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March 14, 2022

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March 14, 2022

Comair: South Africa bans British Airways franchisees from flying

Jan Gruber March 14, 2022 10:01

On Sunday, South Africa's Civil Aviation Authority banned British Airways franchisee Comair from operating commercial flights. The reason given was unresolved safety problems. The connections offered under the Kulula brand are also affected. Initially, a 24-hour flight ban was imposed, but Comair was unable to allay the authority's concerns within the set deadline. A spokesman has now confirmed that the operator's certificate has been suspended indefinitely, meaning that this carrier's aircraft must remain on the ground until it is lifted. On Saturday, the SACAA justified the flight ban, which was then imposed for 24 hours, by saying, among other things, that Comair was said to have experienced a noticeably high number of "engine failures, engine malfunctions and landing gear malfunctions" in February 2022. The supervisory authority took a closer look at the carrier and, according to its own statements, found three so-called "Level 1" violations. These would pose an immediate security risk, which is why the drastic measure of a flight ban was taken. Comair was unable to allay the concerns within the set deadline, so the AOC and operating license were suspended indefinitely, according to the authority. Comair uses the British Airways brand as part of a franchise agreement, so many aircraft are painted in the colors of the IAG subsidiary. The airline also operates as a low-cost airline under the name Kulula. The carrier was hit hard by the corona pandemic and is considered to be in serious financial trouble. The company confirmed that the AOC and operating license were suspended indefinitely, but cannot give a date for resuming flight operations. It worked through the night to provide the Civil Aviation Authority of South Africa with the necessary documents.

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Wizz Air extends free flight campaign for Ukraine refugees

Amely Mizzi March 14, 2022 09:34

The low-cost airline Wizz Air continues to offer people who have fled Ukraine free flight tickets for onward travel. The campaign will be extended until April 10, 2022 and is intended to enable Ukrainians to travel from Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovakia to other EU countries. As reported, the airline is offering Ukrainian refugees 100.000 free seats on all flights within continental Europe from Ukraine's neighboring countries Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. This quota has not yet been exhausted. The airline emphasizes that there are also free seats available on flights from Budapest, Gdansk, Krakow and Katowice. "We are continuing this campaign in the hope that as many people as possible will soon be able to reach a safe place," explains Wizz Air CEO József Váradi. There are also special fares for people who are already stranded elsewhere in other countries. Wizz Air offers them tickets for 29,99 euros on other flights and for 69,99 euros for trips to the United Arab Emirates, Iceland and the Canary Islands. Ukrainian refugees can book these flights until April 10 at https://wizzair.com/#/rescue. Travelers must provide their Ukrainian passport or ID card when booking and present it later at check-in.

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Verdi is calling for a warning strike at six German airports

Jan Gruber March 14, 2022 09:09

Security personnel at the airports in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn, Bremen, Hanover and Leipzig/Halle have been called to strike on Monday between 4:00 a.m. and midnight. This was announced by the Verdi union. The reason for this is that negotiations on wage increases have stalled. Verdi had previously called for a warning strike in Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt/Main, among other places. The employee representatives are demanding at least one euro more per hour worked. Furthermore, the remuneration for a wide range of fields of activity should be standardized at the highest level in each case. Among other things, Verdi criticizes the fact that its negotiating partner, the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies, has not yet improved the offer made in the first round. The employers' side counters that two new proposals have already been made, but that in each case they were subsequently confronted with further requests from the union. Passengers travelling to/from Berlin, Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn, Bremen, Hanover or Leipzig/Halle should regularly check the current status of their booking and arrive at the airport as early as possible, as long waiting times at security checks are to be expected. It is currently assumed that many flights will have to be cancelled.

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OGH overturns five clauses of Austrian Airlines

