Thanks MoonC!

MoonC wrote:

phofmannsair wrote:

Hi,

They have just started the "visible works" today!
Sorry, I don't know how to join pictures, so have a look at my twitter accound where I just posted them.

Opening still planned for October 2020!

https://twitter.com/Phofmannsair/status/1002208047043883009

Best Regards,


Patrick.

And

phofmannsair wrote:

Hi,

They have just started the "visible works" today!
Sorry, I don't know how to join pictures, so have a look at my twitter accound where I just posted them.

Opening still planned for October 2020!

https://twitter.com/Phofmannsair/status/1002208047043883009

Best Regards,


Patrick.

Thanks for these pictures, Patrick, could you give an update with pictures every few months os so ? We don't all have the same access to the airport as you do, but it would be nice to see how the building is coming along.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-orAHYBB5M

Nothing new here, but this is how it should look like at the end.

Of course, I'll do my best to post pictures every months or so.

Patrick.

hynithuchi wrote:

phofmannsair wrote:

Hi,

They have just started the "visible works" today!
Sorry, I don't know how to join pictures, so have a look at my twitter accound where I just posted them.

Opening still planned for October 2020!

https://twitter.com/Phofmannsair/status/1002208047043883009

Best Regards,


Patrick.

Thanks for these pictures, Patrick, could you give an update with pictures every few months os so ? We don't all have the same access to the airport as you do, but it would be nice to see how the building is coming along.

Blerg wrote:

DALCE wrote:

The only way to see LX expand significantly in ZRH would be adding a 5th bank. The current 4 bank scheme is quite full on the peaks. The airport has not much more room on those times.

Out of curiosity, what are the four banks? I suppose two are short-haul and two are long-haul or are they all mixed together?

Maybe I missunderstood. But SWISS talks about having 6 waves (in ger. Wellen) each wave includes Arrivals long and shorthaul followed by Departures of long and shorthauls.
I found a very interesting presentation about exactly this topic held by a SWISS representative at Swiss Aviation Symposium in April this year. Have a look at page 8 - the wave system of LX in ZRH is nicely explained graphically:

http://aviatiksymposium.ch/images/PDFs/2018/201800405%20Swiss%20Aviatik%20Symposium_Vortrag%20APMA_final.pdf

(Unfortunately in german)

Thanks JulietteBravo for this interesting presentation!

Btw: Swiss took delivery of its 21st CSeries today. HB-JCM is on its delivery flight into ZRH. The fleet now consists of 8 CS100 and 13 CS300.

Very interesting presentation indeed, thanks for sharing!
Apart from the wave explanation I also found page 3 quite interesting which illustrates the local demand for longhaul destinations. It also shows that probably with the two additionally ordered 77Ws entering the fleet in 2020, the next longhaul destination most probably will be ICN. It seems to be the missing spot between the ones with higher demand. The combination of TLV/DXB/NRT can go all 77W which free's up 333/343's to open that route.

Alright, good to know they have started to build the terminal.

On flightradar there's an unidentified 74L on approach to GVA right now.

SpaceshipDC10 wrote:

Alright, good to know they have started to build the terminal.

On flightradar there's an unidentified 74L on approach to GVA right now.

VP-BLK of Las Vegas Sands.

In a press release today, Geneva airport dissuades passengers from travelling on 21 JUN as access to the airport cannot be guaranteed between 1200 and 2400 lt due to the Pope's visit and a Mass celebrated nearby ( Palexpo ). With about 50% of passengers travelling on LCC, I wonder who is responsible for passengers missing their flights and therefore losing their ticket as well ? Who will refund my ticket if I have booked a flight with a fare that doesn't allow me to change my booking ? Should or will airlines be compensated for loss of traffic if passengers cancel their flights ? I find it hard to credit that this visit is allowed to disturb normal airport operation, I would have thought that it should be organised in a manner to as not to disturb the day to day ops. In fact, the authorities could penalise up to 50 000 passengers in order to organise a mass nearby for 41 000 attendents. Leaves me gobsmacked !

hynithuchi wrote:

