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May 18

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May 18

Vienna: Sky Lounge offers catering again

Jan Gruber 18 May 2021 19:16

From Wednesday, the buffet will be open again in the Sky Lounge operated by Flughafen Wien AG. The usual catering and drinks will be offered again. Airport lounges in Austria are subject to the rules for catering. According to an airport spokesman, this means that proof of vaccination, testing or immunization will be checked in the entrance area. "Passengers can then freely use the lounge to relax and eat. The maximum occupancy for seating (four people) will be checked and, in accordance with the distance rule, individual seats will be blocked off (two meters apart at the tables)," Peter Kleemann, media officer at Flughafen Wien AG, told Aviation Direct. Due to the closure of the catering industry ordered by the federal government, the buffet had to be closed for around six months. Only a snack package could be taken with you when leaving the lounge. This also applied to Austrian Airlines. Regular catering will also be available again in this lounge from Wednesday. A major change concerns the origin of the food. Do & Co will no longer be serving up food for Flughafen Wien AG, but rather its competitor Donhauser. This means that all lounges will be supplied by DoN in the future. Currently, only the exclusive waiting areas of Austrian Airlines and the Sky Lounge in the immediate vicinity are available in Vienna-Schwechat. All others will remain closed for an indefinite period.

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Air Astana celebrates its 19th birthday

Granite Pireci 18 May 2021 16:02

From 160.000 to five million passengers annually: Kazakhstan's national carrier draws a positive balance after almost two decades. Air Astana is celebrating its 19th anniversary: ​​In May 2002, the airline operated its first scheduled flight between Almaty and Astana (now Nur-Sultan). The number of passengers carried rose from 160.000 in 2002 to over five million passengers per year before the start of the global pandemic. At the same time, the route network grew to up to 60 national and international routes. In addition, the carrier founded Fly Arystana, the first low-cost carrier in Central Asia. This quickly built up an extensive domestic Kazakh route network and also offers international flights to Georgia and Turkey. "The then President of Kazakhstan Nazarbayev, together with Sir Richard Evans of BAE Systems PLC, made the decision to launch Air Astana in September 2001 and set the course for Fly Arystan in November 2018. I firmly believe that we will continue their vision as a safe, service-oriented, profitable, sustainable and ethical airline group," said Peter Foster, President & CEO of Air Astana. "I would like to thank our customers who fly with us and all employees for their outstanding performance."

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Innsbruck: Tyrolean Jet Services halves the workforce

Jan Gruber 18 May 2021 15:55

According to a report in Trend magazine, the on-demand airline Tyrolean Jet Services was hit hard by the Corona crisis and is cutting half of its workforce. A spokesman for the owner Swarovski confirmed the measure to the media. TJS currently employs around 60 people. Around 30 of them are to be laid off. Those affected were informed of the step on Monday and Tuesday. A Swarovski spokesman explained to Trend as follows: "The crisis has dramatically changed conditions." The extent to which the fleet will be reduced and whether investments such as TJS's own personnel leasing, the flight school or the catering subsidiary will also be reduced is currently still the subject of analysis, according to the company. According to the latest information, TJS operated five aircraft, including two Cessna Citation VIIs. However, according to trend research, the airline, founded in 1958, was already making losses before the Corona year 2020. The balance sheet at the end of December 2020 shows a cumulative loss of 7,5 million euros, in 2020 alone it was 2,4 million euros. TJS justifies the losses in the years before 2020 with investments due to growth ambitions. Now, however, there is dramatically "less internal and external flight demand." The crystal group, which has been known in the past for particularly high social standards, asserts that "the management and the owner families are doing essential work" to "make all cuts as socially acceptable as possible. This includes a comprehensive rescue package, a work foundation and coaching.

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Frankfurt Airport: Northwest runway will be back in operation from June 1st

Granite Pireci 18 May 2021 15:02

On June 1, the northwest runway (07L/25R) at Frankfurt Airport will be put back into operation. The reason for this is the growth in flight movements in FRA expected by the airport operator for the coming summer. This has also been confirmed by the planning figures for the coming months determined by the European air traffic control authority Eurocontrol. An increase in movements at Frankfurt Airport has already been recorded in recent weeks. With the number of flight movements continuing to rise, the use of the runway is necessary to ensure smooth, delay-free flight operations. The decision to reopen the northwest runway was made by Fraport together with DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH, according to the airport. Due to the corona-related traffic decline, no landings took place on the runway between March 23 and July 8, 2020. It was not used again from December 14, 2020 and is currently still serving as a temporary parking area for aircraft.

