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April 6, 2022

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April 6, 2022

Austrian Chamber of Commerce calls for the abolition of the 3G entry regulation

Jan Gruber April 6, 2022 11:06

The travel agency and hotel industry specialist groups in the Austrian Chamber of Commerce are calling on the federal government to end the 3G entry rules. The current regulation had been extended by former Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) until September 30, 2022 immediately before his resignation. Typically, there was no further communication from the ministry, which is now headed by Johannes Rauch (Greens), about this exceptionally long extension. In general, the Ministry of Health does not respond to questions that contain incomprehensible or vague wording that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. In view of the fact that more and more vaccination certificates of people who have received three jabs will expire and the Ministry of Health has still not presented a solution, travel agencies and the hotel industry are now getting nervous. The official wording of the Rauch Ministry is that the issue will be dealt with in the next few weeks. The Chamber of Commerce has sharply criticized the 3G entry rules, which, according to the current state of affairs, are in place until September 30, 2022: "With the recent noticeable decline in the number of infections, it is now time to adapt the entry regulations for Austria accordingly and abolish the mandatory 3G rule. Many other countries in Europe, such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, have already taken this step and are now vying for guests from abroad. Austria is clearly at a disadvantage here with its strict entry regulations," say Gregor Kadanka, Chairman of the Travel Agency Association, and Susanne Kraus-Winkler, Chairwoman of the Hotel Industry Association in the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ), describing the current situation on the European tourism market. The war in Ukraine has put a damper on the originally positive prospects for tourism in Austria.

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Austrian Airlines: Commercial and technical staff continue to be on short-time work

Jan Gruber April 6, 2022 10:03

At Austrian Airlines, short-time work has been partially ended after more than two years. The flying staff are no longer covered by this state aid measure, which numerous Austrian companies have taken advantage of due to the corona pandemic. Austrian Airlines' commercial and technical employees are still on short-time work. This has been extended until the end of May 2022, a spokeswoman confirmed to Aviation.Direct. AUA was the first major company to report short-time work in March 2020. At the time, this step was initially considered surprising, but numerous companies had to make use of this support over the course of the pandemic. While Level Europe had to file for bankruptcy and Eurowings Europe and Austrian Airlines were very quiet, Laudamotion turned the issue of short-time work into a public soap opera. For example, there were demands that the then Minister Aschbacher should instruct the Vida union to sign the social partner agreement. After only a few weeks, short-time work was ended under the pretext of closing the Vienna base, with the successor Lauda Europe starting up just a few months later and Laudamotion voluntarily returning the AOC and operating license to the Austrian authorities.

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Entry: Cuba abolishes the requirement to submit a PCR

Amely Mizzi April 6, 2022 09:36

Effective April 6, 2022, Cuba is simplifying its entry requirements. According to the tourism office, it will no longer be necessary to present negative PCR results. The requirement that only vaccinated people are allowed to enter the country will also be lifted. At the beginning of this year, Cuba introduced a requirement that vaccinated people must also present a negative PCR test. In addition, travelers were randomly asked to undergo rapid antigen tests at airports. According to a statement from the Cuban tourist office, these requirements have been lifted. However, an electronic entry form must still be filled out. Proof of submitting this PLF must be presented at border control. Some airlines already require this at the check-in counter or as part of electronic document checks.

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Munich Airport: Sprüngli opens the first store in Germany

Granite Pireci April 6, 2022 09:03

Following the previous success of the pop-up store at Munich Airport, the Swiss Haut Chocolatier Sprüngli has now decided on a permanent location in the departure area of ​​Terminal 2. From now on, passengers have the opportunity to purchase products from the Swiss Haut Chocolatier Sprüngli directly at Munich Airport. The range includes pralines and truffles, fresh broken chocolates and chocolate bars, and Luxemburgerli (macarons). "We welcome Confiserie Sprüngli to our company and are delighted that Munich Airport is the location for this chocolate manufacturer's first European sales outlet outside Switzerland," explains Jan-Henrik Andersson, Chief Commercial Officer at Munich Airport GmbH. "Munich Airport is the ideal location for us to present our Haute Chocolatier - delicious chocolates, created with passion and in traditional craftsmanship. As a Swiss premium brand, we share common values ​​such as a holistic quality and service philosophy as well as a sense of exclusivity and innovation," adds Tomas Prenosil, Chairman of the Management Board of Sprüngli.

