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March 31, 2021

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March 31, 2021

Spain: Wamos says goodbye to last Boeing 747

Amely Mizzi March 31, 2021 13:04

An era is coming to an end for Wamos Air, which specialises in the provision of charter and ACMI services: EC-KXN is the last Boeing 747-400 aircraft to be officially taken out of service. The four-engine aircraft has already been flown to Bishkek. EX-KXN is currently 27,1 years old and was chartered last year for a repatriation flight on the Windhoek-Frankfurt route, among other routes. Since then, the jumbo jet has only flown a few times. Wamos Air once had up to six Boeing 747-400s in parallel. In total, it had eight different aircraft of this type. In the future, this carrier's long-haul fleet will only consist of twin-engine aircraft. It currently consists of six Airbus A330-200s and one A330-300. Some are used as so-called "preighters". The seats have been removed from the passenger aircraft in order to increase cargo capacity.

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Munich: Air Baltic announces Tallinn

Jan Gruber March 31, 2021 12:31

Latvian airline Air Baltic announces the launch of a non-stop service between Tallinn and Munich, initially operating three times a week with Airbus A1-2021s from May 220, 300. "Air Baltic demonstrated its strong commitment to Estonia by continuing to serve the country in market conditions where traffic volumes dropped significantly. Now, as we rebuild our network, we are adding new flight options for passengers who need to travel. This summer, we plan to offer flights to 12 destinations from Tallinn," explains Air Baltic CEO Martin Gauss. The carrier currently offers flights from Tallinn to Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, London, Oslo and Stockholm, as well as connections via Riga. In the coming months, Air Baltic also plans to resume non-stop flights to Brussels, Malaga, Paris and Vilnius.

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Volotea squinted at Airbus A220

Amely Mizzi March 31, 2021 12:03

The Spanish low-cost airline Volotea is now also considering the Airbus A220 model. This could indirectly serve as a successor to the Boeing 717, which was phased out a few weeks ago. However, no changes are planned in the short term. Company boss Carlos Muñoz indicated during an online conference that the A220 could be an option for Volotea in the medium term. In the short term, however, the company will rely on the A319 and A320 models. Up to 19 of the latter aircraft type are to be added to the fleet, with 15 already contractually secured. These are exclusively used aircraft that are purchased through various leasing companies. Muñoz assumes that demand will be extremely high in summer 2021 and said that wet lease capacity may be needed again. He pointed out that Volotea experienced high demand last year, particularly within Spain, and was dependent on additional wet lease aircraft. In the long term, however, there are no plans to introduce larger Airbus A321s into the fleet.

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Survey: 69 percent of Austrians for Sputnik vaccine

Jan Gruber March 31, 2021 11:31

According to a recent survey conducted by BB Research Affairs GmbH, 69 percent of Austrians are in favor of purchasing the Russian Covid vaccine Sputnik V. It was also found that older people and men tend to be more open to this vaccine. 57 percent of respondents can imagine getting vaccinated with Sputnik V themselves. In this context, too, the response is higher among men (64 percent) than women (50 percent). "In order to return to a normal life as quickly as possible, people want faster vaccinations. An additional vaccine could make a significant contribution to this. Sputnik V is therefore seen by the population as a savior in times of need," explains study author Sabine Beinschab. The study can be downloaded in PDF format at this link.

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Emirates announces special vaccination flight with A380

Jan Gruber March 31, 2021 11:03

Gulf carrier Emirates Airline will operate a special Airbus A10 flight over the territory of the United Arab Emirates on April 2021, 380. Only people who are fully vaccinated against the corona virus will be on board. Tickets can only be purchased by residents of the UAE. On April 10, 2021, special flight EK 2021 will take off from Dubai International Airport at 12:00 p.m. local time and fly over various areas in the UAE. The flight will land back in Dubai at 14:30 p.m. Only passengers and crew members who are fully vaccinated will be on board the flight. Emirates wants to use this flight to celebrate the vaccination progress of the United Arab Emirates. To date, around eight million people, or about half the population, have been vaccinated. Tickets for flight EK 2021 are available to citizens and residents of the United Arab Emirates who have passed the two-week deadline after receiving the second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The price of an Economy Class ticket is AED 1.000 and a Business Class ticket is AED 2.000. Passengers must bring their UAE ID or passport and vaccination certificate. All proceeds from ticket sales on this flight will be donated to the Emirates Airline Foundation, which supports charities that improve the quality of life of disadvantaged children around the world.

