November 13, 2023

More articles from the category

November 13, 2023

Ita Airways puts the first A220-100 into scheduled service

A few days ago, the airline Ita Airways took delivery of its first Airbus A220-100. This is stationed at Milan Linate Airport and is used, among other things, to London City. The aircraft, with the registration EI-HLA, was received in Mirabel on October 31, 2023 and transferred to Italy. It has been in commercial flight service from Linate since November 3, 2023. The carrier has ordered a total of seven examples of this type directly from Airbus Canada.

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Therme Baden with a new fitness room

In November 2023, the Römertherme Baden will open a new fitness room with state-of-the-art equipment. This is divided into the areas of strength and functional training. The new area offers new equipment, especially for women, that is specifically designed to build leg and buttock muscles. The so-called "Glute Builder Training" strengthens the entire lower body and brings it into top shape. This is also ensured by squats on a "belt squat machine", hip thrusts with the newly developed "Glute Drive Machine" from Nautilus, and rear kicks on a guided device. A spacious functional training area with wall bars, medicine balls, kettlebells, and much more - offers enough space for sports motor exercises. 

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New Mexicana is launching with a wet lease Embraer 145 from TAR

The planned relaunch of the airline Mexicana de Aviación, which is to be under the leadership of the military, will not, at least not initially, be carried out with the announced Boeing 737-800. Instead, the company plans to start operations next month with an aged Embraer 145 operated by TAR Transportes Aéreos Regionales. The regional jet in question has the registration XA-VGQ and is currently 22,6 years old. The aircraft is owned by the leasing company Regional One. The operator of the 50-seater is TAR. The Mexicana livery is currently being installed in a hangar. The fact that a wet lease aircraft is being used is surprising, as the relaunch is a state-owned company affiliated with the military. However, many things do not seem to be going according to plan. The start of operations has been announced for December 1, 2023, but the new Mexicana has not yet received a civil AOC and the necessary operating license has not yet been obtained. It was originally said that the airline would start operations with ten Boeing 737-800s on this date, but not a single aircraft is known to have been delivered yet. It was announced that the medium-haul jets would be taken over in September and October 2023 and prepared for Mexicana operations. According to local media, however, this step has not yet been taken. Now it seems as if the government wants to at least maintain the appearance that everything is on schedule with a wet lease solution, which would formally be a charter if there is no AOC at the time of the first flight. 

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Swiss and Kapers agree on a collective employment contract

The Kapers union and Swiss have agreed on a new collective agreement for cabin crew. Among other things, this stipulates that the basic salary should increase by 400 Swiss francs per month. In addition, duty rosters should be distributed earlier in the future and new part-time work models should be introduced. There is also the option of choosing between variable compensation with profit sharing or a pro-rata 13th month's salary. Flight attendants should also have seven fixed days off per month in the future. The employees affected still have to give their consent. A vote will be held by December 19, 2023. If accepted, the new collective agreement should come into force on January 1, 2024. 

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Sicily: Neos takes on Palermo-New York

The Italian airline Neos plans to offer a non-stop connection between Sicily and New York in the 2024 summer flight schedule. Two weekly rotations are currently planned. On the Italian island, the carrier will use Catania Airport. From there, two weekly rotations to New York-John F. Kennedy will be operated between June 9 and September 28, 2024. There are currently only a few non-stop long-haul flights from Sicilian airports. These are only operated seasonally, if at all.

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Germany: Barig sharply criticizes the increase in the security fee

The increase in the upper limit of the security fee from ten to 15 euros, which was decided by the German Federal Cabinet, has also not been met with approval by the Board of Airline Representatives in Germany. The committee has sharply criticized the plan. "An increase in the upper limit of aviation security fees, as the federal government is currently planning, is a cause for great concern. It would not only mean significantly higher costs for airlines and passengers, but would also further intensify the already high fee burden on air traffic and thus be very damaging to the recovery and development of Germany as an aviation location overall. The fact is that between 2019 and 2022, aviation security fees have already more than doubled and have placed a considerable financial burden on airlines. It is also a fact that Germany is lagging far behind in the recovery of air traffic as a result of the corona pandemic compared to Europe and is almost at the bottom of the list, as the Federal Association of German Airlines (BDF) recently determined. A very important reason for this sluggish recovery in this country is the enormous location costs that airlines have to suffer from. Raising the upper limit for aviation security fees by a further 50 percent is completely unacceptable against this background alone. Strong air traffic is an economic engine. Weak air traffic, on the other hand, puts a strain on economic prosperity, restricts mobility and puts jobs at risk. High location costs in Germany encourage air traffic to be relocated abroad. Other countries have recognised this problem and limited such fees to an economically acceptable level. For example, in some EU countries the state itself covers the costs of aviation security. We therefore urgently appeal to politicians to put the planned increase in