In a press release today, Geneva airport dissuades passengers from travelling on 21 JUN as access to the airport cannot be guaranteed between 1200 and 2400 lt due to the Pope's visit and a Mass celebrated nearby ( Palexpo ). With about 50% of passengers travelling on LCC, I wonder who is responsible for passengers missing their flights and therefore losing their ticket as well ? Who will refund my ticket if I have booked a flight with a fare that doesn't allow me to change my booking ? Should or will airlines be compensated for loss of traffic if passengers cancel their flights ? I find it hard to credit that this visit is allowed to disturb normal airport operation, I would have thought that it should be organised in a manner to as not to disturb the day to day ops. In fact, the authorities could penalise up to 50 000 passengers in order to organise a mass nearby for 41 000 attendents. Leaves me gobsmacked !

From reading the airport's web site, it is only the access by car to and finding a parking place at the airport that is not guaranteed.
Access by train, and probably by bus a will be ok.

Pedro

pedrinch wrote:

hynithuchi wrote:

In a press release today, Geneva airport dissuades passengers from travelling on 21 JUN as access to the airport cannot be guaranteed between 1200 and 2400 lt due to the Pope's visit and a Mass celebrated nearby ( Palexpo ). With about 50% of passengers travelling on LCC, I wonder who is responsible for passengers missing their flights and therefore losing their ticket as well ? Who will refund my ticket if I have booked a flight with a fare that doesn't allow me to change my booking ? Should or will airlines be compensated for loss of traffic if passengers cancel their flights ? I find it hard to credit that this visit is allowed to disturb normal airport operation, I would have thought that it should be organised in a manner to as not to disturb the day to day ops. In fact, the authorities could penalise up to 50 000 passengers in order to organise a mass nearby for 41 000 attendents. Leaves me gobsmacked !

From reading the airport's web site, it is only the access by car to and finding a parking place at the airport that is not guaranteed.
Access by train, and probably by bus a will be ok.

Pedro

Agreed, but not everybody can get to the airport by public transport, and as I understood the article in the Tribune de Genève and on Swiss teletext, passengers are encouraged to rebook their flights if possible. It simply doesn't seem right to me ( ok, I won't assist the papal mass either.. )

MoonC wrote:

SpaceshipDC10 wrote:

Alright, good to know they have started to build the terminal.

On flightradar there's an unidentified 74L on approach to GVA right now.

VP-BLK of Las Vegas Sands.

Apparently it was flying SZB-GVA-TLV and didn't stay long. https://youtu.be/4dCPX95Kmo8
I can see ET has began service.

hynithuchi wrote:

pedrinch wrote:

hynithuchi wrote:

In a press release today, Geneva airport dissuades passengers from travelling on 21 JUN as access to the airport cannot be guaranteed between 1200 and 2400 lt due to the Pope's visit and a Mass celebrated nearby ( Palexpo ). With about 50% of passengers travelling on LCC, I wonder who is responsible for passengers missing their flights and therefore losing their ticket as well ? Who will refund my ticket if I have booked a flight with a fare that doesn't allow me to change my booking ? Should or will airlines be compensated for loss of traffic if passengers cancel their flights ? I find it hard to credit that this visit is allowed to disturb normal airport operation, I would have thought that it should be organised in a manner to as not to disturb the day to day ops. In fact, the authorities could penalise up to 50 000 passengers in order to organise a mass nearby for 41 000 attendents. Leaves me gobsmacked !

From reading the airport's web site, it is only the access by car to and finding a parking place at the airport that is not guaranteed.
Access by train, and probably by bus a will be ok.

Pedro

Agreed, but not everybody can get to the airport by public transport, and as I understood the article in the Tribune de Genève and on Swiss teletext, passengers are encouraged to rebook their flights if possible. It simply doesn't seem right to me ( ok, I won't assist the papal mass either.. )

hynitchuchi - i guess what you wrote is exactly why they make this press release: To warn pax who have such LCC / not rebook tickets. And all others to plan enough travel time. I m convinced this all will be quite well organized by the Geneva Authotities - never really will they close the GVA because of the pope.

From 27 August 2018 Hainan Air wil start 2x weekly service from ZRH to Shenzhen using 787-8 and from October 787-9 aircraft:

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... gust-2018/

This will bring the total of Chinese destinations served from ZRH to four (PEK, PVG, CTU, SHZ) in addition to two daily flights to HKG!

