NETHERLANDS: Tourists Stuck In Various Countries As Countries Shutdown

The some 200 thousand Dutch tourists stuck abroad are running out of time and possibilities to get home as more and more countries close their borders and global air traffic gets closer to being shut down.

Some 150 thousand people are at risk of getting stranded for a long time, travel agencies and airlines say.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to bring as many stranded tourists home as possible, Minister Stef Blok of Foreign Affairs said.

But it involves hundreds of thousands of people, and that takes time, he said. One of the very concrete things we do is ask for extra landing possibilities, so that as many as possible planes with Dutch can fly back and forth.

Many countries are keeping their airspace closed, meaning that repatriation flights need to require special permission from the authorities.

The Ministry is currently trying to keep the airspace at the borders of South European and North African countries open.

Around 30 thousand Dutch people were stuck there, half of whom were brought home during the week, the association of travel agencies ANVR said.

Airlines are flying extra flights to bring tourists back. This is the only type of flight Transavia is currently still performing. The airline performed 36 such flights over the past days.

TUI and Corendon are also deploying additional planes. KLM is focused on popular holiday destinations, according to the newspaper.

One such KLM flight was prevented from landing in Ecuador on Wednesday evening. The plane had picked up 185 travelers in Quito, and was scheduled to pick up another 164 in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city.

But when the plane approached, it was told it could not land. The runway was occupied by a worried mayor and a group of people.

The mayor thought the plane was bringing tourists from Europe who may be infected with the coronavirus.

This while we only had travellers on board who had to go to Europe. We were therefore unable to pick up the 164 travellers in Guayaquil. The plane flew directly to Amsterdam. KLM will again try to pick up travellers in Ecuador on Friday.

An estimated 100 thousand Dutch people are in distant locations around the world, according to the newspaper. Travellers in Asia, Australia and Africa can still try to fly home through the Gulf States, where air traffic has not been completely halted yet.

KLM is also planning repatriation flights to Peru, India, Colombia, Costa Rica and the Philippines in the coming days.

The outbreak of coronavirus Covid-19 means that tourism from China to the Netherlands will decrease even more than previous estimations, according to the Netherlands' office for tourism and congresses NBTC.

Last month the agency said that the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Netherlands would decrease from around 380 thousand last year to 300 thousand this year. Now NBTC expects the decrease to be even stronger, NOS reports.

The Covid-19 outbreak resulted in travel restrictions and measures from the market. Airlines like KLM are no longer flying to China.

Every month that air traffic to and from China is halted, the European tourism sector misses out on 1 billion euros, the European Commission calculated this week. According to ING, the Dutch tourism sector misses out on around 40 million euros a month.

While that is a lot, it is not massive compared to the total amount of tourism spending in the Netherlands, at 13.5 billion euros, Thijs Geijer of ING said to NOS.

Around two percent of the total hotel stays booked by foreign tourists in the Netherlands are booked by people from China. That is really only a small share, he said.

While entrepreneurs from other sectors may eventually be harder hit by the virus, its effect on the tourism sector is immediately noticeable, Geijer said.

Travel agencies are already noticing that Dutch people are delaying vacation plans.

NETHERLANDS: Transavia Introduces New Flights

Transavia passengers can purchase airline tickets for the 2018-2019 autumn and winter seasons.

Compared to last winter, over 123,000 additional seats are on offer.

As well as for the four new routes, the additional capacity will primarily be used for the flight schedules from Schiphol Amsterdam and Eindhoven Airport.

The winter schedule starts on 1 November 2018 and ends on 31 March 2019.

In winter 2018-2019, Transavia is flying to 70 destinations, of which four are new.

Transavia will be flying Amsterdam – Beirut in Lebanon twice a week.

Beirut offers you everything you could want for an ideal city break.

The right temperature, good restaurants, shops and an extensive night life. Transavia is the only airline making Lebanon directly accessible from the Netherlands.

