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Professional association criticizes Lauda for closing Düsseldorf

Granite Pireci September 18, 2020 12:31

The closure of the last Lauda base in Germany is not exactly making the Ryanair subsidiary any friends. One of the reasons given was the airport's refusal to reduce prices. Now the criticism is pouring in. Almost 70 pilots, about twice as many flight attendants and other ground staff are affected by the closure of the Düsseldorf base. They report that there has been no communication between the company and its own staff. They found out about the site closure and the associated layoffs from the media. Now the German cockpit staff association is stepping in and criticising it harshly. "If Lauda were to refrain from offering flights across half of Europe for the price of a hot lunch, then the company would have no problem paying the airports' allegedly excessive fees," said Marcel Gröls, head of collective bargaining policy at the Cockpit Association. "If the company is not changing its mind, then perhaps air travelers should think about whether they want to fly with a company that acts so recklessly." The airline is now being asked to talk to employees and to draw up a collective social plan in the presence of the professional association. But that is not all. The union vida is also putting up with a lot. In particular, the new annual salary of Ryanair boss O'Leary, which was announced yesterday, has caused outrage. According to the report, he will in future be paid 3,5 million annually for his work, while other employees of the company will have their salaries cut. "It should not be forgotten that just a few months ago O'Leary wanted to fob off the Viennese Lauda flight attendants with a basic salary below the minimum social security.

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FACC has to part with 700 employees

Granite Pireci September 18, 2020 11:17

The aviation supplier FACC had a bad feeling when it published its half-yearly financial statements. At the time, it was still assumed that it would be able to turn things around. But today, employees are facing the worst-case scenario: up to 700 employees - the majority from Austria - could leave. Today, the management invited them to a meeting. Various coronavirus-related austerity measures will be presented, as the news medium "ORF" reports. That rarely means anything good, as the almost 3.400 employees know. They also know that the crisis in aviation that arose with the outbreak of the pandemic is weighing heavily on the Upper Austrian aircraft supplier's stomach. In addition, CEO Robert Machtlinger will present a social plan together with the unions. Short-time work will expire in September.

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Dortmund: State government supports “runway extension”

Jan Gruber September 18, 2020 11:02

The budget airline Wizzair is pushing to fly to Dortmund with A321 aircraft. At the moment, however, the runway is too short for this, but it can be extended with minimal effort. The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia has not raised any objections to the project. This is clear from the response to a small inquiry by SPD MP Hartmut Ganzke. However, according to Radio Unna, the noise impacts would have to be examined by the Münster regional council. A new environmental impact assessment should not be necessary, as formally it is only a matter of relocating the threshold and not actually extending it. With this relocation, however, the runway can be fully used, which also means that Wizzair, which has a base there, can fly with A321s. The state government, however, wants to stick to the 100 ton maximum take-off weight.

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August 2020: Significant decline at Air Baltic

Jan Gruber September 18, 2020 10:41

The Latvian government's rather strict entry and quarantine rules had a negative impact on the number of passengers carried by Air Baltic in August, which is actually a busy month for travel. Compared to July 2020, there was even a nine percent decline. "August was the third full month of scheduled operations for Air Baltic and perhaps the toughest yet. After a relatively solid July, demand for our services fell again due to widespread self-isolation requirements. Nevertheless, we will maintain connectivity for those customers who need to travel and we are sure that demand will increase once the self-isolation rules are changed," said company boss Martin Gauss. The carrier operated 2020 flights in August 1.997. 51 routes were served. There were 137.830 travelers on board. In July 2020 there were 53 routes, 2.019 flights and 151.529 passengers. The numbers at a glance: August, 2020 July, 2020 Change Number of passengers 137 830 151 529 -9% Number of flights 1 997 2 019 -1% Routes operated 51 53 -2 15-minute flight punctuality indicator 97.9% 97.1% +0.8%-points

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Finnair is now selling PCR tests

Jan Gruber September 18, 2020 10:31

Oneworld member Finnair will be offering its customers PCR tests in cooperation with Terveystalo from September 28, 2020. These can be booked via the carrier's homepage and completed at a nearby test center. Payment with points from the frequent flyer program is also possible. Finnair justifies the move by saying that many countries require the presentation of a negative test result. Now it is trying to boost demand by arranging PCR tests. The airline also writes that this would make a further contribution to safety. Finnish travelers also have an advantage because if they return from areas classified by the government as risk regions, the 14-day quarantine can be shortened or avoided by completing a PCR test immediately after arrival. In Helsinki, the result should be available within 24 hours, at other locations within a maximum of 36 hours. Finnair has not yet provided any further information on the prices, but writes that normal customers will receive a ten percent discount. Frequent flyers will receive a 15 percent discount.

