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Greeks introduce complicated entry procedures

Jan Gruber June 29, 2020 22:55

A complicated online form must be filled out at least 48 hours in advance. A QR code is then sent, which must be presented after landing. Only then do travelers find out whether they will be waved through or whether they have to undergo a PCR test and be quarantined for up to 36 hours. Greece will officially reopen its borders to most EU citizens on Wednesday, July 1, 2020. However, the government announced on Monday that a QR code is required, which must be shown. This requires registration on the Internet, which must be completed at least 48 hours before the intended entry. Greece will also randomly ask Austrians, Germans and Swiss to undergo a PCR test. A swab is taken by medical staff after landing. The person concerned must then go into short-term quarantine in a hotel and wait for the result there. This can take up to 36 hours. At least: The Greek state will cover the costs of the test and the not entirely voluntary accommodation. Online registration must be completed at least 48 hours before the intended entry. The travel.gov.gr internet portal is currently only available in English. But "mere registration" is not enough, because Greece requires an unusually large amount of information, including visits to other countries and addresses and telephone numbers of people with whom you have had contact. You must also provide an address where you can be reached in Greece for the next 14 days. This could be a hotel, for example. However, it is still unclear how this will be handled if the vacation only lasts a weekend or a week.

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Lufthansa uses 50 percent of the fleet

Jan Gruber June 29, 2020 19:43

The Lufthansa Group will be in the air with around half of all aircraft in summer 2020. By the end of October, around 90 percent of short- and medium-haul destinations are to be reactivated. On Monday, the Lufthansa Group adapted its plans for the current summer flight schedule period. Around half of all aircraft, around 380, will be in use. Compared to the original plan, which was drawn up before Corona, around 40 percent of capacity is being offered. "The borders are gradually opening again. Demand is increasing, both in the short and long term. We are therefore consistently expanding the flight schedule and our global network and driving forward our restart. I am delighted that we can now offer our guests even more connections all over the world with all companies via all hubs," said Harry Hohmeister, member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. At the end of October, over 90 percent of all originally planned short- and medium-haul destinations and over 70 percent of the Group's long-haul destinations will be served again. Customers who are now planning their summer and autumn holidays will have access to an extensive global network of tourist and business connections via all of the Group's hubs. For example, the core brand Lufthansa will fly to destinations on the American continent more than 150 times a week in summer/autumn via the Frankfurt and Munich hubs. Around 90 weekly flights are planned to Asia, over 45 to the Middle East and over 40 to Africa. The following flights will resume from Frankfurt by October: Washington, San Francisco, Orlando, Seattle, Detroit, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Dallas, Singapore, Seoul,

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Lauda base Vienna took off again early

Jan Gruber June 28, 2020 19:21

The Vienna home base was not supposed to start flying commercially again until July 1, 2020, but on Sunday Ryanair had an AOG and Lauda stepped in with the OE-LOP. The Vienna base of the Lauda airline resumed flight operations ahead of schedule on June 28, 2020. With the Airbus A320, which has the registration OE-LOP, the company flew commercially from Vienna to Riga and back on Sunday on behalf of its sister company Ryanair DAC. The flight numbers used were FR7293 and FR7294. The aircraft in question was not transferred back to Vienna from London-Stansted until June 24, 2020. Officially, the Lauda base in Vienna was not supposed to start flying commercially again until July 1, 2020. However, Ryanair had to contend with the failure of a Boeing 737-800 and, to put it simply, the Austrian sister company provided the "replacement aircraft". According to current information, Lauda is scheduled to fly for Ryanair from Vienna to Beauvais and Zadar on Monday. Since the Austrian airline no longer operates under its own OE flight numbers, but flies for Ryanair under a wet lease agreement, the FR code is now always used.

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Daniel Liebhart: “Lauda employees were only instrumentalized”

Jan Gruber June 26, 2020 15:33

The union considers the behavior of the airline Lauda to be "morally reprehensible" and is offering affected employees legal advice. The Vida union is shocked and deeply disappointed in its initial reaction to the approach to staff cuts at the Ryanair subsidiary Lauda. On Thursday, the company began "distributing" notices of termination and, of all people, a heavily pregnant employee was among the first people to receive the "blue letter". "The entire procedure surrounding the current terminations at Laudamotion shows that the company and the Ryanair Group have not kept their promises to employees to preserve all jobs in Vienna if the social partners agree to a new collective agreement. Rather, it has now emerged that some of the Laudamotion employees were instrumentalized for the group's interests. Apart from the legally questionable procedure, which allegedly led to the dismissal of pregnant women who were protected against dismissal and employees on part-time parental leave, the dismissal of people who are particularly in need of protection is also morally reprehensible,” says Daniel Liebhart, head of the aviation department in the Vida union. In administration, employees in entire departments were dismissed, including in the areas of finance, marketing and sales. Even the press office staff were let go on Thursday afternoon and released from their duties. The company is suing the Korneuburg Regional Court for approval to dismiss at least 25 women who are protected by the Maternity Protection Act. The “personnel interviews” with 94 summoned flight attendants and pilots never took place. Flanked by security guards, police officers were stationed outside the office.

