TOMORROWS TRANSPORTATION NEWS TODAY!
Ryanair today (02 Oct) confirmed that its pilots based in Germany have voted by a majority of 99% in favour of a 4 year Collective Labour Agreement (VTV), to cover all Ryanair’s directly employed pilots in Germany until March 2023.
The agreement, negotiated between Ryanair and the pilot union VC, will deliver a new pay structure along with a fixed 5/4 roster. Ryanair and VC have also agreed a Social Plan to govern German base closures or reductions.
The Italian government is begging U.S. major Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE: DAL) to up the proposed acquisition of a 10% stake in Alitalia for $100 million to at least 15%, according to a report in Italian media.
Loss-making Alitalia has been seeking new investors for more than two years after going into administration in May 2017 after workers rejected a plan to cut jobs and salaries. Successive Italian governments have had to balance the carrier’s massive losses with the need to placate a heavily unionized workforce.
Click the link for the full story! https://finance.yahoo.com/news/italian-government-asks-delta-thing-205301072.html
(Reuters) – The collapse of British travel operator Thomas Cook left hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers abroad and forced governments and insurers to coordinate a huge operation to get them home.
The company ran hotels, resorts and airlines ferrying 19 million people a year to 16 different countries.
Here is a summary of the impact of the collapse in different countries and efforts to salvage parts of the group:
Thomas Cook’s German tour business filed for insolvency on Wednesday in a move aimed at separating its brands and operations from its failed parent, and it said it was in talks with potential new investors.
The German government said it was considering an application for a bridging loan from Thomas Cook Germany, a day after it said it would guarantee a 380 million euro ($418 million) bridging loan for Condor, the British group’s German airline.
The company is in contact with the German foreign ministry, insurers and other partners to get customers home. Zurich Insurance, which provided insolvency cover to Thomas Cook Germany, will cover the costs for those on holiday.
About 97,000 holidaymakers were still stranded on Thursday.
Thomas Cook Austria, which belongs to the German unit, also filed for insolvency on Wednesday, with the aim of continuing in business.
The Dutch unit of Thomas Cook canceled all travel booked through Thomas Cook Netherlands and subsidiary Neckermann.
A Dutch court on Wednesday granted Thomas Cook Nederland B.V., a Netherlands-based subsidiary, protection from creditors. It employed roughly 200 staff.
Thomas Cook’s Polish unit, Neckermann Polska, said on Wednesday that it has filed for insolvency. Poland regional authorities says around 3,600 customers of Neckermann Polska are still abroad.
Thomas Cook’s Belgian unit ceased carrying passengers on Tuesday and liquidated two businesses, seeking protection from creditors and ultimately a buyer for Thomas Cook Retail Belgium.
It still has some 13,400 customers on holidays abroad.
Several planes operated by Thomas Cook Scandinavian Airlines have not been able to take off because their leasing contracts remained with the British parent, Danish subsidiary Spies said.
It was not immediately clear how the situation would be resolved.
Thomas Cook’s Nordic business said on Monday it would continue to operate as it is a separate legal entity from its London-listed parent and added that it was looking for new owners.
The Nordic business consists of two legal entities, Thomas Cook Northern Europe and Thomas Cook Scandinavian Airlines, and is also known as Ving Group.
The business operates under several brands: Ving in Norway, Spies in Denmark, Tjäreborg in Finland, as well as Ving and Globetrotter in Sweden.
Emergency flights had brought 14,700 people back to the United Kingdom on 64 flights on Monday, and around 135,300 more were expected to be returned over the next 13 days, Britain’s aviation regulator said.
More than 70 flights were scheduled to operate on Wednesday to bring back 16,500 people.
The collapse of British travel firm Thomas Cook will not have a “significant impact” on Mexico’s tourist industry as it only represents about 0.4% of the sector’s foreign income, the Mexican tourism ministry said on Tuesday.
Thomas Cook’s collapse poses a serious challenge to Bulgarian tourism, with dozens of Black Sea hotels facing losses totaling tens of millions of dollars as negotiations for the next summer season take place, its tourism minister said on Tuesday.
Tunisian tourism minister Rene Trabelsi told Reuters that 4,500 Thomas Cook customers are still on holiday in Tunisia.
The British government repatriated about 1,200 tourists via planes sent to Tunisa’s Enfidha airport, and another 4,000 still in Tunisia will return after their holidays.
The French arm of the business said on Tuesday it was asking the French commercial court of Nanterre for creditor protection
Thomas Cook France will hold a meeting of its works council on Thursday about a plan to declare insolvency and to start a recovery procedure.
French organization Entreprises de Voyage said that about 10,000 French tourists could be affected by the bankruptcy.
The collapse has affected 53,000 Britons in Spain, Spanish Acting Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto told reporters.
