launch a new low-cost airline under the current circumstances. The number of international destinations that could be flown to is no longer particularly large anyway, and purely domestic business would most likely not be profitable. The S7 Group therefore decided to put the Citrus project on hold. According to an official statement, the low-cost airline will not be launched - at least not for the time being. The reason given for this is that the airline is unable to obtain the necessary aircraft. It is currently not possible to say whether the low-cost project will be taken up again at a later date.

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Graz: Burgas charter will not take place this year

Jan Gruber June 9, 2022 16:06

The Black Sea destinations Burgas and Varna are indirectly feeling the effects of the war in Ukraine, as booking numbers have plummeted. Apparently, many potential customers do not want to spend their holidays on a sea where there is a war going on at the other end. The lack of demand is not only having an impact on hotels and other tourist businesses, but also on airlines and tour operators who have been counting on demand for cheap holidays in Varna and Burgas to rise sharply this year. Many potential holidaymakers in Bulgaria have opted for Turkey this year. In Austria, all airlines that have Varna and/or Burgas in their route network have secretly reduced their frequencies. Due to a lack of demand, the European Aircharter flights to Burgas planned from Graz will not take place this year. The tour operators were unable to attract enough customers for this destination, so the cancellation was made a few weeks before the summer holidays. It is to be expected that one or two travel providers from Germany could cancel planned charter flights to the Bulgarian coast. Travel agency circles say that there is absolutely no demand for holidays to Bulgaria this year and that only a small group of regular customers would like to fly to Burgas or Varna this year.

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Swiss repays corona credit early

Granite Pireci June 9, 2022 15:04

Swiss stumbled during the pandemic - a guarantee from the federal government brought fresh money into the coffers. The Lufthansa subsidiary has now already repaid the loan. The group has repaid a bank loan guaranteed by the federal government ahead of schedule. The Lufthansa Group will secure financing through the capital market in the future, the company announced on Thursday. This would actually have continued until 2025. This credit line was granted in spring 2020 in connection with the corona pandemic, which posed major problems for air traffic. The banks granted Swiss and Edelweiss a credit line of up to 1,5 billion francs. The federal government guaranteed 85 percent of the default risk - a maximum of 1,275 billion francs. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Swiss has "never used more than half of the bridging loan and paid a total of 60 million francs in interest and fees," the company writes. "We are very grateful to the federal government for providing the necessary liquidity during the corona pandemic, together with the Swiss and Edelweiss banks. This enabled us to secure a large proportion of jobs in Switzerland and sustainably competitive cost structures, as well as maintain connections to the world even during the pandemic. We were also able to ramp up our hub in Zurich in line with the other Lufthansa Group hubs and develop our flight offerings proportionally," said Swiss CEO Dieter Vranckx.

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Deliveries: Airbus has only reached a third of the annual target

Granite Pireci June 9, 2022 14:04

Airbus delivered 47 commercial aircraft to its customers last month. Since the beginning of the year, 237 aircraft have been delivered to customers, according to the German aviation portal Aero. The manufacturer has thus only achieved just under a third of its goal of delivering around 720 aircraft this year. However, deliveries at Airbus usually increase towards the end of the year. In May, the manufacturer received orders for 13 aircraft. From January to May, orders including cancellations amounted to 191 net.

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