Furthermore, this winter Transavia will be flying from Schiphol Airport to Eilat in Israel.

Eilat is one of the better-known destinations in Israel and it will be flown twice a week this winter, alongside the flights to Tel Aviv.

Eilat is known as a perfect holiday destination for sun lovers because it has summer temperatures almost all year round.

Eilat is a great addition to the popular winter destinations such as Dubai and the Canary Islands.

This winter, Transavia will be flying to Krakow in Poland four times a week from Eindhoven Airport.

Transavia already flies to Poland, to Katowice, from Amsterdam. With the new destination of Krakow, we are making this popular region in Poland even more accessible for people travelling from the Netherlands.

Last but not least, this winter the airline will be flying from Rotterdam The Hague Airport to the Moroccan Nador.

Nador was already one of Transavia’s charter destinations, and you can soon book it directly as a scheduled flight.

With the addition of the new routes Rotterdam-Arrecife and Groningen-Tenerife, these Canary Island destinations are served from no fewer than four Dutch airports Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Groningen and Rotterdam.

With 71 flights per week form its home bases in Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Eindhoven Airport and Rotterdam The Hague Airport.

Transavia is also the best choice for winter sports enthusiasts. Convenient flight schedules with a regular choice of three flights per day allow passengers to tailor their trip to their needs from a short weekend trip to a long ski holiday.

The winter schedule starts on 1 November 2018 and ends on 31 March 2019.

Transavia acknowledges overcapacity in some European leisure markets, but notes North Africa is not struggling right now for tourism and that Turkish demand has made a small improvement.

I think the trend in the past couple of years has been a bit of over-capacity towards Spain, says Oliver Newton, network planner at low-cost leisure operator Transavia at the Routes Europe event in Bilbao.

A lot of people have moved capacity, for example, from Turkey towards Spain and Portugal.

But Newton states that North Africa is actually doing really well, adding that the Morocco market is growing each year and Tunisia will eventually come back as well.

Further boosting fortunes for the Air France-KLM Group carrier is the improving Israeli market, which prompted it to add a service from Amsterdam Schiphol to the resort town of Eilat during the coming winter season.

We’re constantly looking for new destinations, especially in the winter, that have a good climate, that have year-round sun, says Newton.

Eilat was a really good opportunity for us as an alternative to the Canary Islands, Egypt or Dubai.

The Eilat flights will be in addition to new winter services from Amsterdam to Beirut, its first scheduled operations from Rotterdam to Nador in Morocco and a link to Krakow from Eindhoven.

Those markets are helping to offset the impact of reduced demand on Transavia’s mainly charter services to Turkey, he says, where security concerns and political instability in recent years have damaged the country's appeal to tourists.

Demand has reduced quite significantly since about five years ago, he states.

There was a small improvement since last year but it’s not quite reached the levels of five years ago.

He adds that Transavia's overall yields and load factors have been on an upward trend.

Transavia busiest routes from its Netherlands bases are to Spain and Portugal.

Tel Aviv, Nice and Athens also rank highly in terms of seats.


Tourism Observer

QATAR: Qatar Airways Buys Into Cathay Pacific As Black Stars Football Club Captain Asamoah Gyan Goes Aviation

Qatar Airways has announced it is taking an almost Qatar Airways 10% stake in Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways.

The agreement, which Qatar Airways said it expects to complete Nov. 6, means the Gulf carrier will hold a 9.6% stake in Cathay at a value of about $600 million.

Cathay and Qatar are both members of the oneworld global alliance.

Qatar Airways already has a 20% stake in International Airlines Group, parent of British Airways, another oneworld member, as well as a 10% stake in LATAM Airlines Group, and a 49% investment in Meridiana.

Qatar backed off from a move in June to take a 10% stake in American Airlines, also in oneworld, after American chairman and CEO Doug Parker sharply rebuked the bid as puzzling at best; concerning at worst.

