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March 16, 2021

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March 16, 2021

Also applies to those who switch: England imposes an entry ban for Qatar

Jan Gruber March 16, 2021 21:34

From Friday, March 19, 2021, 4:00 a.m. local time, England will refuse entry to people who have been in Qatar in the last ten days. This expressly includes transfer passengers and will therefore hit Qatar Airways hard. The Gulf carrier has connections between Manchester and London Heathrow to the Doha hub. The consequence of the entry ban is that from Friday, with the exception of British citizens and people with a UK residence permit, no one will be allowed to enter the country from Qatar. There are a few exceptions, but UK citizens must also go into quarantine. Ethiopia, Oman and Somalia have also landed on the "red list". The UK recently caused a stir with a UAE flight ban that primarily affected Etihad Airways and Emirates. According to the current information, the entry ban only applies to the English part of the country for the time being. Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland have their own "red lists" and have not yet put Qatar on them. In addition to Manchester and London Heathrow, Qatar Airways also flies to the Scottish capital Edinburgh. If this part of the country does not follow suit, there would be a loophole to the United Kingdom, especially for transfer passengers.

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Argentina uncovered corona import from Cancun

Amely Mizzi March 16, 2021 17:15

The Argentine government is concerned after a flight from Cancun to Buenos Aires, because 149 of 44 passengers tested positive for the coronavirus using PCR. The incident occurred on Sunday. The number even increased, as another 55 infected people were found on other flights from Mexico to Buenos Aires. The high number of positive cases that have entered Argentina from Mexico on commercial aircraft is causing serious concern to the government. The population is now being appealed to refrain from traveling to the affected country. Official Argentina fears a major corona problem around Cancun. The inner-city Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery Airport was recently reactivated. This finding could also attract the attention of European governments, as Cancun is considered a particularly popular holiday destination. Lufthansa announced a few days ago that it was seeing a sharp increase in demand for flights to Mexico. As a result, it is also increasing flights to the country. The German government has not yet made a decision, but it can be assumed that it will keep an eye on developments. The volume of travel between Cancun and Buenos Airlines is currently quite high. For example, Aerolinas Argentinas regularly uses long-haul Airbus A330-200 jets. The Argentine government now wants to more closely check passengers coming from Mexico because it fears that new corona clusters could otherwise be "flyed in". It would therefore not be unreasonable if the governments of various EU countries could soon react with corresponding restrictions.

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Wizz Air: Investor Indigo Partners significantly reduces stake

Amely Mizzi March 16, 2021 16:35

The US fund Indigo Partners is reducing its stake in the Wizz Air Group to less than nine percent. According to a stock exchange announcement, 7,69 million shares were sold through Barclays Bank. The shareholder is considered an important investor in the low-cost airline. The value of the transaction is around 555 million US dollars. Indigo Partners previously held around 17,5 percent of the listed Wizz Air Group. Now the stake has fallen to 8,5 percent. The proceeds from the sale will go exclusively to the shareholder, so the airline will not receive anything. The low-cost airline's share price fell sharply after the transaction was announced. Indigo Partners and Wizz Air have a long history together. The investor has been on board with the low-cost airline since 2004, but gradually reduced the size of his stake. The current sale of shares therefore comes as no surprise. The transaction is not expected to have any impact on the low-cost airline's business activities.

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EU Attorney General: Pilots’ strike can be “extraordinary circumstances”

Jan Gruber March 16, 2021 16:03

If pilots go on strike, this does not necessarily mean that airlines have to pay compensation to passengers under EU Regulation 261/2004. This is the legal opinion expressed by the Advocate General at the European Court of Justice in an opinion. This is surprising because the ECJ has so far considered strikes to be a business risk and has therefore not classified them as "extraordinary circumstances". The latter means that passengers are not entitled to compensation under the Air Passenger Rights Regulation despite cancellations and/or delays. The EU Advocate General writes in his opinion, among other things, that this exemption can apply if the carrier has taken "all reasonable measures" that would have led to "preventing the cancellation or delay of the flight". The nature of the strike is also important, because the lawyer is of the opinion that if it is not due to decisions made by the company but merely to demands made by employees, then it would be a so-called "extraordinary circumstance". Three-digit million sum is at stake for SAS The case of a passenger who wanted to fly from Malmö to Stockholm is before the European Court of Justice. On that day, SAS pilots went on strike in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Around 400.000 passengers were affected. The airline is refusing to pay the 250 euro claim, citing the strike. However, there is probably much more to it, because if the plaintiff wins the case, it can be expected that many more passengers - possibly with the support of service providers - could assert their claims.

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Germany: 21.000 return invoices not yet sent

Granite Pireci March 16, 2021 15:46

One year after the start of the largest repatriation operation in the history of the Federal Republic, the federal government has only collected a fifth of the total costs from the passengers, at 17,9 million euros. This is because around 21.000 invoices have not yet been sent out, as rnd.de reports. The reason given for this is the great bureaucratic effort and the difficult working conditions due to the corona pandemic. After many countries closed borders and cut flight connections at short notice, a total of 240.000 "stranded" people from around 65 countries were flown back. According to the Foreign Office's experience so far, 80 percent of the invoices are paid on time. However, there are passengers who are fighting against paying for their repatriation tickets in court. 113 corresponding proceedings are currently underway.

