Romanian low-cost carrier BlueAir is introducing a 7 euro fee for each checked in bag, starting with October 26th. The carrier is not limiting the number of bags that a passenger can check-in but the tax will be paid for each bag.

In the same time the carrier is lowering the luggage allowance to 20kg, from 25kg. For each extra kilogram the passenger has to pay 6 euro more. For the moment the passenger can’t pay for the luggage on the internet at the time of the booking, so the tax will be paid at the departure airport, before the check-in.

As the passenger is not yet able to pay at the time of booking BlueAir can front some delays because of the “pay at the airport” process.

——-

Czech Airlines (CSA) , the biggest national airline of Czech Republic, is also lowering the luggage allowance for all the passengers traveling in Economy Class, from 23kg to 20kg. The new rule is effective from October 26th.

The new allowances affect also the passengers flying to/from intercontinental flights – United States and Canada – hat have to carry maximum two pieces of luggage of 20kg.

The Business Class passengers can still fly with 30kg of checked luggage in Europe and Middle East and 32kg for flights to/from United States and Canada.

Sursa foto

The new tax called “Collective madness” will be paid by each carrier taking off from any airport in the two mentioned countries, no matter it is a local or a foreign airline. The tax will be paid for each passenger carried on board of the aircraft.

In Ireland there the tax will be introduced starting with 30th March for each passenger that is outbound for another European country. The tax will be 8 euro for a passenger flying to one of the countries very close to Ireland – UK, Iceland, France, Spain and Germany, and 10 euro if he/she is flying to another European destination and the north African countries. For the moment the government have not mentioned if there will be a tax for the intercontinental flights (other than those to north Africa).

The press is expecting a very vehement reaction from low-cost airline Ryanair which is flying from all Irish airports to more than 90 European destinations. In the same time, Ryanair has a base at Bruxelles Charleroi Airport (the secont Bruxelles airport) from were is flying to almost 30 European and north African destinations.

Ryanair is flying to over 90 destinations from Irish airports. The company official are expected to attack the new tax in the next couple of days. (photo source)

In Belgium, the tax can be even higher, and if so it is expected that airlines will cut flights from the four main airports: Bruxelles International, Charleroi, Antwerp and Liege. For the moment, the government did not said how much this tax will be.

A French newspaper said (noting that there is not an official source to be quoted) that the new Belgian tax will be 10 euro for any European outbound flight and 40 euro for all the others.

A person working in the Belgian aviation sector told Boardingmedia.net that he hopes taxes will not be like those imposed last spring by the Dutch government: 11,25 euro per any passenger on an outgoing flight to any European destination and 45 euro for anybody flying to any worldwide airport.

The Belgian tax concern a lot the Dutch travelers too as many of the are using the Bruxelles International airport to fly intercontinental flights and Charleroi to reach European popular destination, as they do not want to pay the high Dutch taxes impose to airlines flying out Amsterdam or Rotterdam airports.

IATA (International Air Transport Association) criticized the Irish and Belgian proposals for the new tax, “Collective madness is the only way to describe the EUR 150 million Irish and EUR 132 million Belgian departure tax proposals. Filling budget gaps or financing government investment in the banking industry with gratuitous travel taxes is policy myopia at its worst,” told Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO, quoted by Associated Press.

Acum avem aeroportul Providenciales International, principalul aeroport al insulelor Turks and Caicos. Acesta este situat pe o insula creata artificial, deoarece spatiul insulelor nu ar fi putut sa gazduiasca un aeroport de talia acestuia. De la Bucuresti puteti ajunge aici cu British Airways (via Londra) sau cu American Airlines (Bucuresti – Londra operat de British Airways, si apoi Londra – Miami – Providenciales si retur cu American Airlines). Pentru versiunea a doua aveti nevoie de viza de tranzit pentru Statele Unite. Un bilet dus intorsc costa de la 1.500 de dolari, cu toate taxele incluse.

Primul exemplu se vede in poza de mai jos, unde aveti pista aeroportului Funchal (Madeira)… care are o jumatate sustinuta de niste piloni (ca si autostrazile).

A woman clears snow from her car in Bucharest Romania Thursday Jan. 3, 2008. Thousands of passengers were stranded after Bucharest’s two main airports were closed due to heavy snowfall. The snow also blocked many roads in the south of the country, forcing the closure of at least one border crossing with Bulgaria and prompting train delays. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A man seeks protection from high winds and pounding rain from behind a small umbrella in San Francisco, Friday, Jan. 4, 2008. A fierce arctic storm pounded California on Friday, threatening to soak mudslide-prone canyons already charred by wildfires and to paralyze the mountains with deep snow. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

The first flight is scheduled for 7:05 PM (local time – NY) and will land at the Otopeni Airport, next day, on June 6th, at 12:05 PM, Romanian time. If you are traveling from New York to Bucharest there are still some seats, for prices starting with 2100 USD – return trip. You have bellow the airplane seat map where you can see the “best economy seats” still available.