American is campaigning with Delta Air Lines and United Airlines to constrain growth of the major Gulf carriers – Qatar, Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways – over claims that they are heavily subsidized by their government owners.

Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker said in a statement Monday that Cathay was one of the strongest airlines in the world, respected throughout the industry and with massive potential for the future.

There was no press statement from Cathay, which in August posted a net loss of HKD2.1 billion ($268.2 million) for the first half of 2017, a reversal from a HKD353 million net profit in the same period last year.

Cathay faces increasing competition in many of its markets, particularly from mainland China’s major airlines.

Cathay’s major shareholders are Swire Pacific, which holds 35%, and Air China, which holds almost 30%.

A Transavia Boeing 737-700 performing flight from Eindhoven to Tel Aviv was near Prague, when the crew decided to return after both autopilots had failed and the aircraft thus had lost its capability to operate in reduced vertical separation minima.

The aircraft descended to FL360 for the return and diverted to Amsterdam (Netherlands) for a safe landing on runway 27 about one hour later.

A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration PH-HSM departed about 2 hours after landing and reached Tel Aviv with a delay of 3.5 hours.

Air China has taken delivery of the airline’s first 737 MAX 8. China’s national flag carrier is the first airline in the country to receive the 737 MAX.

Customers throughout China will take delivery of nearly 100 737 MAXs by the end of next year. Boeing’s partnership with Air China dates back to the 1970s.

Air China’s fleet includes seven Boeing 747-8s, 26 777-300ERs, 11 787-9 Dreamliners and more than 140 Next-Generation 737s.

WestJet announced it has been recognized as Best Low-Cost Airline – The Americas for 2018 by airlineratings.com. The website rates more than 425 airlines around the globe to determine its award winners.

It is an honour to be named Best Low-Cost Airline for the whole of North and South America, said Ed Sims, WestJet Executive Vice-President, Commercial.

This is a reflection of the hard work and caring nature of our more than 13,000 WestJetters. The timing on this award is welcome as we begin to build our international reputation in preparation for the arrival of our Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners in 2019.

WestJet was selected on its innovation of bringing affordable and safe travel to millions across North America, said AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas.

In addition, WestJet’s employees have brought back the magic of flying to its guests.

Meanwhile,the Captain of Black Stars Football Club of Ghana, the country’s national football team, Asamoah Gyan has obtained an air carrier license for the establishment of a commercial airline called Baby Jet Airlines

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who disclosed this recently while declaring open, the African Airshow in Accra, Ghana said he was enthused about the development.

He called on Ghanaians, both home and abroad, to take advantage of the prevailing friendly environment and invest in the rapidly growing aviation sector, adding that the government had successfully created the right conditions for the private sector to thrive in the industry in order to propel growth and create employment, especially for the youth.



Tourism Observer

NETHERLANDS: Transavia Adds New Routes To Marrakech, Seville And Tel Aviv

Transavia has added four brand-new routes and another twelve are offered as winter routes for the first time. With these sixteen new winter routes, Transavia now offers 8% more flights than last winter from its home base in the Netherlands.

Transavia is expanding its network from Eindhoven Airport with three new routes to Marrakech, Seville and Tel Aviv. These popular destinations are also offered from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

This brings the number of destinations from Eindhoven Airport to 21. Starting in February, the airline is adding Lisbon to its flights from Rotterdam The Hague Airport, bringing the number of destinations served this winter from this airport to 18.

No fewer than twelve destinations flown to this summer for the first time will be included in the winter schedule. This enables Transavia to strengthen its network from the Dutch home market. With four new destinations in Eastern and Central Europe, Transavia offers passengers a low-cost connection to Amsterdam. Belgrade, Ljubljana, Sofia and Katowice are all flown to three times a week from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

Helsinki, Zurich and Munich can also be booked three, four and six times a week, respectively, from Amsterdam. In addition, Transavia has added the Italian city of Olbia on Sardinia to its winter network from Amsterdam.

