August 17, 2020

More articles from the category

August 17, 2020

Turkey: Corona insurance with hooks and eyes

In cooperation with the Turkish insurance company Güneş Sigorta, the holiday airline SunExpress offers travel insurance that is intended to cover any costs of contracting COVID-19 within Turkey. This is available from 15 euros per week, depending on the length of the trip. A look at the insurance terms and conditions shows, however, that the “tourist insurance” has various restrictions. Benefits are only provided if an inpatient stay in a Turkish hospital is necessary. In the event of a possible infection in Turkey that is only discovered after returning to the home country, the insurer is exempt from liability. There is also no cover for outpatient treatment within Turkey. People over the age of 65 cannot purchase a policy.

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Lübeck: “Climate protectors” wanted to prevent first flight

Accompanied by protests, the first scheduled flight after a long break took place from Lübeck-Blankensee Airport on Monday morning. The in-house brand Lübeck Air, operated by Air Alsie, now offers connections to Munich and Stuttgart, which are operated with ATR72-500. According to a report by Norddeutscher Rundfunk, the regional airport was besieged by so-called climate protectors. The police speak of around 80 demonstrators, while the organizers themselves assume that there were 150 participants. Some had tried to gain access to the security area and, according to the report, wanted to stick themselves to the tarmac with superglue at around 6:00 a.m. Another three "climate protectors" are said to have purchased regular airline tickets and attempted to stick themselves to themselves with superglue during boarding. According to police, the troublemakers were taken away. The first flight to Munich was delayed by around half an hour due to the incidents and took off for Munich shortly after 7:00 a.m. Air Alsie operates up to two daily rotations to the Bavarian capital on behalf of Lübeck Air. A midday rotation to Stuttgart is also offered. Flights are limited at weekends. Due to the Corona crisis, Lübeck Air's launch was delayed by a few weeks.

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Transavia France is growing in Paris-Orly

The French airline Air France has to radically restructure its domestic route network due to the acceptance of state support amounting to seven billion euros. The reasons for this are, on the one hand, environmental requirements imposed on the carrier, but on the other hand also efforts to reduce costs. It is therefore not surprising that the lion's share of routes within France (excluding overseas territories) is to be handed over to the subsidiary Transavia France. An agreement to this effect has already been concluded with the responsible pilots' union SNPL. The result of this is that the low-cost subsidiary will take over large parts of the domestic routes from Paris-Orly by 2023. However, Air France will in future serve some selected routes that are considered particularly profitable with Airbus A220-300s, the company said in a press release. These are to be used to Toulouse, Nice and Marseille, for example, from September 2021. Transavia France wanted to grow much earlier, but an agreement with the pilots' union prevented this plan. Until the clause was lifted, Transavia France's maximum fleet size was set in stone at 40 Boeing 737s. It was also agreed that this subsidiary would only fly within Europe. In a more recent agreement, however, these restrictions were lifted, meaning that Air France can increasingly shift its operations to the low-cost subsidiary. However, many domestic routes are considered to be loss-making, which is why attempts are being made to bring Transavia France back into profitability by using its lower costs. The main competitor is now the TGV service of the French state railway. The government also wants to focus more on these high-speed trains in the future. The consequence

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Ex-Munich boss now on the crane supervisory board

Two new members are joining the supervisory board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG for the Federal Republic of Germany, which invested in the group as part of the rescue package. They are the former director of Munich Airport, Michael Kerkloh, and Angela Titzrath, who is on the board of the Port of Hamburg. Major shareholder Heinz-Hermann Thiele has exerted considerable pressure in recent weeks and demanded that the federal government's supervisory board seats should be filled by people with industry expertise. He himself also wants to send at least one representative to the supervisory board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

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Malta tightened entry requirements

