KLM takes additional measures to get summer holidays off to a smooth start

KLM made this announcement:

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will take various measures (some supplementing existing measures) to ensure that customers who book a flight with KLM get their summer holidays off to a good start, despite persistent operational challenges at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol due to the shortage of airport security staff. The measures will take effect from today (July 8) through August 28, 2022.

Work pressure at the airport is currently relentless as Schiphol and KLM are both faced with staff shortages. KLM’s measures are intended to restore operational stability, thereby relieving pressure on staff at Schiphol and KLM.

Through August 28, 2022, we will cancel 10 to 20 return flights to European destinations every day.

We will also strongly restrict the sale of remaining seats on KLM and KLM Cityhopper flights to European destinations. This will free up space for customers who are rebooked if their flight is cancelled. This measure will supplement the existing restriction on sales, in order to accommodate passengers who have to be rebooked after missing their flight due to long queues at Schiphol and to comply with restrictions Schiphol has imposed on the number of passengers boarding locally.

Customers who can’t fly will be informed in a timely manner and rebooked onto a different flight. In most cases, this flight will depart on the same day or as close as possible to the original booking. Passengers will not have to contact KLM for this purpose, but will be informed by KLM or their travel agent.

Cargo will not longer be booked and loaded onto KLM Cityhopper flights. This will reduce work pressure for handling staff on the ground.

We will also close the belly compartment for loose packages and mail bags aboard flights bound for intercontinental destinations. This loose bulk freight will be placed in containers, which will be brought in via the apron, making them easier to load onto the aircraft.

Measures relating to airfreight will remain in place until the end of the summer schedule (29 October).

KLM is confident that these measures will ensure smooth handling of incoming and outgoing flights in the coming weeks. KLM reasserts that these measures are temporary.

KLM aircraft photo gallery:

SAS receives all court approvals necessary to continue operating its business

SAS AB has announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York for all of its “First Day” motions as part of the Company’s voluntary chapter 11 process in the U.S.

The approvals granted by the Court confirm that SAS is authorized to continue to operate its business in the ordinary course throughout the chapter 11 process in accordance with the Court’s orders. The Court specifically authorizes SAS to, among other things, continue to:

Pay all employee wages and benefits;
Operate the airline in the ordinary course;
Honor existing customer programs, including the EuroBonus loyalty program;
Honor various pre-petition obligations owed to certain of its critical travel agency partners, vendors and suppliers;
Pay vendors and suppliers in full under normal terms for goods received and services provided on or after July 5, 2022; and
Pay all taxes, insurance, and other regulatory fees in the ordinary course.

Anko van der Werff, President and Chief Executive Officer of SAS, said, “These court approvals confirm that our operations will continue as usual as we begin our restructuring process in the U.S. We remain focused on providing the service our customers are used to, while accelerating our efforts to implement key elements of our comprehensive business transformation plan, SAS FORWARD. Ultimately, our plan is about improving our financial position and continuing our more than 75-year legacy as Scandinavia’s leading airline.”

SAS’ flight schedule is unaffected by the filing and its reservations, customer service, SAS EuroBonus and all other customer services and systems will continue as normal. Separate from the chapter 11 process, the strike undertaken by the SAS Scandinavia pilots’ unions will continue to impact flight schedules.

Top Copyright Photo: Scandinavian Airlines Connect Ltd. (SAS Connect) and formerly SAS Ireland, is a lower-cost Irish subsidiary of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). The subsidiary operates flights for SAS with a fleet of Airbus A320neo aircraft. Scandinavian Airlines-SAS (SAS Connect) Airbus A320-251N WL EI-SIM (msn 10761) PMI (Ton Jochems). Image: 958115.

SAS aircraft photo gallery:

Munich Airport sees clear upward trend in first half of year

Foto: Stephan Goerlich / FMG

Munich Airport issued this statement:

The dynamic upward trend at Munich Airport is reflected in the traffic figures for the first half of 2022: With around 13 million passengers, the entire annual volume for 2021 has already been exceeded in the first six months. Passenger numbers increased more than fivefold compared to the first six months of the previous year. The steep upward trend can be seen when comparing the two quarters: After only around four million passengers in the first quarter of 2022, more than twice as many passengers were handled in the second quarter at around nine million. In June, Munich Airport already reached three-quarters of its volume from the same month of the record year 2019 again. The seat load factor in Munich in June was at a record level of 84%.

Airlines responded to the high demand for flights by significantly expanding their flight capacity from Munich: Whereas only around 40,000 aircraft movements were registered in the first half of 2021, there were over 129,000 take-offs and landings in the first six months of this year – more than three times as many. In addition, considerably more destinations are now available to passengers in Munich again: Whereas last year around 100 destinations worldwide could be reached from Munich, this summer there will be up to 200 destinations. Freight business at the airport also benefited from the increasing air traffic in Munich, with the total freight volume doubling year-on-year to around 127,000 metric tons.

