The European Union Aviation Safety Agency published a Safety Information Bulletin containing operational recommendations related to the vaccination of aircrew.

The WHO recommends prioritizing transport workers, which include aircrew, in phase 3 of the vaccination, unless they have additional risk factors, in which case they would be prioritized on an individual basis. Nevertheless, several States have included among their priority lists for phase 1 and/or phase 2 the crew members involved in helicopter emergency medical services and air ambulance services, some of whom may have already received one dose of vaccine prior to the issuance of this SIB.

In the documentation provided by the EMA, as part of the assessment process of the vaccine, as well as other published studies regarding the vaccines approved for use in Europe, it can be noticed that some adverse reactions can result following the vaccination. These side effects are generally mild and usually common to any type of vaccine, e.g. headache, mild fever, nausea, pain at the site of injection, dizziness, gastrointestinal disorders, lymphadenopathy, thromboembolic events, etc. These side effects have shown to be more frequent between 12 and 48 hours following the vaccination and, in isolated cases, with a potential extended duration of up to 7 days. Severe side effects are extremely rare and were cited to be more frequent among the persons with multiple allergies and tend to appear immediately, in the first 30 minutes following the vaccination. Side effects were also reported more frequent following the second dose of the vaccine.

Although the vast majority of side effects reported so far are mild and do not put into question in any way the safety of the approved vaccines, they may be further enhanced by in-flight conditions while at cruise level, such as lower air pressure and mild hypoxic environment.

At this time, no evidence is available regarding the impact of in-flight conditions on the severity of the side effects, nor on the resulting impact on the performance of the crew members during their safety-related tasks. For these reasons, taking into account that these vaccines are new pharmacological products, EASA issued the current SIB providing recommendations for the National Competent Authorities (NCAs), aircraft operators, aero-medical centres (AeMCs), aero-medical examiners (AMEs) and aircrew members in order to ensure that the side effects described above do not interfere with the completion of any safety-related tasks.

Today, March 25, marks 19 years since a woman joined Concord’s crew.

The year is 1993. On March 25, Barbara Harmer made her first flight with Concord, becoming the first woman co-pilot of the supersonic passenger plane Concord on the route London – New York.

Born in England, Barbara is one of Concord’s 17 co-pilots in the British Airways fleet in all her years at the airline. At the age of 15, she dropped out of school to work as a hairdresser. Decades later, she received her rating for Concord and is about to become the first woman to fly the legendary plane.

Barbara’s first aviation job was as a flight manager at London Gatwick Airport when she was just 20 years old. At the time, she preferred to study law by passing her British law and geography exams.

In the meantime, however, he began piloting lessons and a few years later received an amateur pilot’s license, after which he continued to work as an instructor at Goodwood Flight School to gain flying lessons. Two years later, in 1982, she received a professional pilot’s license. He then applied for more than 100 job vacancies as a pilot before getting a job at Genair, a small regional airline based at Humberside Airport.

Two years later, she joined the British Caledonian team – one of the airlines that will form the current British Airways – where she flew for 3 years on the jet BAC 1-11 produced by British Aerospace. Then he boarded the largest aircraft in the British Caledonian fleet at the time – the three-engine DC-10. In 1988, the two airlines merged and the new British Airways turned out to have just over 3,500 pilots, of whom only 60 were women, and neither had ever boarded a Concorde.

For Barbara Harmer, this is the moment when the idea of ​​flying to Concord does not leave her alone. British Airways is screening only a handful of pilots to go through more than six months of intensive training on the supersonic passenger plane. In 1992 came the expected news that she had been chosen to begin the difficult and expensive learning process.

So, on March 25, 1993, Barbara Harmer became the first female pilot of the Concorde, and only a year and a half later performed her first flight as Commander of the Concorde from London to New York.

Of the 3,500 pilots on British Airways, only 37 Commanders and Co-Pilots have the experience and experience to fly a Concorde. At the time, Barbara Harmer was one of only 40 female pilots on the airline, and the only one to fly to Concord, performing single passenger flights on the supersonic aircraft until 2003, when Concord was decommissioned.

After being removed from the Navy, she retrained as a Boeing 777 commander and flew until 2009, when she joined the carrier’s voluntary retirement program.

In addition to Barbara, two other women have flown the Concorde – Frenchwoman Jacqueline Oriol and Beatrice Viale, who fly the plane as test pilots. The second managed to perform several passenger flights on the route Paris – New York, before Air France retired.

Well, it is not that Frodo you just thought about. Instead of a hobbit, Frodo is actually a pug dog!

