#Alitalia Airlines Manage Booking | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

workbusiness · 8 months

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What Can You Do with ITA Airways Manage Booking?

Managed booking allows VITA Airways passengers to make changes to their flight reservations. Through Manage Booking, passengers can:- Change their flight dates- Change their seats- Add luggage- Upgrade to a more expensive class- Add special services- Cancel their reservations- Request a refund- Rebook a flight different- Print your e-tickets

Important Routes of Alitalia

The Alitalia airline, in addition to providing complete coverage of Italy, extends its wings to the main European capitals, North Africa, America, Asia and the Middle East. As of early 2023, the airline flies to 44 destinations on 59 routes and aims to expand to 74 destinations on 89 routes by 2025. A couple of major cities in its expansive and expanding network include Algiers, Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Brussels, El Cairo, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, City of London, London Heathrow, Madrid, Malta, Munich, Nice, New Delhi, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Paris Orly, Sofia, Stuttgart, Tirana, Tel Aviv, Tunis and Zurich. Some of the important and popular transatlantic routes are Miami-Rome, Miami-Venice, New York-Florence, New York-Bari, Los Angeles-Milan, Boston-Palermo.

A member of the SkyTeam alliance, ITA Airways serves aviation markets across continents.

Baggage Allowance

The free baggage allowance on board Alitalia flights allows from 23 to 32 kilograms, depending on the class of travel and destination. Free carry-on baggage may have a maximum weight of 8 kg and measure no more than 55 cm high, 35 cm wide and 25 cm deep, including handles, side pockets and wheels. Business Class on long-haul flights allows two check-in bags of up to 32 kg each, while Premium Economy and Economy allow baggage up to 23 kg. In addition, one can carry an accessory baggage that can be their handbag, work backpack or laptop. This must not be more than 36 cm high, 45 cm wide, 20 cm deep. On Alitalia flights, take into account the destination rules on extra baggage, which differ depending on the destination between 60 and 250 euros.

Travel with Infants

Sailing at high altitude with all the comforts is a pleasurable experience, Alitalia goes the extra mile to serve its passengers with unmatched amenities and facilities. Alitalia airlines are among the few airlines that allow their passengers to select their preferred seats in case they are traveling with children and babies. Passengers can reserve a rear seat free of charge if they are traveling with a child under 12 years of age. When checking in online, adults traveling with infants under the age of two can select a standard seat free of charge. The assignment of a seat, next to the minor’s, is guaranteed for at least one of the parents/companion.

Gourmet Meals Inflight

Alitalia flights offer a wide range of delicious menus on all its routes and classes. Enjoy delicious meals ranging from snacks and a beverage of your choice on international flights under three hours to culinary variety on flights from Italy to intercontinental destinations with two services; One serving with starters, main course with dessert followed by a second serving for snack or breakfast. A specially curated meal is also on the menu along with your choice of beverages on flights with a duration of 11 hours or longer.

Long-haul Business Class flights have an expert chef on board who prepares the most amazing traditional Italian dishes. Passengers in this class have the opportunity to try the most incredible cuisine organized by star chef Enrico Bartolini, who, for flights departing from Italy, has reinterpreted two traditional Italian dishes: pappa al pomodoro and Amalfi-scented chicken thigh. . Traditional recipes, inspired by home cooking, are also served for station passengers.

Stay Connected with Wi-Fi Onboard

Making air travel highly convenient for business and leisure travelers alike, Alitalia flights offer the all-important facility of making phone calls to the ground using satellite technology. You can even call a fellow traveler on the same flight, but with farther seats, by dialing her seat number. Furthermore, one also has the pleasure of having Wi-Fi connectivity on board. Once you board the flight, and once the crew allows it, when you open the browser, you will be automatically directed to the ITA Airways Wi-Fi portal. You can buy an Internet package that suits you best by following the instructions on your device. Once connected you can call, chat or browse thanks to the international roaming service.

Travel Classes

Alitalia (ITA Airways) offers you a variety of travel classes to suit all budgets. You can choose to enjoy the convenience of traveling in style and comfort in five different classes of travel. From Business Class Long Distance, Business Class Medium Distance, Superior, Premium Economy and Economy. Each class offers travelers personalized services.

Business Class Long Haul offers some of the most amazing flight experiences with a seat that reclines up to 180° with a fully flat bed position and a massage function. The atmosphere in the cabin is super relaxing with lights that vary in intensity and color depending on the time and the stages of the journey in the new A330s. This fleet of aircraft comes with personal screens and a fabulous collection of movies, games, music and TV shows. In Premium Economy Class, passengers can also enjoy excellent inflight entertainment with 10.4" and 10.6" personal screens (A330 fleet), a wide repertoire of movies, games, music and TV shows.

Premium Economy also has a quiet, separate cabin section with 17 ergonomic seats that recline approximately 120° and offer up to 40% more legroom. Alitalia has a great facility to request an upgrade in travel class. Passengers can make an offer for a higher class online, and if the airline accepts the offer, then the passenger can enjoy the higher flight experience at the price he/she decides. However, a lot depends on the availability of seats at the time and also on the offer made: the higher the offer, the more chances there are of getting an upgrade.

About ITA Airways

ITA Airways is a leading global airline carrying passengers to various destinations around the world. Their main priority is to guarantee the safety, comfort and satisfaction of their passengers. ITA Airways has a modern fleet of aircraft, excellent amenities, and a highly-trained team of professionals who work together to establish the airline as a model of excellence and reliability in the aviation industry.

Its route network covers popular tourist destinations, major business centers and remote locations, offering different classes of flight to meet the unique needs of each traveler. Passengers can choose between economy, business or first class and enjoy a personalized and pleasant experience on every flight.

ITA Airways offers passengers more than just flights by providing various complementary services such as baggage handling, delicious food on board and a variety of entertainment options. The airline is committed to providing a smooth and seamless travel experience from booking to arrival, and this commitment is evident in all aspects of its operations. From the moment travelers book their travel, ITA Airways strives to make their experience as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.

A critical cornerstone of ITA Airways’ success lies in its unwavering commitment to safety and security. The airline strictly adheres to safety regulations and implements a rigorous training regimen for its pilots and cabin crew, equipping them with the necessary tools to navigate potential in-flight emergencies.

