Tag Air

On Thursday, Romania’s Prime Minister announced that they had reached an agreement with Austria, which had been blocking Romania and Bulgaria from joining Schengen, that there would be a partial agreement in place from March 2024.

Passport and ID checks by border guards are removed from air and sea travel between Schengen member states and Bulgaria and Romania, but they will remain in place for overland border crossings for now (apparently, these are being negotiated as well).

Download (PDF, 2.03MB)

EU member states must join the Schengen agreement except Ireland, which has a common travel area with the UK.

There are also four countries, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland, that are not part of the EU but have joined the Schengen. Then, the three microstates of Monaco, Vatican, and San Marino are effectively part of Schengen, as there are no border checks for travel to/from them.

Then there is the outlier of Andorra, sandwiched between Spain and France, which is not part of the EU or Schengen, which may cause headaches for third nationals to visit this mini-state.

Conclusion

This is a welcomed Schengen update from the EU, and now we have Cyprus, which is yet to join the agreement, and eventually, they will.

It makes travel easier between these countries, especially with airlines that don’t check IDs, as you scan your boarding pass at the gate and are good to go.

If you travel by land, you usually don’t notice when you cross from one country to another, although there might be a sign somewhere.

On Thursday, Romania’s Prime Minister announced that they had reached an agreement with Austria, which had been blocking Romania and Bulgaria from joining Schengen, that there would be a partial agreement in place from March 2024.

Passport and ID checks by border guards are removed from air and sea travel between Schengen member states and Bulgaria and Romania, but they will remain in place for overland border crossings for now (apparently, these are being negotiated as well).

Download (PDF, 2.03MB)

EU member states must join the Schengen agreement except Ireland, which has a common travel area with the UK.

There are also four countries, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland, that are not part of the EU but have joined the Schengen. Then, the three microstates of Monaco, Vatican, and San Marino are effectively part of Schengen, as there are no border checks for travel to/from them.

Then there is the outlier of Andorra, sandwiched between Spain and France, which is not part of the EU or Schengen, which may cause headaches for third nationals to visit this mini-state.

Conclusion

This is a welcomed Schengen update from the EU, and now we have Cyprus, which is yet to join the agreement, and eventually, they will.

It makes travel easier between these countries, especially with airlines that don’t check IDs, as you scan your boarding pass at the gate and are good to go.

If you travel by land, you usually don’t notice when you cross from one country to another, although there might be a sign somewhere.

Air Belgium has decided to cease its scheduled passenger operations effective October 3, 2023, and has filed for court-supervised reorganization.

The airline has operated flights on behalf of other airlines (wet lease), and they will continue these operations and cargo flights.

You can access Air Belgium here.

The airline will operate scheduled flights to South Africa and Mauritius until October 2, 2023, and will rebook passengers on other airlines for their return sectors past that date. If passengers have not started their trips by October 3, they can expect to see a refund.

An Excerpt from Aviation24 (access here):

Faced with a more than unstable socio-economic and geopolitical environment and in view of the fact that an airline has to plan for cycles of 3 to 5 years, Air Belgium’s Board of Directors has taken a number of decisions to ensure the long-term viability and growth of the company which has a staff of 500 people, namely to:

1. Concentrate on the two profitable lines of business that offer growth prospects: The activities of cargo and ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance, or wet lease), i.e. the leasing of aircraft between airlines for passenger and cargo flights, constitute two profitable lines of business with growth prospects.

2. Discontinue the scheduled Passenger business: despite the many investments by Air Belgium in recent years and the strengthening of commercial initiatives, the Passenger business is still unprofitable. After numerous studies, Air Belgium’s Board of Directors reached the conclusion that turning a profit on this front would require substantial investments in addition to those already made in recent years, which has not been possible.

3. Initiate judicial reorganisation proceedings by way of amicable agreement to ensure the company’s long-term viability and growth and to give it time to reorganise internally around these two segments.

Conclusion

You may have seen Air Berlin planes in airports where they don’t have scheduled flights or ended up on flights they have operated on behalf of others, such as British Airways.

It is interesting to see if they can pull through the reorganization because the wet lease market won’t stay hot forever (many network carriers have been short on staff and planes after the pandemic), and there are established cargo airlines.

