June 14

More articles from the category

June 14

And now there are zero routes: Wizz Air cancels Salzburg-Varna

The Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air actually wanted to start a non-stop connection between Varna and Salzburg on Sunday. But that didn't happen because the carrier also canceled the last route planned for midsummer from the city of Mozart. Last year, Wizz Air surprisingly announced several routes from Salzburg. After only a few flights, the carrier stopped offering the service due to a lack of demand. Since then, the resumption of individual connections has been postponed at regular intervals. Most recently, only Varna, St. Petersburg and Kyiv-Zhulyany were announced and all other routes planned last year were canceled entirely. First, St. Petersburg was postponed to September 2021, followed just a few days later by Kyiv-Zhulyany. The destination Varna was also bookable for June 13, 2021 until recently. At short notice and without further communication, Wizz Air also canceled the route to the Black Sea. At least no flights to Bulgaria are planned for 2021, but the route can be booked from June 13, 2022 and has thus been postponed by a whole year. CEO Jozsef Varadi recently emphasized in various interviews that Salzburg would play an important role in the Austrian strategy. Given that only a few flights have been carried out so far and the announced resumptions have been repeatedly postponed and have now even been postponed for a very long time, the city of Mozart is unlikely to play a major role in the Wizz Air Group's plans. It therefore remains to be seen whether the carrier will return to Salzburg at all. Postponements and cuts in Vienna too There are initial signs in Vienna

Continue reading "

Document control: Luqa lets all passengers arrive at the check-in

Travelers who spend their vacation on the Maltese islands should arrive at Luqa Airport in good time for their return flight. All passengers must go to their airline's check-in counter, as the airport carries out a mandatory document check. Passengers of the low-cost airlines Ryanair and Wizzair in particular should note that online check-in must still be carried out. If a boarding pass cannot be presented at the counter - either on a smartphone or printed out - the two low-cost airlines charge horrendous fees for check-in at the counter. The mandatory document check, which is unfortunately carried out at a rather leisurely pace, checks the boarding pass, proof of vaccination, test or recovery (depending on the destination and entry regulations) and, if necessary, the PLF and entry forms of the destination country. The agent then hands out a small confirmation. Without this hand-filled form, the security staff will refuse entry to the security area. If you still manage to "swipe through", the airline can refuse boarding. Since all travelers have to go to the check-in counter, this should definitely be taken into account, as long and completely pointless queues can sometimes arise.

Continue reading "

Transport refused: Wizz Air sloppy and only paid the additional costs after a lawsuit

In times of Corona, passengers have to pay attention to many things and in particular to some of the bureaucratic requirements of the destination countries. But what if you have all the documents with you and the airline still refuses to transport you? This is what happened at Vienna Airport with the low-cost airline Wizz Air. Time and again, the ground staff at Austria's largest airport stand out with incorrect interpretation of entry regulations. For example, in winter, when processing Ryanair flights, they shone by incorrectly not accepting RNA PCR results and refusing to transport the passengers. After a long back and forth, there was at least a free rebooking to another Ryanair flight. In the Wizz Air case, which occurred at Vienna Airport, the Chamber of Labor had to go to court and sue for additional costs of 3.850 euros for a family. For the vacation in Greece, Mr. R. filled out a Corona entry form for himself, his wife and their older daughter - as required on the website of the Greek health authority. The underage daughter was registered on the father's entry form. But the trip fell through. Wizz Air refused to check in. The airline said that an entry form should have been filled out for the underage child, followed by receipt of a QR code. Not only was the child left at the airport, the family was also left with the entire "travel costs". Only after an AK lawsuit did Wizz Air pay back all costs - a total of around 3.850 euros. Greece was on the R family's vacation plan in 2020. The parents and their two children, one of whom is underage, were really looking forward to

Continue reading "

Comment: The Green Pass does not need an “emergency brake”

