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Here is news just in from ECTAA:

Alitalia – Withdrawal of the rescue consortium

As you have seen, the press is abundantly reporting that it has not been possible to reach an agreement of all the trade unions to the Alitalia rescue plan. As a consequence, the Italian consortium that proposed to take over Alitalia has withdrawn its offer.

The greatest uncertainly prevails concerning the future of the airline. The Italian press agency reports this morning that the Italian Government will try in the next three days to find a compromise solution.

The Members are strongly encouraged to pass on the information to their members in view of taking all appropriate measures to protect passengers’ interests.

Did you know?

South African passport holders do not require visa for business and/or tourism purposes for a maximum stay of 3 months until 04 December 2008.

Switzerland intends to join the Schengen visa scheme on 05 Dec ‘08. From that date, persons requiring a Schengen visa to enter the Schengen States will also require a Schengen visa to enter Switzerland. (This means South Africans will need a visa….!)

Just in from Reuters:

The European Union is set to give a green light for the closure of Greek carrier Olympic Airlines and will fine it EUR800 million euros (USD$1.12 billion) for illegal state aid, daily Imerisia reported on Tuesday.
The EU Commission will meet this week to approve a Greek government plan to shut down the ailing airline and transfer its assets to a new entity called Pantheon, the newspaper said without citing sources.
The EU will fine Olympic over illegal state aid during 2005-2007, after competitors Ryanair and Aegean claimed the government was continuing to provide assistance in breach of EU state aid rules, it said.
No one at Olympic was available for comment.
According to the plan, the new carrier will eventually take on the Olympic name and hold on to its most valuable landing slots. It will only be about 65 percent of the carrier’s current size, and about 8,000 employees will be fired or transferred.
The new carrier’s international flights will be drastically cut, with the plan set to be completed by early 2009, the paper reported.
Greece has tried and failed over years to find a buyer for the loss-making carrier. The government has said it may either find a buyer or re-establish the airline as a new entity by the end of 2008.
The commission first ruled in 1996 that Greece was in breach of EU state aid rules and ordered Olympic to pay back hundreds of millions of euros it received in the 1990s.

Who is next ?

The embassies are asking for Biometric photos and are rejecting applications if the photo’s do not conform.

Click here for a document on what the Biometric photo is

Here is an extract for the ACSA website:

Billion rand Central Terminal Building arrivals to open at O.R. Tambo International airport - 2 September 2008

International passengers arriving at O.R. Tambo International Airport will be welcomed to Africa’s largest airport in style, as Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) opens the first phase of its R2.3 billion Central Terminal Building (CTB) tomorrow (03.09.08) at 6am.  The CTB development is the largest single terminal building project that ACSA has ever embarked upon.

Tomorrow’s opening will see most arriving international passengers being processed through O.R. Tambo’s new international arrivals facility at the CTB, which includes a more user-friendly customs control process. Once international passengers have been processed, they will be received into a new international arrivals public concourse, two and a half times larger than O.R. Tambo’s current international arrivals halls.

The opening of the 18000 square meter space will also boast some retail facilities including a post office, cellular phone shops and foreign exchange services with various eateries expected to open by December this year. Next month will also mark the opening of the CTB’s retail facility and has been designed to link directly into to the current Domestic retail level.
 
By April next year, O.R. Tambo will be fully linked when the CTB’s departures facility becomes operational. The new departures hall will boast 75 new check-in counters, effectively linking O.R. Tambo’s international and domestic check-in facilities. At this point, passengers will be able to enjoy a fully complete multi-level terminal building located between the international and domestic terminals.  In line with existing airport flow, departures activity will predominantly be on the upper level with arrivals activity on the ground level. The mezzanines will offer retail facilities and basements will be in use for services and baggage handling.

The project will be fully complete in December next year following the complete installation of the new baggage management system at international arrivals. Once the system is complete, a total of ten new baggage reclaim carousels will be in operation, four of which are 90 meter baggage carousels specifically designed for the massive new generation aircraft such as the Airbus A380.

Further, the construction of the Gautrain Station has been completed and has been handed over to Bombela for final finishing. The station is the first Gautrain station to be completed and handed over. The rail line will be elevated above the airport precinct (over the upper roadway system) and will be directly connected to the CTB.

O.R. Tambo’s General Manager, Chris Hlekane advised, “Members of the public collecting incoming international passengers should take heed of the new signage in order to orientate themselves. Passengers and meters and greeters will also be assisted by ACSA’s new i-Help Agents (identifiable by their orange waist coasts) located along the new route for any other queries.”

Are you travelling alone? Do you have a seating preference? Well if you are travelling with someone be sure to ask your agent or the airline to preseat you. It takes a few minutes todo generally. However certain airlines only preseat their flying club members. If this is the case then sign up for free and get your preseating preference. If you are flying domestic or long haul it is not great when the people you are travelling with are seated on the opposite side of the aircraft. So ask about preseating now. Be it a window or an aisle ask today. Now the best seats in the house are the exit seats. Agents cannot book these in the system as they are assigned at check in. So the key? Check in early and ask for an exit seat. Kids and old aged people are not permitted to sit at the exit seat.