Monthly Archives: February 2022

Worldwide air traffic developments create new perspectives for Lufthansa Group pilots

The Coronavirus pandemic continues having a very serious impact on airlines and its employees. After two years in “crisis mode,” Lufthansa Group flight operations still has to cope with half the number of passengers in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the first quarter of 2019.

For captains, the crisis-related Lufthansa Airlines staff surplus has already been reduced in a socially acceptable way with a successful voluntary leave program. Lufthansa also plans to offer first officers the opportunity to exit from their contracts. Additionally, collective part-time agreements can also alleviate existing personnel surplus. Lufthansa continues to discussing this with its social partners.

This means, Lufthansa Airlines will waive compulsory redundancies for cockpit staff.

Michael Niggemann, Executive Board Member for Human Resources and Legal Affairs at Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said: “We have worked hard in recent weeks and months to avert compulsory redundancies for the cockpit staff of our core brand – despite the pandemic’s serious impact. It is a great success that we have succeeded to do so.”

The global crisis made painful decisions unavoidable in almost all companies of Lufthansa Group. For example, passenger flight operations of Germanwings was permanently suspended. Some pilots were and can still be transferred to Eurowings until 31 March 2022. An additional 80 pilots will join Lufthansa Airlines in Munich. Solutions continue being sought for all other pilots affected, thereby offering the prospect of continued employment in an existing or newly established Lufthansa Group flight operation.

For pilots 55 and older, Lufthansa Cargo offers a voluntary early retirement program. A remaining need for further reductions will be accomplished by a voluntary leave program designed to avert compulsory redundancies, including pilots not close to retirement age, or possible transfers to Lufthansa Airlines. The goal is to find solutions together with the social partners.

Better prospects in the long term

In the long term, the global recovery in demand for air transport will again lead to significantly better prospects for pilots – both within and outside the Lufthansa Group. For this reason, the Lufthansa Group’s new flight school under the umbrella of Lufthansa Aviation Training will start training new pilots as of summer 2022. The theoretical part of the approximately 24-month training program will take place in Bremen or Zurich; the practical part will take place at locations in Goodyear, Arizona/USA, Grenchen/Switzerland or Rostock-Laage/Germany. In the future, training will lead to receiving an EASA-certified ATP license that qualifies for entry-level positions within and outside the Lufthansa Group. The goal is quality training and maximizing career prospects for graduates.

Alaska Airlines starts Boeing 737 service at Paine Field in Everett

Alaska Airlines yesterday (February 17) commenced Boeing 737 service at Paine Field (PAE) in Everett, WA.

Flight AS 1497 from Phoenix arrived with Boeing 737-990 ER N469AS.

BIG DAY!
Paine Field celebrated the initiation of @AlaskaAir 737 service with a Water Salute from the Snohomish County Fire Department. pic.twitter.com/IO4mKZydtQ

— Fly Paine Field (@FlyPaineField) February 18, 2022

Alaska launches Boeing 737 service at Paine Field in Everett – https://t.co/q4r2hHaQEF

— Janice Podsada (@JanicePods) February 18, 2022

On June 1, Iberia will head to Dallas/Fort Worth, Washington Dulles and San Francisco

Iberia made this announcement:

Opens the Madrid-Washington and Madrid-Dallas/Fort Worth routes with four frequencies to each destination, and resumes the route to San Francisco with three other flights

In addition, it will increase its offer with New York, Boston and Los Angeles,

In total, Iberia will offer up to more than 120 weekly flights to nine destinations in the US, including Puerto Rico, and adds forces in this market with American Airlines, British Airways and Finnair

Iberia will fly direct from Spain to Washington. As of June, the airline has scheduled four weekly flights with the capital of the United States where the main government institutions of that country are concentrated: the Capitol, the White House and the Supreme Court.

Specifically, flights are scheduled from June 1 to October 29, with four weekly frequencies (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday) and operated by Airbus A330 family aircraft. The schedules of flights departing from Madrid at 12:10 in the morning, facilitate connections from any other point in Spain and the vast majority of Iberia destinations in Europe.

