April 26, 2021

Finnair is planning around 60 summer destinations

Amely Mizzi 26 April 2021 15:55

Oneworld member Finnair expects to be able to offer around 2021 destinations in summer 60. The carrier also believes that the advancing vaccinations in various countries will mean that free travel could be possible. In June 2021, Finnair will therefore reactivate destinations such as Reykjavik, Bodø, Nice, Lisbon and Vilnius. The company also plans to reactivate warm water destinations such as Rhodes, Chania, Santorini, Palma de Mallorca, Malaga and Alicante in the summer. In Italy, Finnair plans to reactivate Rome, Milan and Venice. "We are closely monitoring how travel regulations develop in our markets and have the flexibility to increase flights depending on demand and to take advantage of the opportunities arising from the lifting of travel restrictions," says Ole Orver, Chief Commercial Officer at Finnair. In North America, the rollout of vaccines is progressing well, and Finnair will resume flights to Chicago and Los Angeles in mid-June and increase frequencies on the New York route to up to three flights per week. The restart of these flights is still subject to the development of US travel guidelines. Finnair's plans at a glance: Finland Europe Asia North America Ivalo Alicante Bangkok Chicago Kittilä Amsterdam Hong Kong Los Angeles Kuopio Berlin Seoul New York Kuusamo Bodø Shanghai Oulu Bryssel Singapore Rovaniemi Budapest Tokyo Tampere Chania Turku Copenhagen Vaasa Dublin Dubrovnik Düsseldorf Edinburgh Frankfurt Funchal Gazipasa Gdansk Göteborg Hamburg Heraklion Krakow Lisbon London Málaga Manchester Milan Moscow Munich Nice Oslo Palma de Mallorca Paris Prague Reykjavik Rhodes Riga Rome Split St. Petersburg Stockholm Tallinn Tel Aviv Venice Vilnius Visby Vienna Warsaw

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Ryanair starts a new offensive against booking platforms

Jan Gruber 26 April 2021 15:21

For many years, the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has had an obvious problem with so-called booking platforms. The carrier has repeatedly taken intermediaries to court, but lost in most cases. Now the company believes it has to introduce a seal of its own creation. According to Ryanair, this is intended to protect "customers from online travel agencies that may charge too much." This is not entirely unreasonable, as the guild of so-called booking platforms has come under fire from consumer protection groups for dubious extra fees and sometimes exorbitant surcharges on airline expenses. Ryanair even accuses so-called "OTAs" of even providing fake contact details to prevent the airline from contacting the passenger directly. The "Price Checker" function enables customers who have booked through an online travel agency to compare the amount paid to Ryanair for their booking with the amount charged by the online travel agency. Customers can now clearly see where online travel agents not authorised by Ryanair to sell flights have added a surcharge to their flights and ancillary products such as baggage and seats. To "further protect" customers, Ryanair has introduced a new verification seal which guarantees customers that they are booking directly on the Ryanair website/app. Customers should now always check that the website they are booking on displays the verification seal. If it does not, they should be aware that they are booking through an unauthorised seller of Ryanair flights. "We are delighted to launch our new 'Price Checker' and verification seal on the Ryanair.com website and app. These two new features will help customers avoid the pitfalls of booking

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FlyArmenia-737 returns from “Iran trip”

Amely Mizzi 26 April 2021 14:52

A few weeks ago, the Boeing 737-300 with the registration EK-FAA, operated by FlyArmenia Airways, took a "trip" to Tehran. The company subsequently came under fire from international criticism because there were fears that the medium-haul jet had been "exported" to the isolated country. Now the aircraft is back in Armenia. The Civil Aviation Authority of Armenia confirmed that the EK-FAA had been in Tehran for around eight weeks. The landing there was said to have been due to an emergency. In the meantime, the twin-jet was transferred back to Yerevan. According to CH-Aviation.com, the landing there took place on April 23, 2021. But the matter is not over yet, because the authority ordered a comprehensive investigation into the incident. Among other things, the Boeing 737-300 involved is to be inspected. This is to determine whether there was actually an emergency that made an emergency landing in Tehran necessary. It was apparently not easy for the Armenian aviation authority to fly the EK-FAA out of Iran. According to an official statement from the CAC, the Foreign Ministry intervened and successfully. Why the Boeing 737-300 in question landed in Tehran is still being investigated. Speculation ranges from "export" to Caspian Airlines to hijacking to a technical emergency. According to various local reports, Fly Armenia is only the lessee. Lessor is said to be a company based in Switzerland.