The Republic of Malta will implement new entry guidelines on Friday at midnight. The countries of origin will now be divided into three groups, although it has not yet been published on which list Austria, Germany and Switzerland will be. There are still no restrictions for those countries that are classified as "green". Only the locator form and a declaration that you have only been in green-listed countries in the last 14 days must be filled out and signed. To date, Austria and Germany are on the "green list". Whether this will remain the case will be announced in the next few days, at least before Friday. Those countries that Malta classifies as "red" will be subject to travel bans. This means that flight connections to countries on the red list will be prohibited. Entry by other means, for example by ship, will then also be impossible. The Mediterranean state plans to revise the list of "red states" over the course of this week and publish it before Friday at least. A new intermediate level is called the “amber list”. This includes countries that, from the point of view of the Maltese health authorities, are exactly between green and red. From Friday, passengers who wish to enter from these countries must present a negative corona test that must not be older than 48 hours. Otherwise, entry will be refused. Which countries are classified as “amber” will be published in the next few days, at least before Friday. In the Republic of Malta, corona measures are being tightened again. For example, discotheques and bars must

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Mecklenburg makes 750.000 loose for Rostock-Laage

Rostock-Laage Airport is receiving COVID-19 aid of 750.000 euros from the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In addition, 383.000 euros in unpaid state subsidies will be transferred to the airport. The eastern German state provides Rostock-Laage Airport with one million euros annually. The Corona aid is not included in this, but is transferred in addition. This is intended to enable the airport to cover its ongoing financial obligations. The subsidy is paid out from funds from the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

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Germany: travel warning also for Mallorca

Germany is further extending the travel warning for the EU country Spain. Initially only parts of northern Spain and Madrid were affected, now also the Balearic Islands and the mainland. These were declared a risk area and at the same time the highest level of travel warning was issued. Package holidaymakers now have the option of canceling their booked trips free of charge. This is enshrined in law and is out of the question. However, people who have organized their holiday in Spain individually are dependent on the goodwill of the airline and other service providers. The classification of the Balearic Islands, which also includes the island of Mallorca, which is particularly popular with Germans, means that a PCR test must be carried out on return. In contrast to Austria, however, this is free of charge in Germany. The Alpine republic has not yet issued a travel warning for the Balearic Islands, but has issued one for mainland Spain. The only area in Spain for which neither Austria nor Germany has issued a travel warning is the Canary Islands.

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UFO and Lufthansa reach an agreement

Lufthansa was able to reach an agreement with the flight attendants on austerity measures as a result of the corona crisis. The Ufo union announced that 87,9 percent of members have accepted the crisis collective agreement. The group has not yet been able to reach an agreement with the ground staff and pilots. The agreement concluded with the flight attendants prevents around 2.600 jobs from being cut at Lufthansa. However, benefits are now being suspended and there will be no wage increases in the next few years. In return, however, there is an employment guarantee until 2024. According to Ufo, there is agreement in principle, but some important details on the exact design of the austerity measures are still open. The union has already secured itself in this regard and also secured the mandate for possible industrial action. Lufthansa can terminate the agreement with two weeks' notice if the economic conditions change significantly.

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For a limited time only: Free PCR tests for vacationers in Croatia

Austria has been issuing a travel warning for Croatia since midnight. This also means that quarantine must now be observed or a PCR test must be carried out. The government has since reacted to the "slew of cars" that wanted to return before the amended entry regulations came into force and is temporarily offering free corona tests. However, there is a small but important "catch" to the matter, as only people who have returned to Austria from Croatia can take advantage of this at no cost until August 21, 2020. Depending on the district or city, an official testing center can be visited or the free test can be requested via the hotline 1450. In any case, according to Health Minister Rudolf Anschober, the telephone number 1450 is the right first point of contact for questions in this context. In recent days, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has repeatedly spoken out in favor of testing stations at border crossings on all transport routes in interviews. He described this as a good and important thing, but did not go into detail about it. Germany already offers free tests upon entry, although these are mandatory if you are coming from a risk area and voluntary if you are coming from a non-risk area. In Austria, the high costs of carrying out PCR tests are repeatedly criticized. While in Germany private tests cost an average of around 60 euros, at Vienna Airport, for example, a whopping 120 euros must be paid. In the Alpine republic, the travel and tourism industry is increasingly demanding that free tests can be carried out immediately after entry. This

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