Français »
German "
Search
December 23, 2021

More articles from the category

December 23, 2021

Because of Omicron: Singapore stops ticket sales

Granite Pireci 23 December 2021 19:37

The new Omicron variant has also found its way into Singapore. For this reason, the city-state is reversing the recently announced relaxations and is isolating itself once again. Singapore is also pulling the ripcord and stopping the Vaccinated Travel Lane after the city and island state registered the first Omicron cases. Accordingly, airlines are no longer allowed to sell new tickets on the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL), the travel corridor for vaccinated people, between December 23 and January 20. This means that quarantine-free entry into the city-state has ended for the time being. It is currently not clear when these trips can be resumed, as CNBC reports. Experts worldwide expect the new CoV variant to spread rapidly in the new year. Relief is planned for those travelers who have already purchased a ticket. This new regulation does not apply to flights to Singapore that have already been booked - these can take place as planned and without quarantine.

Continue reading "

Thomas Posch and Florian Kazalek are the new Westbahn managing directors

Jan Gruber 23 December 2021 19:06

There will be a change in management at the private railway operator Westbahn on March 1, 2022, as long-time company boss Erich Forster is retiring. Rail Holding AG and the operative Westbahn Management GmbH will then be managed by Thomas Posch and Florian Kazalek. Both have been working for Westbahn for a long time. Posch is currently Chief Commercial Officer and his future co-managing director is Chief Financial Officer and one of the managing directors of Frachtbahn Traktion GmbH. Westbahn is thus relying on an internal successor solution for Erich Forster, who, as mentioned, will be retiring. The outgoing Westbahn boss had been at the helm of the private railway company since March 2012, replacing company founder Stefan Wehinger at the time. “Under the leadership of Dr. Forster, Westbahn has earned a good reputation with high punctuality rates, low prices and outstanding service quality. Erich Forster was always aware that the people of Westbahn were behind this achievement. The Supervisory Board would like to thank him very much for his enormous commitment to Westbahn and is fortunate that Dr. Forster will be contributing his expertise to the Rail Holding Supervisory Board from January 2023 after a short break," says Dr. Benedikt Weibel, former General Director of the Swiss Federal Railways and Chairman of the Supervisory Board. "The new management is in reliable hands with Thomas Posch and Florian Kazalek. They have all the prerequisites to lead Westbahn into a good future despite the current massive challenges."   

Continue reading "

China Airlines suspends individual Vienna flights

Jan Gruber 23 December 2021 18:35

Following Eva Air, China Airlines, also from Taiwan, has announced its comeback at Vienna-Schwechat Airport. However, the carrier initially only wants to operate individual rotations between Taipei and the Austrian capital. Under flight number CI63, China Airlines plans to fly between the capital of Taiwan and Vienna on April 22, May 20 and June 17, 2022. The return flights are to be operated on the following days as CI64. It is currently planned that the Airbus A350 model will be used. It is unclear when China Airlines will resume regular scheduled flights between the two cities. Competitor Eva Air also initially only wants to operate individual rotations, but will fly at least once a week again from the end of March 2022. Before the corona pandemic, China Airlines and Eva Air were in tough competition on this route.

Continue reading "

SZG: Family day canceled for the second time due to corona

Granite Pireci 23 December 2021 18:03

For the second year in a row, the popular family day at Salzburg Airport has had to be cancelled - due to Corona. The airport deeply regrets that the current measures make it impossible to hold an event of this magnitude. For more than three decades, the popular event took place every year on December 24th under the motto "Waiting for Santa Claus" with numerous attractions in the Amadeus Terminal 2 and on the airport apron. This year the airport has to cancel this event again. "We very much hope that the family day, which is popular with children, parents and grandparents, can finally take place again as usual in 2022," said Alexander Klaus, press spokesman for Salzburg Airport. The Maxglan parish, a long-standing partner of the airport on family day, will not miss the opportunity to pass on the light of peace as a sign of hope at Salzburg Airport this year. On December 24th, all interested parties and arriving passengers have the opportunity to pick up the light of peace from Bethlehem from 10 a.m. to 15 p.m. at the counter directly next to the information center in the check-in hall.

Continue reading "

Winter season: the hotel industry starts below pre-crisis levels

Granite Pireci 23 December 2021 17:01

Domestic hoteliers reported 3,29 million overnight stays for November, the first month of the winter season. This means they started well below the pre-crisis level. "Compared to the previous year, in which a lockdown was already in place from November 3, domestic accommodation providers recorded three times as many overnight stays in November 2021, but this is 38 percent less than in November 2019 before the Corona crisis," said Statistics Austria boss Tobias Thomas. At 1,47 million, overnight stays by domestic guests were 95 percent higher than in the same month last year, but 36,2 percent lower than in November 2019. Hotel occupancy by foreign guests reached 1,82 million (plus 461,7 percent compared to 2020), 39,4 percent lower than in November 2019. Based on the origin of foreign guests, Germany was also the most important market for domestic tourism in November 2021, followed by Poland and Switzerland (including Liechtenstein).