Really great to see the number of non-stop long haul destinations being served. WK just inaugurated service to DEN a couple of days ago and will also launch flights to EZE, SZE, VRA, SGN and CMB later this year.

Ethiopian has already announced a change to its new service to GVA starting in December:

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... -dec-2018/

SpaceshipDC10 wrote:

Ethiopian has already announced a change to its new service to GVA starting in December:

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... -dec-2018/

Yes this was already mentionned in the Ethiopian Airlines thread, but since timings and frequencies will remain nearly the same, it won't impact this new service too much.
Referring to Hainan's return to ZRH, I thinks it's very interesting for the business community to get a direct service between the 2 cities. This service was announced by the Chinese ambassador to Switzerland in the Tribune de Genève on 05 MAY. He also mentions, they are working on a direct service between PVG and GVA. Would be interesting to see which airline would operate it. In fact, can such an additional route be justified as CA seems to find it difficult to fill up flights on it's GVA/PEK route ( as per interview ) ?

hynithuchi wrote:

Yes this was already mentionned in the Ethiopian Airlines thread, but since timings and frequencies will remain nearly the same, it won't impact this new service too much.Referring to Hainan's return to ZRH, I thinks it's very interesting for the business community to get a direct service between the 2 cities. This service was announced by the Chinese ambassador to Switzerland in the Tribune de Genève on 05 MAY. He also mentions, they are working on a direct service between PVG and GVA. Would be interesting to see which airline would operate it. In fact, can such an additional route be justified as CA seems to find it difficult to fill up flights on it's GVA/PEK route ( as per interview ) ?

The GVA-PEK route has relatively good LF since they swapped for a morning flight. May was slightly above 70%. I don't know if the revenues and yields are good though. For PVG, both the demand and the yield from GVA are actually higher than for PEK. A 4x weekly flight with China Eastern could make sense.

xorrygva wrote:

hynithuchi wrote:

Yes this was already mentionned in the Ethiopian Airlines thread, but since timings and frequencies will remain nearly the same, it won't impact this new service too much.Referring to Hainan's return to ZRH, I thinks it's very interesting for the business community to get a direct service between the 2 cities. This service was announced by the Chinese ambassador to Switzerland in the Tribune de Genève on 05 MAY. He also mentions, they are working on a direct service between PVG and GVA. Would be interesting to see which airline would operate it. In fact, can such an additional route be justified as CA seems to find it difficult to fill up flights on it's GVA/PEK route ( as per interview ) ?

The GVA-PEK route has relatively good LF since they swapped for a morning flight. May was slightly above 70%. I don't know if the revenues and yields are good though. For PVG, both the demand and the yield from GVA are actually higher than for PEK. A 4x weekly flight with China Eastern could make sense.

I'd have some doubts about CA's yields as from what I've heard, passengers are mainly Chinese tourists travelling in groups which would mean pretty low fares. With a 70% l/f, I don't think their operation can be very profitable, but I stand to be corrected. A PVG link with China Eastern would probably cover the GVA market requirements nicely and as you say, they would probably have PVG has more high yield traffic. We could have interesting times ahead if the Japan link, which is also worked on, materialises.

Another one of those missing non-stop destinations from ZRH off the books as LX will fly from 12x weekly from Zurich to Bremen starting October 28 using CS100/300 and E190 aircraft. Flight times are as follows:
LX850 ZRH 07:25 BRE 08:55 123456
LX851 BRE 10:00 ZRH 11:25 123456
LX856 ZRH 17:50 BRE 19:20 123457
LX857 BRE 20:00 ZRH 21:30 123457

Flights are bookable on swiss.com already.

PhilInBRN wrote:

Another one of those missing non-stop destinations from ZRH off the books as LX will fly from 12x weekly from Zurich to Bremen starting October 28 using CS100/300 and E190 aircraft. Flight times are as follows:
LX850 ZRH 07:25 BRE 08:55 123456
LX851 BRE 10:00 ZRH 11:25 123456
LX856 ZRH 17:50 BRE 19:20 123457
LX857 BRE 20:00 ZRH 21:30 123457

Flights are bookable on swiss.com already.