In addition, the airline makes significant investments in cutting-edge safety and security technologies, ensuring the protection of passengers and crew throughout the flight experience.

The main aspect that travelers need to take care of while booking air tickets is to control the fluctuating price of air tickets. Here, what needs to be considered specifically is to look for the best deals that seem affordable according to the budget. Therefore, it is always of great benefit to know about all the benefits that are provided and make the best use of them during online air ticket bookings. Choose cheap airline tickets after checking them all.

Travelers always look for cheap flight bookings whenever they plan to book airline tickets. One way to execute this wisely is to start planning the same or check the best flight deals at least a month before the trip. This greatly benefits them by satisfying their need to travel for less and get the cheap air tickets available. Travel time planning is another important aspect that is less taken into account or mostly forgotten. Therefore, travel experts recommend planning your travel time and considering all available options before booking your flight online.

Making use of online flight booking features or travel apps is the best thing to do with the progress of technology. In this way, travelers can see the main options that airlines offer and compare them several times before booking plane tickets to their destination. In fact, each airline strives to provide its travelers with the best options to travel for less, in a more direct and faster way. As a result, there is less third-party involvement in booking cheap flights.

With immense growth and involvement of technology, booking airline tickets has become a much easier process with widely used apps. These help travelers with personalized notifications and messages every time they book their air tickets. Also, in the process of booking cheap flights and others, these platforms help travelers to have a well-planned trip by sending personalized messages, emails, and invoices that are highly beneficial from the beginning to the end of their trip. Through these airline tickets, travelers also receive small benefits, such as information on nearby malls, history of booked airline tickets, variable fares, and sometimes a descriptive itinerary. This is the main reason why the need to book cheap flights is always increasing.

Because BookOTrip has been heavily involved in the field of travel, we are able to meet people’s needs to travel for less money both domestically and internationally. We make sure that, through us, booking airline tickets online becomes a unique experience and that the trip is much easier. BookOTrip offers a completely different flight booking process whereby travelers can view the best available options and make a final decision on their bookings after exploring all available options.

The reason why we strive to be one of the most trusted choice of our happy customers is that we create a platform for user-friendly experience regarding online flight booking to get desired cheap air tickets. Ultimately what we hope is to offer cheap flight booking services like no other and offer travel services to book airline tickets at desired rates. BookOTrip also offers an expanded opportunity for travelers to make digitized payments in a split second and stay ahead of other competing travel agencies.

Alitalia Web Check-in

Alitalia’s web check-in service can be used 48 hours before flight departure. However, for flights to/from the US, online check-in is only available 24 hours prior to your flight departure. To do your web check-in, click on the ‘Book and Manage’ tab on the airline’s homepage (https://www.ita-airways.com/en_en/), enter your PNR number along with your name and surname. Then proceed with the check-in. Also, note that seat selection is free in Economy Class for Classic Plus and Flex fares, so don’t forget to choose your favorite seat.

#ITA Airways Manage Booking

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flightroute-blog · 4 years

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How can you check-In for Alitalia flights?

Detailed procedure to check-in online for Alitalia Airlines reservations

Well, booking reservations with Alitalia Airlines has become quite simple after the introduction of the online booking option. Further, to make it simpler for the users to manage their reservations in time, the airline has even introduced the option of manage booking.

For the passengers who are not aware, the passengers are offered with Alitalia manage my booking service that allows them to change and cancel their flight reservations. Further, the passengers are even provided with an option to check-in online for their reservations and plan their trip accordingly.

About the check-in service of Alitalia Airlines

For the comfort and convenience of the passengers, the airline has introduced the online check-in service that the passengers can use to get their boarding passes in advance and select seats of their choice by paying additional fees.

Further, for the passengers who are not aware, the check-in option is available 48 hours before the departure of the flight. However, for the flights departing from and to the USA, the check-in option is offered 24 hours before the departure.

Hence, this was the basic details on the Alitalia Check-in policy that one needs to know. Besides, many passengers have a query on how to check-in online for their reservations? So, to help out the passengers, here the steps that one can follow.

Procedure to check-in online for Alitalia reservations

For the online check-in process, the user needs to visit the airline website.

Then, the passenger needs to click on the manage booking option and provide the reservation details.

After the booking is retrieved, the passenger can opt for the online check-in option.

Further, the passenger can select the seat of their choice and proceed with the check-in process.

If required, the passenger needs to make payment for the selected seats and proceed with the check-in option.

Now, the passenger will be offered with their reservation details that they need to verify to get their boarding passes.

Then, the passenger can easily download or print their boarding passes as per their requirement.

Hence, this was the complete information about the Alitalia check-in policy and the process of the airline. For queries regarding the same, the passenger can contact the airline support for assistance.

Website Source - Flight Route Info

#flight booking #flight tickets #airlines #cheap flights

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sammychris27-blog · 5 years

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+1 (888) 204 8722 Alitalia Airlines Manage Booking Number

Now manage your booking via alitalia airlines manage booking number dial +1 (888) 204 8722 and get all details about your booking. modify your booking from us by dialing our numbers.

#Alitalia Airlines Manage Booking

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casualwonderlandkryptonite · 3 years

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flightchange · 3 years

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are you able to cancel a flight