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For 200.000 euros per month: Consulting firm run by ex-Etihad boss Hogan advises Air Malta

Since mid-2022, the airline Air Malta has been using the Abu Dhabi-based consulting firm Knighthood Capital to work for it at a cost of 200.000 euros per month. This has caused criticism in the Maltese parliament, as the carrier will cease operations at the end of March 2024. The opposition submitted a parliamentary inquiry. In this, the activities of the company, which was founded by former Etihad Airways boss James Hogan, were critically questioned. After all, Air Malta has no future, as the government wants to relaunch the carrier as KM Malta Airlines plc. Following the example of the many Alitalia start-ups, it is to continue almost seamlessly, although some routes will no longer be included in the successor's route network. Malta's Finance Minister Clyde Caruana had to answer the opposition's inquiry for legal reasons. According to the agreement, the Hogan company is to provide support in discussions with the EU Commission, in drawing up a fleet and network plan, in drawing up a business plan for the next five years, in developing a communication plan and in adapting the processes to the general industry standard. An accounting system is also said to have been configured. It is also noteworthy that the Finance Minister's response shows that the consulting company was also commissioned to provide appropriate support in ensuring an economic discontinuity between today's Air Malta and KM Malta Airlines plc, which will fly under the Air Malta brand name. The rights to the brand are held by the state, so the "old company" does not even have to be asked about this. The first consulting contract was signed in mid-2022 by James Hogen, who was then

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Latest hotel investment figures for Austria

Hotel businesses that are currently in the planning, implementation or renovation phase (reinvestment phase) are facing significant challenges due to the higher construction costs. Supply bottlenecks and raw material prices have driven inflation up rapidly. The construction price index has increased by over 2020 percent compared to 20, which of course has an impact on all new construction and renovation projects. The construction costs per room in a 4-star hotel have even climbed by around 40% in the last three years. Construction activity is currently stagnating, but without any significant impact on construction costs, the report concludes. The hotel industry performed well in terms of revenue and occupancy in the summer months, but was still unable to achieve or maintain past operating results. This is also affecting banks, who are showing increased reluctance to finance hotel properties. The combination of weak operating results, high interest rates and hardly any change in investment and construction costs is not a good prerequisite for maintaining quality in a capital-intensive service sector. Prodinger Tourism Consulting has taken this development as an opportunity to review the existing investment figures for the Alpine holiday hotel industry and to adapt them to the current market environment. The "Investment 1×1" is the result of existing values ​​for construction, furnishing and planning costs for around 50 new and conversion projects as well as findings from expert discussions. "This overview is intended to help investors, project developers and hoteliers plan their upcoming investments. The better the planning, the faster and less risky the implementation. In addition to cost overruns, functional defects and a lack of market conformity are the most common errors in project development," explains Thomas Reisenzahn from Prodinger. The current benchmark comparison was

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Zela Aviation and Universal Air are deepening their cooperation

Aviation companies Zela Aviation and Universal Air have agreed to work closely together on the de Havilland Dash 8-400 aircraft that will be introduced into the fleet in the coming months. The cooperation will then be deepened and expanded to include other aircraft types. Universal Air is a Maltese aviation company. Zela Aviation is based in Cyprus. Its CEO, Andreas Christodoulides, said: "We are excited to support the Q400 aircraft that will be introduced into Universal Air's fleet and are pleased to take the opportunity to develop the relationship between Zela Aviation and Universal Air for the near future."

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Leipzig: The FTI Dubai charter flights are back

After a long break, the tour operator FTI has resumed non-stop flights between Leipzig/Halle and Dubai. These will now be operated twice a week. On Thursdays and Sundays, Smartlynx's Boeing 9s will fly from Saxony to the United Arab Emirates from November 2023, 737. These FTI charter flights were last on the program in 2019. Due to the corona pandemic, they were suspended until recently. 

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