The ministry has been in touch with German and Swedish authorities to ensure Thomas Cook subsidiaries continue to operate at least for the winter season, she added.
A Greek tourism ministry official told Reuters that about 50,000 tourists were affected.
Cyprus says 15,000 Thomas Cook customers were stranded on the island.
Thomas Cook’s Hungarian unit Neckermann Magyarorszag said it was continuing its operations and all passengers would be able to return from abroad as planned.
It said its financial situation was stable and its assets were sufficient guarantee that its passengers would not suffer any financial damage. It said passengers should contact its offices directly about upcoming flights.
Thomas Cook’s Russian tour operator subsidiary, Intourist, said the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook will have no impact on clients, Executive Director Sergei Tolchin told Interfax.
The Turkish Ministry of Tourism said it will provide support for local companies affected by the Thomas Cook collapse.
The head of the country’s Hotelier Federation said about 45,000 tourists from the UK and elsewhere in Europe are in the country.
Morocco’s tourism ministry said it had created a crisis unit to handle the fallout from Thomas Cook’s collapse. Thomas Cook operated two flights to Marrakesh a week. No official numbers were given.
Thomas Cook operator Blue Sky Group said that 25,000 reservations in Egypt booked up to April 2020 had been cancelled. Blue Sky currently has 1,600 tourists in Egypt’s Hugharda resort.
Thomas Cook India said it had been unaffected as it has been a separate entity since August 2012.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Chinese suppliers and manufacturers have stepped up their presence at the Frankfurt auto show, capitalizing on a strong position in electric technologies forced on European carmakers by regulators seeking to curb pollution.
Though the number of exhibitors has fallen to 800 in 2019 from 994 in 2017, Chinese automakers and suppliers now make up the biggest foreign contingent, with 79 companies, up from 73.
Several European and Japanese carmakers including Fiat , Alfa Romeo, Nissan and Toyota have skipped the show as the industry cuts costs.
Europe’s automakers face multibillion-euro investments to develop electric and autonomous cars, forcing them to rely on Chinese companies for key technologies such as lithium ion battery cell production, an area where Asian suppliers dominate.
German firms are striking major deals with Chinese suppliers to help them meet stringent EU anti-pollution rules, which were introduced in the wake of Volkswagen’s 2015 emissions cheating scandal.
“All carmakers face the challenge that they will have to fulfill fleet consumption targets,” Matthias Zentgraf, regional president for Europe at China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology, told Reuters.
Zentgraf said he expected further supply deals to be struck in Europe this year following agreements with BMW and Volkswagen.
Daimler on Wednesday said it had chosen China-backed Farasis Energy to supply battery cells for its Mercedes-Benz electrification push.
Farasis is building a 600 million euro ($663 million) factory in east Germany, close to where Chinese rival CATL is erecting a 1.8 billion euro battery plant.
SVOLT Energy Technology, which was carved out of China’s Great Wall Motor Co, told Reuters it would start building battery cells in Europe at a new 2 billion euro plant in 2023.
TIPPING POINT
Chinese companies are also giving Europe more attention since the United States and China embarked on a global trade war, which has resulted in tariffs.
“We put Europe up in priority,” said Daniel Kirchert, chief executive of Chinese electric car maker Byton.
“We are at a tipping point” for acceptance of electric vehicles in Europe, Kirchert, a former BMW executive, added.
Byton has taken its prototype vehicles on road shows in Europe, and received expressions of interest from 20,000 customers, he said. In electric vehicle hot spots, such as Norway and the Netherlands, “we see a very positive response.”
Byton plans to export vehicles from its factory in Nanjing, to Europe in 2021, Kirchert said, adding that exporting to the United States would be a challenge if Washington and Beijing did not resolve their trade war.
He said Byton still hoped to launch in the United States in 2021, but tariffs would threaten the company’s goal of selling vehicles at a starting price of about $45,000.
“We decided no matter what” Byton will launch in the United States, even at a higher price, he said.
China’s Great Wall Motor may consider building car manufacturing facilities in the European Union once its sales there hit 50,000 units a year, its chairman told Reuters at the show.
German carmakers have been forced to accelerate electrification plans after the EU imposed a 37.5% cut in carbon dioxide emissions between 2021 and 2030 in addition to a 40% cut in emissions between 2007 and 2021.
PSA Group Chief Executive Carlos Tavares used the show to step up criticism of Europe’s aggressive approach toward emissions limits.
“The word dialogue has become meaningless in Europe,” he said, referring to the requirements placed on the auto industry.
“Politicians can decide rules without any discussion with industry,” he told journalists on the sidelines of the show.
Electric cars made up only 1.5% of global sales last year, or 1.26 million of the 86 million passenger vehicles sold, JATO Dynamics said.
