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February 14, 2022

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February 14, 2022

Air Serbia plans to purchase second Airbus A330

Jan Gruber February 14, 2022 19:34

The airline Air Serbia wants to add a second long-haul Airbus A330 jet to its fleet and decide on at least two new destinations. Company boss Aleksandar Vučić indicated that one destination will be in North America and the other in Asia. Flights between Belgrade and New York are now said to be profitable again. Air Serbia therefore wants to increase frequencies and add another destination. "Either Toronto or Chicago," said Vučić. The Asian destination will most likely be China, as the manager explained that Belgrade-Shanghai and/or Belgrade-Beijing are currently being examined. Both destinations may be added later this year. The plans were communicated in China, by the way. Air Serbia has not yet provided any information on the origin of the additional Airbus A330. In any case, the long-haul aircraft is to be taken over as soon as possible. It will be a leased aircraft. The company hopes to benefit not only from high passenger demand, but also in the cargo sector.

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Tui Cruises: Mein Schiff Herz is entering its last season

Amely Mizzi February 14, 2022 19:02

The shipping company Tui Cruises will be putting the cruise ship "Mein Schiff Herz" (formerly Mein Schiff 2022) back into operation in April 2 after around two years. At the same time, it will be the last year of operation, as the cruiser is scheduled to set sail for Marella Cruises from next year. The "Mein Schiff Herz" was modernized in a shipyard in 2019 and was temporarily shut down during the Corona pandemic. Some work still needs to be done before it can be put back into operation. This year, the cruise ship will operate in the western and eastern Mediterranean and offer various trips lasting seven to 14 days.

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Lessors have their planes flown out of Ukraine

Jan Gruber February 14, 2022 18:56

The situation is becoming increasingly complicated for Ukraine's airlines because major insurance companies do not want to provide cover in the country's airspace. Several lessors have demanded that their aircraft be flown out immediately. Those affected include Ukraine International, SkyUp and Bees Airline. The government has set up a guarantee program worth around 520 million euros, but this does not seem to have appealed to some lessors. They insist that no flights are allowed without insurance and are demanding that their aircraft be returned. These are parked in Spain and Serbia, for example. Ukraine International has so far had to fly out seven aircraft on the instructions of the respective lessors. Five of them were transferred to Castellon in Spain. Two more aircraft went to Belgrade, where, according to Ukraine International, maintenance will be carried out. The carrier confirmed that the aircraft had to be taken out of the country on the instructions of the owners. The main reason for this is that there is currently no insurance cover. The Boeing 737-800s with the registrations UR-PSP, UR-PSZ, UR-PSO, UR-PSX, UR-PSQ, UR-PSM and UR-PSY went to Spain. According to government information, no state guarantee was requested for the seven aircraft that were flown out. The airline Bees Airline confirmed that the UR-UBB had to be flown out on the lessor's instructions. An agreement was reached with the lessors for the other three aircraft. According to the current information, they have accepted the Ukrainian government's guarantee. It is not clear how long this will be accepted. In any case, Bees was in regular flight with the other three aircraft. SkyUp Airlines, which was in charge of the Ukrainian government at the weekend

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Gatwick reopens South Terminal

Amely Mizzi February 14, 2022 18:32

London Gatwick Airport intends to bring the South Terminal, which has not been used for a long time, back online at the start of the 2022 summer flight schedule period. Significantly more passengers are expected, so that the capacity of the North Terminal will no longer be sufficient. Due to the corona pandemic, passenger volumes at London's second-largest airport have fallen sharply. One of the management's reactions was to temporarily take the southern terminal out of service. Since then, commercial air traffic has been concentrated on the North Terminal. Numerous new and renewed flights are planned for the upcoming summer flight schedule period. For example, British Airways is restarting its short- and medium-haul network. Vueling and Wizz Air will start operating numerous routes. Easyjet also wants to significantly increase its offering. The management of Gatwick Airport now sees the North Terminal facing possible capacity bottlenecks and has announced that the South Terminal will be reopened on March 27, 2022. Currently, we are expecting 50.000 to 60.000 passengers per day. "For example, today we have around 400 flights on the runway at Gatwick. By the beginning of April there will be around 700 daily movements on the runway. So we will see significant growth right at the start of the summer season here at Gatwick and then gradually build up to around 90 percent of 2019 levels," said Gatwick Managing Director Stewart Wingate.

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A7-BAC: Qatar Airways gives B777-300ER a retro livery

Jan Gruber February 14, 2022 18:08

Gulf carrier Qatar Airways has given the Boeing 777-300ER with the registration A7-BAC a retro livery. The long-haul aircraft, which was taken over in 2008, was photographed in Toulouse, among other places, in this livery. This stands out clearly from the current Qatar Airways livery, which can be seen in the opening photo of this article. The 13,6-year-old long-haul jet is currently the only aircraft of the Gulf carrier to have a retro livery. The A7-BAC can be seen in its retro outfit in the Twitter gallery embedded below.