Bergerac, Venice and Valencia are also being flown to this winter from Rotterdam The Hague Airport and, in April, the winter route to Stockholm will be launched, with three flights a week.

With nearly 70 flights a week from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Eindhoven Airport and Rotterdam The Hague Airport during the winter sports season, Transavia is also the best choice for winter sports enthusiasts. Convenient flight schedules with a regular choice of three flights per day allow passengers to tailor their trip to their needs – from a short weekend trip to a long ski holiday.

The winter schedule starts on 1 November 2017 and ends on 2 April 2018. Winter flights can be booked to and from the Netherlands as of today, 19 April 2016.

WestJet Goes Ultra-low-cost

WestJet has announced its intention to launch a new, ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) in Canada subject to agreement with its pilots and any required regulatory approvals. Service is expected to start in late 2017 with an initial fleet of 10 high-density Boeing 737-800s designed by the airline that first brought low-cost air travel to Canada in 1996. The ULCC will provide Canadians with no-frills, lower-cost travel options.

“We have built WestJet from its low-cost, regional roots into a renowned, international airline with service to 21 countries and today it’s all about disrupting at the price-sensitive end of the market,” said Clive Beddoe, co-founder of WestJet and Chair of the Board of the Directors. “Launching a ULCC will broaden WestJet’s growth opportunities and open new market segments by offering more choice to those Canadians looking for lower fares.”

“The worldview on low-cost airlines has changed since the launch of WestJet in 1996 and we are responding,” commented Gregg Saretsky, WestJet President and CEO. “The complete unbundling of services and products in order to lower fares for the price-sensitive traveller has created the ULCC category and our new airline will provide Canadians a pro-competitive, cheap and cheerful flying experience from a company with a proven track record.”

Certain information set forth in this news release is “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, information respecting: WestJet’s intention to launch a new ULCC; the in-service date of the ULCC; and the impact of the ULCC, including that the ULCC will broaden WestJet’s growth opportunities, open new market segments and provide a pro-competitive, cheap and cheerful flying experience.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on certain material factors and assumptions, including without limitation: WestJet’s current forecasts and strategy; the current and expected demand environment and general economic and industry conditions; the utilization of WestJet’s fleet and contraction arrangements in respect thereof; expectations respecting fleet maintenance; the forward-curve for jet fuel prices; and the expected exchange rate of the Canadian dollar to the U.S. dollar.

By its nature, forward-looking information is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond WestJet’s control. WestJet may be required to alter its current business strategy with respect to the ULCC and/or the timing and manner of implementation thereof and there can be no guarantee as to the nature or impact of such alterations. Further, the launch of the ULCC may not have the impact currently anticipated by WestJet.

The risks and uncertainties that may impact WestJet and the launch and success of the ULCC, include but are not limited to: changes in guest demand; changes in fuel prices; delays in aircraft delivery; significant maintenance events; changes in general economic and industry conditions; changes in the competitive environment; challenges to WestJet’s ability to effectively implement and maintain its critical systems; and other factors and risks described in WestJet’s public reports and filings.

Readers are urged to consult the risks set forth in WestJet’s annual information form and management’s discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2016, which are each available under WestJet’s profile at sedar.com, for important additional information.

Readers are cautioned that undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking information as actual results may vary materially from the forward-looking information provided. WestJet does not undertake to update, correct or revise any forward-looking information as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law

FRANCE: Air France Executive 'almost lynched' As Jobs Dispute Turns Violent

Air France-KLM's human resources manager was "almost lynched" Monday by striking workers, who stripped him of his shirt in a protest over the ailing airline's plan to cut 2,900 jobs.

The protest took place as Air France bosses were unveiling a revamped restructuring plan after pilots rejected an earlier proposal to work longer hours.

Hundreds of workers stormed the airline's headquarters at Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris, forcing the meeting to be hastily abandoned.