Twin Jet to restore the Milan – Lyon route

Twin Jet will relaunch the Milan (Malpensa) – Lyon route on September 12, 2022.

The French airline will operate nine weekly flights.

All flights will be operated with Beech 1900D aircraft.

Marco Finelli reporting from Italy.

Schedule:

Current Route Map:

Twin Jet aircraft photo gallery:

JetBlue comments on Spirit’s adjournment of Special Meeting

JetBlue Airways issued the following statement from Robin Hayes, chief executive officer, regarding the decision by the Spirit Airlines’ Board of Directors to adjourn its special meeting:

We are encouraged by our discussions with Spirit and are hopeful they now recognize that Spirit shareholders have indicated their clear, overwhelming preference for an agreement with JetBlue.

We strongly recommend that Spirit shareholders continue to let the Spirit Board know they want to receive the superior value JetBlue has proposed, by voting AGAINST the Frontier transaction.

Bonza prepares to take delivery of its first Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 now painted, unveils its ‘wear it your way’ uniforms

Bonza (Melbourne) is a new airline backed by 777 Partners of Miami that is preparing to launch operations in September 2022 to underserved markets in Australia.

The new airline is getting ready to take delivery of its first Boeing 737-8 MAX 8.

The pictured N5515X has now been painted by Boeing pending delivery as VH-UJT.

In other news, the upstart has introduced its uniforms;

Bonza, Australia’s only independent low-cost airline, has thrown out the rule book as they reveal their first-ever uniform. The ‘wear it your way’ range, featuring Australian aviation’s first-ever on-trend white custom sneakers and cotton t-shirts, allows Bonza legends to let their individual personalities shine with various ‘mix and match’ options.

“Our brief was clear. Create a uniform that Bonza legends will wear with pride. We know airline uniforms are the land that time forgot and we wanted to change that with our partners at Total Image Group,” said Carly Povey, Chief Commercial Officer at Bonza.

Povey went on to say there will be no ‘grooming guide’ for legends and instead cabin crew, pilots, operation centre and office staff will be able to style various looks depending on where they’re travelling to, their mood on the day and personalities.

“We won’t dictate what lipstick to wear – or whether you have to wear lipstick at all. We won’t ask crew to cover up their tattoos and just because you’re female, that doesn’t mean you have to wear a skirt. If you’re non-binary, pregnant, work in the office or onboard, we have options for you. Bonza is for the many not the few, and that’s what you’ll see with our first-ever uniforms,” added Povey.

In a nod to the many tropical Queensland destinations on Bonza’s route map, the looks include tailored shorts which can be worn with the white cotton t-shirt and blazer which features purple trim and the Bonza values stitched inside on the lining. There’s also a pant option, shirt dress and sleeveless coat. Accessories include a Bonza thumbs up pin, branded custom socks and a purple scarf that can be worn as a hair, neck or pocket accessory.

Pilots uniforms feature a crisp white button-up shirt, tailored pants and charcoal blazer with silver stripes. Pilot uniforms are not exempt from a bit of Bonza personality with the addition of purple lining in the blazer, inside of the shirt collar and on-shirt logo. In a break of tradition, there’s no pilot hat. Everyone agreed it was better to pass that saving to our customers.

Total Image Group Head Designer and CEO, Pamela Jabbour said: “My goal was for the uniforms to reflect the excitement and optimism that Bonza brings to Aussie travellers. They’re ditching the rule book in every way and the uniforms are no exception. Instead of pantyhose, polyester shirts, black high heels and traditional embroidery – we have created a uniform that reflects current trends and that legends will wear with pride.”

Total Image Group are working with Bonza to extend the range to include crew sunglasses. “We intend to offer additional options to legends and to be the first airline to offer a sunnies subsidy, should crew wish to purchase Australian made sunglasses that will be made from recycled materials,” said Povey.

Top Copyright Photo: Bonza Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 N5515X (VH-UJT) (msn 62533) BFI (Joe G. Walker). Image: 958109.

The struggle of Surinam Airways

Surinam Airways (Surinaamse Luchtvaart Maatschappij-SLM) is the flag carrier of Suriname, based in Paramaribo.

The carrier operates regional and long-haul scheduled passenger services under its codes but is struggling.

Surinam Airways is wholly owned by the Government of Suriname.

COVID-19 forced the flag carrier to give up the leases of its aircraft. The carrier does not currently have any aircraft. It is forced to find operators to sub-lease their aircraft to Surinam in order to operate their coded flights.