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Austrian Airlines is increasing its summer offer

Granite Pireci 18 May 2021 14:05

At the same time as the relaxed entry rules come into force in Austria and many European countries, Austrian Airlines is increasing its tourist offering. First, Austria's home airline will start with classics such as Crete and Rhodes for the coming long Whitsun weekend. There will also be more flights to Athens and Thessaloniki. Other destinations such as Chania, Karpathos, Palma de Mallorca, Santorini, Skiathos and Zakynthos will follow in June. From July, other routes such as Cagliari, Catania, Funchal, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Kalamata, Mykonos, Naples, Olbia and Tenerife will round off the offer. In total, Austrian Airlines is offering over 100 destinations this summer - of which around 30 destinations have a clear focus on holiday resorts on the Mediterranean. "With our strong summer offering, we are returning to pre-crisis levels in the tourist segment. Demand is right, people want to travel. In addition, the new travel relief for Austria and various European countries is helping us - away from quarantine and towards proof of vaccination, testing and recovery," says Austrian Airlines Sales Director Michael Trestl. Traffic to Germany is picking up speed again In addition to the relief for tourist destinations, Germany has also recently relaxed its travel regulations. Here, too, the quarantine requirement has been replaced by mandatory proof of vaccination, testing or recovery, unless you come from a high-incidence or virus variant area. Antigen tests that are not older than 48 hours and PCR tests that are not older than 72 hours are accepted. "German-Austrian neighborhood traffic is now possible in both directions without quarantine. This is of course excellent news for us, as we can now offer our guests a comprehensive program again. We expect more demand on our routes again," Trestl continued. From

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Finnair: ATR fleet to be equipped with HEPA filters

Granite Pireci 18 May 2021 13:36

The airline is giving its ATR turboprop fleet an update. HEPA filters are currently in great demand as part of comprehensive corona hygiene measures. They are used in numerous air purification systems to remove pollen, mites and also viruses from the room air. Finnair's Airbus and Embraer aircraft are already equipped with HEPA filters. Now it is the turn of the ATR aircraft, and installation is scheduled to be completed by early 2022. "Ensuring the health and safety of our customers and employees has always been our top priority. By introducing HEPA filters in our ATR fleet, we are increasing the hygiene standards in our ATR aircraft," says Juha Ojala, Vice President of Finnair Technical Operations

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Roman Wetli becomes CIO of Hotelplan Group

Granite Pireci 18 May 2021 13:07

As of October 1, 2021, Roman Wetli will take over the role of CIO of Hotelplan Group. He replaces Pablo Castillo, who will leave the company at the end of September. The Board of Directors has appointed Roman Wetli, previously Director of Engineering & Competence Centers at Hotelplan Group, as the new CIO of the Hotelplan Group. He will take up his post on October 1, 2021. In his new role, Roman Wetli will become a member of the Group Executive Board and report directly to Laura Meyer, CEO of Hotelplan Group. We are delighted that in Roman Wetli we have found an extremely competent and collaborative person for the position of CIO. He knows our entire business very well, is familiar with the upcoming projects and can ensure continuity within IT in the currently challenging times and also play an important role in defining and further developing the group strategy. On behalf of the entire Group Executive Board, we wish him much joy and success in his new position," says Laura Meyer.

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Montenegro Airlines has to repay state aid

Amely Mizzi 18 May 2021 12:37

The airline Montenegro Airlines has been in liquidation for several months and is to be replaced by Air Montenegro. But now the local competition authority has found that the first-mentioned airline wrongfully received state aid totaling 2018 million euros between 2020 and 55,8. The repayment of the funds has been ordered, but this could prove difficult because Montenegro Airlines is de facto bankrupt and has only been kept in the air with the help of new state aid in recent months. The competition authority found, among other things, that the aid granted does not comply with European Union guidelines. As a non-EU member, the state should not actually have to worry about this. Actually, because Montenegro committed to applying EU aid guidelines as a candidate for accession some time ago. A return of the funds is considered extremely unlikely due to the insolvency.

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For Wizz Air: Kiev-Schuljany extends the runway

Jan Gruber 18 May 2021 12:04

Normally, the low-cost airline Wizz Air only flies to the inner-city Shujany Airport in Kiev. It has a base there, while staying away from the larger but much more distant Borispil Airport. This will change from June 1, 2021. The subsidiary Wizz Air Abu Dhabi will start a non-stop connection to Borispil. The reason for this is not that the low-cost airline now finds the larger airport more attractive, but that the Airbus A321neo aircraft would be subject to restrictions in Shujany. Therefore, only this route is offered from KBP. However, this is an interim solution, because Wizz Air Abu Dhabi wants to offer flights to the capital of the United Arab Emirates from Kiev-Shujany in the future. To do this, however, the airport must extend the runway and that is exactly what airport director Denis Kostrzhevsky announced. Runway 08/26 is to be extended from 2.310 meters to around 2.800 meters. At the same time, the surface will be completely renewed and a CAT II ILS approach system will be installed. Kostrzhevsky estimates the total cost at around 181 million US dollars. Due to the construction work, Kyiv-Zhuliany Airport is expected to close for up to nine months in 2023. After that, the use of A321neo aircraft should be possible without restrictions. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi will then shift its flight offerings to the inner-city airport.

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From Wednesday: Airport supermarkets will be open longer again

Jan Gruber 18 May 2021 11:36

The Austrian retail group Spar will reopen its branches at airports and train stations during regular opening hours from May 19, 2021. Until now, there have been restrictions due to the federal government's orders. For example, in Vienna and Graz, Spar supermarkets are located in the terminals. These had - unusually for airports - greatly reduced opening hours due to the government's Corona emergency measures regulations. This is to end on Wednesday, so that employees and travelers can shop again even late at night. Spar also announced that all other branches will also return to regular opening hours. The FFP2 mask requirement specified by the federal government remains unchanged.

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