Berliners vote for Tegel

BERLIN, 26 September 2017: Berliners have voted to keep open the Cold War-era city airport Tegel, threatening political turbulence in the German capital and more trouble for Chancellor Angela Merkel after a bruising election victory.

Tegel or TXL has long been marked for closure, but an embarrassing years-long delay in opening its larger replacement airport BER led to a popular push to keep operating it after all as the capital’s second airport.

In a referendum held on the same day as the general election, some 56.1% of voters supported the drive to keep Tegel open, the final results showed late Sunday. Read more

EU approves Air Berlin loan

BRUSSELS, 6 September 2017: The European Commission on Monday approved Germany’s plans to grant insolvent Air Berlin a 150 million euro (USD180 million) loan to allow it temporarily to serve passengers while selling off its business.

The 28-nation EU executive effectively refuted critics who say the German government is offering state aid for rival airline Lufthansa to build a monopoly with Air Berlin assets.

“The European Commission has endorsed under EU state aid rules Germany’s plans to grant Air Berlin a temporary 150 million euro bridging loan,” the commission said in a statement. Read more

Squabbles over Air Berlin’s fate

BERLIN, 1 September 2017: Ryanair chief executive Michael O’ Leary said, Wednesday, his airline would not make a bid for insolvent Air Berlin, slamming what he called a German “stitch-up” designed to benefit Lufthansa.

Several airlines are jostling to take over parts of Air Berlin after it filed for insolvency earlier this month, a process Ryanair fiercely criticised.

The chief executive of the Irish no-frills airline said at a press conference in Berlin that Ryanair would only join the scramble for assets if it “was a fair and open process”. Read more

Deadly tour bus accident

PARIS, 4 July 2017: As many as 18 people are feared dead, Monday, after a tour bus burst into flames following a collision with a truck in southern Germany.

That number would surpass the last major European bus accident, which occurred in January in Italy and killed 16 people.

Here is a recap of such accidents in the past 10 years: Read more

Sens Asia Travel JVs in Germany

BERLIN, 28 February 2017: Experiential travel specialist, Sens Asia Travel, has entered into a joint venture agreement in Germany to create Sens Asia Travel GmbH and offer its sensory-driven journeys to Asia’s popular travel destinations to the German outbound travel market.

The official signing will be held at ITB in Berlin, 8 to 12 March.

Founded last year by award-winning Vietnam-based travel company, HG Holdings, Sens Asia Travel offers a content rich travel booking experience, sold online and through travel agents that is based on the concept of ‘sensory travel’. Read more

GNTB steps up ASEAN sales

FRANKFURT, 13 December 2016: German National Tourist Board will increase its marketing activities in Southeast Asia focusing on the key markets of Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

This is the first time the national tourist office has identified the four markets for a focused sales campaign.

In the past, promotions in Southeast Asia were led by state agencies such as Munich’s tourist office and private company, or corporations such as airlines and Deutsche Bahn, the German rail system. Read more