The first animal allowed in under the system was Frodo Baggins, a five-year-old pug dog. He was an unlikely history maker back in February 2000. But the Pug paved the way for pet owners to do something very special – take their pets abroad on holiday.

Frodo was the first animal to be awarded a pet passport when the scheme was trialed back in February 2000. It’s now commonplace for owners to travel with their pets under the scheme run by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

His owner, Helen de Borchgrave from London, spends four or five months a year in Europe for her work as an oil painting and fine art restorer, and as an art lecturer. She spent £200 on the microchip, documents, vaccination and blood tests.

She said: “He has never been able to travel with me before, as I think quarantine is cruel. Rather than lose him for six months I have left him behind in the past. I have wanted passports to be brought in for a long time. Pet owners have been waiting for them, as there is a definite bonding between dogs and their owners. The scheme is wonderful for all those families who will be able to take their dogs on holiday with them, as leaving them is like leaving part of the family behind.”

Frodo travelled from Calais, France to Dover on a cross-channel ferry with his owner Helen de Borchgrave, to take advantage of the relaxation in Britain’s century-old quarantine regulations.

IATA’s November figures show that the recovery in demand for passenger flights is freezing after promising growth in the Northern Hemisphere over the summer. Weakening is not only in international flights but also in domestic flights, which have so far brought light to the picture.

The data shows that there will most likely not be any significant improvement in passenger volumes in the near-term. Ticket purchases had been rising modestly towards the third week of December as
people planned to visit friends and relatives over the holiday season. However, the rise in bookings was reversed following December 23rd.

Developments in ticket bookings indicate that the start of 2021 will not be easy for airlines. Positive vaccine news has not changed travelers’ intentions.

The increase in the number of infections in several key markets and travel restrictions have slowed recovery as a result.

The WHO said that in the last week of December, 4.1 million people worldwide tested positive for Covid-19. The emergence of new, more aggressive strains of the virus (in Britain and South Africa) has exacerbated the crisis and weighed on the already weak demand for passenger flights in major markets, including the UK.

Important information:

• Britain has introduced a mandatory quarantine of 10 days for all arrivals in the country – by air, land, and sea, who do not come on the so-called. green corridors agreed in a bilateral agreement and calls for negative tests.
• Finland will test all arrivals at Helsinki Airport.
• Riga Airport has opened a new testing center.
• Varna Airport expects to open a laboratory for PCR and rapid tests within days.

The low-cost airline will suspend many flights in the coming months due to lockouts related to the global pandemic. The new restrictive measures in Ireland, the United Kingdom and other European countries “will significantly reduce flight programs and traffic forecasts in January, February and March,” Ryanair said.

On its website, the airline announced on January 7, 2021 that it was lowering its annual forecast (for the year to March 2021) from “below 35 million” to “below 30 million.” January traffic will fall below 1.25 million passengers. For February and March, the decrease is up to 500 thousand passengers per month, according to Ryanair.

From January 21, 2021. the airline severely restricts flights to and from Ireland and the UK and passengers will be notified by email. The exact number of shortened flights is not reported. “

Although called a new airline, EGO Airways was actually founded on July 29, 2019 by a group of entrepreneurs and is funded by several investors with experience in the industry. The Italian airline intends to fly by the end of the first quarter of 2021, relying on two main bases in Forlì, the province of Emilia Romana and Catania on the island of Sicily. The airline presents itself as an “authentic Italian company” with a focus on travel experience above all else. On its website, the airline describes its philosophy as:

“EGO Airways takes care of its guests by providing them with the best in-flight experience in which they feel cared for, cuddled, pampered and special. Our goal is to create a unique, warm and completely captivating experience that every passenger can feel welcome in each of the flight classes. ”

The new carrier intends to develop a network of direct flights between strategic cities inland and, in the long term, to provide feeders to and from Milan Malpensa Airport, where it will partner with major international carriers.

The carrier will offer free ticket changes and two cabins for all its services. On-board catering and on-board purchase are also part of the offer despite the short flight time. According to the company’s president Marco Busca, the Italian market still has “great potential for growth”, with the airline with serious intentions to become one of the leaders in domestic routes. The first 11 airports to which EGO Airways will operate have already been identified, and all flights must start for the summer season. The first flight will connect the two bases in Forlì and Catania, and the line will be operated with 24 flights a week from March 25.