Flight	Origin	Destiny	Exit	Arrival*
IB6131	Madrid	Washington	12:10	15:15
IB6132	Washington	Madrid	16:45	06:30

*Schedules vary slightly depending on the month of operation

Madrid-Dallas/Fort Worth, Iberia’s new route

Starting in June, Iberia will also operate in this large North Texas metropolis. Flights have been scheduled from June 1 to October 29, with four weekly frequencies (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) and operated by Airbus A330/200 aircraft with capacity for 288 passengers.

The flight schedule will allow the best connections from the more than 100 Iberia destinations in Europe. In addition, Dallas is the great hub of American Airlines, which ensures great connectivity within the United States for customers within the joint business agreement that Iberia maintains with American Airlines, British Airways and Finnair for the operation of routes between Europe and the North Atlantic.

Flight	Origin	Destiny	Exit	Arrival*
IB6146	Madrid	Dallas	15:55	19:50
IB6147	Dallas	Madrid	21:25	14:20

*Schedules vary slightly depending on the month of operation

Return to San Francisco

This summer Iberia returns to San Francisco, a route that had to be interrupted during the pandemic. From June 1 to September 30, it has scheduled three weekly frequencies (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) with departure at 12:20 also to facilitate connections. The aircraft scheduled to operate the route is the Airbus A330/200, with capacity for 288 passengers.

Flight	Origin	Destiny	Exit	Arrival
IB6193	Madrid	San Francisco	12:20	16:15
IB6174	San Francisco	Madrid	17:50	14:10

Only IAG group airlines offer direct flights to San Francisco; Iberia from Madrid and LEVEL from Barcelona, from 29 March and with four weekly frequencies (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays)

Strong commitment to the USA of Iberia and LEVEL

With all this, Iberia makes a strong commitment to the USA, the country that concentrates its largest capacity, and where it will go from six to nine destinations in the summer season.

In addition to the launch of the new destinations and the recovery of San Francisco, Iberia will increase its capacity in New York, Boston and Los Angeles, and has scheduled up to more than 120 weekly flights between Spain and the United States.

Specifically, this summer Iberia will have up to 14 weekly flights Madrid-New York, which are added to the daily FLIGHT of LEVEL from Barcelona.

Iberia will offer another 14 flights with Miami; Chicago will have up to seven flights a week, and Boston will also arrive on the daily flight in July and August, an operation that is complemented by LEVEL’s four weekly Barcelona-Boston frequencies.

Los Angeles will have up to five weekly Iberia frequencies from Madrid and four more FROM LEVEL from Barcelona.

The offer is completed with up to five weekly flights to San Juan de Puerto Rico, a destination that is also part of the joint business agreement for the routes between Europe and the North Atlantic that Iberia maintains together with American Airlines, British Airways and Finnair.

Joint Europe-US business

The joint business agreement for the operation of routes between Europe and the North Atlantic began in 2010 between American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia, Finnair joined in 2013, LEVEL in 2017 and Aer Lingus in 2021. Customers can combine flights operated by any of the six companies to get the best deals and enjoy more efficient connections thanks to the coordination of schedules. The new routes for this summer are:

Aer Lingus has launched two new routes: from Manchester to New York, and from Manchester to Orlando.

American Airlines will operate Charlotte-Rome, from April 5 to October 29, 2022.

British Airways will operate Heathrow-Portland from June 3 and, on the same day, will also recover the Heathrow -Pittsburgh route.

Finnair has launched a new route from Helsinki to Dallas and, from June 1 to October 29, also Helsinki – Seattle.

And LEVEL will debut Barcelona-Los Angeles on March 28 and will operate up to four weekly frequencies.

Niceair to link Akureyri in Iceland with the U.K., Denmark, Spain

Niceair is a new airline in Iceland. The name, Niceair, refers to North Iceland Air.

The upstart wants to connect Akureyri in northern Iceland with U.K., Denmark and Spain starting on June 2 according to Visir.

The new company has secured a 150-seat Airbus A319.

Air Montenegro unveils its livery

Air Montenegro has unveiled its livery of its Embraer 195 4O-AOA. Previously the airline has been operating its aircraft in an all-white condition.