Continue reading "

November: Demand for air transport declines again

Granite Pireci 23 December 2021 16:03

In November, passenger demand at German airports fell again. Compared to pre-crisis levels, half of the travelers from 49,5 were missing (-2019 percent). 8.870.145 passengers used German airports. Compared to November of last year, volume figures are at a significantly higher level (+414,0 percent). The phase of recovery in air traffic demand has weakened considerably with the end of the autumn holidays. Demand is declining, even though an important intercontinental market has been accessible again since November with the opening of America to vaccinated EU citizens. The new Omicron variant is clouding expectations for the coming weeks. Nevertheless, the curve of air traffic volume is not falling as sharply as in autumn last year - back then, the lockdown pushed demand down to below 10 percent in some cases, according to the airport association. Cargo volume continues to grow steadily: 472.610 tons represent +7,0 percent compared to the previous year, and +2019 percent compared to 10,7. November in sight - 4th wave slows recovery in air traffic demand Domestic German traffic has tripled - with almost 1,3 million passengers (+288,1 percent compared to 2020), demand is only 2019 percent compared to the pre-crisis year (35,0). In European traffic, volumes have quadrupled compared to 2020. The 6,12 million passengers represent an increase of +456,7 percent compared to the previous year. Compared to the pre-crisis level of 2019, this corresponds to almost 60 percent of normal demand. Intercontinental demand grew by +417 percent to 1,42 million passengers. Compared to November 2019, however, this represents a decrease of -57,7 percent.

Continue reading "

Too many pilots sick: Lufthansa has to cancel long-haul flights

Amely Mizzi 23 December 2021 15:36

According to its own statements, the airline Lufthansa is currently struggling with an unusually high number of sick days. Since many pilots are ill, long-haul flights have already had to be cancelled. It is unclear why many pilots are ill. The Kranich Group confirmed the fact, which the industry portal Aero.de first reported. It is not possible to comment on an at least purely theoretical connection with the Omikron Corona variant, as Lufthansa as an employer does not receive such information at all. As in Austria, employers in Germany only receive a medical confirmation that the employee is currently unable to work, but they do not have to communicate the diagnosis. Lufthansa has to restrict long-haul flights from December 23 to December 26, 2021. Connections to Washington, Houston, Boston and Tokyo are affected, among others. If possible, passengers should be rebooked on other flights, according to the airline. "We have planned with a very large buffer. But that is not enough for the extremely high sick rate," said a Kranich spokesman. The Airbus A330/A340 aircraft types are particularly badly affected. According to the latest information, their pilots are on sick leave at an above-average rate. The result is that Lufthansa has too few pilots with type ratings for these models. In an internal letter, the airline wrote: “Due to increased rates of sickness, we are no longer able to manage all of the flights. Crew dispatch is already working on scenarios to thin out the flight plan.” Quarantine requirements in various countries are also having a negative impact on the strained personnel situation. Replacement pilots are now being sought who can step in temporarily, but this plan is not possible, especially during the Christmas period.

Continue reading "

Air Dolomiti with new flight connection from Brindisi to Munich

Granite Pireci 23 December 2021 15:03

From April 9, 2022, the Italian airline of the Lufthansa Group will connect Munich Airport with the Italian port city of Brindisi twice a week. The flights will take place on Saturdays and Sundays with an Embraer 195. "We are delighted to be starting connections with Brindisi Airport. In recent months we have been in touch again and again to see when we can propose measures. The pandemic has slowed down and postponed our projects, but we are confident that the next summer season will bring new signs of recovery for both us and the airports. The collaboration with Aeroporti di Puglia is part of a plan to expand the flight offer that our company is trying to pursue despite the current uncertainty. In addition to the enormous potential that the Puglia region offers at any time of the year, there are certainly also commercial interests and opportunities that could be adequately stimulated and developed through this new connection," said Paolo Sgaramella, Chief Commercial Officer Air Dolomiti.

Continue reading "

Entry requirements: Germany removes Austria from the high-risk list

Amely Mizzi 23 December 2021 14:46

The Federal Republic of Germany no longer considers Austria to be a so-called high-risk area, effective December 26, 2021. This has implications for people who are not fully vaccinated and/or recovered, because they will no longer be subject to quarantine. Another consequence of this is that the travel warning that is currently still in effect will be lifted. This will not be particularly helpful for holidaymakers who want to cancel due to the tightened entry and quarantine regulations. However, more and more tour operators are refusing to allow free cancellations and/or rebookings due to travel warnings. The background to this is that this measure was used quite inflationaryly by various governments during the Corona pandemic. In the future, unvaccinated people coming from Austria will again be able to enter the Federal Republic of Germany without quarantine with proof of a test. Vaccinated and recovered people already do not have to be isolated. Another change is that entry registration will no longer be required from December 26, 2021.

Continue reading "

Federal army fixes helicopter purchase

Granite Pireci 23 December 2021 14:02

This week, the Ministry of Defense signed a contract to purchase 18 Italian Leonardo AW169M multi-purpose helicopters. The new helicopters are intended to replace the light Alouette III liaison and transport helicopters, which will be retired in 2023. After a training phase, the helicopters will be operational from 2023 and can be used for transporting people and materials as well as firefighting, among other things. They have numerous capabilities that enable them to be used day and night, as well as in bad weather conditions, including obstacle avoidance systems and a weather radar. Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner recalled the firefighting operation in Hirschwang an der Rax: "This disaster operation has once again shown how important the deployment of our helicopters and pilots is. The procurement of the helicopters is one of the largest since the Eurofighter and is very important for the operational readiness and safety of the population."

Continue reading "