Air Berlin and now Germania and now WOW

[catjones 507]

Deja Vu in good old Germnay.

 

" People who bought their tickets directly from the company "unfortunately have no claim to alternative trips," the company said."

When AB fucked me like this I was lucky to have charged my AMEX for the flight.  AB refused a refund, but AMEX got it for me.

[snowingagain 2,034]

This is normal with insolvencies.  AB is not fucking you, more like it is itself fucked.  And one of the reasons using a credit card is a good idea.  

[Svetlana.Petro 537]

Flying AB was like being a dog in a cage. I'm 5'10 and I felt compressed. I can only imagine what tall men must feel like.

[LukeSkywalker 4,375]

@catjones: you forgot Lauda Air.  It became Laudamotion, but I understand Ryan Air bought it.

[john_b 1,186]

2 hours ago, Svetlana.Petro said:

Flying AB was like being a dog in a cage. I'm 5'10 and I felt compressed. I can only imagine what tall men must feel like.

 

Really? I'm 6'0 and I don't recall AB being any different to other airlines. Unless it was a short hop they had the usual flavours of Airbus & Boeing like all the others. 

[dj_jay_smith 2,365]

7 hours ago, LukeSkywalker said:

@catjones: you forgot Lauda Air.  It became Laudamotion, but I understand Ryan Air bought it.

 

Not quite.

 

Lauda Air was purchased by Austrian Airlines, back in 1999.

 

Then in 2003 he formed Niki airlines which was merged into Air Berlin in 2011.

 

Then in 2016 he took over the airline  Amira Air and renamed it Laudamotion in 2018.  After the Air Berlin insolvency they purchased the Niki brand and some assets.  Then Ryanair purchased 25% of them, later increased this to 75%, and now own 100% of the company and intend to grow it significantly and keep it as a separate brand.

 

 

So Niki Lauda is actually good at starting airlines and then selling them off!

 

 

 

 

[dj_jay_smith 2,365]

13 hours ago, catjones said:

Deja Vu in good old Germnay.

 

" People who bought their tickets directly from the company "unfortunately have no claim to alternative trips," the company said."

When AB fucked me like this I was lucky to have charged my AMEX for the flight.  AB refused a refund, but AMEX got it for me.

 

 

Not German, but there are also rumours that both Norwegian and Wow Air are also in financial trouble and need cash.  I think if they can last the next couple of months then the summer season sales start to kick in and they should be OK for a while.

Even Ryanair has posted a loss for the last quarter.

 

They all seem to be struggling as fuel prices have risen.

 

[HEM 8,264]

10 hours ago, Svetlana.Petro said:

Flying AB was like being a dog in a cage. I'm 5'10 and I felt compressed. I can only imagine what tall men must feel like.

I'm 6' 4" and managed flights HAM<=>IBZ OK.

One of their captains (pal of mine) was even taller than I (OK seat at the sharp end is a bit different).

 

7 hours ago, john_b said:

 

Really? I'm 6'0 and I don't recall AB being any different to other airlines. Unless it was a short hop they had the usual flavours of Airbus & Boeing like all the others. 

The manufacturers install the seating to customer order so the space available will vary between airlines on same airframe.

[silty1 1,835]

Flying for less than 40 bucks return clear across Europe is unsustainable, whatever the cost of fuel.

[generalmartok 216]

9 hours ago, LukeSkywalker said:

Lauda Air

That name would be hilarious in India

[LukeSkywalker 4,375]

8 hours ago, dj_jay_smith said:

Not quite.

 

Lauda Air was purchased by Austrian Airlines, back in 1999.

 

Then in 2003 he formed Niki airlines which was merged into Air Berlin in 2011.

 

Then in 2016 he took over the airline  Amira Air and renamed it Laudamotion in 2018.  After the Air Berlin insolvency they purchased the Niki brand and some assets.  Then Ryanair purchased 25% of them, later increased this to 75%, and now own 100% of the company and intend to grow it significantly and keep it as a separate brand.

 

So Niki Lauda is actually good at starting airlines and then selling them off!

Ah right, but Niki Air went bankrupt in December 2017.

[SpiderPig 6,858]

I must say, I prefer to pay a few extra euro and know that there is less chance of getting Stranded somewhere.. more chance of arriving when and where you are supposed to and a coffee, Beer, G+T and a snack will be provided..

 

To me its like the choice between an "Arc Burger" or a McDs Burger! ( Munichs Old TTers will know what I mean!)

[catjones 507]

21 hours ago, snowingagain said:

AB is not fucking you

If it had not been for AMEX I would have been out of $500+.  "fucked"  is what AB did to me.  

[rodisi 584]

I can't see how any airline can survive when such a huge proportion of the ticket price is taken by the extortionate taxes.

[snowingagain 2,034]

1 hour ago, rodisi said:

I can't see how any airline can survive when such a huge proportion of the ticket price is taken by the extortionate taxes.

 

What are the tax rates?

[Acton 442]

They should tax airfares 200% and get the riiff raff out of the airports.

[Auswanderer 180]

2 hours ago, rodisi said:

I can't see how any airline can survive when such a huge proportion of the ticket price is taken by the extortionate taxes.

The price of the ticket is set by the airline, and the taxes which apply are the same taxes which apply to other businesses. There are a large number of other fees and charges, but these apply to all airlines operating in the market. They may act to reduce overall demand, but they do not discriminate. If we consider which airlines are going under at the moment it is the budget airlines that had thin margins padded by discretionary expenditure. There is a problem with the business model, not with tax policy. It's also worth considering what those taxes and charges on the ticket are. Someone has to pay for the construction, operation and maintenance of airports, air traffic control, security, etc. 

[john g. 25,848]

16 minutes ago, Acton said:

They should tax airfares 200% and get the riiff raff out of the airports.

I can´t remember exactly but about 20 years ago. I got on a flight from Spain to Munich. I sat next to an Abgeordnete ( I think) in the Govt in Bayern. I wasn´t hungry and nor was he. We drank wine and got on fine. We caused no trouble. 

Don ´t punish non-troublemakers. 

[Acton 442]

I don't mean troublemakers John, Because airfares are ridiculously low, it's much cheaper to fly all round the world these days for everybody. This isn't good for the environment and everywhere you go is crawling with tourists. People fly from Berlin to Seville for a long weekend without even blinking, because it's so cheap on these discount airlines. All airports are clogged up and it takes forever to get through security etc. In my humble opinion, this is unhealthy and has to change.

If a few more of these cheap airlines went out of business, it might be a good thing.

[jeba 2,059]

12 hours ago, snowingagain said:

 

What are the tax rates?

They seem to vary a lot. Last year I was flying for € 50.- from Stuttgart to Larnaca and the actual price of the ticket was only € 6,xx . The remainder were tax and fees. Mindboggling.