Good to see that they could add BRE, thanks for the info. Departing right within the morning and evening banks will guarantee success.

Hey guys!

While watching the game tonight I notice that Alain Berset is attending the game Switzerland-Brazil in Rostov. Did he fly with the confederacy Dassault? How much is worth such a trip? Isn’t a bit waistfull from a Swiss perspective?

I didn’t know Swiss official used to attend such events. I remember Ueli Maurer flying to China with SWISS rather than the Dassault.

Any insight?

[/quote]Thanks for these pictures, Patrick, could you give an update with pictures every few months os so ? We don't all have the same access to the airport as you do, but it would be nice to see how the building is coming along.[/quote]

There you go: https://twitter.com/Phofmannsair/status/1012647909458931712

Patrick.

Thank you Patrick, keep it up. Slowly but surely, the building is taking shape, al least for the ones who know what it's supposed to look like.

Yes indeed, it's only the beginning. Still loads of work but finally we see something coming out of the ground!

As a matter of interest, does anone know how the new ET flight is doing at GVA ? I know it's early days and obviously, MXP would be the gateway to Europe for this flight, GVA probably getting exclusively O/D traffic on the Swiss side. Beside, AFAIK, they have no sales office at GVA but only a GSA with a Zurich number which might not help local sales ( maybe they have opened someting by now, I stand to be corrected ).

As a matter of interest, does anone know how the new ET flight is doing at GVA ? I know it's early days and obviously, MXP would be the gateway to Europe for this flight, GVA probably getting exclusively O/D traffic on the Swiss side. Beside, AFAIK, they have no sales office at GVA but only a GSA with a Zurich number which might not help local sales ( maybe they have opened someting by now, I stand to be corrected ).

hynithuchi wrote:

As a matter of interest, does anone know how the new ET flight is doing at GVA ? I know it's early days and obviously, MXP would be the gateway to Europe for this flight, GVA probably getting exclusively O/D traffic on the Swiss side. Beside, AFAIK, they have no sales office at GVA but only a GSA with a Zurich number which might not help local sales ( maybe they have opened someting by now, I stand to be corrected ).

As you said, it is a bit early to have a proper feedback on ET's performance in GVA but I understand it is improving. During early/mid June, there were c. 60 to 40 pax per flight. It is getting better and today flight from GVA has over 110 pax. Assuming that 50% of the seats are sold in GVA, this is a 80% load factor today which is not bad.

ET has now a sale team in Geneva, don't know if they will have an office though.

Thanks for your reply, it sounds promising enough, considering it's very early into their operation and the flight has a stop-over at MXP. I'm also tempted to to think that passengers from other parts of Switzerland are tempted to catch the flight out of MXP instead of travelling to GVA. All considered, it sound quite encouraging.

SR380 wrote:

Hey guys!

While watching the game tonight I notice that Alain Berset is attending the game Switzerland-Brazil in Rostov. Did he fly with the confederacy Dassault? How much is worth such a trip? Isn’t a bit waistfull from a Swiss perspective?

I didn’t know Swiss official used to attend such events. I remember Ueli Maurer flying to China with SWISS rather than the Dassault.

Any insight?

Not unusual for Swiss federal councillors to attend high-profile sports events. Berset actually travelled to ROV with T-785, the Swiss Air Force (LTDB) Falcon 900. Definitely not the most expensive aircraft to operate in the world and gives the aircrew a welcome navigation exercise too, given the fact that these aircraft are occasionally used for non-VIP duty as well.

JOEL

Joelatbsl wrote:

SR380 wrote:

Hey guys!

While watching the game tonight I notice that Alain Berset is attending the game Switzerland-Brazil in Rostov. Did he fly with the confederacy Dassault? How much is worth such a trip? Isn’t a bit waistfull from a Swiss perspective?

I didn’t know Swiss official used to attend such events. I remember Ueli Maurer flying to China with SWISS rather than the Dassault.

Any insight?