The only moving to warranty you’ll be able to get a restore for any reason is to book a refundable airfare. However, these behave are astronomically supercilious when obtain to no-refundable business. The main consumers of refundable airfares are businesses that necessity the ability to make manifold changes or refund a ticket and are self-moved to hire the premium. If you are traverse for leisure, you’ll most credible be buying a no-refundable ballot. In the for--coronavirus era, airline flight schedules would typically be solidified a pair of months before departure. Barring a mechanic issue, weather linger or other unforeseen circumstances, casualty were quite commendable that a flight would proceed correspondingly to schedule. are you able to cancel a flight In the unfortunate issue of a departure in the patronymic or other prodigious circumstances, you may be clever to have shift pasture waived by the airline, even without assurance. In these circumstances, call the air carrier and resolve your state. Be prepared to stipulate documentation. All other adult U.S. airlines simply follow requirements prepare by the DOT. However, possession your ticket via an online journey agency can be beneficial when it comes to familiar cancellation. Many third-party situation such as Expedia, Orbitz, or Priceline propound guiltless cancellation until conclusion of Time (alternate between 10 and 11:59pm) the ensuing business day after purchase, regardless of how remote in heighten you are procure your flight. This means you could buy a mounting departing the next Time and still be vigorous to blot out it risk-liberated. Also, you can potently purchase a ballot on Friday and have until Monday adversity to cancel your soaring without penalty. This could be lengthen to Tuesday obscurity if Monday happens to be a cheerful. In this scenario, you still penury (and scheme) to take your flight as primarily booked. However, there has been some kind of change that will stop you from deed so. Note as well that, while vary and cancellations are platitudinize due to COVID-19 perpendicular now, this same generalship betake even when the pandemic ends — just like it devote prior to the virus’ emergence. If you’re no longer planning to take a fleeing and scarceness a full repay, it always pays to wait until orderly before departure.flight rules Top offers from our partaker How we chose ✕ How we thing these game Our characteristic-obsessed staff uses a overfullness of trust cards on a help basis. If anyone on our team wouldn't mention an offer to a girlfriend or family member, we wouldn't recommend it on The Points Guy either. Our opinions are our own, and have not been retrace, approved, or indoors by our advertising partners. Lastly, it is likely to repeal your airfare and get a reimburse due to a detriment in your present family, but these deprivation refunds, and other such emergency refunds, are notoriously perplexed to get. It varies from airline to airline, but they often need a death debenture or other documentation as test of your privation. If your ticket is completely refundable, you can for the most part cancel your departure online. Look for a “My Trips” or “Manage My Flight” slice of the airline’s website; the name will vary per airline. Otherwise, you can call the air carrier’s patron avail. Singaporean low-charge airline Scoot is extending one-season liberated conclusion diversify to all bookings made between 10 March and 14 May. Unlike most Indian airlines, Scoot is admit travellers with bookings until mid-May to reschedule. Alitalia and Aer Lingus are concede rescheduling until the end of June and May, respectively. However,airlines such as Emirates, Cathay Pacific and British Airways are permit immoderate cancellation but do check the finished print. First, I tried to abrogate my flight on American's website but, like its competitors, the airline does not make it known to those who click destroy that they might be suitable for a reimburse. They want you to rebook to a puisne date or take a estimation, chiefly when no cash is coming in from modern bookings during a pandemic.

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zak-washington-blog · 5 years

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How does the mafia work?

MAFIA SPECIAL 1. We look at the real way the Italian mob operates, the symbiotic state-mafia relationship and its fund redistribution network. We will also meet Europe’s most corrupt police force.

'In an anarcho-capitalist society, who stops the mafia?' asked an online forum. This question will help us untangle some of the complexities of the mob as it addresses some of the central themes involved: the symbiotic state-mafia relationship and its fund redistribution network.

The birth of both Italy and the mafia. A historical coincidence? The ‘who stops the mafia?’ question is basically an extension of an argument constantly levelled at libertarians which posits that any non-state run society would be immediately overtaken by rampaging warlords. Some observers have noted that the mafia and the state are virtually the exact same thing. Where the state exists, the mafia flourishes. It’s certainly no coincidence that the rise of the mob took place over the precise period that statism expanded. In Italy, the mafia went from small-scale localized blood feuds in Sicily to large-scale racketeering when Garibaldi unified the various kingdoms of the region to form the country of Italy in 1861. As one historian astutely put it, the mafia couldn’t afford to be on the losing side. Put another way, the mafia goes where the money is.

Various forms of mafia have been completely misrepresented in popular culture. In fact, before proceeding it might be a good opportunity to take a closer look at how different types of mob behaviour breakdown and put rest to a few ideas which are complete fantasy.

The favours bank. First off, Italy, like most countries, suffers from a type of non-meritocratic way of doing business, often based on family, influence peddling or mutual back scratching. The late Tom Wolfe in Bonfire of the Vanities described the New York equivalent as ‘the favours bank’. Wolfe, if memory serves me well, portrayed high-powered NYC attorneys using their influence in pursuit of personal objectives. This type of behaviour, it could be argued, is merely a synonym of doing business. Who hasn’t had to resort to asking favours or influence from others as we endeavour to promote our own enterprises?

Undercutting the state. On a local level in Italy this type of influence is often thought of as ‘community’. Most southern villages still have patriarchal figures who will bail out needy individuals or families when, for example, someone loses their job or runs into financial hardships. This age old tradition continues mainly because locals have more faith in fellow-community members than in state welfare itself and its notoriously miserly benefits system. Its longevity is also partly due to the fact that the mafia can undercut state prices and offers protection and contract enforcement at more ‘competitive’ rates.

Mob feuding. The next level, which could be labelled ‘inter-family or mob feuding’ (think Godfather films and horse’s heads), certainly exists but, in reality, is over-played and over-publicised. In fact, when one of the characters from the Coppola film states, ‘I don’t like blood, it’s bad for business’ he was summing up the modern mafia ethos quite succinctly. Occasionally mob fighting does spill out onto the sidewalks, as it did in Calabria some years ago, but as one observer put it, the mob only gets violent when they can’t make ‘legitimate easy money’ elsewhere. With the state, they almost always can.

How the mafia really works. The real mafia is not just ‘la famiglia’ in tiny southern villages. It is something totally different. It is a huge corporate enterprise said to contribute 10% to 20% of Italy’s GDP. The typical modern day mobster is a suited business exec virtually indistinguishable from his political cronies. The typical modern mafia scam, par excellence, is rigging public tenders. It’s the oldest trick in the book. The government, in the name of transparency, is forced to put all public work or projects (whose remuneration is over €10,000 - last time I checked) out to public tender. The whole thing is a farce. Most of the ‘competing’ companies are bogus fronts for the mafia.

The most corrupt police force in Europe. The state is completely complicit. The Guardia di Finanza, Italy’s version of the Fraud Squad is openly known to be the most corrupt police corp in Europe. Local business live in fear of them and every single legitimate business in the area where I live has had to pay them off. (Their standard fare is a hefty ‘present’ of firm’s goods. A local glove maker I know had to hand over several hundred gloves as a payment for some supposed fiscal discrepancy. The Guardia di Finanza families eat for budget price in restaurants and they drink their expressos free in local bars.)

