February 24, 2023

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February 24, 2023

Boeing is no longer allowed to deliver Dreamliners for the time being

US aircraft manufacturer Boeing has to suspend deliveries of its important long-haul jet 787 "Dreamliner" again. The US aviation authority FAA announced this yesterday, confirming a report in the Wall Street Journal. The reason is additional investigations into a component of the aircraft fuselage. Deliveries will not continue until the FAA is convinced of a satisfactory solution to the problem, the authority said. Boeing did not initially respond. Investors reacted nervously and initially caused the shares of the Airbus rival to fall by almost three percent in after-hours trading in the US. The "Dreamliner" has repeatedly caused problems in recent years. Due to various production defects, the aircraft was not allowed to be handed over to customers from May 2021 to August 2022. At the last re-approval, the FAA announced that in future it would check each 787 individually before certifying its airworthiness.

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Lufthansa receives top marks in the climate ranking

In the 2022 global climate ranking of the non-profit organization CDP, the German aviation group received a top rating for its CO2 reduction strategy and its implementation, thus improving again compared to the previous year. On a scale of A (best result) to D-, the company was classified in the highest band with A- (previous year B). This puts it among the top 5 airlines worldwide with the best rating, the carrier said in a press release. CDP gave the Lufthansa Group top marks in reporting in the following evaluation categories: Scope 1 & 2 (direct emissions & indirect emissions from purchased energy), Scope 3 (indirect emissions within the supply chain), corporate governance, risk management processes, targets and initiatives to reduce emissions. "The top rating in the CDP ranking confirms our pioneering role in the industry. I am proud that we were able to improve this year," says Christina Foerster, Member of the Board of Management for Brand Management and Sustainability at the Lufthansa Group.

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Air China intensifies air traffic to Geneva

The connection was interrupted during the pandemic, but the Chinese national airline resumed it on January 26, 2023. In the summer, the frequency will be increased to three times a week - Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. As demand increases significantly in the summer season, Air China is adding more flights to its program. When the summer flight schedule comes into force on March 27, three non-stop connections between Beijing and Geneva will be offered with an Airbus 330-200 with 28 sleeping seats in Business Class and 199 sleeping seats in Eco Class. At the same time, the flight schedule was changed to ensure optimal connections to all inner Chinese cities and other cities in Asia:

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MUC: Qatar Airways doubles cargo capacity

Cargo traffic in Munich is growing. Qatar Airways is increasing the weekly frequency of its cargo flights between Munich and Doha from two to four flights, thereby doubling capacity. All flights are operated on behalf of the freight company DB Schenker. One of the new routes leads from Munich to Chicago Rockford and back to Doha via Munich, the airport announced in a press release. "We welcome the increase in the number of our long-standing customer Qatar Airways. It once again shows the growing importance of Munich as a cargo location," said Markus Heinelt, Director Traffic Development Cargo at Munich Airport.

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Nepal: Guana Airlines had to stop flight operations

In Nepal, the airline Guana Airlines had to cease flight operations by official order. The country's civil aviation authority had banned the carrier from operating with effect from February 15, 2023. The background to this is that a significant safety risk is seen due to the fact that the company is said to have owed its employees wages for some time. As a precautionary measure, the carrier was banned from operating further flights, so flight operations had to be suspended. Most recently, the regional airline's fleet consisted of two Beechcraft 1900Ds and five Jetstream 41s. The company has been on the market since 2009, although the company name has been changed repeatedly. This is not the first flight ban that has been imposed, as the civil aviation authority had already raised safety concerns in 2019.

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Swiss board of directors: Bhat succeeds Foerster

There has been a change in the Board of Directors of the Swiss airline. Ashwin Bhat, Chief Commercial Officer of Lufthansa Cargo, succeeds Christina Foerster, who is currently acting as interim head of Brussels Airlines. Although Foerster has left the Swiss Board of Directors, she will continue to be a member of the Lufthansa Group Executive Board. "On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I would like to thank Christina Foerster very much for her great work, her unconditional commitment and her great dedication to our SWISS. SWISS and the Board of Directors were able to rely on her expertise and sound judgment at all times, and not just during the difficult times of the pandemic. We are pleased that the Lufthansa Group will be able to count on her valuable know-how in the future," said Reto Francioni, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Swiss. The board now consists of Reto Francioni (President), Doris Russi Schurter, André Blattmann, Remco Steenbergen and the new member Ashwin Bhat.