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Infections: Denmark also locks out Austrians

guest Author September 17, 2020 18:51

Austria is now classified as a risk area by another country: Denmark has put the Netherlands and Portugal on the "red list" in addition to the Alpine republic. The federal capital Vienna has already been classified as red by the Serum Institute for several days. This has now had significant consequences, as the Austrian Foreign Ministry explains: As of September 19, 2020 (midnight), entry from Austria is only possible for special reasons. This is no longer possible for tourist purposes. The local police have provided more information on Denmark's current regulations at this link. Any effects on the flight offer from Austrian airports cannot currently be foreseen. When asked, the providers stated in unison that further developments - especially with regard to demand and booking numbers - are being monitored and any decisions will be made accordingly. Wizzair, Ryanair/Lauda and Austrian Airlines, among others, offer flights between Austria and Denmark. (Author: This article was written by Michael Müller.)

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October 22, 2020 - Day of the decision for Condor

Jan Gruber September 17, 2020 14:20

The Darmstadt District Court has summoned the creditors of the insolvent holiday airline Condor to the Congress Center of Messe Frankfurt on October 22, 2020. There are only two items on the agenda: discussion of a submitted second insolvency plan and the vote on this plan. This meeting was actually supposed to take place much earlier, but the law requires the personal presence of the persons and institutions authorized to vote. Due to the Corona measures, this has simply not been possible so far. If everything goes according to plan on October 22, 2020, Condor can leave the protective shield procedure. However, they do not yet have a buyer and are therefore using a kind of "trustee solution". In the spring, the sale to Lot's parent company PGL failed at short notice, with the Corona pandemic probably being the main reason for the Poles' withdrawal. They are now - at least for the time being - no longer interested. So that Condor does not get caught up in the maelstrom of the Thomas Cook bankruptcy, a so-called protective shield procedure was filed last year. This is a special form of German insolvency proceedings, which is intended in particular to protect against claims and liabilities against the owners. Since the takeover by PGL failed, a "new protective shield" was registered in the spring. Furthermore, the Federal Republic of Germany granted a second financial injection in the form of state-backed loans through the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau. The new insolvency plan differs fundamentally from the first, because there is no buyer. Erdsiek Vermögensverwaltung is already the official owner and acts as trustee, because Condor does not want to start another sales attempt until after the Corona pandemic. At the moment

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Rapid PCR tests: salvation for tourism and aviation?

Jan Gruber September 17, 2020 13:26

Travel restrictions, strict entry regulations and sometimes extremely short-notice travel warnings, which are sometimes controversial, are making life difficult for the airline and tourism industry. Politicians are pinning their hopes on a vaccine being available as soon as possible. However, the sector is slowly but surely running out of steam, as winter is traditionally rather weak anyway. Normally, you would always earn a fat cushion in the summer, which would then get you through the cold season without any problems. This was not possible this year, however, and new travel restrictions and the associated low demand could now really put many hotels, tour operators and airlines in trouble. Either the states will step in and give the suffering industry a helping hand, or there will be a wave of bankruptcies. This will mean that thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people in Europe alone will lose their jobs. The call for new ways to ensure safe travel and thus the survival of an entire industry is therefore becoming louder and louder. The core problem at the moment is that many countries allow entry upon presentation of a negative PCR test, but in Austria, for example, this is very expensive to obtain. Often, you need one again on your return journey, which means the costs add up. Some countries allow you to go into quarantine for up to 14 days as an alternative, but in others, the answer is: “You can’t come in here.” Airlines, tour operators and hoteliers are now hoping that some kind of interim solution will be found. They are thinking of rapid PCR tests, the reliability of which was recently assessed by the WHO.

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Handelsblatt: Tui is facing a capital increase

Jan Gruber September 17, 2020 11:38

The travel group Tui, which has been hit hard by the Corona crisis, is apparently about to increase its capital. The Federal Republic of Germany has already helped out twice with loans worth billions. Now the company wants to raise between 700 million and one billion euros on the stock exchange. Handelsblatt reports that around 300 million euros of this will come from major Russian shareholder Alexei Mordashov. CEO Fritz Joussen wants to set the conditions for the capital increase by the end of the month. Officially, the Tui Group is keeping quiet, as it did not want to comment on the newspaper's report. It will therefore be necessary to wait and see how things develop.

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UK: Thomas Cook is back

Jan Gruber September 17, 2020 11:31

The Thomas Cook Group collapsed around a year ago. Several rescue attempts failed and the UK government ultimately rejected the company. Now the traditional brand is making a comeback under the umbrella of the Chinese group Fosun. The company secured the rights to the brand and is now launching as the travel platform “Thomas Cook”. The business model is currently limited to trips that can be taken from the UK without quarantine. The form of billing is also unusual, as payment only has to be made after returning from vacation. The company also wants to enable free rebooking to other destinations. The Financial Times reports that 50 people are currently employed. Most of them are said to be former Thomas Cook employees. There are apparently partnerships with Easyjet and the consolidator Paxport. Hotel brands from the Fonsun Group are also being sold. The Thomas Cook brand has been badly damaged by the bankruptcy, which is why it will probably be difficult to build trust with it. Therefore, customer funds are placed in a trust account and are only paid out to the company after the traveler returns. This is also intended to avoid expensive customer money protection. According to the Financial Times, Fosun recently invested 6,5 million euros in the portal. If successful, the model will be expanded to Belgium, France and the Netherlands. In China, the Thomas Cook brand is already being used to sell domestic trips.

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