The premier route is from Paramaribo to Amsterdam. Airhub Airlines has been operating the route but recent cancellations have stranded passengers.

Can the airline is name only, survive?

More local news from the News Room:

https://newsroom.gy/2022/07/05/scores-of-guyanese-facing-flight-cancellations-with-surinam-airways/

Surinam Airways aiorcraft photo gallery:

Despite bankruptcy, SAS’ traffic was up 220% in June

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS issued this traffic report:

During June more than 1.9 million passengers traveled with SAS, an increase of approximately 220% compared to the same month last year. SAS’ capacity increased at the same time by approximately 150% compared with the same period last year. In comparison with last month, the total number of passengers increased with 7% and capacity was increased by 6%. The flown load factor for June was 80%, an improvement of 33 percentage points compared to June last year.

“Overall ticket sales have been positive in June, even if the whole aviation ecosystem still faces challenges in the global ramp-up. The notice of strike from the SAS Scandinavia pilots’ unions started impacting our bookings toward the end of the month. Our customers who for a long time have been longing to travel, had their plans disrupted in the middle of summer peak season, when we were looking forward to flying passengers. We continue our SAS FORWARD restructuring plan in which all stakeholders need to participate in order to secure SAS’ financial stability. To successfully continue the transformation of SAS we filed for Chapter 11 in the US on July 5. Update on the progress will be published once available”, says Anko van der Werff, President & CEO of SAS.

SAS scheduled traffic	Jun22	Change1	Nov21- Jun22	Change1
ASK (Mill.)	3,045	123.2%	19,836	157.2%
RPK (Mill.)	2,419	270.1%	12,897	398.8%
Passenger load factor	79.4%	31.5 pp	65.0%	31.5 pp
No. of passengers (000)	1,812	197.5%	10,424	263.4%

Geographical development, schedule	Jun22 vs. Jun21		Nov21- Jun22 vs. Nov20-Jun21
	RPK	ASK	RPK	ASK
Intercontinental	677.6%	164.9%	1,065.3%	155.0%
Europe/Intrascandinavia	262.5%	149.7%	500.0%	296.7%
Domestic	80.3%	41.7%	122.4%	43.4%

SAS charter traffic	Jun22	Change1	Nov21- Jun22	Change1
ASK (Mill.)	386	1,528.3%	1,205	1,962.1%
RPK (Mill.)	337	3,403.6%	1,006	4,269.8%
Load factor	87.2%	46.7 pp	83.5%	44.1 pp
No. of passengers (000)	133	2,879.2%	360	4,293.6%

SAS total traffic (scheduled and charter)	Jun22	Change1	Nov21- Jun22	Change1
ASK (Mill.)	3,431	147.2%	21,040	170.8%
RPK (Mill.)	2,755	315.6%	13,903	433.0%
Load factor	80.3%	32.5 pp	66.1%	32.5 pp
No. of passengers (000)	1,946	217.1%	10,784	274.9%

1 Change compared to same period last year, p p = percentage points

Preliminary yield and PASK	Jun22	Nominal change1	FX adjusted change
Yield, SEK	1.16	8.7%	4.1%
PASK, SEK	0.92	80.2%	42.7%

			Jun22
Punctuality (arrival 15 min)			67.7%
Regularity			96.6%
Change in total CO2 emissions			133.4 %
Change in CO2 emissions per available seat kilometer,			-0.9%
Carbon offsetting of passenger related emissions			39.6%

Definitions:

RPK – Revenue passenger kilometers

ASK – Available seat kilometers
Load factor – RPK/ASK
Yield – Passenger revenues/RPK (scheduled)

PASK – Passenger revenues/ASK (scheduled)

Change in CO2 emissions per available seat kilometers – SAS passenger related carbon emissions divided with total available seat kilometers (incl non-revenue and EuroBonus tickets), rolling 12 months vs rolling 12 months previous year

Carbon offsetting of passenger related emissions – Share of SAS passenger related carbon emissions compensated by SAS (EuroBonus members, youth tickets and SAS’ staff travel) during the month

From fiscal year 2020 we report change in CO2 emissions in total and per Available Seat Kilometers (ASK) to align with our overall goal to reduce our total CO2 emissions by 25% by 2025, compared to 2005.

SAS aircraft photo gallery:

The Government of Canada and air industry taking more action to reduce congestion at Canada’s busiest airports

The Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, the Minister of Health, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, the Minister of Public Safety, the Honourable Marco Mendicino, and the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, issued this update today on progress being made by the Government of Canada and industry partners to reduce wait times and congestion at Canadian airports.

