On March 5, a passenger tried in vain to open the emergency exit. This took place on board the United Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Boston. The man then stabbed a member of staff with a spoon after the latter tried to intervene. The man was eventually stopped and held until landing, where the police were waiting for him. The man was arrested and is now in custody.
On Tuesday, March 7, 2023, Austrian Airlines held works meetings called by the Vida union and the Bord works council. Afterwards, a kind of "mini warning strike" was held until 14:30 p.m. The reason for this was a works meeting of the airline, which had to be initiated because there was discord between management and the Vida union. At the works meeting, the staff were informed about the renegotiations of the collective agreement. Now that the airline has been able to pay off its government debts, it is longing for an end to the personnel savings package announced during the pandemic. However, management rejected this. This meeting caused around 34 cancellations and delays of flights to Eastern Europe, but some of them also went to Germany and neighboring Switzerland. Around 1.200 employees took part According to the Vida union, around 1.200 AUA employees took part in the works meeting. Towards the end, it was unanimously decided to hold a "symbolic warning strike" that lasted until 14:30 p.m. According to employee representatives, management had been informed of this step. The motto of the event was: "We will not allow ourselves to be planted any longer." The aim of the strike, as was the reason for the works meeting, is to bring the AUA management, which broke off the social partner negotiations with the Vida union at the beginning of last week after ten rounds since October 2022, back to the negotiating table. "We demand appropriate cost-of-living compensation for the employees, which deserves this name, as well as an immediate and complete end to the personnel savings package without any rotten compromises. We call on the AUA management to return to the negotiating table quickly," demands the
Despite the European Union's sanctions against Russia, a German Bombardier Challenger was spotted flying to Moscow. However, no reason has yet been given for this flight. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, sanctions have been imposed on the Russian people, which are considered binding. This includes a ban on Russian aircraft entering European airspace. Private flights are not exempt from the sanctions, and are also subject to them. Despite this, Russian aircraft are still being spotted, and by the middle of last year there were said to be 30 aircraft. Last Saturday, an as yet unexplained flight was also spotted. The German Bombardier Challenger 604 from FAI Aviation is travelling to Moscow from its initial takeoff point in Frankfurt. Shortly after landing in the Russian capital, the pilot of the Bombardier Challenger sets the return flight in motion and flies via Latvia and the Baltic Sea back to Nuremberg's Albert Dürer Airport. Since the plane in question, with the registration D-AFAA, is known as an ambulance plane, a medical emergency is feared. It is unclear which patient this is. However, the flight did not violate any sanction and was therefore not considered illegal, as FAI Aviation describes in more detail. The patient is suspected to be a former childhood friend of Putin's, Sergei Roldugin. The airline in question, however, denies this and makes it clear that none of the assumptions are true. However, due to data protection, no further details can be disclosed.
ITB in Berlin ensures higher demand. The world's largest industry meeting, the ITB in Berlin, which started today, Tuesday, is ensuring full planes. The use of A321neo aircraft from Berlin can be observed more and more these days, for example with Aegean, Iberia Express, Lufthansa and Pegasus Airlines. Depending on the configuration chosen by the airline, the A321neo offers space for up to 240 passengers and is ideal for short and medium-haul flights to cover higher demand. After the exclusively digital format of recent years, the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin is now taking place in person for the first time again, but this year the trade fair is reserved exclusively for trade visitors. Egypt Air uses larger aircraft Today, Tuesday, the Egyptian flag carrier “Egypt Air” once again used long-haul aircraft on the Berlin route from Cairo, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with space for up to 309 guests. The aircraft is divided into a business class with 30 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration and 279 seats in economy in a 3-3-3 configuration and is normally used on Egypt Air's long-haul routes from Cairo to Johannesburg or Beijing, for example. When demand is high, Egypt Air also uses the aircraft flexibly across its entire route network, and the aircraft is also occasionally a guest at London Heathrow Airport.
The tourist Wachaubahn will end its winter break on Saturday, March 18, 2023 and open for the 2023 summer season. The climate ticket is not valid on this route. Holders of the network card only receive a discount. The Wachaubahn connects Krems an der Donau with Emmersdorf and will run every Saturday, Sunday and public holiday from March 2023 in the 18 season. From May 29 to November 1, it will be on the road for guests every day. During Advent - from December 2 to 17 - the train will run on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Reservations for bicycle parking spaces are strongly recommended. Holders of a climate ticket can travel at a reduced fare.