The costs. The standard practice is that the money from these public tenders gets awarded to mafia run firms. The public work begins. Then the company folds. This normally occurs after fellow mob members have pocketed huge consultancy fees. The damage to the economy is massive as the entire country is crippled under the weight of literally thousands of taxes to fund this. The environmental consequences are worse still. The entire country is littered with unfinished buildings and projects. Milan’s recent World Exposition, and its myriads of mobster scams, destroyed acres of park land. The supporters claimed that it invigorated the local economy but (as we have shown elsewhere) it came at a cost of €3000 a head per Italian. Naples has nine unfinished hospital projects all paid for with public taxes.

The state capitalism mafia model. Now that we have some idea about how the mob works, it makes the original question far easier to answer: How could an anarcho-capitalist society stop the mafia? Simple. No state – no state mafia. The rise of a robust, entrenched mafia came about because the mob simply used the state as their business model. The backbone is the huge wealth collection and redistribution system. In the case of the state, it’s called ‘taxes’, in the case of the mafia, it’s called ‘il pizzo’ or what ETA used to refer to as the ‘revolutionary tax’ in the Basque country. The mafia takes its cue from state capitalism - the idea that the state should safeguard large-scale industries from failure by propping them up or funnelling cash through them. Think US bank bail-outs. Boeing couldn’t stand up to real free-market capitalist competition without going bankrupt. Neither could so many weapons manufacturers, big pharma companies, tech giants, aero-industry, etc. Neither can Alitalia, the Italian state run airline company that for decades has haemorrhaged billions of tax payer’s money while strengthening and enriching its higher management – basically another mafia. It’s a blatant scam that most gullible tax contributors support, but few of them understand its messy, multi-layered complexities or who is hidden behind. Put another way, honest yet ignorant working folk are directly responsible – they fund it after all.

So bad they even go to jail. The same applies to almost every other sector of the government-mob nexus. State capitalism feeds the mafia. In my local area we have monstrous mob run industries like defence, aerospace and security giants such as Leonardo-Finmeccanica. While ostensibly producing military helicopters and fighter planes for a country that hasn’t been at war for eighty years, the conglomerate has a history littered with case after case of corruption. It’s so bad that people have even been jailed… and that takes some doing in Italy.

In an anarcho-capitalist society there would be no state and therefore no massive re-distribution of state funds to bad actors. When trade and business are voluntary, companies and individuals sell goods and services that are of far greater social utility. Finmeccanica’s cheapest chopper trades at €11 million. Who the hell are you going to sell that to in an ancap society? Are you going to hop on a plane to Italy aboard one of the state’s mafia funding fleet, or take the honest, cheaper free market option? Exactly. Hence the honest shift towards independent and volantaryist communities using essentially anarchist systems such as the internet, sharing apps, cryptocurrencies, blockchains and any number of other new models. Systems which allow freedom to choose how we spend the fruits of our labour. The dinosaurs have got their days numbered.

Tons more articles at www.thepennypost.net

#italy #mafia #mob #anarchy #liberarian #anarchism #socialism

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toldnews-blog · 5 years

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New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/business/flybmi-wont-be-the-last-airline-failure-say-analysts/

Flybmi won't be the last airline failure, say analysts

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Flybmi’s demise won’t be the last airline to collapse, analysts say

In two short sentences, Flybmi’s announcement that it had collapsed summed up the airline industry’s woes: fuel costs, green taxes, Brexit uncertainty, falling passenger numbers. It might have added fierce competition, but that is probably a statement of the obvious.

Several European airlines have folded or hit financial trouble during the past two years. Britain’s Monarch collapsed in October 2017, while Germany’s Germania filed for insolvency earlier this month.

Air Berlin and Alitalia went bust, although the latter was propped up by the Italian government.

Primera, Cobalt, Azurair, Small Planet Airlines and SkyWork may not be household names, but all succumbed to the market turbulence sweeping across the sector. Flybe is being rescued by a consortium led by Virgin Atlantic and Stobart Air, assuming the deal is approved by shareholders.

Last month Norwegian Air Shuttle was forced to seek an emergency cash injection, putting a question mark over its promise to revolutionise budget long-haul travel.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary may be prone to a bit of hyperbole, but when he warned this month that the industry would see more bankruptcies no one doubted him.

“Winter is the worst time of year for airlines,” says Ascend Consultancy analyst Peter Morris. “If you can get through the winter there’s a chance of getting summer bookings.”

So why are so many airlines failing? Travel expert Simon Calder went to the heart of the problem when he told the BBC that the airline industry’s problem is: “There are simply too many seats and not enough people.”

But the reasons for this are many and complex.

The growth of airlines in Europe, mainly budget carriers, came on the back of de-regulation and an explosion of route networks.

Using new and cost-efficient aircraft operators started new services. If one route failed, they tried another. Flexibility was key.

According to the International Air Transport Association, the number of flights in Europe has risen more than 40% compared with a decade ago. At the same time, though, fares have fallen, squeezing margins and reducing financial room for manoeuvre.

This expansion has not insulated the industry from wider economic shocks, such as economic slowdown, unfavourable exchange rates, and sudden extra costs – from traffic control strikes, maintenance bills, bad weather (remember the Beast from the East) and passenger compensation.

New EU passenger compensation rules were, said Wizz Air boss József Váradi, becoming a real burden on airlines. He cited this, along with fuel costs, as the two biggest squeezes for many carriers.

Oil prices rose and slumped in 2018, and since the start of the year have been on their way back up. Fuel costs have been cited as a factor is almost all the problems reported by airlines in the last couple of years.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption A deal to rescue Flybe is awaiting shareholder approval

Flybmi also highlighted another extra cost that did damage – emissions taxes. Tim Jeans, a former managing director of Monarch and chairman of Newquay Cornwall Airport, agrees that it is becoming an serious issue for the whole industry.

“Carbon costs are a creeping cost for all airlines,” he told the BBC. “The fees you need to pay to carry out your flying are are going up all the time, and they are now quite a material cost.”

He thinks many airlines have not fully budgeted for this rise. “It certainly looks like that is the case with Flybmi,” he said.

There’s also the issue of Brexit. Critics say it has become convenient for UK companies to blame uncertainty around Britain leaving the EU for their problems.