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“Low cost at a drugstore price?” – Austrian Airlines sees it differently

Jan Gruber 26 April 2021 14:25

Passengers looking for flight tickets for Germany-Austria for May 2021 may find that Austrian Airlines and affiliated providers may have increased prices significantly in some cases. Demand is quite low due to quarantine regulations in place on both sides. Austrian Airlines has been criticized in expert circles since the introduction of paid catering, as the company has been accused, among other things, of offering a "low-cost product at a pharmacy price". Insiders also believe that AUA would give competitors Ryanair and Wizz Air a real head start, as the products - apart from different hand luggage dimensions - are identical. The main difference would be the price, as this is said to tend to be higher for the Lufthansa subsidiary. Austrian Airlines addressed the criticism summarized in the previous paragraph to Aviation Direct. A spokesperson responded to the question of whether there had actually been price increases in Austria-Germany traffic: "Our prices are fundamentally based on supply and demand. It could be that the cheaper booking classes on the flight you have found are already full and only higher-quality classes are available. We always price in such a way that at least costs such as landing fees are covered per passenger. Ticket prices of 10 euros, where this is certainly not the case, are irresponsible for environmental and economic reasons.” The differences between the products of the low-cost competitors (Ryanair and Wizz Air) and Austrian Airlines are in the details, according to the media officer: “There are also other points: with the Austrian Melangerie, for example, we offer high-quality, freshly prepared meals from Do

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SunExpress starts selling Air Cairo flights

Jan Gruber 26 April 2021 13:58

The Turkish holiday airline SunExpress will have Air Cairo operate its Egypt flights from Germany in the 2021 summer flight schedule. The reason for this is that the closure of the German branch means that it is dependent on a partner. The cooperation flights can be booked for the travel period from the end of May to the end of October 2021. While Air Cairo will operate the flights to Hurghada, SunExpress is responsible for all flight planning, revenue management and sales. Together, the two companies are offering an Egypt program from Germany, Austria and Switzerland in the summer season with up to three connections per week depending on the departure location. Egypt holidaymakers can choose from Hurghada connections from Berlin, Bremen, Basel, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hanover, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zurich. Prices for the routes that can already be booked start at 139,99 euros one-way. "Many have already been vaccinated and can therefore face the tests with confidence - and in many cases there is no need to quarantine on return," commented SunExpress CCO Peter Glade. "We are very pleased that flights to Egypt are now starting and are sure that we will be able to offer many customers a relaxing holiday.

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Finnair concludes new pilot KV

Jan Gruber 26 April 2021 13:20

Finnair management and the pilots' union Palta have agreed on a new collective agreement. This is valid until 30 September 2024 and is intended to make it easier for the airline to survive after the corona pandemic. This includes the transition from a salary structure based on years of service to a salary structure based on job vacancies, as well as measures to more effectively compensate for the seasonality of air traffic. "With the new collective agreement, our pilots are showing their willingness to contribute constructively to Finnair's recovery phase in the midst of the biggest crisis in aviation history," says Johanna Karppi, Senior Vice President Human Resources at Finnair. "I am pleased that we have been able to agree on solutions together that support Finnair's competitiveness while ensuring that Finnair continues to be a good employer for Finnish pilots in the future. The long contract period brings us predictability and supports long-term efforts to build Finnair's future." Pasi Vuorio, chief negotiator at Palta, adds: “The agreement is a balanced unit that takes into account the challenging situation the company is facing amid the pandemic. Thanks also go to the pilots’ negotiating team.”

