July 19

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July 19

Klagenfurt Airport open longer again

The operating hours of Klagenfurt Airport were severely restricted until recently. Effective July 19, 2021, these will be extended to 7:00 a.m. to 20:00 p.m. The aim for September 2021 is to return to the opening hours that applied before the pandemic. Subject to the approval of the Ministry of Transport, Klagenfurt Airport will then be available again from 6:00 a.m. to 23:30 p.m. The airport points out that this step could be postponed if the pandemic progresses unfavorably.

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Gullivair secures route rights for Cairo

The Bulgarian airline Gullivair has been granted route rights for two weekly scheduled flights between Sofia and Cairo. It is still completely unclear whether they will actually use these and thus enter the international scheduled business. So far, Gullivair has been active in the charter and ACMI segment. However, this could soon change, as the carrier is said to be about to start scheduled domestic flights. The fleet currently consists of three A330-200s and one ATR72-700. Two more units of the latter type of aircraft are planned for domestic flights. According to a report by CH-Aviation.com, it is not yet certain that international scheduled flights between Sofia and Cairo will actually start. The carrier has made similar applications in the past, but ultimately decided against the start. This is not an exception; it happens frequently in the industry. For example, Austrian Airlines was granted route rights for Milan Linate-Salzburg, but did not use them. Ryanair has also not yet used the slots at the inner-city airport of the Italian metropolis – unlike its competitor Wizz Air.

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EU Commission takes a closer look at TAP state aid

The EU Commission is initiating an in-depth review of state aid worth around 3,2 billion euros for TAP Air Portugal. The emergency loan of 1,2 billion euros included in this was once again waved through. The European Court of Justice had previously overturned the approval. Following a lawsuit by Ryanair, the 1,2 billion euro loan ended up before the European Court of Justice. The Court of Justice overturned the EU Commission's approval because it was considered inadequate. Among other things, the impact on the internal market had not been sufficiently considered. The competition authorities have now drawn up a new justification. The difference has not yet been released. An in-depth review will be initiated and competitors will also have the opportunity to submit their comments. In simple terms, they also want to check whether this is a scattergun approach or whether TAP is taking sufficient measures to deal with the crisis.

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Graz: Luxair carried out first flight to Calvi

Since Saturday, Luxair has been operating a non-stop connection between Graz and Calvi on behalf of Rhomberg Reisen. The charter route will provisionally be offered on Saturdays until the end of September 2020. Airport director Wolfgang Grimus said: "We are also pleased to be working with Rhomberg Reisen again after more than 10 years and to welcome a new airline, Luxair, to Graz Airport. Together with our tour operator partners, we are constantly working to offer our passengers new and attractive holiday destinations." The new route will be operated with the DHC Dash 8-400 aircraft. "We are delighted that in this special year we can offer customers from Styria and Carinthia this short direct connection to the island of contrasts," says Rhomberg Managing Director Stefan Müller.

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Portugal: Strike resulted in hundreds of flight cancellations

Travelers had to be very patient at Lisbon Airport on Sunday, as a strike at the ground handling company Groundforce led to the cancellation of many flights. According to official figures, 81,3 percent of employees stopped work, meaning that over 10 flights had to be canceled between midnight and 30:300 a.m. alone. According to Lisbon Airport, a total of 511 connections were scheduled for Sunday. The vast majority had to be canceled due to the industrial action, which is already in its second round. Some airlines switched to other airports, although these were not necessarily near the Portuguese capital. Emirates Airline, for example, decided to only operate the Lisbon flight as far as Larnaca. The affected passengers are to be transported to their destination as soon as possible. Since the Groundforce strike was not limited to Lisbon, but work was also stopped at other airports where the company operates, there were many cancellations in Funchal and Faro, among others. Porto Santo, on the other hand, is said to have been largely spared. The responsible union complains that the current situation is unbearable for the employees and also claims that wages and salaries have not been paid on time. The employees will not work any more overtime until October 31, 2021. On July 31, August 1 and 2, 2021, there will be further strikes at the airports where Groundforce operates. The whole situation is particularly complicated, however, because the company is a joint venture between Pasogal (50,1 percent) and TAP Air Portugal (49,9 percent). Groundforce accused the airline of