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Moscow reactivates air traffic with selected countries

Granite Pireci April 6, 2022 08:36

After months of CoV restrictions, Russia has announced the resumption of air traffic with 52 countries. The restrictions to combat CoV, which extended to scheduled and charter flights between Russia and a number of other countries, will be suspended from April 9, 2022, as Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced at a meeting with representatives of the Kremlin party United Russia. The easing affects countries that Moscow classifies as "friendly". Around half of the 52 states mentioned are from Asia. In addition, the CoV restrictions will also be lifted for many countries in Latin America and Africa, while in Europe air traffic will only be allowed again with Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Moldova. However, the lifting of the CoV restrictions will probably not always mean the actual resumption of air traffic to the respective country, as Russian aircraft would then have to fly through some of the airspace of countries that they have closed to Moscow because of the Russian attack on Ukraine. The Kremlin also has to fear that leased aircraft will continue to be confiscated abroad, reports ORF.

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Wizz Air is growing strongly, but the price of gas is causing headaches

Amely Mizzi April 6, 2022 08:03

The low-cost airline Wizz Air was able to increase the number of passengers carried by an impressive 2022 percent in March 415. The carrier had 2.476.105 passengers on board. The capacity utilization is given as 86,2 percent, which was one percentage point lower than that of arch-rival Ryanair. March 2021 was heavily influenced by the corona pandemic. Accordingly, Wizz Air only had 382.928 passengers. This compares to 3.014.341 travelers in March 2020, which was largely spared from the corona pandemic in Europe. Roughly rounded, the low-cost airline was around 600.000 passengers below the pre-crisis level. If you look at the traffic development in the first three months of the current year, it is different. Wizz Air started 2.396.684 with 2022 passengers. In February 2022, the extensive cuts made across the network were clearly noticeable, as there were only 1.921.153 travelers on board. Most recently in March 2022, things went up again, as the airline had 2.476.105 passengers. A significant increase is expected for April 2022 due to the Easter holidays. For comparison: competitor Ryanair recorded a significant dip from December 2021 to January 2022, which can be attributed to the scaremongering surrounding Omikron. Wizz Air's arch-rival started the new year with seven million passengers. In February 2022, there were 8,7 million passengers on board and most recently in March 2022 there were 11,2 million travelers. In the case of Wizz Air, it should be noted that the carrier had already significantly reduced the capacity offered in December 2021. The reductions were also made in the first quarter of the year.

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NUE starts the holidays with the new summer timetable

Granite Pireci April 6, 2022 07:32

Nuremberg Airport's new summer flight schedule includes more than 60 destinations. Accordingly, around 150.000 passengers are expected during the holidays. More than 1.200 takeoffs and landings by 15 different airlines are planned during the two-week holiday, the airport announced in a press release. The busiest day is expected to be Friday, April 22, with 42 planned departures. The top tourist destination is Palma de Mallorca (up to 87 departures), followed by Antalya (up to 61 departures). With 185 planned takeoffs during the holidays, Ryanair takes off most frequently, followed by Corendon's holiday airlines with around 65 departures. Since April 3, 2022, wearing a medical mask in the terminal is no longer mandatory. "However, it is recommended that you continue to wear a mask and keep at least 1,5 meters away from other people," the airport said.

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Passenger numbers at Dortmund Airport are increasing significantly

Granite Pireci April 6, 2022 07:02

In the first quarter of 2022, 405.084 passengers used Dortmund Airport as a departure or destination airport - an increase of around 235 percent compared to last year. In 2021, at the height of the pandemic, 120.957 passengers used Dortmund's services in the same period. In the much more important comparison with the same period before the pandemic in 2019, Dortmund Airport takes the top spot in NRW with a recovery rate of 73 percent (in the pre-crisis year 2019: around 553.000). The airport recorded exactly 161.297 passengers in March this year (previous year: 46.443). Due to the war in Ukraine, several local airports and those in the Republic of Moldova could not be served. The number of flight movements also increased significantly: 2722 commercial takeoffs and landings took place at Dortmund Airport in March (previous year: 1525). The airport reported that particularly popular destinations were Katowice, Bucharest and Vienna. 

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