GERMANY: Lufthansa Strike, Hundreds Of Flights Were Cancelled

Lufthansa has cancelled 1,300 flights after it lost a last-minute legal bid to halt a strike by cabin crew.

The two-day action by members of the UFO union centres on disagreements over pay and conditions.

About 180,000 passengers are set to face travel disruption.

The UFO union said it would hit all Lufthansa flights from German airports.

Other airlines in the group – including Eurowings, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, and Brussels Airlines - are not affected.

Lufthansa cancelled 700 flights on Thursday and 600 on Friday, amounting to about one-fifth of its planned flights over the 48-hour period.

A Frankfurt labour court rejected an application from the airline to prevent the strike on Wednesday, which is part of a long-running dispute.

The carrier achieved an Adjusted EBIT of €1.3 billion for the third quarter of 2019, only slightly below the €1.4 billion of the prior-year period.

Against the backdrop of higher fuel costs, which were €171 million above their 2018 level in the third quarter, the group delivered a sound business performance for the period.

Our airlines were able to translate their premium quality and market strength into solid third-quarter earnings, confirms Carsten Spohr, Lufthansa chief executive.

At Eurowings the turnaround measures are showing first results; and at Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Lufthansa Cargo we will be taking tangible corrective action to improve earnings.

Lufthansa passengers can breathe a sigh of relief after the airline and cabin crew trade union UFO announced there are no new strikes on the horizon.

The two sides agreed to enter arbitration to resolve wage disputes.

German airline Lufthansa agreed to enter arbitration with cabin crew labor union UFO to resolve ongoing wage disputes, the two sides announced on Tuesday.

In a joint statement, the UFO union and Lufthansa said that talks over the past few days had been constructive and showed that we can come to a solution together.

The two sides have been locked into a dispute over pay for some 21,000 staff members as well as the union's legal status.

According to UFO, Lufthansa agreed to withdraw several lawsuits against the union and to make improvements for entry-level workers.

In exchange, the union agreed to refrain from further strikes while negotiations are ongoing.

The move comes as a potential new wave of strikes threatened to impact hundreds of Lufthansa flights as well as its four German subsidiaries — Germanwings, Eurowings Germany, Lufthansa City Line and SunExpress Germany.

A two-day strike by Lufthansa cabin crew led to 1,500 flights being canceled last week, bringing the airline's operations to a standstill.

Lufthansa and UFO said they hope a neutral arbitrator will help find a solution that is acceptable to both sides.

GERMANY: Eurowings To Hire 600 Crew

Lufthansa Group LCC subsidiary Eurowings will hire 600 crew members, comprising 200 pilots and 400 cabin crew members, as its fleet expands to a further 20 Airbus A320s.

In addition, Eurowings management has confirmed that temporary working contracts for flight attendants will be changed to permanent contracts. Eurowings employs 1,500 flight attendants.

Lufthansa established Eurowings as a pan-European LCC platform in 2015 to operate low-cost flights from several bases outside Germany and safeguard Lufthansa Group’s leading position in point-to-point connections in its German, Austrian, Swiss and Belgian home markets.

It had been expected to grow quickly.



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Lufthansa Positive Despite Loss, Says Not Interested In Alitalia

German airline group Lufthansa Thursday reported a much larger net loss in the first three months of the year, but sought to play up a return to positive operating results.

The group reported a net loss of 68 million euros ($74 million) between January and March, compared with an 8-million-euro loss in the same period last year.

Adjusted operating, or underlying profit stood at 25 million euros, a marked improvement on a 53-million-euro loss in the first quarter of 2016, on the back of revenues up 11.2 percent at 7.7 billion euros.

"For a period that is traditionally difficult for the airline industry, we have posted our first positive earnings result since 2008," chief financial officer Ulrik Svensson said in a statement.

Svensson pointed to increased demand at the Lufthansa Cargo division and maintenance unit Lufthansa Technik as the biggest contributors to the improvement.

It was also the first time the group's financial reporting included Brussels Airlines, which it bought at the end of 2016.

Looking ahead, the group left untouched its forecast for the full year of "substantially higher revenues" than 2016's 31.7 billion euros and "slightly lower" adjusted operating profit than the 1.75 billion euros brought in last year.

German airline group Lufthansa said on day it is not interested in snapping up troubled Italian carrier Alitalia, as Rome hunts for a buyer after workers rejected a bailout plan. “We are clearly not there to buy Alitalia,” finance chief Ulrik Svensson said during a teleconference with analysts on Lufthansa’s first-quarter financial results.

