August 23, 2021

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August 23, 2021

Qanot Sharq takes off again

On August 16, 2021, the time had come. The Uzbek airline Qanot Sharq took off again after a nine-year slumber. The first private Uzbek airline was founded in 1998 under the rather special name Qanot Sharq. At that time, it used an Illyushin Il76 cargo aircraft from Uzbekistan Airways. But success did not really materialize, so in 2012 the doors were closed and the AOC was returned. But seven years later, the name Qanot Sharq resurfaced. At the MAKS Air Show in Moscow, the founder, Nosir Abdugafforov, signed a letter of intent for three Sukhoi SSJ100s. After that, things quieted down again for this airline and the letter of intent was never converted into an effective order. But in the middle of the Corona crisis, the name Qanot Sharq resurfaced. At the beginning of the year, two used Airbus A320-200s were secured from the American leasing company Air Lease Corporation. These were then transferred to Uzbekistan in April and May 2021. On July 7, 2021, Qanot Sharq received its own AOC and was able to take off again with the two Airbuses on August 16, 2021. The first flight was from Tashkent to the Uzbek city of Samarkand, known for its mosques and mausoleums. The airline unfortunately did not respond to our requests for confirmation of the start of operations until the publication of this report. The two aircraft are no strangers in Central Europe. The aircraft, now registered as UK32030, flew for Air Berlin between 2005 and 2011, while the second aircraft with the registration number UK32031 flew for Air Berlin between 2007 and

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Ural Airlines returns to Budapest

In the first week of September, the Russian airline Ural Airlines will return to Budapest. Initially, the destinations Moscow-Zhukovsky and Yekaterinburg will be served. For the time being, there will be one flight per week. "The return of Ural further improves our offering to Russia. This means that we can now offer a total of six destinations. The route to Yekaterinburg is new. The resumption of flights to Moscow-Zhukovsky complements the offerings to Kazan, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, St. Petersburg and Moscow-Vnukovo," says Balázs Bogáts, Head of Airline Development at Budapest Airport. The Russian capital has a total of four commercial airports. These are Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky. The last-mentioned airport was used for military purposes for decades, but was opened to civilian traffic a few years ago. A new terminal was built for this purpose. The Russian government primarily wants to attract low-cost airlines to this airport.

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Air Baltic: A220 fleet has grown to 29 aircraft

The Latvian airline Air Baltic took delivery of another Airbus A220-300 on Sunday. The fleet has now grown to 29 aircraft. This year, the carrier will receive three more aircraft of this type. Air Baltic has ordered a total of fifty Airbus A220-300s. It also holds options for up to 30 more aircraft. In May 2020, the company management team led by Martin Gauss decided that the DHC Dash 8-400 fleet would be phased out early. The last Boeing 737s were also no longer put into scheduled service. Since then, Air Baltic has operated a pure Airbus A220-300 fleet. The model was originally developed by Bombardier as the CS300. Airbus later took over the majority of this program. Air Baltic was the launch customer for this version.

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Zurich: Helvetic completed a return landing due to lightning

The passengers of Swiss flight LX1512 had a somewhat complicated journey on Sunday from Zurich to Graz. The Embraer E190-E2, operated by Helvetic Airways, was struck by lightning around 20 minutes after takeoff and is returning to Switzerland's largest airport for safety reasons. The HB-AZB was used, and made a few circles near Lake Constance on the way back to Zurich-Kloten. According to official information, there were 93 passengers on board. These and the crew members were able to leave the plane safely. Helvetic Airways temporarily took the plane out of service for the purpose of a technical inspection. According to Swiss, the passengers were flown to Graz in a replacement aircraft. Helvetic Airways confirmed to "20 Minuten" that the HB-AZB was damaged in the area of ​​the left wing due to the lightning strike. Swiss stated that the replacement aircraft was able to leave Zurich-Kloten Airport at around 20:15 p.m. In Graz, the connection to Switzerland was delayed due to the lightning strike.

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Air Montenegro satisfied with occupancy

The new state carrier Air Montenegro says it carried around 40.000 passengers in the first two months of operation with a capacity utilization of 70 percent. In addition to scheduled flights, a total of 20 charters were also carried out. "Overall, our capacity utilization factor for inbound flights to Montenegro was 90 percent, which is very impressive both for our airline and for Montenegro as a destination. The Russian market remains closed for non-stop flights, so we were unable to start operations there. However, we continue to monitor developments on the market and react depending on the situation," said company boss Predrag Todorović.