In 2022, the Swiss airport Zurich-Kloten was once again able to win the ASQ Award for "Best Airport in Europe" in the 25 to 40 million passengers category. It has already won this award in 2006, 2008, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. "I am delighted and very grateful that we were once again able to win the ASQ Award as the best airport in Europe in our category. The year 2022 brought with it some challenges with the rapid restart of operations. I am very pleased that passengers feel comfortable with us and that our commitment is noticed. Thanks also go to our partner companies and all employees at the airport who contribute to this achievement every day," says Stephan Widrig, CEO of Flughafen Zürich AG.
This year, United Airlines is celebrating its 20th anniversary on the New York (Newark)-Geneva route. With the exception of interruptions during the Corona pandemic, the airline has been operating on this route since March 2003. In total, it has had around 12.000 flights and 1,7 million travelers. "United has been connecting Geneva with the USA for two decades now. There are nonstop flights to the metropolis of New York on the US east coast, and from our hub in New York/Newark, our passengers can transfer to over 70 destinations across America," explained Reto Schneider, Country Sales Manager Switzerland and Germany at United Airlines. “We would like to thank our valued customers and the Swiss travel agency for choosing us again and again.” The current flight schedule between Geneva and New York (Newark): Flight From To Departure Arrival Frequency Aircraft UA957 GVA EWR 09:20 12:10 Daily Boeing 767-300 UA956 EWR GVA 17:35 07:30 (+1) Daily Boeing 767-300
Turkish Airlines has added the 350th aircraft to its fleet, the Airbus A900-400, registered TC-LGH and named "Tek Yürek". To celebrate the entry into service of its 400th aircraft, Turkish Airlines organized a special flight for families evacuated from the earthquake-affected cities of Adıyaman, Hatay (Reyhanlı, Antakya), Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, Malatya, Şanlıurfa and Osmaniye, who were accommodated at the Sancaktepe KYK Guesthouse in Istanbul. The name of the 400th aircraft, "Tek Yürek", was chosen through a survey on the company's social media channels and among its own staff. The A350-900, registered TC-LGH, has 329 seats, 32 in Business Class and 297 in Economy Class. The painting was done at the Turkish Airlines Technic facilities at Atatürk Airport.
The Latvian airline Air Baltic will fly a significant part of its fleet on behalf of other companies in the 2023 summer schedule. As a result, it is wet leasing four Airbus A320s from Avion Express. In total, two of the aircraft will operate from the base in Riga from March 26 to October 28, while one aircraft will be based in Vilnius from May 1 to October 28 and another in Tallinn. "Although the challenges caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine are still being felt, the aviation industry is slowly stabilizing. As a result, passenger demand for air travel is increasing. At the same time, the entire industry continues to struggle with problems in the supply chain for technical parts, so we need additional capacity to transport all passengers and avoid flight cancellations. That is why Air Baltic will be working with Avion Express this summer, whose aircraft offer even more seats so that we can carry a larger number of passengers," said company CEO Martin Gauss.
The holiday airline Eurowings Discover wants to offer its passengers WiFi internet and access to airport lounges on selected flights in the future. In general, the product range is to be coordinated even more closely with the Lufthansa Group. In the course of the second quarter, Eurowings Discover will begin to gradually activate connectivity systems on its long-haul aircraft. In the future, travelers will be able to use the internet on a total of ten of the twelve Airbus A330s during the flight, similar to Lufthansa's FlyNet offer. Use is subject to a fee. Eurowings Discover already offers its premium and status customers access to numerous lounges worldwide, especially on long-haul flights. The holiday airline is now gradually adding more airport lounges to its offer, with Cancún, Zanzibar and Mombasa following suit in the past few weeks. In the next few months, airport lounges will also be added to the offer on short and medium-haul flights, wherever available, in order to offer guests the greatest possible comfort. At destinations where there are no lounges, Eurowings Discover is examining options to offer guests an attractive alternative.
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