Seven people were hurt, including a security guard who was knocked unconscious and was being treated in hospital, Air France said.

Human resources manager Xavier Broseta "was almost lynched", according to one union delegate, and had his shirt ripped off as he clambered over a wire fence to safety, helped by security guards.

Another executive, Pierre Plissonnier, who is responsible for the long-haul flight division, had his shirt and jacket torn in the scrum.

CEO Frederic Gagey also made a hasty exit, and the board said the meeting would not resume on Monday.

'Nothing justifies violence'

The management condemned the "physical violence", and said it would file complaints with the police.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls, on a visit to Japan, said of Monday's events: "The company is in a difficult situation, but nothing justifies such attacks."

The loss-making airline, which employs 52,000 people, is struggling to compete in the face of fierce competition from global rivals.

It had tried to convince pilots, who earn up to 250,000 euros (US$280,000) a year, to fly 100 more hours a year for the same salary, but talks broke down last week with pilots saying the plan amounted to an effective pay cut.

The French government, which owns a 17.6-per cent stake, has criticised the pilots' "hard-line" stance in the past.

Officials at the French employers' federation MEDEF were appalled at Monday's scenes and said they would harm France's reputation.

"It is really terrible for the company and for the country," a MEDEF source said, asking not to be named.

The unions also condemned the "outbursts of violence".

In a statement Monday evening they called on the Socialist government to arbitrate a deal that would "guarantee a future for the company."

- 'Spectators to a crash' -

Three unions called a nationwide strike to coincide with Monday's meeting. It was not clear how many staff were taking part, but the airline said flights would be unaffected beyond some check-in delays.

Not all staff support the pilots, who also led a record-long strike a year ago that cost the company nearly half a billion euros.

"Ground staff, stewards and hostesses feel they have made enormous efforts without ending up in a position to influence decisions," Beatrice Lestic, of the CFDT union, told Le Parisien newspaper.

"They are now spectators to a crash in which they will be the first victims," she said.

Seeking to sharpen its competitive edge against main European rivals Lufthansa and British Airways-Iberia, the management's new proposals include cutting five long-haul routes, reducing the frequency of other flights, and selling 14 planes over the next two years.

Although the company says it favours voluntary departures, Gagey has indicated compulsory redundancies may be necessary for the first time to increase productivity.

Sources at Monday's meeting said the plan includes the possibility of dismissing 300 pilots, 900 air hostesses and stewards, and 1,700 ground staff.

The company has already shed 5,500 posts through voluntary departures between 2012 and 2014.

Pilots were also behind a record-long two-week strike in September 2014, which knocked 416 million euros off turnover and was described as "catastrophic for the French aviation sector" in a joint statement from unions.

The striking pilots oppose the expansion of Air France's low-cost subsidiary Transavia.

Air France, which merged with Dutch national carrier KLM in 2004, is trying to save 1.8 billion euros over two years.

As part of its cost-cutting plan, Air France is to enter into discussions about cancelling all or some of the Boeing 787s it has on order.

The airline ordered 25 of the 787-9 Dreamliners in 2011.

The source said: "We are going to contact our suppliers from tomorrow to ask them if possible to cancel the scheduled delivery of the 787 planes.

"Discussions will be opened and they could end in cancellations, that's our approach."

FRANCE: Transavia In New Munich Service

Beer (after the first flight obviously) and love – that’s what every route launch needs. This much-loved 694-kilometre sector between Paris Orly and Munich, was started on 4 September by Transavia.

Transavia started its first German destination – and route #44 ‒ from its Paris Orly (ORY) hub on 4 September.

The 694-kilometre sector to Munich (MUC) will be operated with a daily frequency by the airline’s 737-800 fleet.

While there is no direct competition on the airport pair, Air France, Germania and Lufthansa offer a combined 80 weekly services between Paris CDG and the German hub.