Italian government ministers said Wednesday they would not oppose a takeover bid by the German behemoth, as they announced that Alitalia would be sold “to the highest bidder”.

Lufthansa, which already owns a stable of carriers including Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings, on Thursday reported a net loss of 68 million euros between January and March — a worse performance than the same period last year.

The result comes after a record year for Frankfurt-based Lufthansa, in which it booked profits of 1.75 billion euros (USD 1.90 billion) despite fierce competition from low-cost competitors and Gulf airlines such as Etihad.

Loss-making Alitalia’s future is up in the air after its workforce rejected a restructuring plan which management had presented as the only alternative to bankruptcy.

Etihad, which owns a 49 percent stake in Alitalia, and other shareholders had made staff acceptance of the plan a precondition for their participation in a two-billion-euro recapitalisation plan involving a combination of loans and new shareholder financing.

But despite earlier proposals being watered down in negotiations with unions, over two thirds of staff voted to reject them in a ballot on Monday, in which more than 90 percent of employees took part.

The company’s board on Tuesday asked the government to appoint administrators to find a purchaser or organise the winding up of the company.

Etihad also holds a stake in struggling German airline Air Berlin, which has delayed the release of its 2016 annual results — widely expected to show the firm in a poor light –until Friday.

Lufthansa has been mooted as a potential buyer for Air Berlin in the German press if the Gulf carrier decides to review its strategy in Europe.

Pilots’ Union, Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) Called On Members To Strike Again

Pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) has called on its members to strike again. The next walkouts have been announced, this time with a duration of two days.

This Tuesday, on 29 November, there will be strikes affecting all short-haul flights from 00:01 to 23:59. And for the following day, Wednesday, 30 November, strikes affecting all Lufthansa flights departing Germany have been announced from 00:01 to 23:59.

Lufthansa’s representatives are very disappointed that VC does not want to continue talks, but is rather seeking another escalation and calling for additional strikes.

VC has continued to insist on demands that are far beyond what other professions have demanded, for instance. This is unacceptable.

Lufthansa will prepare a special flight schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday as quickly as possible. So far, over 345,000 passengers have been affected by 2,755 flight cancellations during the four days of strikes in the past week. The Group airlines Eurowings, Germanwings, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Air Dolomiti and Brussels Airlines are not affected by the strike. The pilots of Lufthansa Cargo have also not been called on to strike. Flights to and from Germany that are operated by Group airlines are flying as scheduled.

Lufthansa asks all its customers to take the precaution of checking the status of their flight on LH.com before travelling to the airport.

INDIA: Airbus Signs MoU With IndiGo For 250 A320neos

Gurgaon, India-based IndiGo today signed a major Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 250 firm Airbus A320neos, the manufacturer’s single-largest aircraft order. IndiGo is a domestic and international low-cost carrier founded by Rahul Bhatia of conglomerate InterGlobe Enterprises and Rakesh Gangwal, the former chairman and CEO of US Airways from 1998 to 2001.

The carrier, based at Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport, currently has 83 A320-200s. It has existing orders for 280 Airbus aircraft — 100 A320ceos and 180 A320neos. IndiGo serves 31 cities in India, along with flights to Bangkok, Dubai, Kathmandu, Muscat and Singapore for a total of 540 daily flights. The airline’s business model resembles that of Southwest Airlines — one common fleet type, a focus on keeping costs low and an obsession with on-time operations.

Since its beginnings in 2006, IndiGo has been the fastest-growing carrier in India. Among domestic airline in the second quarter, IndiGo’s market share was 31.6 percent, the best among its competitors, according to India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Air India was 18.5 percent while SpiceJet was 18.3 percent.

The aircraft covered under the MoU includes what Airbus calls the “new engine option,” along with large sharklet wing-tip devices, which offer carriers 15 percent in fuel savings now and up to 20 percent by 2020. Airbus currently has orders for 49 A319neos, 2,494 A320neos and 729 A321neos from carriers including Swiss, Eurowings, JetBlue, China Eastern airlines and Air New Zealand.

TANZANIA: Minister Appoints Mr. Hamza Johari New Director General At The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority

Tanzania's Minister for Works, Transport and Communication, Prof. Makame Mbarawa, yesterday announced the appointment of Mr. Hamza Johari as the new substantive Director General of the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority. The appointment is said to be effective 22nd of February.