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Germany: Seehofer wants to check everyone by mid-May 2021

Amely Mizzi March 31, 2021 10:34

Germany's Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) announced that all persons entering the country by air will be checked by the federal police. The primary goal is to determine whether the entry registration and the negative corona test result are available, said the government member. This means that, where possible, all passengers arriving from abroad will be treated like non-Schengen travelers. This measure is to be implemented until at least May 12, 2021. However, due to developments in border controls, it can be assumed that Seehofer will order an extension of this order. Germany has repeatedly been criticized by other EU states because people coming from the Schengen area were often not checked at all, even though the stay triggered a quarantine. By changing in Germany, it was possible to cleverly circumvent the Austrian quarantine until mid-December 2020. Since then, Austria has considered almost all countries to be risk areas and also requires people coming from Germany to go into isolation. This does not apply to people who fall under one of the many exceptions. The same applies to Germany, by the way.

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Decision: Ministry has trees in Klagenfurt sawed off

Amely Mizzi March 31, 2021 10:04

Due to a decision by the Austrian Ministry of Transport, Klagenfurt Airport must use chainsaws and other equipment to trim or even partially remove the trees in the western approach path. This is clear from the document in question. The city was ordered to carry out the work. The ministry believes that the plants are too tall and could therefore pose a danger to air traffic. Since most of the trees are on public land, the city of Klagenfurt was ordered to carry out this work. According to a regional newspaper, 21 plants are said to be located on the grounds of a kindergarten. These trees could now be sawn down. The horticulture department of the state capital of Carinthia announced that workers will be out in the next few days and will carry out the trimming or, in some cases, the sawing down. Trees that fall victim to the decision will have new ones planted in autumn 2021.

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Superspreader: flight attendant ends up in jail for two years

Jan Gruber March 31, 2021 09:35

A Vietnamese court sentenced a flight attendant to two years in prison on Tuesday for violating quarantine regulations. The 29-year-old man previously worked for Vietnam Airlines. The court is of the opinion that her behavior endangered and infected numerous people. In November 2020, the man flew from Japan to Vietnam and should have served a 14-day home quarantine. However, he is said to have ignored this and met with at least 46 people and even conducted tours with school classes. According to Reuters, the flight attendant tested positive for the coronavirus on November 28, 2020. The authorities then asked around 2.000 people who were considered so-called K1 contact persons to be tested. This is said to have incurred costs of 194.192 US dollars. The man is also accused of being a superspreader and infecting a particularly large number of people, 35 of whom are said to have died. The court in the capital Hanoi is of the opinion that the flight attendant's behavior was dangerous to the public and therefore sentenced him to an unconditional prison sentence of two years. However, direct responsibility for the deaths was denied because it could not be proven beyond any doubt that he was the source of the infection.

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Condor feeder: Cartel office locates market abuse by Lufthansa

Jan Gruber March 31, 2021 09:03

The Federal Cartel Office is now also backing the feeder flights that Lufthansa has canceled. The first review has shown that there may be an abuse of market power in the long-haul tourist segment. The Federal Republic has also come under pressure from Brussels in the meantime, because the behavior of the crane could not be reconciled with the conditions under which the state aid was approved. In the meantime, Lufthansa rowed back and publicly announced that a continuation of the feeder contract with Condor appears possible. The holiday airline has previously filed a complaint with the Federal Cartel Office and is also suing the General Court of the European Union against the approval of the crane's state aid. The Cartel Office is now hoping that Lufthansa will actually give in, because after a preliminary review, it is of the opinion that market power is being abused. Both parties have until April 7, 2021 to submit a statement on the results so far. The Federal Cartel Office will then decide whether interim orders may be issued. These are intended to enable Condor to plan its sales. Since the holiday airline does not have its own feeder routes due to its former affiliation with the Lufthansa Group, it is dependent on the Kranich route network. However, the latter wants to push the new subsidiary Eurowings Discover. The new company is intended to serve a veritable blueprint of the existing Condor network.

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Austria just before a large Sputnik-V order

Jan Gruber March 31, 2021 08:35

Austria is apparently about to order one million doses of the Russian Covid vaccine Sputnik V. The Federal Chancellery confirmed negotiations on request, but stressed that no purchase agreement has yet been signed. This means that Austria is joining Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Italy and Slovakia in a whole series of countries that want to compensate for the bottleneck caused by the European Union in this way. Austria could receive one million vaccine doses from Russia by June 2021, with negotiations also underway on licensed production in the Alpine republic. Italy has already concluded such a contract with Russia and plans to start producing Sputnik V soon. The first doses have already been delivered to Rome for testing purposes. A few weeks ago, Austria's Chancellor urged that the vaccines from Russia and China be approved quickly. A corresponding approval process is currently underway at the EMA, but there are initial signs that Austria could abandon the previous practice and issue national approvals similar to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Ministry of Health, headed by Rudolf Anschober (Greens), does not want to speak about this publicly yet. In parliament, the politician stressed that every vaccine used must be safe. New problems with AstraZeneca in Germany In Germany, new problems have arisen with the AstraZeneca vaccine. The first federal states have stopped vaccinating people under 55 with immediate effect. Since the European Union has ordered exceptionally large quantities of this vaccine, but the manufacturer only wants to deliver around 30 percent of the agreed quantity in the second quarter

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