Not unusual for Swiss federal councillors to attend high-profile sports events. Berset actually travelled to ROV with T-785, the Swiss Air Force (LTDB) Falcon 900. Definitely not the most expensive aircraft to operate in the world and gives the aircrew a welcome navigation exercise too, given the fact that these aircraft are occasionally used for non-VIP duty as well.

JOEL

Thanks for the info!

New regional airline being setup with GVA as first base http://www.flylanova.com/. It seems that the concept is far from the LCC trend and is rather focusing on premium service. From what I see, it seems that the concept and the proposed timetable makes sense, airlines in GVA (but in Europe in general) have all focused on cheap tickets and lower service rather than comfort and flexibility. I am sure there is a niche demand for these more premium flights.

They have started selling subscriptions, I wish them all the best!

xorrygva wrote:

New regional airline being setup with GVA as first base http://www.flylanova.com/. It seems that the concept is far from the LCC trend and is rather focusing on premium service. From what I see, it seems that the concept and the proposed timetable makes sense, airlines in GVA (but in Europe in general) have all focused on cheap tickets and lower service rather than comfort and flexibility. I am sure there is a niche demand for these more premium flights.

They have started selling subscriptions, I wish them all the best!

A nice idea, or rather a dream. Hope it won't turn into a nightmare ! Personally, I wouldn't risk my money ( if I had any ). Beside, Im unable to get into their website, all I can see is an attractive young lady dong some physical exercise, but their website doesn't answer whenever I'm trying to get more information on fleet, network etc.
Still, good luck to them.

hynithuchi wrote:

xorrygva wrote:

New regional airline being setup with GVA as first base http://www.flylanova.com/. It seems that the concept is far from the LCC trend and is rather focusing on premium service. From what I see, it seems that the concept and the proposed timetable makes sense, airlines in GVA (but in Europe in general) have all focused on cheap tickets and lower service rather than comfort and flexibility. I am sure there is a niche demand for these more premium flights.

They have started selling subscriptions, I wish them all the best!

A nice idea, or rather a dream. Hope it won't turn into a nightmare ! Personally, I wouldn't risk my money ( if I had any ). Beside, Im unable to get into their website, all I can see is an attractive young lady dong some physical exercise, but their website doesn't answer whenever I'm trying to get more information on fleet, network etc.
Still, good luck to them.

The website works for me, seems they're proposing to use ATRs, with a 36 seat C Class layout, and also have some 4-6 seater Pilatus Aircraft for the more exclusive routes. They're proposing operating from the 'Jet Aviation' terminal at GVA (and, next year ZRH) to avoid queues, with no departure ex-GVA prior to 7am, and no return to Geneva later than 9:25pm, so you can spend time with your family in GVA rather than having to be at the Airport at the crack of dawn. Oh, and some routes will see Aircraft night stopping away from Geneva.

Fares for GVA-STR for example start at CHF 700.- for a non-flexible return [minimum stay 2 nights], although you can get an extra 100.- off if you're a member - can't see what the membership costs, though.

For all that sounds nice, I just can't see them making any money with that concept.

Joelatbsl wrote:

SR380 wrote:

Hey guys!

While watching the game tonight I notice that Alain Berset is attending the game Switzerland-Brazil in Rostov. Did he fly with the confederacy Dassault? How much is worth such a trip? Isn’t a bit waistfull from a Swiss perspective?

I didn’t know Swiss official used to attend such events. I remember Ueli Maurer flying to China with SWISS rather than the Dassault.

Any insight?

Not unusual for Swiss federal councillors to attend high-profile sports events. Berset actually travelled to ROV with T-785, the Swiss Air Force (LTDB) Falcon 900. Definitely not the most expensive aircraft to operate in the world and gives the aircrew a welcome navigation exercise too, given the fact that these aircraft are occasionally used for non-VIP duty as well.

JOEL

According to recent reports, Swiss Air Force is also acquiring two Bombardier Challenger 604 from Swiss Air Ambulance REGA. Not sure if these will be used to expand the VIP fleet (currently consisting of a Citation Excel, a F900 and a Beech 1900) or to replace them. Compared to other European nations, the Swiss Federal biz-jet fleet is actually quite modest with the F900, which was by the way acquired on the second-hand market, being the most high-profile plane. When you consider that nations such as the Czech Republic (two A319s), Slovakia (one A319), Sweden (2 Gulfstream GIV, 1 Gulfstream GV) bolster much more impressive fleets the Swiss fleet and the use thereof by the government really isn't something to complain about.
The fleet is based at Bern Belp Airport but flights frequently operate out of ZRH, GVA, Dübendorf, Emmen or Payerne Air Base as well.