Working together

On Monday, July 4, Minister Alghabra met with the CEO of Air Canada to discuss current and planned actions being taken by the airline to quickly bring on more employees and to bolster core operations to better respond to the challenges of rapidly increasing demands. This meeting followed similar meetings that Minister Alghabra had with the CEOs of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and WestJet last week.

Transport Canada is also regularly meeting with Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), airports, and airlines alongside the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and NAV CANADA to find solutions to address bottlenecks affecting travel.

Global phenomenon and actions taken

In Canada, June 2022 air departure traffic was 58 times higher than it was in spring 2020. In comparison, global travel volumes are up more than eight times since the low point during the pandemic, and airports across the world are feeling the impact. From too many flights, to not enough staff, there is no single reason for these delays – but the Government of Canada and air industry partners continue to make significant efforts to add resources and streamline processes to ease congestion and help keep travellers moving, including:

Since April, close to 1,200 CATSA screening officers have been hired across Canada. With this, the number of screening officers at Toronto Pearson International Airport and Vancouver International Airport is now over 100 percent of the targeted requirements for this summer based on projected traffic.
Prime Minister Trudeau announced on June 25, 2022, the creation of a new task force to improve the processing of passports and immigration applications, as well as to monitor the situation at Canadian airports.
CBSA is maximizing officer availability and additional Student Border Services Officers are now at work.
The Greater Toronto Airports Authority is working with CBSA to make available additional kiosks and eGates at Toronto Pearson International Airport customs hall areas.
Mandatory random COVID-19 testing will remain temporarily suspended at all airports, for travellers who qualify as fully vaccinated, until mid-July, when the random testing will return, and tests will be completed outside of the airports.
CBSA and PHAC streamlined the process to identify travellers who are required to undergo testing at Toronto Pearson.
The Canadian Transportation Agency has developed a new information resource to help passengers who are experiencing flight cancellations, delays or lost luggage issues during their travel.
On June 27, Transport Canada updated its Interim Order Respecting Certain Requirements for Civil Aviation Due to COVID-19 to enable the department to impose additional obligations on airlines that have repeated cases of the same flight occurring with high levels of ArriveCAN non-compliance. These additional obligations, including the need to report potential non-compliances shortly after take-off, will support the Public Health Agency of Canada’s (PHAC) continuing enforcement efforts on non-compliant travellers, particularly those who refuse to come into compliance.
The Government of Canada continues to make improvements to ArriveCAN so it is faster and easier for travellers to use.
We are making progress, but challenges remain. A significant number of travellers continue to face travel delays, flight cancellations and issues with airport check-in and baggage services. We continue to take action with air industry partners to reduce the delays in the travel system and update Canadians on our progress.

Copa Airlines launches a passenger centric Copa Club and opens new Terminal 2 in Panama City

Copa Airlines made this announcement:

Copa Airlines, a subsidiary of Copa Holdings, S. A, and a member of the global Star Alliance airline network, is now welcoming passengers traveling through the Hub of the Americas® at Tocumen International Airport to its expansive new Copa Club. The opening of the new lounge is the result of the airlines’ moving operations to the new Terminal 2 (T2), which is now fully open to the public.

Inspired by a modern Latin American hacienda, the new Copa Club’s design incorporates unique Panamanian elements, paying homage to the airlines’ home base. The more than 20,000 square foot lounge offers comfortable seating for 420 guests and features flexible quiet spaces to work and unwind with soft lighting and leather chairs along with an entertainment area for families, bar and culinary offerings, including a variety of snacks and buffet service with a menu of select appetizers. Spacious showers are also available for guests who need to refresh between flights. A highlight of the Copa Club is La Placita, a replica of an interior courtyard and terrace with expansive views of the airport. The lounge is located across from gate 207 in T2.

Terminal 2 has a wide and modern infrastructure with 38 Copa Airlines passenger and baggage check-in counters and 22 self-service kiosks. The commissioning of the terminal increases the airlines capacity and allows Copa Airlines, “The Most Punctual Airline in Latin America” (CIRIUM, 2021), to continue strengthening the connectivity of the Hub of the Americas® in Panama and contributing to the development of tourism, economic activity, and social progress in the region.

All Copa Airlines passengers whose trip begin in Panama City, will proceed to T2 of Tocumen International Airport to check in, register their luggage and continue through the immigration process to reach their designated gate. Passengers with a final destination in Panama must proceed to the immigration and customs process through T2. Passengers who are members of the ConnectMiles frequent flyer program with PreferMember Gold, Platinum and Presidential status, as well as passengers traveling in Business Class and Star Alliance Gold passengers, will have access to the new Copa Club in T2 as well as the original lounge operating in T1.

Copa Airlines aircraft photo gallery: