Ticket tax ‘may slash FlyNiki turnover by €10mn’

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Business

FlyNiki CEO Niki Lauda has claimed the new ticket levy could decrease his firm’s annual turnover by 10 million Euros.The businessman, who founded airline FlyNiki in 2003, said today (Tues): “I expected FlyNiki to have four million passengers this year. The tax might reduce our customer number by 100,000. This would mean 10 million Euros […]

Hot-air balloon gets stuck in trees

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General News

Four hot-air balloon passengers had a narrow escape after getting stuck in a group of trees this morning (Thurs).Fire-fighters in Lower Austria’s Horn district said the balloon got entangled 10 metres in the air in a group of trees located between the towns of  Wollmersdorf and Zettlitz during a failed landing attempt.None of the passengers […]

Austria’s oldest driver dies in head-on collision

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General News

Austria’s oldest driver died when he crashed into a truck on Tuesday, it emerged today (Fri).Josef Kainz, 96, steered his Toyota into a lorry near Schrems, Lower Austria, after entering a road in the wrong direction.The pensioner died instantly while the truck driver only suffered minor injuries, according to local authorities.Neighbours in Marbach said Kainz […]

AUA and airport at war over emergency landing alarm

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General News

Austrian Airlines (AUA) have attacked Innsbruck Airport officials for sparking a major alarm after an aircraft had to carry out an emergency landing yesterday (Sun).None of the 47 passengers on the Dash 8-300 of AUA’s charter firm Austrian Arrows were injured when its pilot returned to the airport after technical difficulties with one of its […]

Narrow escape as crane lands on gondola

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General News

Twelve holidaymakers had a lucky escape as a crane crashed on a gondola suspension yesterday (Thurs).Officials in the Tyrolean tourism hotspot Mayrhofen said today it was still a matter for investigation why the building crane used at a nearby construction site landed on the lift framework.But they added it could not be ruled out that […]

AUA passenger numbers up

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Business

Bosses at struggling Austrian Airlines (AUA) hope for a “return of passengers” as the former Austrian flagship carrier had more customers last month year on year.AUA co-chiefs  Peter Malanik and Andreas Bierwirth said today (Thurs) the company had 1.015 million passengers in May, up by 16.1 per cent to the same month of last year.The […]

BMW and Alfa Romeo get top marks in crash test

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General News

New models by BMW and Alfa Romeo have won an Austrian car club’s crash test.Motorists’ association ÖAMTC said today (Weds) the BMW 5 Series and the Alfa Romeo Giulietta reached top marks of its five-star ranking, while the new Mazda CX-7 bagged four stars.ÖAMTC lauded the two winning models for avoiding serious pressure on any […]

Minister unharmed after double plane tyre blow-out

Categories
Politics

People’s Party (ÖVP) Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger had a narrow escape as two tyres of a plane he was on burst during the start procedure.A spokesman for the ministry said today (Weds) neither Spindelegger nor any of his team were injured in the incident which occurred at the an airport in Czech capital Prague Airport […]

Lauda warning as Austrian aviation traffic shut tonight

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General News

Niki Lauda has appealed to passengers stranded at European airports because of the eruption of an Icelandic volcano to remain patient.The three-time Formula One champion who now runs his own budget carrier FlyNiki said in a TV interview last night (Thurs): “Volcano ashes can ground a plane. The situation is extremely dangerous, and cancelling flights […]

Number of VIA’s passengers up in January

Categories
Business

The number of passengers at Vienna International Airport (VIA) rose by 4.1 per cent year on year to 1,203 million in January 2010, the airport reported today (Thurs).VIA added that the number of passengers with Middle Eastern destinations had gone up by 11.3 per cent and the number with Western European destinations had risen by […]