Mr. Johari replaces Acting DG R. Bugomola who had himself replaced former Acting DG Charles Chacha, who was interdicted on charges of irregular procurement and financial transactions.

Mr. Johari holds a Master Degree in International Air Law and in fact lectured part time and the University of Dar es Salaam besides serving for the past decade as Executive Secretary of the TCAA Consumer Consultative Council.

Tanzania's aviation industry is in a state of flux with national airline Air Tanzania nearly broke, Precision Air still suffering losses and LCC Fastjet Tanzania, while in the meantime carrying the largest number of passengers, also still moving towards financial breakeven point.

Local airlines like Coastal Aviation and Auric Air, using small turboprop single and twin engine aircraft, successfully serve national parks, the Tanzanian Indian Ocean islands and key secondary and tertiary towns across the country while international routes are, apart from Fastjet's African destinations, served by airlines like Qatar Airways, Emirates, Etihad, FlyDubai, KLM, Swiss and South African.

Tanzania has invested heavily in infrastructure improvements in recent years, not only in Dar es Salaam where a new passenger terminal is nearing completion, but across the country with expanded and re-surfaced runways and renovations and modernization of terminal buildings and navigational equipment.

The minister for Works, Transport and Communications, Prof Makame Mbarawa, made the appointment in line with section 33(1) of the Civil Aviation Act (as amended in 2006).

Mr Johari, according to the ministry press statement, replaced Mr Redemptus Bugomola who was acting after suspension of another acting Mr Charles Chacha for massive financial and procurement irregularities.

According to Prof Mbarawa, the appointment took effect since Monday 22. Mr Johari, who holds a master's degree in International Laws major in International Air Laws, told Daily News immediately after his appointment that he will work hard to bring real change in the aviation industry.

“I humbly thank the minister. I feel honoured,” Mr Johari said “I will not let him down. “What we need is a massive change in aviation industry that way supporting economic growth,” Mr Johari said over the phone.

Prior to his appointment, new DG was the executive secretary of TCAA consumer consultative council for some ten years. He is also lecturing International Laws of Carriage (Transport Laws) at University of Dar es Salaam. And a member of Tanzania-Malawi boarder dispute committee.

Mr Chacha was suspended along with two other senior officials had been transferred following discovery of massive financial and procurement irregularities at the authority.

The TCAA officials who assigned other duties are; Principal Treasurer, Mr Said Mteule and the Procurement Manager, Mr Said Kaswella to pave way for further investigations into the said irregularities.

SWITZERLAND: SWISS Welcomes First Boeing 777-300ER Aircraft

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) took delivery of the first of nine new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft at Zurich Airport at 9:14 a.m. on January 30, marking a new era in Switzerland's aviation history.

The 777-300ER aircraft, which bears the registration HB-JNA and name "November Alpha", was welcomed with the loud applause of a large crowd of aviation fans and other keen spectators. The youngest and biggest member of the SWISS fleet was flown directly to Zurich from Boeing's Everett Factory in Seattle, the U.S.

On January 29, SWISS opened First Class, Business Class and Senator Lounge facilities in Zurich Airport's Terminal E. The two events usher in a new era for SWISS, in the air and on the ground, under its "Next-Generation Airline of Switzerland" strategy.

GERMANY: Lufthansa Strike, 929 Flights Cancelled,113.000 Passengers Affected

The Independent Flight Attendant’s Organization (UFO) has announced strike action for all Lufthansa flights from/ to Frankfurt and Dusseldorf on Monday, 9.11.2015 between 4.30 and 23.00 and flights from/to Munich between 4.30 and 00.00.

Flights operated by Lufthansa CityLine, Germanwings, Eurowings, Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines are not affected by potential strike actions and will therefore run as planned.

Lufthansa will do its utmost to keep the effects of a strike to a minimum and to inform passengers as soon as possible. For that reason, Lufthansa requests all passengers early on to stay up-to-date by checking the flight status on LH.com.

On Monday, out of the approximately 3.000 planned connections about 929 continental and intercontinental flights had to be cancelled. Affected by these cancellations are in total approximately 113.000 passengers.

Lufthansa did publish a special timetable. Nearly all continental and intercontinental flights had to be cancelled. Exceptions are a few flights between Munich and Frankfurt to London Heathrow, Dublin, Ashgabat, Delhi, Hongkong and Tokio.

Flights from Lufthansa CityLine, Germanwings, Eurowings, Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines are not affected by the strike actions and will therefore operate as planned.

Lufthansa regrets any inconveniences caused by the strike.