Transport sector strikes in France are set to continue in September as the Air Traffic Controllers have given notice of a one-day long work stoppage amid the Rugby World Cup.

You can expect widespread disruption not only to flights set to land and take off at various French airports but also to those that utilize the country’s airspace if the strike on September 15, 2023, goes forward.

Several unions in France represent Air Traffic Controllers, and so far, only the largest one, SNCTA, has given the strike notice, but other unions may join.

The union is also planning another work stoppage on October 13, 2023.

You should pay attention to this possible strike, especially if you plan to fly to/from/via/over France on the strike date, as there will be many canceled and delayed flights.

The EU’s EC 261/2004 legislation required community airlines and those flying from EU/EEA to rebook affected passengers to their final destinations at the earliest opportunity and to provide Duty to Care (hotels and meals) in case of long delays.

Conclusion

It has been relatively quiet in the work stoppage sector in Europe in the past couple of months, but I assume that strike activity will return now that the summer travel season is over.

You should pay attention to these strikes because they affect long-haul flights before and after the strike day and may lead to missed connections and ruined travel plans.

The airlines flying to/from the UK and Ireland and those utilizing their airspace faced headwinds on Monday due to a complete system meltdown at the UK NATS that controls the airspace.

NATS has published an update that the issue has been resolved, but there will be significant changes and delays on flights due to depart and land at various UK airports for the rest of the day due to crews and planes being out of their usual rotations.

NATS’ Latest Announcement:

Air Traffic Control system update

28 August 2023

Statement at 15:15 UK time

We have identified and remedied the technical issue affecting our flight planning system this morning.  We are now working closely with airlines and airports to manage the flights affected as efficiently as possible.  Our engineers will be carefully monitoring the system’s performance as we return to normal operations.

The flight planning issue affected the system’s ability to automatically process flight plans, meaning that flight plans had to be processed manually which cannot be done at the same volume, hence the requirement for traffic flow restrictions.  Our priority is always to ensure that every flight in the UK remains safe and we are sincerely sorry for the disruption this is causing. Please contact your airline for information on how this may affect your flight.

Compensation:

If you are flying on EU/EEA/UK-based airlines, you are covered by EC 261/2004 and UK261 when it comes to lodging and food expenses due to the delay, and all airlines if you were departing from EU/EEA/UK.

They must also rebook you to the final destinations at the earliest opportunity, even if this means moving you to one of their competitors.

Conclusion

Most flights affected are those of British Airways, which no longer allows airport personnel to rebook affected passengers but need to call their internal rebooking line, which is likely too busy to take calls.

This meltdown will affect BA’s long-haul and some short-haul flights tomorrow, and perhaps even on Wednesday, due to airplanes and crews not being where they should be.

Multiple air transport sector trade unions in Italy, from ground handling to select airline staff, are striking on Saturday, July 15, 2023, causing widespread havoc.

Flight services are guaranteed by law between 7 AM – 10 AM and 6 PM – 9 PM, and ITA Airways has already canceled 133 flights scheduled for tomorrow.

Air Passenger Rights:

Airlines must rebook affected passengers to their final destination at the earliest opportunity, even when this means moving them to services operated by other airlines. Passengers can also choose a refund if their flight is canceled.

Airlines are required to provide Duty to Care in case of long delays and cancellations, which means accommodation and meals.

Cash compensation for delayed or canceled flights is not applicable if the disruption is caused by third parties.

ENAC’s Announcement:

Download (PDF, 431KB)

On Strike:

– Airport handling company employees – 8 hours – from 10:00 to 18:00;
– Workers of airport handling services companies – 8 hours – from 10:00 to 18:00;
– Aviation, airport and related airport workers – 8 hours – from 10:00 to 18:00;
– Employees of air transport and associated companies – 8 hours – from 10:00 to 18:00;
– Flight crew Soc. Vueling S.A. – 8 hours – from 10:00 to 18:00;
– Technical crew of Malta Air airline – 4 hours – from 12.00 to 16.00