If carmakers fail to meet the 2021 targets they could face a combined 33 billion euros in fines, analysts at Evercore ISI have estimated.
They also estimate it will cost the auto industry an aggregate 15.3 billion euros to comply, assuming a 60 euro cost per gram to reduce CO2 emissions for premium carmakers and 40 euros per gram of CO2 reduction for volume manufacturers.
(Writing by Edward Taylor; Editing by Mark Potter)
A new version of Alstom’s Atlas ETCS train control system has entered service on the Wuppertal Suspension Railway (Wuppertaler Schwebebahn), located in western Germany. Following a contract signed with WSW mobil GmbH, Alstom equipped the entire suspended route, including 31 new vehicles and the century-old imperial wagon (Kaiserwagen), with ETCS, the European standard for train control systems.
The entry into service marks the completion of Alstom’s first full train control and signalling contract in Germany. It comprises line-side equipment, such as interlocking, radio block centre (RBC) and necessary line elements via train control systems, as well as an interface to the computer-aided operation control system.
The Wuppertal project represents the very first application of ERTMS Level 3 in which track occupancy is solely realised using train localisation performed by the ETCS equipment onboard the train. Alstom replaced the traditional trackside train detection systems such as axle counters with a digital signalling system whereby the ETCS-equipped vehicles communicate their positions directly to the central computer (or RBC) via radio.
“With the successful implementation of this project, Wuppertal is the first city in Germany to use the European train control system in urban transport. ETCS does not only provide for safer and more efficient train operation, but also serves as a basis for many future technologies,” says Jörg Nikutta, Managing Director of Alstom in Germany and Austria.
Alstom’s ETCS system Atlas was developed in Charleroi (Belgium), while the system components were produced at Alstom’s sites in Villeurbanne (France) and Bologna (Italy). The systems are installed and commissioned in Wuppertal by Alstom staff from Charleroi, Salzgitter and Berlin.
Alstom is market leader for ETCS on-board equipment. Since 2006, Alstom has equipped 8,200 vehicles (3,200 of which are already in operation) and for 18,000 kilometres of line (7,000 in operation) with ETCS equipment. A large part of DB’s ICE fleet has also been running with Alstom’s ETCS technologies on the high-speed line between Berlin and Munich since 2017.
Airbus’ 1,000th Super Puma helicopter – A civil H215 to be operated by the German Federal Police
Marignane – Airbus Helicopters has delivered its 1,000th Super Puma helicopter: a twin-engine multi-role H215 assembled in Marignane, France, and handed over to the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei) to support the German Havarie Command, which manages maritime emergencies off of Germany’s coast.
This delivery completes the German Federal Police’s order for four H215s, the first three of which were delivered in December 2018, and increases the German Federal Police’s Super Puma fleet to 23, including 19 AS332 L1s, making the police force one of the largest operators of Super Pumas in the world today.
“The Super Puma family of civil and military helicopters has consistently performed well thanks to its ability to appeal to many different mission segments, whether you’re fighting fires, building power lines, transporting troops, or saving lives in extreme environments,” said Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters. “Thanks to our close partnerships with long-standing customers like the German Federal Police, who we are honoured will operate our 1000th Super Puma, we are able to continuously improve so that this important product continues to meet the evolving market needs for decades to come.”
Today, the Super Puma is operated by nearly 100 customers in 59 countries representing all regions of the world. The Super Puma family is composed of the H215 and H225 for the civil market, produced by Airbus Helicopters for law enforcement, aerial work, search and rescue, offshore transport and governmental missions, and appreciated for their versatility and ability to operate in extreme environmental conditions. In the military sector, Airbus Helicopters offers the H215M and H225M for search and rescue, troop transport, special ops and utility missions, among others.
Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2018, it generated revenues of €64 billion and employed a workforce of around 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as one of the world’s leading space companies. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.
BAE Systems has been selected by the vessel contractor to provide the German federal police force, Bundespolizei, with three 57mm naval guns for its three new 86m Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) built by Fassmer shipyard.
The gun systems, known as the Bofors 57 Mk3, will support the maritime arm of the Bundespolizei that monitors the country’s North Sea and Baltic coastlines. The 57 Mk3 is a flexible, highly versatile gun system designed to react quickly for close-to-shore operations.
“The Bofors 57 Mk3 is a versatile naval gun with firepower and range that exceeds expectations when compared with similar, medium calibre naval gun systems. That’s how our 57 millimeter system has earned its reputation as the deck gun of choice for ships operating in coastal environments,” said Ulf Einefors, director of marketing and sales for BAE Systems’ weapons business in Sweden. “This contract expands the number of European nations deploying the 57 Mk3 and reflects the growing interest we’re seeing in the region, where we look forward to supporting new opportunities in the near future.”