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Wirecard bankruptcy affects aviation

Jan Gruber June 26, 2020 15:06

Some popular "frequent flyer cards" can no longer be used with immediate effect. UK revoked WDCS's license. The bankruptcy of the German Wirecard AG is now also having an impact on prepaid and debit cards, which are used in particular by frequent flyers because they often do not charge foreign transaction fees. Numerous fintechs, including Revolut, Curve and Holvi, issue their customers payment cards that were formally issued by Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd. (WDCS). The British financial market regulator FCA revoked the issuer WDCS's license with immediate effect on Friday. Until now, the company held a so-called "Electronic Money License" and was thus a so-called "payment institution" that, unlike a full banking license, does not have any deposit protection. The FCA prohibited Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd. from making any capital outflow, so that payment cards issued by this company are invalid with immediate effect and can therefore no longer be used for payment. The fintech Curve has already informed all customers that the "Curve Card", which is particularly popular with frequent flyers, will no longer be used with immediate effect. The reason for this is that the formal issuer of the card is WDCS. Other fintech companies, including Holvi and Revolut, are also customers of Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd. and are therefore affected. There are various ways to determine whether a prepaid or debit card is affected by the license withdrawal. The easiest way is to contact the fintech's customer service. Often, but definitely not always, there is a very small print note on the back that says "this card is issued by Wirecard Card Solutions Limited". The product "Boon.Planet", which has also been making waves in recent months, is also affected by the withdrawal of the license.

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Lauda terminations now also available in front of the office

Jan Gruber June 26, 2020 12:31

The Austrian Ryanair subsidiary is resuming flight operations in its new role as a wet lease provider in Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Palma de Mallorca. At the same time, large-scale notices of termination are being handed out in front of the office in Vienna. On Thursday, the airline Lauda began handing out notices of termination. According to current information, at least 22 employees who previously worked at the company headquarters have been given notice of termination. The departments affected are marketing, sales, finance, technology and purchasing. The company also laid off crew trainers. A pregnant employee was even given notice of termination and asked to leave the office. The airline announced last Friday that it would lay off the 94 flight crew members who did not agree to the new collective agreement. They were summoned to a staff meeting this Friday. According to those affected, this never took place because they were denied access to Lauda's premises. Instead, the termination letters are said to have been handed over right in front of the entrance door. Meanwhile, Lauda resumed commercial flight operations in Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Palma de Mallorca. Flights are no longer being operated under the OE code, but under that of its sister company Ryanair DAC. From Stuttgart, the destinations Palma de Mallorca and Naples will be served with Airbus A320s on behalf of the Irish low-cost airline. A wet lease flight to Palma is planned from Düsseldorf. The restart in Vienna is to take place on behalf of Ryanair from July 1, 2020.

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Level Europe: AK and trustee inform the workforce

Jan Gruber June 26, 2020 12:20

The Lower Austrian Chamber of Labor and insolvency administrator Michael Lentsch gave the employees of the insolvent Level Europe GmbH information about the current state of affairs in two works meetings and informed them about how to apply for insolvency pay. The bankruptcy of the airline Level Europe affects around 200 employees at the Vienna location. The Lower Austrian Chamber of Labor has now informed them that both the June salaries and the holiday pay are still outstanding. Experts from the Chamber of Labor are now providing information on how those affected can register their wage claims with the insolvency pay fund. Two works meetings were also held at Vienna Airport for this purpose. The works council, the Chamber of Labor and insolvency administrator Michael Lentsch provided information about the current state of affairs and the options for receiving payments from the insolvency pay fund. Due to the current Corona protection regulations, the information event had to be split into two groups. According to AK NÖ, the fact that Level Europe had its entire workforce on short-time work in the months before the bankruptcy proceedings were opened presents some challenges with regard to the calculation of the insolvency pay. "Until two days ago, nobody knew how to do this," explains AK insolvency expert Felix Hochedlinger. "The details of the Corona short-time work were constantly being changed and it was only a few days ago that the calculation basis for such cases was regulated by ordinance." The June salary and the pro rata special payments, i.e. the pro rata holiday and Christmas bonuses, are still outstanding for the Level Europe workforce until the bankruptcy proceedings are opened. AK Lower Austria is bringing these claims together for the employees to the insolvency pay fund and the Korneuburg regional court. "Of course, we cannot promise it, but the fund normally works very quickly, especially in the case of large-scale insolvencies. We are therefore assuming