Guaranteed International Flights

Middle East

MSR 704 MALPENSA (LIMC) CAIRO (HECA)
UAE 206 MALPENSA (LIMC) DUBAI (OMDB)
QTR 128 MALPENSA (LIMC) DOHA HAMAD (OTHH)
KAC 164 MALPENSA (LIMC) KUWAIT (OKKK)
ETH 713 MALPENSA (LIMC) FIUMICINO (LIRF) ADDIS ABEBA (HAAB)
ITY 896 FIUMCINO (LIRF) CAIRO (HECA)
EJU 3937 MALPENSA (LIMC) TEL AVIV (LLBG)
RJA 102 FIUMICINO (LIRF) QUEEN ALIA (OJAI)
ETD 86 FIUMICINO (LIRF) ABU DHABI (OMAA)
ELY 288 MALPENSA (LIMC) TEL AVIV (LLBG)
LAV 3511 MALPENSA (LIMC) MARSALAM (HEMA)
FDB 1682 NAPOLI (LIRN) DUBAI (OMDB)
GFA 026 MALPENSA (LIMC) BAHRAIN (OBBI)
SVA 210 MALPENSA (LIMC) JEDDAH (OEJN)
MEA 236 MALPENSA (LIMC) BEIRUT (OLBA)
ISR 356 VERONA (LIPX) TEL AVIV (LLBG)
AHY 036 MALPENSA (LIMC) BAKU (UBBB)
RYR 3154 BERGAMO (LIME) AMMAN (OJAI)
ABY 711 BERGAMO (LIME) SHARJAH (OMSJ)

North America

UAE 205 MALPENSA (LIMC) NEW YORK (KJFK)
ITY 604 MALPENSA (LIMC) NEW YORK (KJFK)
TSC 2309 FIUMICINO (LIRF) TORONTO (CYYZ)
UAL 0415 MALPENSA (LIMC) CHICAGO (KORD)
DAL 289 VENEZIA (LIPZ) NEW YORK (KJFK)
AAL 721 FIUMICINO (LIRF) CHARLOTTE (KCLT)
ACA 893 FIUMICINO (LIRF) MONTREL (CYUL)
WJA 033 FIUMICINO (LIRF) CALGARY (CYYC)

South America

TAM 8073 MALPENSA (LIMC) GUARULHOS (SBGR)

Southeast Asia

SIA 355 MALPENSA (LIMC) SINGAPORE (WSSS)
CPA 234 MALPENSA (LIMC) HONG KONG (VHHH)
CCA 950 MALPENSA (LIMC) BEIJING (ZBAA)
ITY 770 FIUMICINO (LIRF) NEW DELHI (VIPD)

North Asia

AAR 562 FIUMICINO (LIRF) INCHEON (RKSI)
KAL 932 FIUMICINO (LIRF) INCHEON (RKSI)
ITY 792 FIUMICINO (LIRF) TOKYO HANEDA (RJTT)

Central America & Caribbean

NOS 630 MALPENSA (LIMC) LA ROMANA (MDLR)

Africa

NOS 6986 BOLOGNA (LIPE) MARSA ALAM (HEMA)
LAV 5711 BERGAMO (LIME) CAPO VERDE (GVAC)

ITA Airways Announcement:

Due to the strike by workers in the aviation sector and by Handling companies proclaimed for Saturday 15 July , ITA Airways flights could be canceled and/or delayed. The Company was forced to cancel 133 national and international flights  scheduled for 15 July.

Click here to see the list of canceled flights

ITA Airways has activated an extraordinary plan to limit the inconvenience of passengers, rebooking on the first available flights as many travelers as possible involved in the cancellations: 40% will be able to fly on the same day as the strike.

ITA Airways invites all travelers who have purchased a ticket for the day of the strike, to check the status of their flight, before going to the airport, on the website ita-airways.com, in the section Flight info , or by contacting the travel agency where they bought the ticket.

Passengers who have purchased an ITA Airways ticket to travel on 15 July , in the event of cancellation or change in the time of their flight, will be able to change the booking without any penalty or request a refund of the ticket (only if the flight has been canceled or has been delayed by more than 5 hours)  no later than 22 July 2023 , by calling the toll-free number from Italy 800 93 60 90 | from abroad +39 06 8596 0020 , or by contacting the travel agency where they purchased the ticket.

ITA Airways Canceled Flights:

Conclusion

These airline sector strikes continue in Europe, although quite a few have been called off at the very last minute; this one in Italy will go forward tomorrow.

It seems that most long-haul flights are guaranteed and won’t be affected by the strike, but those connecting to these flights might face issues.