Tag: citizens (Page 2 of 2)

Norwegian Air Gets Guarantee From Norwegian Government

March 25, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Norwegian is pleased to announce that two Nordic banks have obtained credit committee approval to provide a guarantee for the required 10 percent for the first tranche of 300 million Norwegian kroner (NOK). Norwegian will secure the necessary headroom to pursue further guarantees from the Norwegian Government.

Government measures
On Thursday 19 March, the Norwegian Government proposed a guarantee of NOK 6 billion for the Norwegian airline industry, of which up to NOK 3 billion is directed to Norwegian. The guarantee will be up to 90 percent from the Norwegian Government provided that financial institutions contribute with the remaining 10 percent. The guarantee scheme will consist of three tranches with a maximum two years maturity.

Since Thursday evening Norwegian has worked with banks and financial institutions and is pleased to announce that two Nordic banks have obtained credit committee approval to contribute with the 10 percent required in guarantee for Tranche I and to provide the NOK 300 million in financing backed by the guarantee from the Norwegian Government. The Company is working with the banks and the Norwegian Export Credit Guarantee Agency (“GIEK”), who will administrate the guarantee scheme, on the documentation in order to obtain the NOK 300 million in liquidity as soon as possible.

The Company is now working with GIEK and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries to clarify the criteria and terms related to the remaining tranches under the scheme and to obtain further guarantees from financial institutions in order to back such remaining tranches. Norwegian will update the market with its further plan of action and implications for its stakeholders as soon as the criteria and terms have been finalized. The Government guarantee scheme is crucial for the Company as the current state of the capital markets in combination with the challenging times for the airline industry limit the options available. The first NOK 300 million will create necessary headroom to pursue the remaining tranches of the guarantee scheme.

Operational update
Currently, most of the fleet is grounded and Norwegian has reduced its operations to a minimum. The airline will now primarily operate domestically in Norway and Sweden and between the Nordic capitals, in order to deliver on its corporate responsibility of maintaining critical infrastructure so that people and necessary goods and medical supplies can be transported during this unprecedented crisis. The limited schedule will remain in place until further notice. In addition, Norwegian has conducted repatriation flights together with the authorities in order to get citizens of Norway, Denmark and Sweden back home.

In order to reduce cost, Norwegian has temporarily laid off approximately 90 percent of its workforce and will continue to implement additional cost measures going forward.

Austrian Airlines Will Temporarily Suspend Flight Operations

March 19, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Last flight will land on 19 March in Vienna / all further flights are temporarily suspended until 28 March
Lufthansa Group: entire short and long-haul schedule significantly reduced again
As of 17 March: ten percent of the originally planned capacity will still be available on long-haul routes and 20 per cent on short-haul routes
Lufthansa Group airlines fly thousands of cruise passengers and holidaymakers home
Arrangements for further evacuation flights
Lufthansa Cargo flight operations carries out all planned flights despite corona crisis

The Lufthansa Group carrier Austrian Airlines will temporarily suspend scheduled flight operations as of Thursday, 19 March 2020. Austrian Airlines is thus reacting to the entry restrictions imposed by many countries in response to the massive spread of the coronavirus.

For the time being, the last flight with flight number OS 066 will land in Vienna from Chicago at 8:20 a.m. on 19 March. Until then, flight operations are to be reduced in a controlled and structured manner in order to bring all passengers and crews home if possible. Initially Austrian Airlines will cancel all flights until March 28th 2020, and passengers who have booked a flight with Austrian Airlines during this period will be rebooked on other airlines if possible.

In addition, Lufthansa Group airlines will further reduce their short- and long-haul schedule. The cancellations, which will be published as early as tomorrow, March 17th, will lead to a sharp decline in long-haul service especially in the Middle East, Africa and Central and South America. Overall, the Lufthansa Group’s seating capacity on long-haul routes will be reduced by up to 90 per cent. A total of 1,300 weekly connections were originally planned for summer 2020.

Within Europe the flight schedule will also be further reduced. Starting tomorrow, around 20 percent of the originally planned seating capacity will still be offered. Originally, some 11,700 weekly short-haul flights were planned for summer 2020 with Lufthansa Group airlines.

The additional cancellations will be published over the next few days and passengers will be informed accordingly.

Despite the large-scale cancellations, Lufthansa, Eurowings and Austrian Airlines have scheduled more than 20 special flights with over 6,000 guests on short notice to fly cruise passengers and holidaymakers back home. Wide-body aircraft namely, the Boeing 747 & 777 and Airbus A350 are being used to offer as much capacity as possible on these return flights. Since thousands of German, Austrian, Swiss and Belgian citizens are still waiting to return to their home countries, Lufthansa Group airlines have made arrangements for further evacuation flightsand are in close contact with the governments of their home countries concerning this. Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said: “Now it is no longer about economic issues, but about the responsibility that airlines bear as part of the critical infrastructure in their home countries.” Lufthansa will work with airports and air traffic controllers to develop a coordinated concept for maintaining the critical infrastructure.

The new timetable for all Lufthansa Group airlines will initially be valid until 12 April 2020. Lufthansa Group passengers planning a trip in the coming weeks are advised to check the current status of the respective flight on their airline’s website before departure. If rebooking possibilities exist, the passengers concerned will be proactively informed about alternatives, as long as they have provided their contact details online. In addition, currently changed rebooking conditions apply on a goodwill basis. Customers can find more information about this at lufthansa.com.

We are currently receiving an exceptionally high number of customer calls at our Service Centers and at our stations. We are continuously working on increasing capacity to meet this demand. Nevertheless, there are currently long waiting times. Passengers can use the extensive rebooking and self-service options on the airlines’ websites as an alternative to the Service Centers.

Unlike the passenger airlines, Lufthansa Cargo has so far been able to operate all its planned flights except for cancellations to mainland China. The Lufthansa Group subsidiary will continue to do everything in its power to maintain the flight operations of its own cargo fleet and thus support the global supply chains. Especially during the current crisis, logistics and thus also airfreight are of paramount importance.

Amtrak Downeaster Achieves Record Ridership In 2019

February 3, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

PORTLAND, MAINE – The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) announced today that the Amtrak Downeaster achieved record breaking ridership of 574,404 passengers in calendar year 2019, a 7.8% increase from 2018. The previous ridership record of 546,056 passengers was set in 2017.

The Amtrak Downeaster experienced record ridership growth in 9 out of 12 months, according to NNEPRA Marketing Director, Natalie Bogart, who reported that August 2019 was the highest ridership month in Downeaster history. “August ridership of 60,944 was an all-time record and the first time that Downeaster ridership surpassed 60,000 passengers in a month.”

NNEPRA attributes the ridership surge to increased frequency to Freeport and Brunswick, improved reliability, as well as repeat riders. Amtrak Customer Satisfaction score of 91% suggests that people are not only riding the Downeaster, but are finding it to be enjoyable as well. When compared to Amtrak services throughout the country, passengers rank the Downeaster among the top services for friendliness, overall satisfaction, and quality of on-board food service.

“These results are particularly impressive,” stated NNEPRA Chairman, John Melrose. “We are committed to the continued growth of the Downeaster service and are working hard in 2020 to improve/ expand transportation alternatives to further enhance mobility to our citizens and support economic growth for Maine Businesses.”

For additional Amtrak Downeaster information or to purchase tickets visit: AmtrakDowneaster.com

Amtrak Downeaster, POR, 2016, 15th Anniversary of the Downeaster, Portland Intermodal Station, Chuck Gomez WASHINGTON, WAS

Delta, American Suspend All China Flights as U.S. Government Takes Action

January 31, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) – Delta Air Lines Inc <DAL> and American Airlines Group Inc <AAL> decided on Friday to temporarily suspend all remaining U.S.-China flights after the U.S. State Department elevated a travel advisory over concerns about the coronavirus.

U.S. officials were due to hold a call with airlines later on Friday to discuss the Chinese flights. Some airline officials worried that if they did not voluntarily halt flights it would prompt the Trump administration to take formal action, potentially complicating any subsequent flight resumption.

The United States told citizens on Thursday not to travel to China due to the epidemic that has infected nearly 10,000 people and been declared a global emergency.

Pilots and flight attendants have been demanding airlines stop flights to the country, with American Airlines’ pilots filing a lawsuit on Thursday seeking an immediate halt.

“The decision to file a lawsuit was made out of concern for the safety of our pilots,” said Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association which represents American’s pilots.

As of Thursday United Airlines Holdings Inc <UAL> was still planning to operate some flights from San Francisco, even after its pilots union told its members they would be allowed to drop their trip without pay if they were concerned about flying to the country.

Delta and American had both announced lighter schedules to China earlier this week.

On Friday, American said operations to and from China would be halted starting on Friday through March 27. The carrier will continue to fly to Hong Kong.

Delta said its last China-bound flight departing the United States will leave on Monday, Feb. 3, with the last U.S. return flight departing China on Feb. 5.

The Delta suspension is set to last through April 30.

U.S. airline shares have posted heavy losses this week on concerns of the financial impact of the virus.

Other airlines that have stopped their flights to mainland China include Air France KLM SA <AFLYY>, British Airways <ICAGY>, Germany’s Lufthansa <DLAKY> and Virgin Atlantic.

Major Chinese carriers were still operating flights to and from the United States as of Friday.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Tom Brown)

Norwegian Air Gets Guarantee From Norwegian Government

Austrian Airlines Will Temporarily Suspend Flight Operations

Amtrak Downeaster Achieves Record Ridership In 2019

Delta, American Suspend All China Flights as U.S. Government Takes Action

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