In other news, Edelweiss has just announced another two new destinations from ZRH starting in Summer 19. The airline will launch two weekly flights from ZRH to Tirana using A320 equipment and operating on Mondays and Fridays. Furthermore, a once weekly flight to Kalamata will be launched as well. Additionally, EDW plans to conver their flights to SEZ (Seychelles, 1x weekly) and MRU (Mauritius, 2x weekly) from seasonal to year-round in 2019.
Article (in German only): https://www.travelnews.ch/flug/9292-dop ... ziele.html

Ok, the website of LaNova works sometimes for me now, sometimes not. I've got some idea now of their concept, but to me it is wishful thinking. Other airlines tried STR before ( LH/F7 )with reasonable fares and could never make it work. Can't see this working with CHF 700.- for a return flight. I know people in the Private Banking business and except for the CEO, nobody travels C-Class in Europe. As for Carcachon, La Rochelle etc, I can't see who would want to spend that much on a 1 hour holiday flight. Much to my regret, should this project ever take off, I doubt it will be around for long.

"..Sweet dreams are made of this.."

I heard about them a few weeks ago, and took a deep look at what they want to achieve.

Despite the very risky business we're talking about, I think there is room for relative success if these guys are able not to do what has been done already, but build their own and unique product.

Product :
OK, we all understood it aint any other LCC, which is actually good. If we compare with other tourism business, aviation (in EU) is the only one offering kind of a single low-cost choice. Its like hotel choice wud be left to 1star only. Does that make sense ? I dont think so.

Basic Strategy :
Ex AF CEO Alex De Juniac was often saying : "We airlines are basically offering the same product, the winner will be the one that is able to reduce on ground waste of time". When you take a 30min flight to Nice, but lose 2-3 hours in endless procedures, reducing this time to 20min by the use of FBO's sounds pretty attractive to me. A lawyer that is invoicing his client 700.- per hour could be interested in having few more hours to spend in the case, and then invoicing more.

Pricing Strategy :
To me, the fact that they mention "from", like everyone do, seems like their fares aren't flat, and that some yield management will be applied. Regarding fare level, it looks like basic full economy price on regular airlines, but using direct flight from FBO's. If I have to fly to STR, given the choice of a LX flight from main terminal through ZRH, or this direct link from a FBO, for more or less the same price, I wont hesitate for long.

Network Strategy :
Appart from NCE, I think all their planned routes are non-served to date. Despite the fact it seems to me a lil bit risky to enter this specific NCE market, I imagine that 1-2% of the GVA-NCE travellers will be willing to pay more for a convenient offer, schedule wise, product wise, procedure wise. Lots of them are banker that are transfering to a helicopter flight to Monaco, Im not sure all them are pure easyJet fans. Regarding the leisure network, I can imagine they focuss on 2nd home residency, and not on package sold like any LCC/Charter flight. Britanny, Arcachon and Hyères are well known spots in the matter, and 2nd residency owner might be quite happy to be able to reach Arcachon without driving 10 hours. They can go there more often throughout the year, for shorter time, and if they are able to own such a thing, Im sure they are able to spend some 800-900 to fly there.

Schedule Strategy :
Considering I enjoy watching Football World Cup, to be back around 20:00 does talk to me, especially if I can spend this time with friends sharing delicious barbecue and wine. When flying with easyJet, with a return planned to land at around 23:00, chances to be diverted to Lyon or to have your flight cancelled are relevant.

Revenues v.s. Costs sustainability :
This is the point where I see the highest danger. Running such a business is extremely risky. To me, the key is to have a sufficient amount of start up fund, and mid-long term visibility in their costs. Starting with no AOC sounds quite wise in the matter, as you have more flexibility fleet wise, and reduced start up costs (no need to buy airplane, spare parts, to pay crew salaries, ..., ...) Wet lease or ACMI base is a little more expensive when you're a well established airline, but far more affordable when you're at the beginning. As far as my memory goes, that's how easyJet started.

