Globe Merchant Travel Blog

Update: Few delays as EU rules on baggage take effect
Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg News, International Herald Tribune, The Associated PressPublished: November 6, 2006

BRUSSELS: Traffic at EU airports suffered few delays Monday on the first day of strict new hand luggage regulations that limit the amount of liquids allowed on flights.

New EU rules limit passengers to carrying liquids in containers no larger than 100 milliliters, or 3.4 ounces, aboard planes, packed in transparent bags. The rules apply to all airports in the 25 EU nations and in Norway, Iceland, Croatia and Switzerland.

The list of liquids includes syrups, creams, lotions, oils, perfumes, sprays, hair and shower gels, shaving cream, pressurized deodorants, toothpaste, mascara, water and soft drinks.

The Association of European Airlines said most flights were running on schedule Monday with few delays, crediting public awareness campaigns for the smooth transition

Bingo! Ryanair hits the fan again
Rodney Hobson, 01/11/06 15:23

Don’t you just love Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary, whose uncanny accuracy in hitting the fan deserves an Olympic medal.

Just as the online gaming industry is facing meltdown after the enforced removal of their American gamblers, Ryanair is seeking to carve out its own niche in the depleted industry.

It is launching an online gaming partnership with the cutely named jackpotjoy.com, an online bingo operator. Ryanair passengers will play Ryanair Bingo and other games paying instant winnings as they book their flights, car hire and hotels on the budget airline’s website.

More than 80 games will be available with jackpots over £200,000. It sure beats being stuck on a plane for several hours to end up at an airport miles away from where you really wanted to go.

The down on earth version starts immediately and in typical Ryanair style all players in the first week will be offered a free flight.

An inflight version, using mobile phones or terminals handed out on board, will be available when the airline gets approval for the technology to be used on aircraft. O’Leary hopes the fun in the sky will start next summer.

He reckons that Ryanair will make more money in flight than during the booking process, and anyone who was attempted to buy anything on line or endured the boredom of a no-frills flight will surely testify to that.

Ryanair makes about a fifth of its revenue from services other than flying and it aims to increase ancilliary revenue by 20% a year.

Inevitably, O’Leary used the launch of his ethereal gambling to attack those calling for a green tax on airline omissions, saying they were insignificant compared with pollution from cars and from emerging economies.

He told a news conference that aviation accounts for only 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions and described the campaign in his own inimitable way as ‘the usual horseshit’.

O’Leary also threw in a reference to security being a shambles at Stansted, his main UK base.

Clearly he is in no mood to placate the authorities as he awaits clearance for his audacious bid for Irish rival Aer Lingus, whose shares have slowly sunk back to €2.85, just above the €2.80 offer.

Aer Lingus pilots would probably enjoy the distraction of in-flight bingo rather than contemplating the loss to their pensions fund after their fund trustees squandered money on buying Aer Lingus shares at higher prices in what appeared to be an ill-advised attempt to block Ryanair.

Meanwhile Ryanair shares continued the rise they began at €6.49 in May by adding 2 cents to €8.83.

Early Falcon fare to Europe from $1296
Monday, October 30, 2006

GULF Air has released an Early Falcon fare of from $1296 for return economy travel from Sydney to London and several other European cities from January 18-February 24 and October 4-November 11, 2007.

The same fare can be used to Frankfurt, Paris, Dublin, Istanbul, Athens and Larnaca but bookings must be made by December 18.

Economy fares for other seasons during the year range between $1472 and $1879. All fares are plus taxes ranging between about $340 and $405, depending on destination.

Travellers to Athens can also take advantage of a return fare from Sydney to Athens which also includes a domestic flight with Olympic Airlines or Aegean Airlines to a range of Greek mainland and island ports.

This fare ranges between $1472 and $2054, depending on the season, plus taxes of about $450 and permits travel onwards from Athens to Alexandrouplis, Corfu, Chania, Heraklion, Kavalla, Mytilene, Rhodes, Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Chios, Kos, Mykonos and Santorini.

For more details call 1300-366-337 or see your travel agent or www.gulfair.com.au

The European Commission is due to approve a decision today to take the government to court again over its inability to get illegal state funding back from Olympic Airlines, in a move that could lead to Greece being fined 50,000 euros a day.