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Lauda wants to terminate mothers and pregnant women

Jan Gruber June 25, 2020 16:55

The first notices of termination are now being handed out at Lauda headquarters. Even pregnant women, who are actually protected, are affected. The company is suing for approval at the Korneuburg Regional Court. The parent company is simultaneously celebrating the start of 64 additional routes. While Ryanair is celebrating the start of 64 "new" routes from Vienna in a press release, notices of termination are being handed out at the headquarters of the Austrian subsidiary Lauda. The ground staff will reportedly be reduced to a small number of employees who are necessary to provide ACMI services for Ryanair. Lauda Managing Director Andreas Gruber has repeatedly made no comment on the terminations that are now actually being announced and has always referred to the early registration with the employment service made a few weeks ago and the press release from last week. On Thursday, a questionable incident is said to have occurred at Lauda headquarters, as a pregnant employee was handed a letter of termination and then asked to leave the office. Actually, this employee would be protected from dismissal by the Maternity Protection Act, but according to reports, this does not seem to have been taken so seriously. Lauda is also suing the Korneuburg Regional Court for approval of dismissal in at least 25 other cases that fall under the Maternity Protection Act. These are pregnant women and women on maternity leave who are part of the flight crew. In the "first wave of dismissals", at least 15 Lauda employees at the head office in Schwechat are said to have been "affected". They were released from work with immediate effect. Various professional groups are affected, and the Austrian Ryanair subsidiary even parted ways with the press office. Pregnant women and women on maternity leave are to be dismissed The

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Michael O'Leary: "Ryanair sues against Lufthansa state aid"

Jan Gruber June 25, 2020 14:44

Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair Holdings PLC, which owns the operating airlines Lauda, ​​Malta Air, Buzz, Ryanair DAC and Ryanair UK, announced on Thursday that he would be suing the EU Commission for its competitor Lufthansa for its bailout. The group intends to take the case to the European Court of Justice. "This is a spectacular case of a rich EU member state ignoring EU treaties to the benefit of its national industry and to the detriment of poorer countries. Under the pretext of Covid-19, the German government is granting Lufthansa a nine billion euro bailout package that, according to the CEO, is not needed at all. In clear violation of European competition rules, Berlin is wasting huge amounts of taxpayers' money to prop up an uncompetitive airline that should be getting its own house in order instead of running to the government again for help. These and other bailouts will have a more devastating long-term impact on the future of European aviation than the pandemic itself. This bailout money is being used to drive smaller competitors out of the market, just as Lufthansa's appalling record of anti-competitive behaviour is. Just last week, the Italian press reported that Lufthansa's Air Dolomiti had "joined forces against low-cost carriers" with three other airlines to introduce minimum fares. This follows reports that Austrian Airlines, also owned by Lufthansa, is preparing to set a minimum fare of 40 euros. In addition to coordinating a state-sponsored pricing cartel, Lufthansa is threatening to shut down smaller national airlines within the Lufthansa group as if they were its Belgian, Austrian and Swiss hostages unless the

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Easyjet announces capital increase

Jan Gruber June 25, 2020 11:41

By issuing new shares and through sale-and-leaseback transactions, Easyjet aims to improve liquidity from around 2,4 billion pounds sterling to three billion pounds sterling. British low-cost airline Easyjet posted a loss of 353 million pounds sterling in the first half of the current financial year. The reporting date is March 31, 2020, which means that the reported figures were achieved before the significant impact of the corona pandemic. Sales increased by 2020 percent to 1,6 billion pounds sterling by the end of March 2,382. The management board did not provide a forecast for the year as a whole, citing the unclear situation regarding the corona pandemic. A capital increase will also be carried out. Easyjet is issuing new ordinary shares of 27 2/7 pence each. In total, just under 15 percent of the existing capital will be offered. With this measure, the orange budget airline wants to raise around 400 to 500 million pounds sterling on the financial market. The funds are to be used to support the group. The annual general meeting is to decide on this step on July 14, 2020. Easyjet also wants to improve its financial situation through sale-and-leaseback deals. In total, Easyjet wants to monetize 15 aircraft through sale-and-leaseback. These are two A321neos, three A320neos, three A320ceos and seven A319ceos. Binding contracts have already been concluded with SMBC Aviation, JP Lease and Aero Capital Solutions for this purpose. The carrier estimates the volume at 301 million pounds sterling. In total, the deals are expected to bring in up to 560 million pounds sterling. Negotiations are currently underway for a further eight Airbus A320neos, which will also lead to a sale or sale-and-leaseback.

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