Conclusion :
I think no one would have given a single chance when easyJet started operation. I can remember reactions in Geneva, that was in 1998, when everyone was laughing out loud. Today, they own more than 50% of the traffic, and everyone, legacies included, are adapting their own product in order to compete, with pretty limited success. And this could be applied to the whole industry in EU.

Saying that they have a bright future ahead of them seems to me a little optimistic, their hard time are ahead, but if they have a reasonable investment secured, and are able to keep their feet on the ground, their strategy could re-create demand for proper quality air-service.

Asking people around me, all them are complaining about the waste of time at airport. If they can keep this 20min car to plain promise, I'm pretty sure they can meet some success. Personally, I really hope they can make it, having family around Hyères, I'd be happy to visit them more often, without the whole hassle that comes along flying easyJet to Nice and the long drive towards Toulon that follows.

https://www.travelnews.ch/flug/9348-air ... erich.html
(German)

Air China will not be flying to ZRH in the upcoming winter schedule, last flight on Oct 26th 2018, first flight March 31st 2019.

I will be flying out of Zurich on 24 July. Does anyone think the Swiss air controllers strike will have any effect as they say it will be
primarily at Geneva

YangFeng wrote:

https://www.travelnews.ch/flug/9348-air-china-fliegt-im-winter-nicht-mehr-nach-zuerich.html
(German)

Air China will not be flying to ZRH in the upcoming winter schedule, last flight on Oct 26th 2018, first flight March 31st 2019.

That was quick ! When they opened a year ago, they announced they were planning to go daily soon and advance bookings looked very good, so this comes as a surprise. But then of course, which airline manager would say at the opening ceremony of a new destination that prospects for the new flight weren't good ! Beside that, have they confirmed that it is really a temporary suspension only or have they simply removed their flights for W18/19 while examining service resumption for S19 with a possibility of cancelling altogether ?

Today it was reported that Dr Lens (A Serbian and Italian citizen) has won the case against LX which discriminated against him on several occasions.

Swiss banned him from their flights on two occasions, in 2011 and 2014. In 2012 when the ban was lifted, Dorit Rosenberg, the airline's representative in Belgrade told him that 'he might not look like a pig but he is still a Serb' after which she refused him service.
Mrs Dorit continued with her tirade when in 2013 she kept on insulting him by saying things like: I hate that I am in Serbia. Serbs are lazy. Serbs are stupid. People from Serbia should not be allowed to travel ...

The following year (2013) she asked him if he was going to the Belgrade Pride Parade and then she added how she thinks all gays should be killed. A year later she called him an ugly gay.

Dr Lens filed complaints each time but there was no reply from the airline until he was banned from flying once again, in 2014. It was at this moment that he decided to sue the airline.

After some three years the court in Belgrade ruled in his favor while forbidding LX to further discriminate against their customer. If they do it again they will have to pay some $10.000 as damages. In addition to all that, LX has to pay $50.000 to Dr Lens for causing him distress.

Dr Lens requested for it to be $120.000 but the judge halved the amount. Finally, LX had to pay for the attorney fees ($21.800) as well as to pay for the verdict to be published in a local, daily newspaper that set back the airline for another $220.000 as they had to buy ad space over 12 pages.

Personally I am shocked no one responded to his complaints but also that LX didn't feel the need to immediately suspend Dorit Rosenberg.

Source in Serbian:
http://mondo.rs/a1117798/Info/Drustvo/S ... tuzba.html

hynithuchi wrote:

That was quick ! When they opened a year ago, they announced they were planning to go daily soon and advance bookings looked very good, so this comes as a surprise. But then of course, which airline manager would say at the opening ceremony of a new destination that prospects for the new flight weren't good ! Beside that, have they confirmed that it is really a temporary suspension only or have they simply removed their flights for W18/19 while examining service resumption for S19 with a possibility of cancelling altogether ?

It's only for W18/19 for now. S19 can still be booked, resumption of flights will be on March 31st.