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Staff shortage: Wizz Air needs wet lease aircraft

The low-cost airline Wizz Air rarely uses the services of ACMI providers. However, several carriers are currently operating for the low-cost airline and in the next few days the use of wet-lease aircraft could even become evident. Given that Wizz Air has not yet put its entire fleet into the air, it seems strange at first glance that it is using subcontractors. A look at a press release that the company sent out a few weeks ago, however, shows the reason: it is desperately looking for new flight attendants for Vienna, among other places. Wizz Air has reduced its workforce at many bases since last year, but the extent of employer resignations was relatively low in direct comparison with voluntary resignations by employees. Wizz Air's payment system is - with minor deviations - the same at all bases. The only differences between countries are the level of basic wages and sector-specific variable components. The lion's share of the monthly salary of flight personnel is made up of the performance-related parts, and for a huge number of them, these were reduced to "almost zero" in the winter because there was little flying due to the pandemic and demand. The result of this is that the salary consisted (almost) only of the basic salary and was therefore not exactly generous. The result of this? For financial reasons, many flight attendants looked for new jobs and quit Wizz Air. There were reportedly additional pay cuts at some bases. Wizz Air has saved a lot of money, but the bottom line is that there is now a shortage of staff. At the same time, one or two competitors would have

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Greece: Partial lockdown imposed on Mykonos

Without prior notice, the Greek government placed the island of Mykonos under a partial lockdown. This is initially limited to seven days and is justified by the fact that regulations were allegedly being disregarded, particularly in the area of ​​nightlife. Celebrity parties are also said to have played a major role in the decision. A nighttime curfew has been imposed, which applies between 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. The operating hours of restaurants are restricted and, on top of that, playing loud music is prohibited in almost all restaurants. In this context, it is worth mentioning that numerous players from the English national football team are currently spending their holidays on Mykonos. Local media report that they are said to have celebrated their European Championship victory quite intensely. The players' prominence and the fact that the corona numbers have risen are said to have been a thorn in the side of the government. The government is carrying out random rapid tests both on entry and in nightlife. In recent days, well over ten percent are said to have tested positive. The result is that the quarantine hotels are now said to be overcrowded. Restaurateurs who have held excessive parties in violation of local corona regulations have been particularly criticized. The government announced tough action because it does not want to let "a few irresponsible entrepreneurs" ruin the tourist season. The announcement of the night-time curfew alone has already had a massive impact on tourism, with local media reporting that airlines, hotels and tour operators are being inundated with cancellations. Holding parties is no longer possible for the time being, as this has also been banned.

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Etihad celebrates its premiere flight in Vienna

Etihad Airways had actually wanted to fly to Vienna-Schwechat since mid-May 2020, but the first flight was postponed several times due to Corona. On Sunday the time had finally come and a Boeing 787-9 landed at Austria's largest airport from Abu Dhabi. "More and more travellers are returning to the skies and we are delighted to be able to offer two weekly flights to Vienna. It is the 65th passenger destination that we are adding to our growing network and we are confident that Vienna's timeless imperial splendour and vibrant cultural scene will appeal to many travellers," explains Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer of the Etihad Aviation Group. The Gulf carrier serves Vienna in the triangle with Milan-Malpensa. In concrete terms, this means that the aircraft takes off from the capital of the United Arab Emirates, flies to Vienna, then to Milan-Malpensa and then back to Abu Dhabi. For the time being, two rotations per week will be offered, although flight schedule data shows that a gradual increase to a daily connection is being sought. Whether and when this will be implemented? That depends primarily on two factors: the further development of the pandemic and, of course, the number of bookings. "With Etihad, we are welcoming a new airline with a new destination at Vienna Airport: Etihad is a strong carrier with an extensive route network and we are delighted with the decision to come to Vienna with a scheduled connection. The United Arab Emirates in particular are an important market for Austrian tourism and the new flight connection is a good sign that things are slowly getting better again," says Julian Jäger, CEO of the airport.

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