But for any UK airline – from Flybmi to British Airways – the potential unravelling of Europe’s open skies agreement that has existed for decades is a real worry, Mr Jeans says.

It will certainly hinder the ability of some airlines to do deals and offer services if there is uncertainty about their freedom to fly across Europe, he said.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary warned of more casualties among airline industry

Mr Morris says problems at International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) underline how Brexit is worrying the major carriers.

To retain its operating licence in Europe, IAG, which owns British Airways and Iberia, must show it is more than 50%-owned and controlled by EU investors. So, IAG is capping non-EU investment – except for UK shareholders, who will be counted as part of the EU even after Brexit.

It’s an example, says Mr Morris, of “how even the big boys might have some problems with the aviation environment”.

Will there be more airline failures? “Yes, I think definitely,” says Mr Morris.

Airlines that are particularly vulnerable are the smaller carriers squeezed between the major players like BA and Lufthansa, and the big low-cost carriers like Ryanair and Easyjet, Mr Morris says.

The former have economies of scale and a presence at major hub airports like Heathrow. The latter operate larger, more efficient aircraft and more regular services, so have lower per-seat costs. It means both sectors can better withstand shocks.

Mr Jeans agree. “Flybmi’s demise is a perfect example of just how difficult it is to make money in that middle ground,” he says.

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vsplusonline · 4 years

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Indians at the covid epicentre: Locked out, confused & waiting to come home

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/indians-at-the-covid-epicentre-locked-out-confused-waiting-to-come-home/

Indians at the covid epicentre: Locked out, confused & waiting to come home

NEW DELHI: Some stories of Indians stuck in the locked-down Covid-19 epicentres of Italy and Iran read like a cruel turn of fate. Their wait for the Indian government’s evacuation operation gets agonising by the day, the problem compounded by their sheer numbers, which makes it difficult to get the requisite medical clearances to return, and results in information fog.

Many students ET spoke with feared they would be left to the mercy of the already-overburdened Italian healthcare system if they test positive.

The ministry of external affairs, though, confirmed regular evacuations. On Sunday, 218 Indians — including 211 students from Milan — landed in New Delhi, according to the ministry, all of whom will be quarantined for 14 days.

On Saturday, 234 Indians stranded in Iran too had returned, including 131 students and 103 pilgrims. “In the next few days, we are evacuating again from Iran and Italy,” an external affairs ministry spokesperson told ET late on Sunday.

One among the Indians stuck in Italy is a pregnant woman, who spoke to ET but declined to be named. The woman, who is in her first trimester and in severe pain, fears she may lose her baby. Fear of exposure to Covid-19 and long queues at hospital emergency rooms is keeping her from hospitals. She said she is uncertain when she will be able to return.

IIT-Delhi alum Nand Kumar Kurup went to SDA Bocconi School of Management, Milan, in 1997 for an MBA. He never returned – and now can’t leave. In 2007, he chose the financial capital of Italy to set up his own B2C fashion business. Today, Milan and the province of Lombardy where it is located, are the epicentres of the country’s Covid-19 outbreak. Kurup is also cut off from his family as his wife is visiting India and daughters are studying in London. He says many thousands of Indian students in Italian universities are waiting to be evacuated.

On March 10, Covid-19 certificate was made mandatory to travel from Italy to India, delaying many students flying by Air India. However, several other airlines — such as Emirates, Alitalia and EgyptAir —may not have strictly enforced this. Students aboard such flights made it back, while those travelling by Air India were held back for the certificate.

In Rome, Masters student Poorna Chandrakanth spoke of two friends who were told by the embassy that they could “probably” leave.

On the morning of the journey, despite Air India’s message that the flight was delayed by two hours, the students reached the airport. But there, Air India officials said they would not be allowed to fly back without a Covid-19 certificate.

The students, many of whom had given up their accommodation, remained stranded at the airport until the Indian embassy arranged accommodation. They fear the exposure may have left them infected.

“We just want to come back to our homeland, not even our homes. We are ready for any quarantine wherever you want. If we get infected here, nobody will take care of us,” said Chandrakanth.

On March 13, the Indian embassy arranged for samples to be taken from these students, though the results may take a week.

“There’s a huge rush among students in Milan and Rome to get the mandatory medical tests done and then get airlines bookings to go back,” says Abhishek Lokhande, a postgraduate student from Hyderabad enrolled at the University of Sapienza in Rome.

“The Indian government’s medical team is due to arrive in Milan soon to evacuate several students who are stranded at the airport,” said Phaniram Varma from Hyderabad, who is a postgraduate student of industrial automation engineering at the University of Pavia, some 30 km from Milan.

“Pavia is in lockdown. The only trips are to the supermarket, where we have to wait in queue with 1 metre distance between us. Only 10 people can enter the store at a time,” said Varma, whose two Indian flatmates left Italy before the lockdown was declared on March 9. “It’s impossible to get a medical certificate here since doctors and hospitals are hard-pressed treating hundreds of patients.”

Northern Italy has a large Indian population — agricultural workers from Punjab, Gujarati business families and university students. The total number of Indians in Italy has been estimated at 200,000 by the ministry of external affairs, which is the largest Indian diaspora in Continental Europe. Sukhdev Singh Kang, who runs a languages translation agency in Brescia since 2009 and is a Sikh community leader, feels unhappy because the local gurdwara, a hub for the Punjabi community, has been shut down, along with all other religious establishments.

Prashant Kachave, son of a Maharashtrian farmer and a postgraduate student in petroleum science at the University of Perugia, near Rome, came on a scholarship. He has another worry. “I fear I will be ostracised if I return to India from Italy now,” he said.

Chetan Abhishek, another postgraduate student at the University of Sapienza in Rome, was waiting for his degree in product design on March 10 and hence didn’t join many of his friends who were leaving.

“But now, things are looking bad and many are stranded at the Rome and Milan airports; it may be a week or two before I can leave,” he says.

“I was waiting for some important documents from the Italian government and hence couldn’t leave when my three Indian flatmates left early this month. Now, there’s a huge rush among students in Milan and Rome to get the mandatory medical tests done and then get airlines bookings to go back,” says Lokhande.

