December 7, 2020

More articles from the category

December 7, 2020

National Council rejects voucher application from the SPÖ

On Monday, a motion relevant to consumers was discussed in the Austrian National Council. The SPÖ demanded that vouchers issued in connection with cancelled flights or trips must be paid out after their validity has expired. The motion also called for a uniform regulation to be created. Refunds in connection with cancelled package holidays and flights are still a major nuisance for consumers. Although the Package Travel Act and EU Regulation 261/2004 provide an indisputable legal basis for those affected to get their money back, airlines and tour operators are still not particularly strict about this. Often, attempts are made to "sell" vouchers to consumers. Some providers have even trained their service centers to give consumers false information in order to persuade them to accept the voucher. Occasionally, vouchers are also proactively sent by email and/or post. If an airline cancels a booked flight, passengers have numerous rights. These are set out in EU Regulation 261/2004. Regardless of the reason for the cancellation, the passenger, if he or she does not want to travel, has a legal right to a refund of the ticket price within seven days. The Package Travel Act also provides for such a right and regulates the process precisely. The problem, however, is that airlines and tour operators are ignoring the law and are trying to protect their own liquidity by issuing compulsory vouchers. The SPÖ requested in the National Council that the passing on of financial problems to consumers be curbed by further legal regulations. The Social Democrats wanted to explicitly state that there is no obligation to issue vouchers or rebookings for cancelled flights.

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November: LTN shows a 90 percent decline

The Corona crisis is causing traffic figures in London-Luton to continue to decline: only 105.000 passengers travelled through the airport in November, a 90 percent drop compared to the same period last year. This means that the figures are still at a very low level. But as we all know, hope dies last. And the UK's airports also have reason to be hopeful. The government will be introducing the "test-to-release" programme from December 15, making it possible to end quarantine early after five days with a negative Corona test. As of now, passengers have to spend a full 14 days in self-isolation, they have announced.

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United Airlines: terminated Frankfurt workforce goes to court

In a cloak-and-dagger operation, United Airlines pulled the plug on the Frankfurt crew base, which had been in existence since 1997: After a brief announcement, the employees were dismissed without notice "virtually overnight" on October 1st. Now those affected are taking the US carrier to court. The workforce was astonished when they found a letter in their mailbox on the morning of October 1st terminating their employment with immediate effect. According to a report by Airliners, those dismissed include almost 100 flight attendants, each of whom has been with the company for over 20 years. They now believe that the dismissal without notice is invalid because it contravenes German labor law. To this end, all parties met at the Frankfurt Labor Court at the end of November and pushed for an out-of-court settlement. But this never happened. As a US airline, United does not feel bound by German labor law and therefore rejects German jurisdiction. In Germany, there must be compelling reasons for dismissal without notice, such as refusal to work, theft or embezzlement. In the United States, however, such a procedure would be commonplace, the airline's lawyer explains. The judge was outraged by such a dismissal process. A dismissal without any concessions is out of place, especially in times of Corona. There are enough alternatives. Nevertheless, this dispute will be negotiated. Chamber hearings to hear the lawsuits have now been scheduled for May 27, June 10 and June 17, 2021. 

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SAS says goodbye: last A340 machine retired

SAS is also retiring the last Airbus A340 aircraft: The aircraft with the registration OY-KBM was transferred to Tucson for recycling on December 1st. The last flight took place in May. The Corona crisis has accelerated the decommissioning of this aircraft model. The Airbus A340 is one of the aircraft types that will no longer be in full operation after the pandemic. Currently, no other airline has more than five of them, as the aviation portal CH-Aviation reports. The German Lufthansa has also already decommissioned part of its A340 fleet. Scandinavian has ordered eight A340s to replace nine A350s.

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Airbus finds new buyer for canceled A320neo order

Airbus has found a new buyer for the six completed A320neo aircraft that were ultimately not taken over by the original buyer, Air Asia. According to reports, another airline snapped them up at an auction. The Malaysian low-cost airline Air Asia was actually supposed to take delivery of six aircraft from the A320neo family at the beginning of this year. But then Corona came along. And forced the company to be more frugal. The airline pulled out all the stops to save costs. For example, it stopped planned investments and reduced the fleet, as the aviation portal CH-Aviation reports. In the biggest crisis in aviation history, airlines are only relying on the bare essentials to get through this pandemic as unscathed as possible. Air Asia is one of the European aircraft manufacturer's largest customers with outstanding orders for over 28 aircraft. But whether these will ever be delivered as planned remains more than questionable.