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Munich: Lufthansa reactivates Rzeszów and Bordeaux

By the end of April 2023, Lufthansa plans to reactivate two routes from Munich that have been on hold for some time. These are Rzeszów in Poland and Bordeaux in France. The first city is to be served daily again from April 23, 2023. The available flight schedule data shows that this route is to be served with Bombardier CRJ-900 from Lufthansa Cityline. From April 25, 2023, there will be three flights a week to Bordeaux with Cityline-A319.

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IAG can announce black numbers again

The International Airlines Group, which includes British Airways and Iberia, expects to make a profit of between 2023 and 1,8 billion euros in the current year 2,3. Last year, sales increased by 170 percent to 23,1 billion euros. This is mainly due to the fact that after the travel restrictions were lifted, the company was faced with very strong demand. Most of the group members were also able to benefit financially from this. The operating profit before special items is reported at 1,2 billion euros. In 2021, the company was in the red by around three billion euros. The profit in 2022 was around 402 million euros. This means that the company has returned to the black, as in 2021 it was deep in the red at minus three billion euros. The International Airlines Group assumes that it will be able to increase flight capacity to around 2023 percent of pre-crisis capacity in the course of 98. It is currently assumed that this could be achieved as early as the first quarter of this year. However, there is an uncertainty factor that capacity at some airports could be limited due to a lack of staff.

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Lower Austria was able to increase the number of overnight stays

In January 2023, the federal state of Lower Austria recorded a 41 percent increase in tourist overnight stays - in direct comparison with the same month last year. However, this was 6,2 percent below the volume recorded in the first month of 2019. In total, there were 403.900 overnight stays in Lower Austrian accommodation establishments. This is the result of an initial projection according to the state government. "The overnight stay curve in Lower Austria continues to rise significantly. Skiing, cross-country skiing, tobogganing, snowshoe hiking or perhaps a trip through Lower Austria's cities - all of this makes up winter in Lower Austria. The efforts of our hosts are paying off, because our guests from home and abroad are happy to come back to us. In January, 277.800 overnight stays by guests (+27,2 percent) came from Austria, and 126.100 overnight stays by guests (+86 percent) came from abroad, above all from our most important local markets of Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. This year we placed a special focus on cycling, this year's annual theme of the Lower Austria Tourist Board. Lower Austria has the perfect conditions to position itself as the number 1 cycling tourism destination in the heart of Europe. This year we want to focus more on the German market, which has a special connection to cycling tourism in Lower Austria," said State Councilor Jochen Danninger (ÖVP). State Councilor for Tourism Jochen Danninger and Michael Duscher, Managing Director of Lower Austria Tourist Board, are confident that this development will continue in the coming months and that pre-crisis levels will now be reached quickly. Among other things, an extensive communications campaign on the topic of cycling is planned. The focus here is on Germany, Lower Austria's most important local market for guests from abroad.

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Italian union threatens strike at Air Dolomiti

The Italian union Uiltrasporti is threatening the Lufthansa subsidiary Air Dolomiti with a pilot strike. The employer is being called to comply with contractual obligations and, in particular, with the rest periods to which it is entitled. If management does not give in, a strike is being called for March 17, 2023. However, the possible effects on Air Dolomiti's flight operations are likely to be very limited, as the vast majority of its flying personnel are now stationed outside Italy. For example, the carrier has bases in Munich and Frankfurt am Main, from which it operates both under its own EN code and under wet lease for Lufthansa. Those Air Dolomiti employees who are not employed in Italy do not have Italian employment contracts and therefore the union Uiltrasporti is not responsible for them. In recent years, the Lufthansa subsidiary's presence on the Italian market has been greatly reduced. For example, the domestic Italian routes have been abandoned and it operates almost exclusively as a feeder to the Frankfurt am Main and Munich hubs. It is entirely unclear whether this will change in the event of a takeover of Ita Airways by the Kranich Group.

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