The eagle logo has been retained from Montenegro Airlines.

According to the airline:

The 4O-AOA is the first aircraft to carry our corporate symbols.

The branding is inspired by the unique colors of the sunset over the Montenegrin sea and mountains.

Embraer, Widerøe and Rolls-Royce announce partnership to research innovative technologies for sustainable regional aircraft

Embraer, Widerøe and Rolls-Royce have today announced plans to study a conceptual zero-emission regional aircraft. The 12-month cooperation study – in the context of pre-competitive research and development – will address passenger requirements to stay connected in a post Covid-19 world, but do so sustainably, and seeks to accelerate the knowledge of the technologies necessary for this transition. Such technologies will allow national governments to continue to support passenger mobility while reusing most of the existing infrastructure in a more sustainable way.

Advances in scientific research can make clean and renewable energy a major enabler of a new era of regional aviation and the three companies will share their combined in-depth knowledge of aircraft design, market demand, operations and propulsion solutions to further develop their understanding of zero-emission technologies and how they can be matured and applied to future regional aircraft.

Among other topics, the study will cover a wide range of applications for new propulsion technologies to examine a range of potential solutions – including all-electric, hydrogen fuel cell or hydrogen fueled gas turbine powered aircraft.

Eurowings is planning for a strong summer season

Eurowings made this announcement about the upcoming summer season:

Booking curve points steeply upwards: tens of thousands of bookings daily
Significant expansion of business routes from Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn and Stuttgart
Exclusive promotion: free middle seat on many Eurowings flights
Vacation flights for Easter and the summer holidays in particularly high demand
Eurowings as Germany’s No.1 leisure airline with largest tourist offering
CEO Jens Bischof: “Millions of people finally want to catch up on their holidays or meet important business contacts in person again after two years of the pandemic”.

Eurowings is preparing for a summer with enormous catch-up effects. After a significant increase in tourist flight bookings – several tens of thousands every day – demand for business routes is also picking up. After two years of the pandemic and months of working from home, the desire for freedom in both private and professional contexts is becoming stronger and stronger: people have had to postpone their vacations, long-planned visit to friends and family or trips to see their business partners, sometimes several times.

After numerous countries, such as Spain, Sweden or Denmark, have already largely returned to normality, the German government has also decided on far-reaching relaxations: almost all Covid-related measures are to be lifted by the end of March. Against this background, people’s longing to finally be able to travel again is coming into focus.

Jens Bischof, CEO Eurowings: “The current formula is: the longer the contact restrictions, the greater the desire to travel. After two years of the pandemic, millions of people finally want to catch up on their holidays or meet important business contacts in person again. Our increase in bookings is currently following the ‘ketchup bottle principle’: first nothing for a long time, then everything at once.”

Expansion of the flight schedule

Eurowings is responding to the rising demand by significantly increasing its frequencies on both leisure and business routes.

Business routes to be resumed by the end of March

In the context of the pandemic, Eurowings had to temporarily suspend some routes. With the increasing demand on business routes, numerous domestic and European connections will be resumed by the end of March.

From Hamburg, for example, there will be up to eleven flights a week to Amsterdam and up to nine flights a week to Nuremberg.

From Düsseldorf, Eurowings is flying more frequently to Italy again – to Bergamo and Bologna (up to six times a week in each case) – and also to Austria: five direct flights a week to Linz and three to Graz.

From Cologne/Bonn, for example, Eurowings will again take its passengers to Bologna up to four times a week and to Dresden up to eight times.

From Stuttgart, the routes to Bremen (up to five times a week) and Amsterdam (up to six flights a week) will be resumed.

Increased frequencies on existing routes for better day trips to European metropolises

Business trips to European metropolises are currently also in high demand again: Eurowings is increasing frequencies on numerous routes – especially at off-peak times for even better planning of business trips.