YangFeng wrote:

hynithuchi wrote:

That was quick ! When they opened a year ago, they announced they were planning to go daily soon and advance bookings looked very good, so this comes as a surprise. But then of course, which airline manager would say at the opening ceremony of a new destination that prospects for the new flight weren't good ! Beside that, have they confirmed that it is really a temporary suspension only or have they simply removed their flights for W18/19 while examining service resumption for S19 with a possibility of cancelling altogether ?

I wonder how the loads and yield on the ZRH - PEK for LX are, I heard from several people that flew the route lately from 0 passengers in F around 5-6 in Business Class and half empty Economy cabin

For those who are not reading through all the Farnborough order threads:
Helvetic has signed a LoI for 12 Embraer E2-190 plus 12 options with conversion rights to the E195-E2. Deliveries will start late next year and will be completed by the end of 2021. With the 12 orders they will replace their existing fleet of 5 F100 and 7 E190. Press release: https://www.helvetic.com/en/mediarelease/173

I just hope that they don't configure those planes with the max seating capacity of 114 since their 190s already feel very cramped, especially the leg room.

Pictures of Helvetic E2-190: 1 2 3 and E2-195: 1 2 3 and both together

hynithuchi wrote:

xorrygva wrote:

New regional airline being setup with GVA as first base http://www.flylanova.com/. It seems that the concept is far from the LCC trend and is rather focusing on premium service. From what I see, it seems that the concept and the proposed timetable makes sense, airlines in GVA (but in Europe in general) have all focused on cheap tickets and lower service rather than comfort and flexibility. I am sure there is a niche demand for these more premium flights.

They have started selling subscriptions, I wish them all the best!

A nice idea, or rather a dream. Hope it won't turn into a nightmare ! Personally, I wouldn't risk my money ( if I had any ). Beside, Im unable to get into their website, all I can see is an attractive young lady dong some physical exercise, but their website doesn't answer whenever I'm trying to get more information on fleet, network etc.
Still, good luck to them.

As a matter of interest, do they have any planes at all at this stage ? It seems to me, that preparations should be in full swing for an October launch, but beside the occasional article in the aviation related press, nothing is known about them. How about slots, AOC ? Have they got support from the local Airport Authorities as this is usually the case for a new start-up ? A lot of questions, I know, but can anyone shed some light on this mysterious airline project ? As for an October launch, it seems as doubtful as a successful launch at all..

hynithuchi wrote:

hynithuchi wrote:

xorrygva wrote:

New regional airline being setup with GVA as first base http://www.flylanova.com/. It seems that the concept is far from the LCC trend and is rather focusing on premium service. From what I see, it seems that the concept and the proposed timetable makes sense, airlines in GVA (but in Europe in general) have all focused on cheap tickets and lower service rather than comfort and flexibility. I am sure there is a niche demand for these more premium flights.

They have started selling subscriptions, I wish them all the best!

A nice idea, or rather a dream. Hope it won't turn into a nightmare ! Personally, I wouldn't risk my money ( if I had any ). Beside, Im unable to get into their website, all I can see is an attractive young lady dong some physical exercise, but their website doesn't answer whenever I'm trying to get more information on fleet, network etc.
Still, good luck to them.

As a matter of interest, do they have any planes at all at this stage ? It seems to me, that preparations should be in full swing for an October launch, but beside the occasional article in the aviation related press, nothing is known about them. How about slots, AOC ? Have they got support from the local Airport Authorities as this is usually the case for a new start-up ? A lot of questions, I know, but can anyone shed some light on this mysterious airline project ? As for an October launch, it seems as doubtful as a successful launch at all..

They will be wet leasing apparently so makes them more of a virtual airline rather than anything else. The entire concept seems doomed from the start.

Interesting to see LaNova offer "scheduled" services to places which do not have any scheduled air traffic otherwise. Courchevel, St. Moritz, Arcachon.

Good lock to them.

Hi,

here's the "end of the month" update on the GVA's East Wings terminal.










Happy First of August to all celebrating!

Regards, Patrick.

St Moritz does have scheduled air service (albeit very very limited) with Air Glacier to Switzerland

Great Patrick, it's definitely taking shape, Thanks a lot for the pictures. Keep it up and enjoy the 1st of August with or without fireworks.