Lufthansa Group extends flight change fee waiver till Feb 28th next year (2021)

 

• Lufthansa Group Airlines had already made it possible for its customers to rebook their tickets free of charge in the spring.

Lufthansa Group has extended a flight change fee waiver into next year.

From today, all flights Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings can be rebooked as often as desired without incurring a charge.

The offer, originally valid until the end of 2020, has been extended to February 28th.

Lufthansa Group Airlines had already made it possible for its customers to rebook their tickets free of charge in the spring.

The abolition of the rebooking fee applies worldwide for all new bookings in all fares on short-, medium- and long-haul routes.

Customers may incur additional costs if, for example, the original booking class is no longer available when rebooking to a different date or destination.

Any difference will be compensated for by means of additional payment.

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PIA introduces new rules for in-flight meal amid COVID-19 surge

 

KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has decided to implement strict COVID-19 precautionary measures amid rising cases of the virus in the country.

According to details, the new changes relating to in-flight meal services for domestic and international flights were approved by PIA CEO Air Marshal Arshad Malik.

The new SOPs relating to food service for domestic flights include a ban on provision of drinks through a trolley besides also restricting the provision of food and drinks during the flight.

The PIA while issuing fresh directions to its flight attendants said the second wave of the COVID-19 has seen an alarming surge.

Moreover, for flights to Saudi Arabia, snacks, club sandwiches, bananas, patties and muffin would be served as a meal during the flight.

The national flag carrier said that it had taken fresh measures aimed at minimizing contact between the crew members and passengers.

Besides these measures, on November 22, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) introduced “flexible timings” for its employees to mark their attendance with biometric machines amid rising Covid-19 cases.

According to a notification issued by the national flag carrier’s chief human resources officer, the PIA management introduced flexible timings to prevent the employees from crowding around biometric machines.

These timings will be effective from Monday (Nov 23). If any employee marks his/her attendance at 8:00 am in the morning, he/she can leave at 4:30, the notification said, adding if one marks his/her attendance at 8:30 am, he/she can sign out at 5:00 pm.

The minimum working hours that the airline’s staffers are required to observe are eight hours and 30 minutes.

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Emirates relaunches Dubai Connect offer to transiting passengers

 

DUBAI, NOV 2020 - Emirates has re-launched its Dubai Connect offer which gives customers transiting through its hub a complimentary hotel stay in Dubai.

The offer is available to customers booked in all classes with a best connection time that exceeds ten hours.

Dubai Connect ensures that travelling through Emirates’ hub is seamless despite the altered flight schedules during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Emirates now serves over 90 destinations across six continents across the globe, connecting customers to key destinations across Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa and Australasia with one stop in Dubai.

With Dubai Connect, Emirates passengers will receive a complimentary night’s stay in a four or five-star hotel, ground transfers to and from the airport, meals at the hotel as well as UAE visa on arrival where required.

The service aims to provide customers whose best connection time is between ten and 24 hours, a more convenient travel journey.

Emirates ensures all its customers are well catered for.

Those who qualify for Dubai Connect but are unable to leave the airport, will be given access to the Emirates Dubai Connect airport lounge to unwind and relax.

Customers with new or existing bookings, travelling from December 1st are eligible for the offer.

Also today, the airline said it had completed an intensive programme to clear its backlog of refund requests which was caused by pandemic-related travel disruption.

Over the seven-month period starting April, Emirates received, validated and processed nearly 1.7 million refund requests.

This resulted in the airline returning AED6.3 billion refunds to its customers.

Of this sum, AED 4.7 billion was refunded to customers who had booked directly with the airline, and the remainder was returned via travel agencies.

In addition, Emirates managed over 130,000 refunds-related queries from customers and travel agency partners and made status changes to nearly four million flight coupons.

At the peak of its project, Emirates had 110 personnel dedicated to validating and processing refunds, massively increased from the 19-person team pre-pandemic.

The airline managed this by internally moving personnel from other functions to assist in this endeavour.

Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airline, said: “In the early months of 2020, Covid-19 massively disrupted travel around the world and led to an unprecedented volume of refunds requests across the aviation and travel industry, including at Emirates.

“It was not a situation any airline wanted, particularly while also facing a cash crunch from drastically reduced operations.

“Through those difficult months, as we dealt with the impact of the pandemic on our business, we’ve never lost sight of our commitment to our customers.”

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Etihad Airways launches facial recognition trial with SITA

 

ABU DHABI, NOV 2020 - Etihad Airways has partnered with information technology company SITA to trial the use of facial biometrics in order to check in cabin crew at the airline’s crew briefing centre at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

The trial will use facial recognition technology to identify and authenticate crew members, allowing them to complete check-in procedures and mandatory pre-flight safety and security questions digitally via their own mobile devices.

The new initiative will replace the current kiosk-based check-in process which requires crew to use their staff identity cards as a form of authentication.

Sulaiman Yaqoobi, vice president flight operations, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “Etihad is constantly on the lookout for innovative solutions and new technologies that will drive improvements in the airline’s operations and enhance the experience for guests and employees.

“Etihad is excited to partner with SITA to explore the potential that facial biometric services have for the aviation industry.

“By integrating contactless technology, biometric services will increase efficiency while simultaneously cementing our commitment to reducing the spread of Covid-19 by limiting physical touch points and maximising social distancing measures.”

As part of the airline’s digitalisation strategy, facial biometric technology is expected to improve operational efficiency by speeding up the existing check-in process and automating crew time and attendance management and access controls.

Cabin crew will also experience a seamless and contactless check-in experience.

The trial will continue until February 2021 and will provide the airline with invaluable data to explore future exploration of biometric technology for use in guest operations, such as check-in and boarding.

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Norwegian wins bankruptcy protection in Ireland

 

Norwegian has won High Court protection from creditors for its key Irish subsidiaries as the carrier begins the latest bid to salvage its struggling operations.

Justice Michael Quinn appointed KPMG partner, Kieran Wallace, as interim examiner to Irish-based Norwegian Air International, Arctic Aviation Assets DAC and three other companies.

The Irish subsidiaries named their parent, Norwegian Air Shuttle, as a related company.

The court granted a total of six entities interim protection from their creditors.

The case is due back before Quinn on December 7th.

Norwegian Air went to the Irish High Court as its subsidiaries there hold most of its aircraft.

Jacob Schram, chief executive of Norwegian, argued that seeking Irish court protection to re-organise the business would benefit workers, customers and shareholders.

“Our aim is to find solutions with our stakeholders that will allow us to emerge as a financially stronger and secure airline,” he added.

The purpose of the process is to reduce debt, downsize the fleet and secure new capital.

The process is estimated to take up to five months.

Norwegian said it planned to operate its route network (currently limited due to the Covid-19 situation) and trade as normal on the Oslo Stock Exchange (Oslo Børs).

Schram added: “Our intent is clear - we will emerge from this process as a more financially secure and competitive airline, with a new financial structure, a rightsized fleet and improved customer offering.”

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Courtesy Breaking Travel News

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