SLOVENIA: Ljubljana Airport Passenger Growth Of 11% In 2015

Ljubljana Airport, owned by the Fraport Airport group, serves the capital of Slovenia. Located at the middle of an old trade route between the northern Adriatic Sea and the Danube region, it was the historical capital of Carniola, a Slovene-inhabited part of Austria/Hungary.

Now the city is home to 277,000 people, and in 2014 over one million on-night stays were had by international visitors, with Italy, Germany and the US being the three largest countries for tourists visiting Ljubljana according to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia. So far this year, the city’s airport is reporting growth of 11% with July seeing passenger numbers surpass the 170,000 mark for the first time.

Ljubljana witnesses growth again
After seeing a period of traffic decline between 2009 and 2012, the airport recorded positive growth for 2013 and 2014 respectively. So far in 2015, the airport has witnessed growth in five of the seven months where data is available, with the months from April through to July recording double digit growth, most notably in May when passenger numbers were up 16% when compared to the same period last year. At this rate Ljubljana Airport might be able to reach 1.5 million by the end of the year. Nonetheless, this is still well below the 1.67 million achieved in 2008.


2015 growth much faster than in previous years
When comparing the same time periods of the past three years between the months of January and July, growth in 2015 has been much faster than that experienced in the previous two years. 2013 and 2014 both showed average growth results of 3.7% and 3.1% respectively. However 2015 has witnessed over double that of 2013 with an average monthly growth rate of 7.8%. The higher growth rates in the most recent summer months means that overall passenger numbers are up 11% in the first seven months of 2015.
SVID says “Good”

When analysing the passenger statistics of 2014 for Ljubljana, the result shows that the airport achieved a SVID score of 8.69 (“Good”). For a comparison, an analysis was also carried out for Zagreb and Belgrade airports. The reason that these two airports were chosen was because of them both also being capitals, and also due to the close proximity that both have to Slovenia in relation to other European capitals. Zagreb achieved a score of 6.46 (“Good”) and Belgrade achieved a score of 8.77, also (“Good”).

Adria Airways runs the show
After reporting a growth when compared to last September of nearly 14%, Adria Airways maintains the number one carrier position out of Ljubljana. One noticeable change from last summer is that Turkish Airlines has now overtaken easyJet to become the airport’s second largest carrier, helped in part by the Star Alliance member reporting a growth in seat capacity of over 25%, making it the third fastest growing carrier out of the Slovenian capital after Montenegro Airlines (+39%) and Air Serbia (+49%).

With SWISS also serving the airport, it means that Star is the major alliance at Ljubljana with three carriers present. SkyTeam and oneworld are also both present at the airport. However, each is only represented by one airline; Air France and Finnair respectively. One airline that is also climbing up the table is Wizz Air, after recording growth in seat capacity of 16% when compared to last summer, the LCC can expect to overtake easyJet (+7.6%) for third spot in 2016 if the rate of growth for both airlines continues at current levels.

LOT Polish Airlines to resume Warsaw
From 2 March next year, LOT Polish Airlines is to resume services to Ljubljana with an initial five times weekly service from Warsaw Chopin operated by E170s, meaning that the airline will help grow the Star presence in Ljubljana to four carriers. From 26 March, the service is expected to increase to six times weekly, with Q400s also being introduced onto the sector alongside the currently planned E-Jet operations.


Zurich now #1 route
After recording a growth of nearly 36%, the 470-kilometre sector to Zurich has become the number one route from Ljubljana, helped by Adria Airways increasing its capacity on the city pair by 9.8%, and SWISS introducing services on the sector in March, according to OAG Schedules Analyser. Although Frankfurt, also run by the Fraport group, witnessed an increase of 0.4% in seat capacity, Zurich’s larger expansion pushes the German hub down to become the second most popular destination in S15 in relation to capacity. What is interesting to note however is that the top four routes from the Slovenian capital are to the large Star Alliance hubs in Europe, with services to Stockholm Arlanda and Copenhagen (both SAS hubs) not appearing in the top 12 routes, but served by Adria Airways, with the former launching on 23 April. The fastest growing route in the top 12 is Belgrade (highlighted in light green), which is new to the list after witnessing a growth of 49%, helped by the increase in services by Air Serbia. Another new route to the list is London Luton (also highlighted in light green), after seeing a seat capacity increase of nearly 24% by operating carrier Wizz Air. As a result of growth witnessed on these two routes, it means that Moscow Sheremetyevo and Skopje both leave the top 12.