GERMANY: SUN-AIR Starts Domestic Dusseldorf Flights

SUN-AIR introduced a new domestic link between Friedrichshafen (FDH) and Düsseldorf (DUS) on 4 June.

It will operate 11 weekly frequencies on the 447-kilometre connection.

This includes double-daily flights on weekdays and one rotation on Sundays.

The airline will deploy its Dornier 328 Jets on this airport pair and faces no direct competition. OAG schedules show that this is the only route the British Airways franchise partner currently offers from Friedrichshafen.

It also connects Düsseldorf with Billund.

SUN-AIR of Scandinavia A/S, usually shortened to SUN-AIR, is a Danish regional airline headquartered in Billund with its main base at Billund Airport.

It operates scheduled services as a franchise of British Airways using their name and corporate design as British Airways - operated by SUN-AIR of Scandinavia A/S.

The airline also offers charter flights, air taxi services, specialist aerial work and aircraft brokerage.

The airline was established and started operations in 1978 by Mr. Niels Sundberg. It initially operated solely as an air taxi and charter service, but developed into a regional airline in 1987.

It became a British Airways franchisee on 1 August 1996, operating as British Airways in their corporate design.

Sun Air is an affiliate member of the Oneworld alliance and also uses British Airways' frequent flyer program Executive Club.

The airline is wholly owned by Niels Sundberg and has 175 employees. It also has a business jet subsidiary named JoinJet.

British Airways terminated its flights from Bremen to London and Manchester which were both operated by SUN-AIR on 25 February 2017.

SUN-AIR had maintained a base for the routes at Bremen Airport.

As of summer schedule 2018, SUN-AIR of Scandinavia serves the following cities under their British Airways franchise:

Denmark

Aalborg - Aalborg Airport base

Aarhus - Aarhus Airport base

Billund - Billund Airport base

Germany

Düsseldorf - Düsseldorf Airport

Friedrichshafen - Friedrichshafen Airport base

Norway

Bergen - Bergen Airport, Flesland

Oslo - Oslo Airport, Gardermoen

Sweden

Gothenburg - Goteborg Landvetter Airport

Stockholm - Stockholm-Bromma Airport

United Kingdom

London - London City Airport

Manchester - Manchester Airport

As of January 2018, the SUN-AIR of Scandinavia fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Dornier 328 2

Dornier 328JET 16

BAe Jetstream 31 2

Total 20


Tourism Observer

GERMANY: Hundreds Of Flights Canceled As Strikes Affect German Airports,

Strikes at airports in Düsseldorf, Cologne, Dortmund, Hannover, Frankfurt and Munich are taking place on Wednesday, impacting some 80,000 passengers. German airline Lufthansa has scrapped hundreds of flights.

Ground crews are participating in the mass strikes, which were called by German labor union Verdi in response to a dispute over wage increases. German airline Lufthansa, which is not part of the negotiations, said it had canceled around 900 flights.

Six airports have been targetted by Verdi members working in air safety control, ground services, at check-in counters and in engineering workshops at the airports.

Intercontinental flights were the most affected, but even some domestic and European flights were canceled, Lufthansa said.

In Munich, 740 flights were scrapped, in Frankfurt more than 390, at Cologne/Bonn airport 90, and in Dusseldorf 54, with passengers also facing delays at the airports of Hanover and Dortmund.

Germany's biggest airline Lufthansa took the brunt of the strike with more than 900 flights cancelled and 87,000 passengers grounded. A spokesman for rival Air Berlin said that 87 domestic flights were hit.

A new round of negotiations between Verdi and the government will take place on April 28 and 29.

Verdi - one of Germany's biggest labor unions - is demanding a 6 percent wage increase for some 2 million public service employees it represents. It's also calling for a pay increase of 100 euros ($112.81) per month for trainees.

Wednesday's strike follows similar stoppages Verdi has recently organised in other institutions, including hospitals, town halls and child care centres.

Lufthansa has been hit by several strikes over the past year in wage disputes of its own, with both pilots and cabin staff staging a number of walkouts over pay and early retirement provisions.