From Hamburg: e.g. to London, Vienna, Budapest, Munich, Milan and Zürich

From Düsseldorf: e.g. to London, Vienna, Budapest, Munich, Milan, Zürich, Manchester, Birmingham, Geneva, Copenhagen, Salzburg, Lyon, Prague and Barcelona

From Cologne/Bonn: e.g. to London, Vienna, Budapest, Milan and Zürich

From Stuttgart: to London, Vienna, Budapest and Milan, among others, and from Dortmund to Munich

Significant increase in domestic German business routes

Connections to Berlin from Eurowings’ largest locations will also be significantly increased: up to six flights a day fromCologne/Bonn and from Stuttgart to the capital, and up to five flights a day from Düsseldorf.

Connections to Hamburg will also be significantly increased: a Eurowings aircraft will take off towards there from Stuttgartup to six times a day, and there will be three daily connections from Düsseldorf and two from Cologne/Bonn.

Exclusive promotion: free middle seat on numerous flights

For a successful return to business travel, Eurowings is offering its passengers a free middle seat on domestic German direct flights and on direct flights between Germany and Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Ireland, as well as between the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. The promotion is valid for flights in the booking and travel period from 17 February to 7 April 2022. The possibility of securing a free middle seat for more comfort and personal space has become one of the most popular products at Eurowings during the pandemic.

Strong expansion of the tourism business – more than 140 destinations available for the first time

As Germany’s No. 1 leisure airline, Eurowings has greatly expanded its tourist services and is flying to more than 140 destinations for the first time – by far the largest route portfolio. Focal points include Spain, Portugal, Italy, Turkey and Scandinavia. Services to the Canary Islands and the Greek islands are also being expanded. The top destination in summer continues to be Palma de Mallorca with 380 connections per week from 20 airports.

Lufthansa Cargo now only flies with electronic air waybills Facebook LinkedIn Twitter

Lufthansa Cargo made this announcement:

Digitization of paper AWBs as of summer flight schedule continues to drive digital transformation of air cargo industry

In 2020, IATA announced an industry goal to achieve 100% eAWB by the end of 2022, meaning that all shipments will be carried only with electronic air waybills (eAWB). To meet this goal and continue to lead the way in digitizing the entire air cargo industry, Lufthansa Cargo is now taking a major step towards completely paperless shipments: starting with the summer schedule on March 27, 2022, all shipments on feasible lanes will be carried with electronic air waybill – eAWB only. In addition, the airline is introducing a “paper-to-eAWB” service, through which the few remaining paper-based AWBs will be digitized at shipment acceptance and then continue to accompany the shipment as an eAWB.

“Over the past few years, we have driven many digitization initiatives in the air cargo industry. In fact, eliminating paper AWBs in the future could be one of the most important steps. A majority of our customers already use eAWB exclusively. With the new service, we can now easily take all customers with us on our digitization journey and enable them to take the step towards paperless transports as well,” explains Ashwin Bhat, Chief Commercial Officer at Lufthansa Cargo.

“Our goal is to make communication with our customers easier, faster and better with the help of our digital services. We have implemented the eAWB process as an industry standard of IATA continuously and worldwide at Lufthansa Cargo since 2014. A five-year data quality initiative that effectively de-cluttered the data interface between customers and Lufthansa Cargo was, among other things, an important cornerstone that enabled sustainable eAWB penetration and consistent top positions in global rankings,” said Dr. Jan-Wilhelm Breithaupt, Vice President Global Fulfillment Management Lufthansa Cargo. “We are very pleased to have achieved our goal of transporting paperless shipments and avoiding unnecessary printouts along the process chains together with our customers and partners.”

The newly introduced service is mandatory on feasible lanes for all forwarding companies that do not yet use electronic air waybills. Routes that are eAWB-feasible are those for which the regulatory basis for the use of electronic air waybills is in place. This means that all shippers who have not been able to use eAWB so far due to their own infrastructure can also switch to paperless transports. If local regulations in a country require the presentation of a paper AWB, Lufthansa Cargo will re-produce the AWB and it will accompany the shipment on the flight. In addition to more efficient transport routes and faster information flows, paper is also saved during transports. This sustainability aspect also plays into the United Nations’ sustainability goals “Climate Action” and “Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure,” to which Lufthansa Cargo has committed itself along with other goals.

KLM ends 2021 with a profitable fourth quarter

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines issued this financial statement:

In line with the third quarter, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines succeeded in closing the fourth quarter of 2021 at a profit. Operational profits amounted to €127 million. This shows that recovery is persisting, despite worldwide restrictions that continue to hamper travel. For the year 2021 as a whole, KLM has reported a loss of €227 million, representing a significant improvement in comparison with the figures for 2020 when KLM suffered a loss of €1,154 million.

Fourth-quarter revenues in 2021 amounted to €2,038 million compared to €1,136 million in the same quarter of 2020. Revenues for the year as a whole rose to €6,065 million compared to €5,120 million in 2020. Of the €3.4 billion loan package, nothing was drawn in 2021. Thus, up until now a total of €942 million was drawn.

The year 2021 consisted of two distinct parts. The first half of the year was sharply negative with travel restrictions, a lockdown, the double test requirement et cetera, resulting in €522 million operating loss. In contrast, the second half of the year was one of recovery and showed a positive operating result in the third and fourth quarters of €295 million. Again this year, the KLM result was supported by a substantial NOW contribution, for which KLM is very grateful to the Dutch government.

Positive booking trend

KLM welcomed a total of 5.2 million passengers on board in the fourth quarter of 2021. KLM and Transavia showed a positive booking trend for both the autumn and Christmas holiday periods. Additionally, more business travelers – especially from the small and medium-sized business community – took to the skies again in the fourth quarter. At the same time, uncertainties prevailed about the rapidly changing entry requirements, including the different booster requirements coupled with supplementary testing and quarantine obligations for vaccinated travelers. Meanwhile, many countries are easing restrictions and mandatory testing. This is helping the further recovery. At the same time, there are still countries where strict travel restrictions apply, such as in Asia.

Cargo contributed significantly towards more favorable results over the past year. Cargo revenues rose by 29% in 2021. Engineering & Maintenance also managed to improve operational profits despite falling revenues as a result of a decrease in demand for third-party maintenance.

“These figures reflect KLM’s resilience. After weathering close to two years of crisis, the signs of recovery that emerged in the third quarter of 2021 have persisted thanks to the loyalty of our customers and the enormous efforts of our KLM colleagues. This gives energy for the long road to full recovery that still lies ahead. I’m confident we will succeed in doing just that.”

KLM President & CEO Pieter Elbers

Spirit will launch nine nonstop routes to Myrtle Beach

Spirit Airlines has announced it will be connecting even more vacationers to the 60 miles of beaches known as the Grand Strand. The airline will launch nine nonstop routes to Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) this spring, introducing five new destinations, and resuming service from four other cities.

The seasonal service begins with nonstop routes to Manchester and a resumption of operations to Niagara Falls in April. Next up, routes to Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Houston, Louisville, Milwaukee, and St. Louis will launch ahead of Memorial Day weekend in May. In June, Spirit will connect Myrtle Beach to its newest market, Rochester.

New or Resuming Seasonal Routes
Destination:	Flights Available:	Launch Date:
Manchester (MHT) NEW	Daily	April 20, 2022
Niagara Falls (IAG) RESUMING	3-4x weekly	April 22, 2022
Indianapolis (IND) RESUMING	4x Weekly	May 25, 2022
Minneapolis (MSP) RESUMING	2-3x Weekly	May 26, 2022
Houston (IAH) RESUMING	2-3x Weekly	May 26, 2022
Louisville (SDF) NEW	2-3x Weekly	May 26, 2022
St. Louis (STL) NEW	2-3x Weekly	May 26, 2022
Milwaukee (MKE) NEW	2-3x Weekly	May 27, 2022
Rochester (ROC) NEW	4x Weekly	June 24, 2022

Spirit continues to invest in MYR with nearly 30 daily departures during the peak season. This includes markets with multiple flight options such as twice daily service to Baltimore (BWI), Detroit (DTW), Hartford (BDL), New York LaGuardia (LGA), Newark (EWR) and more. Just last year, Spirit celebrated its 25th year serving Myrtle Beach, and we continue to deliver More Go!