Thousands of miles away, in Iran, the Indian community, though only around 6,000-strong, is deeply impacted. Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Tehran, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered prayers during his visit of 2016, is deserted. “No one has been coming here for the last few weeks. I’m the jathedar and my duty is to stay on guard so I’m the only person here. All other members of the Sikh community are forced to stay at home by government order,” says Nirbhaya Singh.

Indian passport holders, many of whom travel to Tehran and other cities in Iran on business trips, along with students, find themselves stuck as flights have been cancelled.

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biofunmy · 4 years

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Troubles at an Aging Steel Mill Mirror Italy’s Own

TARANTO, Italy — In his corner store next to Europe’s largest steelworks, Giuseppe Musciacchio dragged his index finger across a shelf caked in gray dust.

Outside, a towering smoke stack loomed above a landscape of blast furnaces and stockpiles of dangerous minerals. Dark puffs of industrial exhaust drifted in the sky like rain clouds. On “wind days,” the mayor cancels school for fear of toxic dust blowing through the town.

“I’m constantly cleaning,” Mr. Musciacchio said, showing how the metallic soot stuck to a magnet. Photographs on the wall honored his mother and other relatives who he said had died of cancer. “They died from living here, breathing here.”

Even so, as Italy’s government and the factory’s foreign operator, the steel giant ArcelorMittal, engage in a high-stakes fight over the plant’s future, Mr. Musciacchio hopes it will not close. “It would be an economic disaster,” he said.

The plant’s closing could have ramifications for the stability of Italy’s government and the country’s entire economy. That has made the struggle over the steel works an emblem for what ails Italy — declining industry, haphazard regulation and volatile politics.

Italy does not want for symbols of political mismanagement and a stuck economy. There is the perennially hobbled Alitalia national airline, the stalled infrastructure projects, the banks that need bailing out.

But the closing of the steelworks — still known by its former name, ILVA — would be worth about 1.4 percent of Italy’s entire economic output, according to a recent study. A sprawling, 15 kilometer plant, it is the largest factory in the country’s economically depressed south.

If it closes, more than 10,500 workers could lose their jobs in a region that already suffers from dizzying unemployment, especially among the young. Businesspeople fear that foreign investors would steer clear of Italy. And the country could be saddled with a toxic ghost town, with pollutants seeping into the ground and surrounding sea.

At this point the steelworks appears to be too big to fail, and failing too much to keep running.

Its history mirrors the trouble of Italy’s broader economy, which over the last decade has, according to a leading Italian economist, experienced its lowest growth rates since the country formed in the 19th century.

Born as a state-controlled company, in the 1960s its steel-making furnaces drew workers from the surrounding countryside and became a reliable vote-getter for southern politicians.

In the boom years of the 1970s and 1980s, so many Italians had jobs connected to the business that Rinaldo Melucci, the mayor of Taranto, where the factory is located, called the town “the Milan of the South.”

In 1995, the Riva family, an Italian steel producer, bought the factory. But environmental groups and then Italian prosecutors brought to light environmental and health abuses — including toxic minerals blown into nearby neighborhoods, a factor that still prompts the mayor to close the town’s schools on windy days.

“They make us stay inside and close the windows,” said Aldo Masella, 13. “My parents want me to go to school. So do I.”

Those abuses ultimately contributed to Italy’s seizing billions of euros in assets from ILVA, and in 2014 the government took over the plant.

It put in place a legal shield to protect its new government operators from prosecution as they tried to clean up the plant.

Eventually the government decided to seek a private buyer that could turn the plant around. It found one in ArcelorMittal.

In November 2018, the company agreed to lease the plant for 45 million euros (about $50 million) a quarter. That was supposed to lead toward an eventual €1.8 billion purchase of the plant years down the road.

ArcelorMittal also said it would put €2.4 billion into the plant’s modernization and environmental cleanup. And it agreed to maintain 10,700 jobs for five years, or to pay a major chunk of those salaries and big fines for any worker laid off.

The government’s willingness to grant immunity over the environmental problems was at the center of the deal, the company says.

The legal protections “formed a critical part of the legal framework which governed the agreement,” said Paul Weigh, an ArcelorMittal spokesman. “They were an essential prerequisite” without which the company “would not have participated in the tender process, nor signed the agreement.”

But things have not gone well.

The global steel market tanked, the local authorities seized a pier critical for importing raw materials after strong winds blew over a crane and killed a worker, and the factory has produced only 4.5 million tons of steel this year, much less than the amount needed to turn a profit.

Then, in April, the government led by the populist Five Star movement, which has long attacked the factory, announced plans to end the immunity agreement — a move that ArcerlorMittal said would amount to a breach of agreement and prompt the company to leave the factory.

The standoff seemed to resolve itself over the summer, when the government collapsed and a new coalition between Five Star and the center-left Democratic Party issued a measure restoring the immunity. But hard-line Five Star members in Parliament refused to ratify it.

The protection expired on Nov. 3, and the company sent a notice the next day that it would withdraw from the factory.

The government sued the company to force it to stay. It also began negotiating a new deal, though with significantly less leverage — a situation that has thrust Rome into a fresh crisis, reviving concerns about the government’s ability to provide the stability required for foreign investment.

“It’s totally crazy,” said Carlo Calenda, who orchestrated the original deal in 2017 as minister for economic development. “You cannot better explain the Italian crisis than to explain what is happening in ILVA.”

In late December, the two sides agreed on the terms for further negotiations, including more investment from the state and a reassessment of employment and production levels.

But the plant’s fate remains in limbo, and despite a Christmas Eve visit to Taranto by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, optimism is not high.

In the wood-paneled offices of the local industry association, Antonio Marinaro, its president, said the government’s propensity for anti-business protests rather than constructive action had created “an air of uncertainty and instability.”

In the run-down neighborhoods around the factory, where the management’s windows sported new protective bars, residents talked of being forced to choose between their health and the jobs.

“Everybody is scared,” said Emanuele Palmisano, a local union official who worked at the plant for 21 years.

At the plant’s largest gate, a public bus brought in workers from the surrounding countryside and towns. They are resented by many Taranto residents, who say the workers get the benefit of a good job without their families having to suffer the health costs of the pollution.

Factory dust had left a red tint on the sidewalks, guardrails and a sign for the local cemetery, which had the word “ILVA” scrawled underneath it.