EGO Airways has been planning to enter service for more than a year, going through many ideas of what aircraft to use. In the end, the airline chose the reliable Embraer E190-100LR, renting it from the German operator WDL Aviation. The 100-seat aircraft will have 88 economy seats and 12 “executive” seats. The aircraft has been repainted in a striking new livery, with three tail rings and EGO (lower case) Airways printed on the fuselage. The first E-190 aircraft was named MARTINA The airline will launch operations with 3 aircraft.

From March 28, flights between Bari and Florence, and Forlì and Parma will be added, which will be operated daily. Three more routes start on March 30 between Lamezia Terme and Forlì, Florence and Parma, and gradually by June more routes will be added to the airports of Cagliari on the island of Sardinia, Milan-Bergamo, Rome-Fiumicino and Palermo.

Spa at the airport – South Africa

Most air passengers find it difficult to tolerate travel and long flights, complaining of swollen legs, back cramps, fatigue and migraines. There is a worldwide trend to open spas right next to the airports: take your luggage and immediately get a massage. And this is so convenient if suddenly the flight is delayed: instead of being nervous in the waiting room or walking around the city with a suitcase, you can enjoy a bath with rose petals or a tightening waist procedure. One of the first such services is available in South Africa, at Johannesburg Airport. The spa offers a wonderful panoramic view of the planes taking off directly from the pool. There is no danger of being late for the plane: information boards hang everywhere. The prices are between 60-200 BGN.

Spa on train – USA

A luxury car (Pullman) has been installed in one of the oldest railway depots in California (Napa Walley’s). This is a real “palace on wheels” from the 1920s. Inside is a first-class spa, opened in 2010, with three large compartments and an extensive catalog of services. To maintain the necessary historical atmosphere when buying a spa treatment, each visitor is given a real train ticket. Prices are $ 135 for a full package of procedures (massage, face mask, peeling).

Spa in a castle – USA

The fortress walls next to the skyscrapers of the “big apple” are quite original, and next to them you can hide warm in the sauna or swim naked in the pool under the stars until midnight. This spa complex in Queens is fun for all ages: respectable ladies, small children, couples in love and whole business teams like to go here. Even the shy ones are scared here, because the place is big enough for everyone – a castle corner is huge: almost 10 thousand square meters, full of thermal pools, beauty treatments, lobby areas and bars. Prices are between 50-250 dollars.

Spa in a monastery – Austria

In the eastern part of Austria there is a nunnery, known worldwide for its spa hotel: anyone who wishes can stay here for the night or longer in order to rejuvenate and heal. All spa treatments are performed by the novices themselves, in monastic robes: massage and lymphatic drainage, contrasting water treatments and skin tightening, Chinese qigong gymnastics classes, and also provide consecrated water. Many accuse the abbey of blasphemy, but Mariencron’s popularity not only does not suffer from this, but on the contrary – is growing. The prices are around 140 euros.

Spa in the desert – Dubai

The Bedouin tents in the desert sands near Dubai can be considered one of the best spa hotels on the planet, given their luxurious interior design, first-class service and modern wellness complex. In addition to views of sand dunes and camels from the pool or gym and during treatments, additional activities such as horseback riding or falconry are available. Only in this center in the Middle East is a spa treatment allowed for two: massage for two, jacuzzi and romantic rituals. Prices are between 100-250 dollars.

Customers of the British easyJet, which is still the second-largest low-cost carrier in Europe, will also be charged for the opportunity to use the luggage boxes in the cabin.

The changes in the airline’s luggage policy will take effect on February 10, 2021, according to which only small bags that fit under the seat will remain free. Use of the cabin luggage space above the seats will be charged extra.

According to the airline, quoted by BBC, these changes are aimed at improving on-board service and flight performance on time. Unofficially, however, it is clear that easyJet is facing serious financial difficulties due to the pandemic and is looking for all sorts of ways to similar its financial balance.

Passengers’ reactions are not late and are very negative. One of the comments on Twitter is in the top ten: “Like Ryanair, easyJet is trying to monetize every opportunity in the race to reach the bottom.”

There are also some positive comments, according to which the new policy will allow freeing on board, which after the increase in fees for checked baggage in one of the previous changes in the baggage policy of low-cost airlines is very limited.

Expected prices for the new service will range from EUR 7 for shorter flights to EUR 29 for long flights. Passengers booking flights after February 10, 2021, will have to comply with the new baggage requirements.

In November 2020, easyJet announced its first annual loss in the airline’s 25-year history. For the financial year to September 30, the carrier is back by 1.27 billion pounds, and losses continue to accumulate in the last quarter of the year.