Europe's airlines are demanding more clearly than ever that entry and quarantine regulations should be standardized under the so-called Green Pass. The EU Commission wants to continue to give the nation states the freedom to decide whether and in what form the Green Pass is recognized at all. The latest cause for resentment was the plan to install an "emergency brake". This means that under certain conditions, which each EU member can put together themselves, quarantine and tests can then be required even from vaccinated and recovered people. The word "emergency brake" alone is causing uncertainty in Germany, because Health Minister Jens Spahn and Chancellor Angela Merkel (both CDU) have implemented their lockdowns and their "federal emergency brake" under alleged misrepresentation. The fact that trust in politics, but also in the health sector, has been permanently damaged is shown by the particular fruits that the pandemic has produced. For example, in Germany, according to a report by the Federal Audit Office, hospital operators reported completely false figures on the occupancy of their intensive care beds in order to benefit from so-called compensation payments. This means that at no point was the health system facing an overload of intensive care units, because they were artificially or virtually overcrowded in order to get a lot of money from the state. Not a conspiracy theory, but a finding by the Federal Audit Office. White coats, politicians and dubious profiteers Doctors actually enjoy a high reputation, but some turned out to be black sheep and shamelessly exploited the corona pandemic to do “big business”. The bird shooting in this context probably took place in Tyrol, where even a new mutation was freely invented. Regardless of whether it was rapid tests, masks, PCR tests, the

Continue reading "

For vaccinated people only: Israel is ramping up tourism

Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, Israel has largely closed itself off from foreign tourists. For long periods, even citizens were only able to enter the country with great difficulty. This is set to change on July 1, 2021. 2019 was a record year for Israel's tourism. Never before have there been so many holidaymakers in the country, but then Corona came. The government largely sealed off the small country and has struggled in recent months with the exact timing of the tourist comeback. From July 1, 2021, people who can prove that they have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will be able to vacation in Israel again. The exact details are still being worked out, but it is already foreseeable that the vaccination certificate will most likely not be sufficient. In addition, Israel could insist on the presentation of a negative PCR result. It is also being considered whether another swab will be taken after landing or whether an antibody test will be used to check whether the travelers are really vaccinated against Covid-19. It is currently also being considered that a negative PCR test must be presented at the exit control. If Israel implements this, tourists would have to take a corona test on site in good time before their flight home and then show the result before leaving the country. With this measure, Israel wants to protect itself and conclude further safe travel agreements. According to current information, there will be no possibility of entering Israel without vaccination.

Continue reading "

SSP opens Wolfgang Puck Restaurant at Vienna Airport

The range of restaurants at Vienna-Schwechat Airport has been expanded to include a restaurant run by Wolfgang Puck. This is located in the public arrivals zone in Terminal 3 and is the first that the Austrian star chef will operate in his home country. SSP - The Food Travel Experts will take over the operational management of the restaurant under a franchise agreement. As a precautionary measure due to the events of the last few months, a take-away area will be set up right from the start. "I am delighted to be opening this small restaurant in the place where my journey began. I hope that everyone enjoys what we have prepared for this new location. It is something very special for me," says star chef Wolfgang Puck. "We are delighted to be deepening our close cooperation with Vienna Airport. At the same time, we are very proud to bring on board a franchise partner in the form of star chef Wolfgang Puck, who, like no other, stands for high-quality and healthy international cuisine that has its culinary roots in Austria," emphasizes Oliver Haub, Managing Director, SSP DACH. The opening of the new restaurant, which will cover an area of ​​700 square meters, is scheduled for December 2021. It will serve food and drinks such as international classics, Wolfgang Puck signature dishes, gourmet pizzas and, of course, Austrian cuisine. "With the new restaurant by international star chef Wolfgang Puck, a piece of Hollywood is moving into the airport. Guests will enjoy high-quality cuisine made from the best ingredients in a modern ambience. We are extremely pleased that Wolfgang Puck has chosen Vienna Airport as the location for his

Continue reading "

Eurowings stations second Airbus in Salzburg

The Austrian airline Eurowings Europe is stationing a second Airbus jet in Salzburg from Thursday. This aircraft will be used to fly to various holiday destinations on its own account, but also on behalf of tour operators. Eurowings Europe is currently the only scheduled airline that has a base in Salzburg. Those of Austrian Airlines and Laudamotion were closed some time ago. AUA no longer flies to Salzburg on a regular basis. Eurowings Europe is the Austrian branch of the Lufthansa budget airline and also has bases in Pristina, Palma de Mallorca and soon also in Prague.