Mr. Calenda, who left the Democratic Party when it joined with Five Star, argued that the factory’s survival was key for Italy’s chances of attracting foreign investment.

He said steel production gave the country strategic independence from foreign competitors and supplied an Italian mechanics industry that is larger than the country’s fashion, food and furniture sectors combined.

He called the current government’s handling of the situation a self-inflicted wound indicative of Five Star’s incompetence and resistance to the free market that could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

Despite having signed the original deal with ArcelorMittal, Five Star leaders now say that the company never had any intention of successfully operating the factory.

“We should be very attentive of this multinational, because it has a terrible reputation,” said Barbara Lezzi, a former minister for the South and now a powerful Five Star lawmaker who led the opposition to the immunity in the Senate.

She argued that the immunity was not part of the initial deal and that ArcelorMittal was using its removal as an alibi to leave. “They would have left anyway,” she said, arguing that its intention all along was to raid ILVA’s clients and eliminate future competition by destroying it.

She suggested that the state should temporarily nationalize the factory, modernize it and “sell it as a technological jewel.”

(The European Union has strong rules barring state aid to companies.)

Mr. Weigh, the ArcelorMittal spokesman, said the company had worked “in good faith” to modernize the factory and that it had “met every single environmental investment commitment agreed in the environmental plan approved by the Italian government.”

Some locals said they were sick of Five Star’s promises.

“They played us for the fools,” said Ignazio D’Andria, 58, who served beers to factory workers in his nearby coffee bar and recalled waking up as a child with sparkles of dust on his face and pillow.

“My mother would tell me, ‘The fairy came last night,’” he said. “We slept with the windows open. We didn’t know.”

Mr. D’Andria, with the help of an Italian television personality, has raised more than €500,000 for a pediatric cancer ward at a hospital in the town.

At the hospital, Dr. Valerio Cecinati, a specialist in pediatric oncology who recently moved to Taranto, showed the anesthesia and chemotherapy rooms, furnished with Disney puzzles, dinosaur books and new wallpaper of dolphins and turtles.

Dr. Cecinati checked in on a boy with a serious illness that he suspected was caused by exposure to the factory’s dioxins and other toxins, and said that national studies showed a small increase in children’s cancer cases in Taranto in recent years.

Judging by the fatigue and high fevers he saw in children who came in for visits, he said he believed there would continue to be more cases. “More than I expected,” he said.

Another group of pediatricians gather at pharmacies to warn people against eating locally grown and raised food, about the high level of dioxins in local women’s breast milk and about local reports suggesting a drop in local children’s IQ levels.

Mayor Melucci said that while there were negative health ramifications of the plant, “this is not Chernobyl.” He also said he was seeking to develop other industries in the town, but understood that the steel works mattered.

“If they fix ILVA, Italy comes back,” he said. “If they close, it’s the start of a great decline for the country.”

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tripstations · 4 years

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I fly a ton, but this flight made me feel like a novice

As TPG’s journey critiques editor, it’s my job to, effectively, journey.

Predictably, I rack up a whole lot of miles within the air — I’m on tempo to achieve no less than 160,000 miles for the 12 months. And I’m accustomed to routings that might make any sane individual quiver. Critically, although, you must see the appears to be like on individuals’s faces after I inform them that I flew from New York to Sydney by the use of Toronto, Atlanta, Seoul, Shanghai and Taipei.

Being primarily based within the U.S., a current journey to Europe was shaping as much as be like simply one other one in every of my loopy journeys, this one in pursuit of invaluable Medallion Qualification Miles with Delta. Lengthy story quick, I used to be in Barcelona flying Alitalia in enterprise class dwelling to New York-JFK. Normally, flying up entrance implies a seamless, fulfilling expertise. Despite the fact that I’ve flown premium lessons rather a lot by now, I nonetheless have visions of breezing by the airport, nonchalantly sipping Champagne and munching on elegant snacks in a very uncrowded lounge earlier than settling into my throne within the sky.

This journey day, nevertheless, all of these visions of grandeur have been quashed in a cascading sequence of unlucky occasions. And it was just about all my fault.

My first mistake was trusting myself (and Alitalia) to make a one-hour, 20-minute connection in Rome (FCO). After I booked the ticket months in the past, it didn’t even cross my thoughts that it’d be a difficulty, since I used to be blinded by the prospect of incomes so many miles that nothing may have gotten in the way in which of me reserving that ticket.

Positive sufficient, although, on the morning of my flights, I awoke round 3:30 a.m. in Barcelona to an incredible thunderstorm, a kind of that seemingly shakes complete buildings. Residing in New York, I do know that thunderstorms wreak havoc on airport operations, and I used to be immediately full of dread that my first flight of the day could be delayed, resulting in complications for the entire day.

For the subsequent hour earlier than I needed to go away, I checked FlightAware. Each time I did, my flight confirmed “en horario” (“on schedule”), so I headed to the airport as deliberate.

However then was handed two boarding passes with a distinguished “SSSS” on the backside — the acronym indicating particular, further screening. There’d be no additional screening in Barcelona, the place I had loads of time, however moderately in Rome, the place I had little or no. Nice.

My first flight boarded on time, however as quickly as we pushed again, the storms obtained worse, and we spent about 40 minutes taxiing and ready for our flip to take off. We ended up touchdown solely 12 minutes after the scheduled time, although that meant that there have been solely three minutes between my first flight touchdown and scheduled boarding for my flight to New York. I used to be going to must hustle.

Issues took a flip for the more serious as quickly as we landed in Rome. As we taxied after touchdown, I rapidly discovered we’d be parking at a distant stand. I ready myself for an extended look ahead to the boarding stairs to seem (I used to be proper), an extended wait on the bus earlier than it obtained transferring (additionally proper) and a seemingly interminable crawl to the terminal constructing (proper once more). I’d misplaced a whole lot of invaluable minutes at this level, and I nonetheless needed to clear immigration and Secondary Safety Screening Choice all in about 25 minutes. It was going to be shut, however I used to be positive I may make it.

(Photograph by Nick Ellis / The Factors Man)

I used to be very pleasantly shocked to study that Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport employs an automatic passport management system, so I didn’t must face the infinite immigration traces and was by in only a few minutes. Now all I needed to do was discover my gate. Easy, proper?