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Air Baltic increases Kiev flights

Granite Pireci February 14, 2022 17:02

While other airlines fly to the destination at the usual frequencies and with restrictions (Austrian Airlines is suspending night stops), Air Baltic is increasing flights to Kiev. The reason for this seems obvious: flights from Ukraine are currently in particularly high demand because more and more people are making their way back to Latvia due to the impending danger. The carrier is therefore offering additional flights from Kiev to Riga tomorrow and the day after tomorrow - this means that there will be daily flights between the two airports this week. In addition, the carrier plans to operate direct flights from Kiev to Vilnius on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, as well as a direct flight from Odessa to Riga on Saturday. "The safety of our passengers and employees is our highest priority. We continuously assess the current situation and follow the recommendations of the authorities in order to be able to adjust the flight schedule if necessary," the airline said in a press release.

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Airbus starts the week with 48 new orders

Granite Pireci February 14, 2022 16:03

The leasing company Aviation Capital Group is increasing its Airbus positions and ordering 20 Airbus A220 aircraft. The Kuwaiti low-cost carrier Jazeera Airways is also placing an order for 28 new A320neo aircraft. The European aircraft manufacturer is off to a particularly good start in the new week. The international leasing company is ordering 20 Airbus A220s. ACG had only ordered 40 aircraft from the A320neo model family in December, including five A321XLRs. "We are delighted to be able to expand our partnership with Airbus with this A220 order," said Steven C. Udvar-Hazy, Senior Vice President, OEM Relations & Market Development at ACG. “Our airline customers will appreciate the A220’s environmental performance, passenger comfort and competitive operating economics.” At the same time, Kuwait-based low-cost carrier Jazeera Airways has also confirmed an order for 2021 A20neo and eight A320neo aircraft announced in November 321.

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Wizz Air: All flights to Ukraine will take off as usual

Granite Pireci February 14, 2022 15:03

The Hungarian low-cost airline is also keeping an eye on the security situation in Ukraine. All aircraft are still taking off as scheduled. Due to the threat of an invasion by Russia, the Foreign Ministry advises against all non-essential travel to Ukraine. The airline currently flies several times a week to Kyiv-Zhulyany and Boryspil. Two further connections - Kharkov and Zaporizhia - are to be operated from Vienna from April and July 2022 respectively. As things stand, there would be no reason to make changes to the flight schedule. "All of our flights to and from Ukraine will continue to operate as usual," an airline spokeswoman told Aviation.Direct. Nevertheless, Wizz Air is monitoring the situation on the ground very closely in order to be able to react at short notice in the worst case scenario. Passengers should also be particularly vigilant with regard to this destination. "All passengers with booked flights to and from Ukraine are advised to regularly check their email accounts for further information about the booked flights," the media officer continued. Austrian Airlines has already taken initial measures and reduced the length of time crew members and passengers spend in the Eastern European country to a minimum by no longer making night stops.

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Cashed in on last Onur Air lease from Lessor

Amely Mizzi February 14, 2022 14:03

The former airline Onur Air has now had its last leased aircraft withdrawn. The TC-ODA was flown from Istanbul-Atatürk via Bishkek to Nîmes-Garons on Friday. The transfer was carried out at the instigation of the owner of this Airbus A320. This means that Onur Air no longer has any airworthy commercial aircraft. The Turkish Civil Aviation Authority suspended the AOC and operating license at the end of 2021. The staff has been dismissed in several steps since the beginning of the corona pandemic. According to reports, there are now neither flying nor administrative staff, as they are said to have not received a salary for a long period of time. At Antalya Airport, there is a plane, the TC-OBS, which is still more or less under Onur Air's sphere of influence. Obviously, a lot of work has been neglected since the grounding, as the aircraft looks visually desolate. In any case, according to the authorities, it is currently considered unfit to fly.

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KLM suspends Ukraine flights and overflights

Jan Gruber February 14, 2022 13:01

Skyteam member KLM announced on Saturday that it had suspended all flights to Ukraine with immediate effect. It will also temporarily stop using the Eastern European country's airspace and will instead fly around it. The carrier justified the decision with security concerns and the travel advice adjusted by the Dutch government. Point-to-point flights between Amsterdam and Borispil are affected. Ukraine's airspace will be avoided, so that some connections that have previously used it may take longer to travel. Just a few days ago it was announced that Ryanair will no longer fly to two destinations in Ukraine for an indefinite period due to security concerns. Ticket sales have also already been suspended. Some airlines, such as Lufthansa, have not been making night stops in this country for some time.

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