For the flight from Bucharest to New York on June 6th, there are plenty of seats in Bussiness and some 10 extra free seats(that in the flight from New York to Bucharest) in economy class. Prices strating from 2100 RON , round trip.

Ieri in jurul orei 6.10 aeronava WizzAir cu 77/78/80/83 (depinde de sursa) pasageri la bord si 6 membrii ai echipajului se pregatea sa decoleze de pe aeroportul Otopeni, cu destinatia Budapesta. Pilotul a primit permisiunea de decolare insa a mai primit si una semnalizare cum ca mototul stang nu functioneaza tocmai bine si mai scoate si ceva fum. Atunci s-a decis debarcarea de urgenta a pasagerilor…

Unul dintre pasageri nota pe forumul Softpedia (aici – atentie limbaj semi-agramat si de mare “afectiune”) ca:
“iesea fum din motorul stang si dobitocii de steuarzi ne spuneau sa stam la locurile noastre. nu au deschis usile iar rahaturile de autospeciale de pompieri au venit dup 5 -10 minute timp in care puteam sa ardem ca sobolanii in conserva.”

Domnul respectiv ar trebui sa stie ca in conformitate cu regulile care se aplica in cazul producerii acestor incidente personalul de bord a procedat corect. Rolul lor este, NU DE SERVII BAUTURI LA BORD, ci de a gestiona astfel de situatii de criza. Ce s-ar fi intamplat daca se bulucea toata lumea catre usa din fata a aeronavei? Haos total… a-ti fi murit strivit de alti pasageri.

Anyway, situatia s-a rezolvat si acum aeronava este supusa unor investigatii pentru a afla ce a dus la producerea incidentului.

Ieri am comentan intamplarea la George pe blog, unde spuneam urmatoarele:

In exclusivitate pe cyberculture.ro/blog Cristi vine cu noutatile aici:
- Cristi si-a cumparat ieri (IERI) bilet cu WizzAir, catre Roma .. platit 87 RON cu toate taxele (inclusiv cea de procesare card)
- Cristi nu a apucat sa scrie pe blog despre incident
- Cristi va zbura la Roma cu WizzAir pentru ca:
a. O cursa Lufthansa, care zbura catre Bucuresti, a aterizat la Budapesta cu un motor in flacari acum cateva saptamani
b. Aeronavele WizzAir vor fi supuse unor teste riguroase in zilele ce urmeaza in cadrul unor serii de inspectii (care nu vor fi facute de firma contractoare pentru mentenanta Wizzair). In urma acestei inspectii se va pastra sau nu licenta de zbor
c. am avut tupeul sa zbor cu BlueAir … so …
d. aeronava Wizzair cu care voi zbura la Roma va fi nou-nouta livrata special pentru baza de la Bucuresti
e. pentru ca biletul MyAir la dus era 125 euro

Oricum s-a facut foarte mare caz si tam-tam in cazul WizzAir (au trecut si BlueAir si MyAir prin “musoanele” presei!).

Dar haideti sa va livrez eu acum (in exclusivitate pe piata romaneasca!!!) motive pentru care nu ar mai trebui sa zburati cu KLM sau AerLingus (ei zboara la Dublin incepand din octombrie).

1. Buba la avionul KLM, dar si pentru pasagerii din avion
Cursa KLM cu numarul 0876 a decolat ieri, 30 mai 2007, de pe Aeroportul Amsterdam Schiphol avand ca destinatie Osaka (Kansai). La bordul aeronavei Boeing 777-200 se aflau 262 de pasageri si 14 membrii ai echipajului. In momentul in care aeronava a inceput coborarea pentru aterizare aceasta a fost lovita de o serie de turbulente puternice, care au dus la ranirea a 14 pasageri si a 2 membri ai echipajului. Noua dintre raniti au fost spitalizati pentru a li se face mai multe investigatii. Aeronava a aterizat pe Osaka Kansai airport la ora 9:17, cu 18 minute inainte de ora programata.

2. AerLingus – motor reparat, defactat din nou … in aer
Ieri, 30 mai, aeronava Airbus 320-200 (inmatriculata EI-DUO) a companiei AirLingus , care efectua zborul 0144, trebuia sa decoleze de pe aeroportul Los Angeles International (LAX) la orele 16:30 (ora locala) cu destinatia Dublin. Din cauza ca unul dintre cele doua motoare nu pornea aeronava a fost retinuta la sol. Dupa aproximativ trei ore si jumatate (19:50 – ora locala), pasagerii au fost imbarcati si au pornit catre Dublin. Insa motorul tocmai reparat a prezentat din nou probleme pilotii decizand sa efectueze o aterizare de urgenta pe aeroportul din Chicago, O’Hare Intl., aterizare care s-a produs in jurul orei locale 01:53 dimineata. Dupa mai multe ore petrecute in aeroport se pare ca pasagerii sunt in zbor spre destinatia finala, urmand sa aterizeze la Dublin la ora 01:51 in aceasta noapte, cu o intarziere de aproximativ 14 ore.