Continue reading "

Air Antwerp and Stobart Air are brushing the sails

On Friday, two regional airlines, Air Antwerp and Stobart Air, left the market for good. The former is a joint venture between KLM and Cityjet. The latter airline recently flew almost exclusively as a subcontractor for Aer Lingus. Both airlines have in common that business was going quite well before the corona pandemic, but business has not really taken off. Air Antwerp resumed flight operations several times, but demand was lacking due to entry and quarantine regulations. The owners, KLM and Cityjet, have now pulled the plug on the regional project with completely outdated aircraft (Fokker 50). This means that Antwerp is once again losing a home base carrier. Stobart Air is a triple victim, because Brexit is making it difficult for the Irish regional airline to continue flying from the United Kingdom, primarily London-Southend, on its own account. In addition, Flybe has dropped out as a sales partner. The Stobart Air flights were not wet lease flights for Flybe, but rather the brand was used as part of a distribution and franchise agreement. What these two factors and Corona did not manage to do was solved by a buyer who could not afford the agreed purchase price. Stobart Air no longer has any alternatives and the previous owner is no longer willing to invest money in this airline. Why? Simple, the Aer Lingus wet lease contract would have expired next year anyway, because the Irish IAG member has opted for a new company that does not yet have an AOC or operating license. The outlook was therefore bleak and from the owners' point of view the bankruptcy filing was probably unavoidable. While the effects

Continue reading "

Dortmund acquires baggage claim machines

The supervisory board of Dortmund Airport has approved the purchase of ten baggage drop-off machines. There are currently no such machines at this airport, which is primarily used by low-cost airlines such as Ryanair, Wizz Air and Eurowings. In a press release, Dortmund Airport writes that with the help of these machines, baggage drop-off can be made "more efficient, more cost-effective and therefore more sustainable". The machines are to be purchased and installed by the 2022 summer flight schedule at the latest. The supervisory body also had to deal with the 2020 annual financial statements audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The airport posted a loss of 21,8 million euros. Due to the corona pandemic, only 2020 million passengers used Dortmund Airport for their journey in 1,22 (minus 55 percent). As a result, sales revenues in both the aviation and non-aviation sectors fell dramatically. Although Dortmund Airport countered this with short-time working, postponement of investments and process optimization, the bottom line is that the annual result deteriorated by 2019 million euros compared to 11,4.

Continue reading "

Air Berlin: Flöther is suing Keflavik for 800.000 euros

Air Berlin's insolvency administrator, Lucas Flöther, filed a lawsuit against the operator of Keflavik Airport, Isavia. On behalf of the assets, the company is being sued in a German court for 800.000 euros. Isavia is fighting back and wants to litigate the case. On October 19, 2017, Keflavik Airport grounded the Airbus A320 with the registration D-ABDX due to unpaid bills. Air Berlin took the view that the claims should have been registered with the insolvency administrator. Isavia was not particularly interested in this, which is why Air Berlin paid the outstanding amounts on October 30, 2017 in order to be able to get the Airbus A320 released. This aircraft now flies for Easyjet as OE-IZT. Lucas Flöther later demanded the payment made to Isavia back, as Air Berlin should not have made it under German insolvency law. In such cases, insolvency administrators can demand money back. Since Isavia sees the matter completely differently, Flöther applied for administrative assistance from an Icelandic court. This was refused, which is why a lawsuit has now been filed in Germany. It is unclear to what extent a possible judgment will be enforceable in Iceland.

Continue reading "