The 57 Mk3 naval gun is also in use with the allied navies and coast guards of eight nations, including Canada, Finland, Mexico, and Sweden, as well as the United States, where it is known as the Mk110 naval gun.
This contract also includes accompanying fire control systems as well as systems integration support. Work is expected to begin immediately and will be performed at the BAE Systems facility in Karlskoga, Sweden. The first unit is scheduled for delivery in 2020.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Electric carmaker Tesla <TSLA> is scouting out locations for a possible factory in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany’s most populous state, daily Rheinische Post reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.
First inspections have taken place, the paper said.
Tesla spokespeople in Europe were not immediately available for comment.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said in a tweet in April that the company was “considering” building a factory in Germany.
Last year, Musk said Germany was a leading choice in Europe to build a Gigafactory, adding “the German-French border makes sense, near the Benelux countries”.
NRW, Germany’s most populous state, shares borders with the Netherlands and Belgium.
Tesla is also looking at the German state of Lower Saxony, which shares a border with the Netherlands, its Economy Minister Bernd Althusmann said earlier this week.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Frances Kerry)
Mobility solution provider Bombardier Transportation and Dresden’s transport authority Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe (DVB), have signed a contract to supply and maintain 30 BOMBARDIER FLEXITY trams, equipped with the Obstacle Detection and Assistance System (ODAS) for preventing collisions. The contract also includes the FlexCare maintenance management system for a 24-year period. The value of the order is 197 million euro ($219 million US). In addition, an option for ten additional FLEXITY trams and eight more years of servicing and maintenance are included in the contract.
The new FLEXITY trams are wider than DVB’s current vehicles and offer significantly greater comfort for passengers with 2+2 seating and large panorama windows. The new trams will be able to carry up to 290 passengers, which is around a 10 percent increase. To allow barrier-free access while using the existing infrastructure, only the portion of the carbody which is above platform level is wider. The new fleet will be delivered by the end of October 2023.
“I am pleased that Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe is counting on the employees’ competence, know-how and the quality of Bombardier’s products here in Saxony and that these modern light rail vehicles are being built at the Saxon sites. The future of both factories and Bombardier’s long-term commitment are very close to my heart. I am confident that Saxon products will also increasingly prevail in many tenders outside Saxony due to their quality, which combines innovation and sustainability,” emphasized Saxony’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Martin Dulig.
“We urgently need the new light rail vehicles, which provide larger capacity, in order to offer sufficient space for the rapidly growing number of our passengers,” said Andreas Hemmersbach, DVB’s Board Member for Finance and Technology. He added, “In a multi-stage selection process, criteria such as technology, price, service and design were evaluated on a points-based system. Of all the manufacturers, Bombardier offered us the best overall package.”
“We are proud to support our long-standing partner and customer DVB in their transport service expansion by supplying our innovative, reliable and air conditionedFLEXITY trams, offering generous multi-purpose areas and the highest safety standards. Our FlexCare maintenance management system not only ensures high availability and reliability, but also guarantees cost security over the entire term of the contract. Hand in hand with DVB, we will carry out servicing and maintenance of these FLEXITY trams together,” explained Alexander Ketterl, responsible for the urban transport business at Bombardier Transportation in Germany.
Michael Fohrer, Head of Bombardier Transportation Germany, added, “This contract will be carried out at our two sites in Saxony. The carbodies will be produced in our center of competence for carbodies in Görlitz. Final assembly and commissioning will be carried out at our industrial lead site in Bautzen.”
More than 4,000 trams and light rail vehicles from Bombardier are already successfully in operation or on order worldwide.
Check out the Dresden Flexity tram YouTube video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=lXBpdMLjXaQ
Saab has signed a supply contract with the Belgian MoD for the deliveries of training systems to the Belgian Army. The order value is approximately SEK 160 million and deliveries will take place in 2021.
The contract includes providing a complete training centre with infantry simulators, anti-tank simulators, vehicle systems and communication systems for controlling, monitoring and collecting training data to enable detailed analysis of exercises. The support contract will be negotiated separately later on.
One of the requirements was interoperability with NATO, and with Saab’s training system Belgium will be capable of participating in multinational exercises.
“This means Belgium will share the same standards as members in the Interoperability User Community (IUC). They can therefore take part in multinational exercises together with, among others, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK and the US 7thArmy,” says Åsa Thegström, head of the business unit Training & Simulation within Saab’s business area Dynamics.
“The Belgian Army has used our training systems for the last four years and have clearly seen the benefits of realistic training. This order strengthens our position as one of the world’s leading suppliers of solutions for combat training,” says Henrik Vassallo, head of the country unit France & Benelux within Saab’s market area Europe.
The business unit Training & Simulation develops, manufactures and markets advanced military training equipment, such as laser simulator systems, instrumented training systems and target equipment. It also provides service and maintenance for delivered systems.
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