Legal advisers yesterday gave the go-ahead for the Commission to take the legal action which may also result in a one-off fine of 5.3 million euros for Greece.

Brussels will haul the government before the European Court of Justice because Greece has not recovered any of the 161 million euros in illegal state aid that the court demanded last May. EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot has been critical of the government’s failure to comply with the ruling.

The aid, some of which was in the form of illegal tax breaks, went to Olympic Airways, the predecessor to current national carrier Olympic Airlines, between 1998-2002.

The EU executive body has also taken Greece to court for failing to recover some 540 million euros of state aid given to Olympic from 2002 to 2004.

Last year’s court decision was seen as the death knell for the airline but the government’s efforts to sell off the carrier have not been successful.

The new fines will come into effect once the European Court has ruled on the case so Greece may avoid the penalties if it can reach an agreement with the Commission before then.

The cost of keeping Olympic in the air
Greece risks receiving a hefty European Union fine (20,000 euros per day) that would, of course, be paid by the country’s taxpayers. The reason for this is that the current and previous governments have refused to solve a chronic problem which, according to reliable government sources, is already costing taxpayers some 700,000 euros a day.

The problem is known as Olympic Airlines, the latest reincarnation of Olympic Airways. Whatever the name we choose to give our ailing state-owned air carrier, the exorbitant bill will be sent to Greece’s taxpayers who are expected to pay it with no further ado.

It was on Wednesday that Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis made it clear that the state coffers cannot tolerate any more spending to meet teachers’ demands. As a result, schools will remain closed for the fourth week in a row.

According to recent comments by government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos, the first of six 57-million-euro installments to teachers “is not just peanuts.” Sure, but at the same time it should be acknowledged that allowing Olympic Airlines to operate in its current state for over two months carries a sobering price tag – worse still if we take the coming EU sanctions into account.

The legal action by EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot against the Greek government should force the political system to face up to its responsibilities. Greek taxpayers cannot shoulder any more burdens like this. The conservative administration must find an immediate remedy for the troubled Olympic Airlines. Tomorrow it will be 720,000 euros too late.

EU says Greece must apply court decision on Olympic Airlines aid ‘quickly’
4/10/2006 12:47 London Time | story 0830
BRUSSELS (AFX) – The European Commission said Greece must apply “quickly” a ruling made by the EU”s highest court that the government recover aid illegally paid out to flag carrier Olympic Airlines “quickly” or face further court action.
A spokesman said: “The Commission is still awaiting from the Greek authorities proof that they have applied this decision and recovered the illegal aid paid to Olympic.”
“The Court of Justice sentenced Greece for not having applied the decision in 2002. Similar proceedings are now underway and may go the Court if Greece does not apply the decision quickly.”
The European Court of Justice ruled in May last year that the Greek government broke EU rules by failing to comply with the commission request.
The 161 mln eur of illegal aid given to Olympic since December 2002 comprised 41 mln eur of restructuring aid and another 120 mln of operational aid, including granting the company exemption from payment of various sums the company owed to the Greek state such as VAT on fuel and airport charges.
On Sept 14 last year, the commission added that Greece must recover at least a further 150 mln eur of the 540 mln illegal aid paid to the carrier — formerly known as Olympic Airways.
The case dates back to 1998 when the commission authorised the payment of aid to restructure the airline, on condition that a strict plan was implemented, which foresaw a combination of cost control and increased productivity.
When the Greek government failed to honour these obligations, the commission declared the aid to be illegal as the behaviour was deemed to distort competition.

Great News! Air France sent me an email to let all my readers know that they are offering an early bird special for trave in the fall and winter that must be purchased by July 28. Unfortunately, Air France won’t allow me to sell tickets for them unless I also sell a package which includes some sort of land package(hotels, tours etc…). How silly! I sell airline tickets, not hotel space, not tours. So, I’m promoting sales for an airline company that won’t allow me to sell their airline tickets!
Anyway, wish I could help, but I’m having trouble accessing their travel agent portion of their web site anyway. I think you should go ahead and try to contact Air France and find out what kind of deals they have. I think that there plan is to have my clients bypass me and go straight to them anyway, so you might as well.
And don’t worry about me, I’m finding the airline mentality very amusing! Is it no wonder most of them are failing?