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Nuremberg operates the former Lufthansa Lounge itself

Lufthansa will no longer operate a lounge in Nuremberg. The airport has taken it over and will reopen it as the Dürer Lounge. It can be used by business and status customers. The lounge, which is centrally located in the departure area, will reopen on August 30, 2021 with the expected increase in business travel: For this purpose, it has been designed as the Dürer Lounge with new airport branding and ambience, including stylized works by the world-famous artist. The varied catering with fresh snacks and an extensive selection of hot and alcoholic drinks as well as soft drinks is provided by a catering service from Mövenpick/Marché. The facilities also include workstations with the option of retreating. Currently, authorized passengers of KLM, Air France and members of Priority Pass have access. Other passengers will soon be able to purchase an access voucher for 24,99 euros. The opening times are currently based on the flights from Air France to Paris and KLM to Amsterdam. The former Dürer Lounge on the ground floor near the security checkpoint will remain closed until further notice.

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Air Serbia has repaid loans to Etihad

The airline Air Serbia has repaid the outstanding loan of 63 million US dollars to Etihad Airways Partners BV. Last year, the carrier repaid a loan of 52,9 million US dollars. This means that all loans granted around six years ago have now been paid off. Etihad Airways has wanted to pull out of Air Serbia for some time. The investment is a relic of the Hunter strategy pursued under former company boss James Hogan. Most of the group members no longer exist. Bonds were issued through Etihad Airways Partners BV, among others. A total of around 700 million US dollars was collected at the time. With the exception of Air Serbia and Etihad Airways itself, the loans are non-performing. Air Seychelles, Alitalia, Air Berlin and Jet Airways have not repaid their loans. Etihad recently also offered to purchase the claims it has against the Italian and former German airlines.

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Korean Air gives A380 and B747 an “expiration date”

At Korean Air, the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8 models have been given an expiration date. Company boss Walter Cho announced that all superjumbos will be leaving the fleet within the next five years. The manager also told FlightGlobal that the Boeing 747-8 aircraft will be phased out within ten years. Cho's statement refers to use as passenger aircraft. In the cargo sector, the jumbo jets could remain in service longer if demand allows. However, the Korean Air boss does not see much of a future for the A380 fleet. In the long term, the airline wants to rely exclusively on twin-jets for long-haul flights. These are considered to be more fuel-efficient and cheaper to operate. To this end, numerous new aircraft from Airbus and Boeing will be taken over over the next few years.

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US military commandeers civil aircraft

The United States of America is recruiting civilian aircraft from several airlines to evacuate people from Kabul. At present, however, there are no plans for these to fly to Afghanistan, but rather to simply provide onward transport, for example from Ramstein. According to an official statement, Omni Air, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines are currently in operation with three aircraft each. Hawaiian Airlines is helping out with two aircraft and United Airlines with four. The legal basis is that Defense Minister Lloyd Austin has activated the first stage of the so-called Civil Reserve Air Fleet. In concrete terms, this means that the Defense Ministry can requisition civilian aircraft in the event of wars or crises. This has happened several times in the past. The aircraft are used to transport people or goods. There is a precise phased plan that stipulates how many aircraft can be requisitioned. These are then under military command, but do not fly under military rules, but continue to fly under those for civil air traffic. After the mission has been completed, the aircraft and their crews are returned. The airlines concerned receive compensation, which is also stipulated by law, for their efforts.

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Risk areas: Austria and Germany classify differently

The German Robert Koch Institute does not currently list any country as a so-called virus variant area. Brazil and Uruguay have been downgraded. At the same time, some countries have been declared so-called high-risk areas. This classification is below the virus variant area. According to the RKI, the following countries or regions are now high-risk areas: Brazil, Dominica, Greece (only Crete and southern Aegean), Ireland (only Border and West regions), Kosovo and North Macedonia. Removed from the list: Andorra, Spain (the autonomous communities of Asturias, Castile-La Mancha, Catalonia, Valencia and the Canary Islands). Situation in Austria in some cases completely different Austria currently classifies the following countries as so-called virus variant areas: Brazil, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uruguay. On the “green list” (Appendix 1 of the Entry Ordinance), the following countries are designated as having “low epidemiological risk”: Albania Andorra Armenia Azerbaijan Australia Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Brunei Bulgaria Denmark Germany Estonia Finland France Principality of Liechtenstein Greece Hong Kong Ireland Iceland Israel Italy Japan Jordan Canada Qatar Kosovo Croatia Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro New Zealand Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania San Marino Saudi Arabia Sweden Serbia Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Spain Switzerland South Korea Taiwan Thailand Czech Republic Hungary Vatican City United States of America Vietnam Cyprus A direct comparison of the classifications of Austria and Germany shows that different approaches are taken. For example, the Federal Republic designates states as high-risk areas, but the Alpine republic considers these to be low-risk areas.

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