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Air Transat in financial distress: CAD 500 million missing

Jan Gruber March 16, 2021 15:09

The airline Air Transat is in acute financial distress due to the corona pandemic and urgently needs around 500 million Canadian dollars to ensure its survival. Competitor Air Canada actually wants to take over the carrier, but the EU Commission has concerns. When publishing the figures for the first quarter of the current fiscal year, parent company Transat AT Inc. announced that Air Transat urgently needs 500 million Canadian dollars in the form of long-term financing. Otherwise, if the deal with Air Canada falls through due to competition concerns, it would no longer be possible to maintain flight operations. While the Canadian authorities have already approved the takeover by the country's largest airline, the EU Commission has expressed concerns. The reason for this is that the market share would be extremely high and, due to many codeshares, would degenerate into a veritable monopoly. The European competition authorities are conducting an in-depth review and do not want to make a decision until the end of the first half of 2021 at the earliest. This delay is now having a negative impact on Air Transat's finances. The parent company writes in a stock exchange announcement: "As of January 31, 2021, there is a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. If the transaction with Air Canada is not completed, the Company will be required to establish total financing of at least CAD 2021 million in 500 to ensure continuity of business operations."

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Despite low incidences: Anschober does not change the entry regulations

Jan Gruber March 16, 2021 14:36

Almost unnoticed by the public, the Austrian federal government does not care about updating Annex A of the Entry Ordinance. This list includes countries that have low Covid infection rates and therefore neither quarantine nor test are required when entering Austria. For several weeks, Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens) has not made any adjustments, even though the situation in many countries has improved massively. The politician originally named a seven-day incidence of 100 per 100.000 inhabitants as the target. In fact, most European countries were unable to reach this in January and February 2021. Germany, for example, has been well below this for a few weeks at around 70. However, Anschober made no changes. The only countries on the "green list" (Annex A) are still only the following: Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea and the Vatican. Anschober ignores developments - opposition criticizes On March 8, 2021, the Austrian Health Minister ordered the last adaptation of the Entry Ordinance. This did not bring any relaxations for areas with low infection rates, but tightened the restrictive conditions again. For example, the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and Azores as well as Germany have considerably lower seven-day incidences than Austria. Nevertheless, Anschober is keeping these on the "red list", so that - unless one falls under an exception - testing and quarantine are mandatory. The behavior of the Green politician is a clear sign that action is not being taken on the basis of facts, but that travel is being completely prevented if possible. The opposition is strongly criticizing Rudolf Anschober's behavior. For example, FPÖ party leader Norbert Hofer says: "The incidences in the different

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Buzz and Lauda: Attack on Wizz Air on three new Vienna routes

Jan Gruber March 16, 2021 14:16

The Ryanair Group is attacking its competitor Wizz Air in Vienna on three additional routes from July 1, 2021. Lauda Europe and Buzz will fly to Menorca, Niš and Suceava twice a week under FR flight numbers. The Hungarian competitor also offers all three routes. Ryanair will not operate the three new routes itself, but rather by its subsidiaries Lauda Europe and Buzz. Lauda Europe will fly to Menorca on Friday. The sister company Buzz will take over the Sunday rotation. Lauda Europe will fly to Niš in Serbia on Tuesdays and Saturdays on behalf of Ryanair. The Irish low-cost airline will have Lauda Europe fly to Suceava in Romania from Vienna on Thursdays and Sundays. The Maltese subsidiary is the only group member to use Airbus A320 aircraft. Buzz and Ryanair fly with Boeing 737-800s. There are currently no plans on the part of the group to operate the Boeing 737 Max 200 from Vienna. "We are delighted to announce three new connections from Vienna to Menorca, Niš and Suceava, starting in the first week of July 2021 as part of our 2021 summer schedule for Austria. As Covid restrictions change regularly, customers can now book flights for a well-deserved holiday with the confidence that if they need to postpone or change their trip, they can do so up to two times without a rebooking fee to a travel date up to the end of October 2021," explains Ryanair spokeswoman Tanja Ehrlich.

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Easter: Wizz Air launches Dortmund-Palma

Jan Gruber March 16, 2021 14:06

The Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air wants to benefit from the currently strong demand for Mallorca around Easter from Dortmund, the only base on German soil. The carrier has therefore announced the launch of a non-stop connection to Palma. This is scheduled to start on April 1, 2021 and will initially be operated on Thursdays and Sundays. Wizz Air flies in Germany from Cologne, Dortmund, Frankfurt Hahn, Hamburg, Memmingen, Nuremberg, Friedrichshafen, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Berlin, Hanover and Bremen. The lifting of the German travel warning for the Balearic Islands led to a real boom in new bookings for various airlines and tour operators. This is being controversially discussed in politics. For example, the federal state of Lower Saxony is demanding that people returning from Mallorca be required to undergo testing at the airport.

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2020: Government flew 1,55 million

Granite Pireci March 16, 2021 13:33

Last year, the government was forced to make cuts in air travel. Last year, the republic had to take on large-scale debt due to the pandemic. In comparison, the state costs associated with the flights of individual government members were "peanuts". In total, the ministries' flight costs amounted to around 1,55 million euros. This is evident from the FPÖ's responses to parliamentary questions. The Ministry of Defense was the top flight organizer, followed by the Federal Chancellery, according to the ORF. The Freedom Party criticizes this "lively" travel activity, even though spending was significantly higher in previous years. In total, the Ministry of Defense flew 316.000 euros last year, according to the FPÖ's figures. The Chancellery spent around 256.000 euros, and the Ministry of Agriculture around 214.000 euros. Brunner criticized for flights to Vorarlberg What is remarkable for FPÖ environmental spokesman Walter Rauch, who had submitted the inquiries to the departments, is that the Climate Protection Ministry incurred flight costs of around 145.000 euros despite CoV restrictions. "This double standard is intolerable and must be stopped," said the Freedom Party member. It cannot be that flights are booked within Austria and to Munich, Zagreb and Berlin, although video conferences can be held in the digital age. ÖVP State Secretary Magnus Brunner in particular appears to feel addressed here. He traveled to his homeland of Vorarlberg by plane several times a year. 

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