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November: Ryanair only had two million passengers

The Ryanair Group suffered a sharp drop in passengers in November 2020. In direct comparison with October 2020, the number of passengers carried halved. Two million travelers were counted across the group. If you look at the passenger numbers of the Ryanair Group, you can see that there has been an upward trend since the expansion of flight operations in July 2020 up to and including August 2020. Seven million passengers were counted in the individual month mentioned. This is probably primarily due to the fact that July and August are traditional holiday months, but also to the simple fact that the entry and quarantine regulations of various countries were rather relaxed in the summer. The first "slump" at Ryanair can be seen immediately after the tightening of the anti-travel regulations in various countries. In September 2020, there were only 5,1 million passengers on board. This downward trend continued in October 2020 (4,1 million passengers) and reached a new low in November 2020 with two million travelers. An interesting fact is that Ryanair has not communicated capacity utilization since November 2020. This is not news, because this figure was already kept secret during the first lockdown and in May and June 2020. However, the group ran a minimal program throughout the "flight break", which focused on traffic between Ireland and the United Kingdom. The passenger numbers mentioned include the transport performance of the subsidiaries of Ryanair Holdings plc. These are: Ryanair DAC, Ryanair UK, Buzz, Malta Air and Lauda Europe. The Austrian Laudamotion ceased flight operations in mid-October 2020 and is to be closed completely. The successor was

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November: German travel agencies with 92 percent less turnover

In November 2020, sales in German travel agencies fell drastically again. This is evident from the latest Tats travel agency report. According to it, only eight percent of the sales of the same month last year were made. Flight tickets were particularly in low demand in German agencies. Here, travel agencies recorded a decline of 94 percent. Revenues in the cruise sector also fell by 83 percent. The bottom line is that sales in November 2020 fell by 92 percent. Things are hardly any better over the first eleven months of the current year, as only 33 percent of the previous year's business was secured.

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After termination: Condor is examining a lawsuit against Lufthansa

Condor, the holiday airline that was only recently released from the protective shield procedure, has now suffered a setback: Lufthansa has now terminated the feeder contract. In the spring, Germany's largest airline threatened to take this step because it was not happy with the planned takeover of Condor by LOT's parent company PGL. But Condor now wants to push ahead with its own "Ocean" project and cooperation with Condor apparently no longer fits into the plan. Lufthansa wants to expand strongly on tourist routes in the future via its own subsidiary. The result of this is that Ocean and Condor will become direct competitors. Lufthansa therefore clearly wants to strengthen its own project at the expense of Condor. The holiday airline, which was itself formerly a subsidiary of Condor, is currently able to market Lufthansa flights as feeder flights for Condor connections due to a contract that has existed for many years. This is considered particularly important for the holiday airline because it does not have its own feeder. The "Special Pro Rate Agreement" is therefore Condor's Achilles heel. Kranich is foregoing around 50 million euros per year. Lufthansa justifies the decision by saying that it needs to make better use of its own aircraft. The Ocean project was not mentioned specifically, but this can easily be deduced from the numerous announcements on long-haul routes that are organized via this platform. According to reports, Kranich has earned good money with the feeder services it provides for Condor. The figure is said to be around 50 million euros per year. With the Eurowings long-haul route, Lufthansa brought tourist destinations onto the market a few years ago at great expense. However, this was not successful.

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Ex-AUA boss Malanik joins Hans Airways

Former AUA General Director Peter Malanik serves as a so-called non-executive director at the British start-up Hans Airways. The current president of the Austrian Aviation Association is listed with a photo on the newcomer's homepage. The company submitted an application for an AOC and operating license at the end of March 2020. The decision of the UK Civil Aviation Authority is still pending. Hans Airways CEO Satnam S. Saini explains to CH-Aviation.com: "We are trying to maintain our commitment to professional communities for the time being and make public announcements for a time when the market reopens after COVID-19 and we are ready to start." The company further explains: "The purchase of aircraft will only take place after COVID-19 has been properly controlled and the borders of our target countries have been opened for normal aviation. This puts Hans Airways in a very favorable position under the current circumstances." It was not disclosed exactly what Peter Malanik's role at Hans Airways is.

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Ryanair filed a lawsuit against AUA state aid

The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has, according to its own statements, filed several lawsuits against state aid that various competitors have received. However, the appeal is not directed against the subsidy at all, but against the decision of the EU Commission. According to Wirtschaftswoche, CEO Michael O'Leary has Lufthansa and its partners as well as the holiday airline Condor in particular in his sights. In November, Ryanair filed an appeal with the ECJ against the approval of the state aid granted to the former Thomas Cook subsidiary. According to O'Leary, a corresponding written statement has already been filed against the state aid paid out to Austrian Airlines in July. A lawsuit is being prepared against the approval of the aid for Lufthansa. Ryanair is also taking action against the state-backed loans and/or support for SAS, TAP, Finnair and Air France-KLM. In all cases, the Irish low-cost airline is appealing against the EU Commission's approval before the European Court of Justice.

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