Not for me, apparently.

My boarding go for my FCO-JFK flight solely had “E” listed as my gate, as one hadn’t been assigned after I’d checked that morning. And Alitalia’s app isn’t what I’d name user-friendly, so I did issues the old school manner and rushed over to the departures board to seek out the gate for my flight.

In a rush, I situated a flight (“a flight” is vital right here) to New York-JFK departing from E11. I knew the place I needed to go — or so I believed.

Most of the concourses at FCO are box-shaped, so I sprinted round nook after nook. Simply as I believed I used to be taking one remaining escalator as much as my gate, I noticed I needed to take a tram to yet one more concourse to get to E11. The look ahead to the tram was solely a minute and a half, however I didn’t have many minutes to spare, so I used to be anxious. I figured I’d make it, although — I nonetheless had about 10 minutes till the boarding doorways would shut.

The tram arrived on the station, and I burst out as quickly because the doorways opened, ran down the steps and all the way in which to Gate E11 … the place I noticed not Alitalia’s green-and-white shade scheme however the grey, pink and blue of American Airways.

In my panic, I hadn’t checked the flight quantity and even the airline of the primary flight to New York I noticed on the departures board and despatched myself to the fallacious gate. I had simply dedicated the cardinal sin of journey, one which I’d anticipate solely probably the most inexperienced vacationers to make.

“Fool!” I believed to myself.

I darted over to the closest departures board I may discover, double- and triple-checked my flight and noticed that the place I actually wanted to be was Gate E33. In the very same place I’d simply come from.

I sprinted again towards the tram, previous all the individuals I’d raced by simply moments earlier than, and again up the steps to attend one other 90 seconds for the tram that took me again to the place I’d simply left in such a rush.

After one other dash down the steps from the tram, I bumped into yet one more hurdle: safety screening. I hadn’t gone by safety after I first landed on the airport, so I used to be not sure why I needed to do it at this level. However, once more, this was all the results of my carelessness, so I didn’t ask questions and proceeded to take off my sneakers, my belt, my jacket, the laptop computer out of my backpack and every thing out of my pockets. At this level, I had simply minutes earlier than the doorways have been supposed to shut, so I didn’t even hassle placing my jacket (I used to be sweating profusely by now) or my belt again on. I simply grabbed every thing and ran.

After zigging and zagging previous the slower walkers and round many corners, I noticed my shining beacon on a hill: Gate E33. Out of breath and dripping sweat, I arrived on the gate and virtually flung all my belongings on the brokers doing the secondary screening. With puzzled and barely condescending expressions on their faces, they accomplished the screening and have been blissful to shoo me onto the airplane.

(Photograph by Nick Ellis / The Factors Man)

Nonetheless out of breath and definitely nonetheless sweating, I made my solution to Seat 2A, previous a lot of the business-class cabin, the place passengers have been sipping glasses of prosecco and now additionally judging me for my raveled look and labored respiratory.

The boarding door shut moments after I sat down. I used to be the final individual on the airplane, and we have been on our manner.

(Photograph by Nick Ellis / The Factors Man)

“Due spritz, per favore.”

I felt like I had earned a drink. Or two. And that I’d by no means schedule so tight a connection once more.

The post I fly a ton, but this flight made me feel like a novice appeared first on Tripstations.

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casualwonderlandkryptonite · 3 years

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jamieclawhorn · 6 years

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Would I buy FTSE 100 growth monster easyJet or high-yielder Land Securities Group?

Budget airline easyJet (LSE: EZJ) has seen its share price climb 3% following publication of results for the half year to 31 March. It is now up 35% in the last six months, a handsome reward for investors who heeded Peter Stephens’ advice last autumn to buy and hold this stock forever.

Take it easy

Today’s figures show passenger numbers increasing 3m to 36.8m, helped by 700,000 from easyJet’s new Berlin Tegel operations, launched in January. Total capacity increased 7.8% as the firm grew its existing network by 4.6% and added 1.2m seats at Tegel.

Total revenue increased by 19.5% to £2.18bn, while total revenue per seat jumped 10.9% to £54.10. The carrier also hailed its balance sheet strength, with a net cash position of £665m, and forward bookings up on last year.

Jetting off

It did post a total headline loss before tax of £18m, but this marked a major improvement on last year’s £194m. The airline has been boosted by the failure of rivals Monarch, Air Berlin and Alitalia but should also be praised for swooping in to pick up their routes, while others stood on the sidelines. However, it has struggled to cut non-fuel costs, which could prove a problem if the economy slows and consumers start pinching the pennies. It also has to contend with a higher fuel price going forward.

Still, management is predicting headline profit before tax for the year to 30 September of between £530 and £580m, despite a headline loss from Tegel. A forward valuation of 16.7 times earnings is a tad pricey but reflects investor confidence. Forecast earnings per share (EPS) of 29% and 19% over the next two years, and a predicted yield of 3%, suggest it is time to joint the easyJet set. I’d buy.

Give me LAND

Land Securities Group (LSE: LAND) has done less to convince the market today, its shares down a percentage point on its annual results to 31 March, despite the group boasting “an active and successful year”. Robert Noel, chief executive of LandSec, as the real estate investment trust (REIT) now styles itself, heralded one of its best years for leasing space: “We bought and sold well, returned capital to shareholders and continued to reduce our cost of debt.”

The group returned £475m to shareholders and refinanced more than £1.5bn in bonds to reduce its average debt costs to 2.6% while lengthening its duration to 13.1 years. However, refinancing costs were behind its reported £251m loss for the year.

Shop ’til you drop

On the plus side, revenue profit increased by 6.3% to £406m while adjusted diluted EPS rose by 9.9% to 53.1p. It recommended a final dividend of 14.65p, lifting the annual dividend a generous 14.7%. LandSec currently offers a forecast yield of 4.5%, covered 1.3 times.

City analysts are predicting single-digit EPS growth over the next three years, disappointing since it trades at a forecast valuation of 17.5 times earnings. Peter Stephens praises its diversified portfolio of assets and strong balance sheet, although I am slightly concerned by its exposure to retail parks and shopping centres, given struggling consumers and the shift to online shopping. A solid income play, though.

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