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Refurbishment: Munich closes the southern runway

Amely Mizzi 26 April 2021 12:51

From May 1, 2021, Munich Airport will handle all air traffic via the northern runway. The background to this is that the southern runway is undergoing a general renovation. This is scheduled to last until July 31, 2021. Start of the second phase of renovation work on the four-kilometer-long and 60-meter-wide southern runway at Munich Airport: After 180 square meters of concrete were replaced, cables renewed and concrete joints renovated in the summer of last year, further work on concrete and asphalt surfaces is scheduled to begin on May 1. In addition, curves on the taxiways will be widened and maintenance work will be carried out on the approach lighting. The airport is thus taking advantage of the low utilization of runway capacity due to the pandemic and will close the south runway completely for construction work until July 31, 2021. During this time, traffic will be handled exclusively via the north runway. Since the work can take place during the day, the airport benefits from a significant reduction in costs and a shortening of repair times. The South Fire Station will remain fully staffed and operational during the renovation work.

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KLM returns to Dresden

Amely Mizzi 26 April 2021 12:16

The Dutch airline KLM announces its comeback in Dresden: On May 2, 2021, the carrier plans to reactivate the connection to the Skyteam hub in Amsterdam. Three rotations per week are planned in May 2021. These are to be carried out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. According to Dresden Airport, this hub connection was paused for about half a year due to the corona pandemic.

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Austrian Airlines: comeback of flights with a stopover

Jan Gruber 26 April 2021 11:44

In May 2021, Austrian Airlines will again operate domestic German flights. These are so-called triangular flights that will be operated on two routes on Saturdays, the company confirmed. According to AUA, the reason for this is the currently "slightly weaker demand". Passengers who want to fly to Hamburg or Stuttgart with Austrian Airlines on Saturdays in May 2021 must be prepared for a stopover. In the direction of the Hanseatic city, this will be carried out at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. After Stuttgart, there will be a stopover in the Bavarian capital Munich. The flights will be carried out according to the following patterns: Vienna-Munich-Stuttgart-Vienna or Vienna-Berlin-Hamburg-Vienna. "In this way, we can continue to offer our customers a connection to these four destinations on Saturday mornings in May," an Austrian Airlines spokesperson told Aviation.Direct. Point-to-point transport within Germany is not currently planned.

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Merkel emergency brake: legal to the airport by bike?

Jan Gruber 26 April 2021 10:36

Large parts of Germany are currently suffering from the "emergency brake" imposed by Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). Among other things, this provides for night-time curfews if the seven-day incidence rate is 100 or higher. While cycling remains permitted, all travel is to be avoided. This also includes journeys by car, train or plane. However, due to international agreements, Germany cannot impose a night-time flight ban for all airports. This leads to the curious fact that arriving during the "curfew" is legal, but travelling home by car would then be illegal. But if you walk or use a bicycle, you are at least in a grey area. The industry association BDL is calling on the German government to ensure that arrival and departure remain permitted. However, this has fallen on deaf ears in Angela Merkel's circles for the time being. Lufthansa told various media that it does not currently expect flight operations to have to be restricted due to the "emergency brake". While Austria, for example, has now announced concrete dates for the reopening of sectors that are still closed, German politicians are indicating that there will be no easing of restrictions before the end of May 2021. Further tightening of restrictions is more likely. The benefit of night-time curfews is rather small, as the example of Austria shows.

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More articles from the category

Finnair is planning around 60 summer destinations

Ryanair starts a new offensive against booking platforms

FlyArmenia-737 returns from “Iran trip”

“Low cost at a drugstore price?” – Austrian Airlines sees it differently

SunExpress starts selling Air Cairo flights

Finnair concludes new pilot KV

Refurbishment: Munich closes the southern runway

KLM returns to Dresden

Austrian Airlines: comeback of flights with a stopover

Merkel emergency brake: legal to the airport by bike?

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