Amely Mizzi March 14, 2022 08:33

The airline Austrian Airlines suffered a setback in the Supreme Court with regard to its general conditions of carriage. The Chamber of Labor had filed a lawsuit against five clauses and won in the Supreme Court. Among other things, the Supreme Court considered the carrier's practice of charging a hefty fee of 35 euros for the refund of taxes and fees to be illegal. The Chamber of Labor has now provided a sample letter that those affected can use to claim back the money that was wrongfully withheld. According to the Chamber of Labor, the most important points of the Supreme Court ruling for passengers: Extra processing fee for canceled flights - not to be collected from consumers: If someone goes on a trip, they can tell a story - and sometimes even if they don't go on the trip at all. Anyone who cancels their flight has the right to get the taxes and fees back. Austrian Airlines deducted a processing fee ("refund fee") of 35 euros per ticket from this amount. The airline relied on a clause that provides for a deduction of "applicable processing and cancellation fees" in the event of cancellation, but without specifying the amount. The Supreme Court found the clause to be unlawful because consumers were not adequately informed about the amount. The clause itself neither provides information about the amount nor does it contain a hint as to where one can find out about the amount. Consumers can use the AK sample letter to get the unjustified processing fee back: www.arbeiterkammer.at/aua-bearbeitungsgebuehrklausel. Luggage flies "as far as possible" - must not depend on the "mood" of the airline: The Supreme Court judged a clause according to which the checked baggage is to be carried "as far as possible" - to be grossly discriminatory and non-transparent.

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Expulsion from the Bermuda register: Russia re-registers at express speed

Jan Gruber March 14, 2022 08:03

The vast majority of Western aircraft used by Russian airlines were previously registered in Bermuda and Ireland. This is now changing, as the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority has announced that all Russian operators will have their registrations revoked. The Russian aviation registration is actually RA, but this is rarely seen on the fuselage of aircraft built in the West. VP-B and VQ-B - Bermuda Islands - are the most common. There are various reasons for this: on the one hand, airlines can avoid high import taxes, but after the collapse of the USSR there was no other option. The Russian Civil Aviation Authority lacked the expertise to deal with aircraft from the West, so they came to an arrangement with the British overseas territory of Bermuda. Registrations in Ireland were later added. This has been a thorn in the side of the Russian government for several years, as they want Russian airlines to register their aircraft domestically. However, international lessors still have a certain distrust of the Civil Aviation Authority, so that until a few days ago little had changed in practice. 176 aircraft already registered in Russia The expulsion from the Bermuda Islands register means that the approximately 740 affected aircraft are de jure not allowed to take off. If the aircraft have not already been flown out, they will now be registered in the Russian register at express speed. 176 aircraft have been re-registered, Rosaviatsiya told Interfax. This affects 21 aircraft from Utair, 38 from Rossiya, two from Izhavia, one from Yerofei, 27 from Pobeda and

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Because of the Ukraine war: Adjustments to the Nuremberg flight plan

Amely Mizzi March 14, 2022 07:32

The Russian Federation's military attack on Ukraine is also having an impact on the 2022 summer flight schedule from Nuremberg. The Ukraine routes are currently on pause or announced new flights have been postponed indefinitely. "The primary task of air transport is to connect people. Due to the warlike actions, the Ukraine connections from Nuremberg are unfortunately no longer possible. With a donation of 10.000 euros to the Kharkiv-Nuremberg eV partnership association as an immediate measure, we are helping to alleviate the unimaginable suffering of the people affected by the war in Ukraine," said Managing Director Michael Hupe. Kiev-Schulany Airport has been served by Wizz Air since August 2017, and Ryanair flew to Kiev-Borispil Airport from winter 2019/20. Due to strong demand, Lviv was actually supposed to be added in summer 2022. These plans fell victim to the war. In light of the unfortunately necessary flight schedule adjustments, Ryanair has changed its summer flight schedule at short notice and even expanded it: Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, is now being added with two flights per week. In addition to the existing Corendon Airlines offer, there are also flights to Lamezia Terme in Italy, also twice a week, and Ponta Delgada on the Portuguese island of São Miguel in the Azores once a week. This summer, the Irish airline is thus offering 29 non-stop destinations from Nuremberg with up to 89 weekly departures. For example, Dublin, Valencia and Venice will be served for the first time. Popular destinations such as Ibiza, Krakow and Naples are also returning to Nuremberg's summer flight schedule, which includes a total of around 70 destinations.

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Germany: Ryanair announces eight more routes

Amely Mizzi March 14, 2022 07:05

The low-cost airline Ryanair has announced the addition of eight additional routes from Germany. These will be offered from Nuremberg, Berlin, Cologne/Bonn, Memmingen and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden. According to the airline, the 2022 summer flight schedule will include a total of 247 routes from Germany. Ryanair uses 12 airports in Germany. It currently operates 90 bases across its route network. Ryanair has announced the following routes: Cologne - Stockholm Arlanda Berlin - Krakow Memmingen - Pisa Nuremberg - Lamezia Memmingen - Abruzzo Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden - Palermo Cologne - Biarritz Nuremberg - Ponta Delgada

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