Corona

The Corona pandemic continues to place a heavy burden on airport operator Fraport despite the relaxation of travel regulations. At least, however, the situation improved somewhat in June compared with the two previous months.

The number of passengers at Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s largest airport, still fell by almost 91 percent year-on-year in June to 599,314, as the MDax-listed airport operator announced in Frankfurt on Monday. In April and May, however, passenger numbers were still down by almost 97 percent and 96 percent respectively. In the first half of the year, which was marked by the Corona crisis from mid-March onwards, the number of passengers handled in Frankfurt dropped by almost 64 percent to 12.2 million.

Since the company has been publishing weekly figures on air traffic at Frankfurt Airport since the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, the monthly data no longer come as a big surprise, but they do show how much the crisis is affecting the Group. In its monthly figures, Fraport also publishes information on foreign airports. Here, the declines continue to be very high almost everywhere – especially in Brazil, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. Only at the airport in Xi’an, China, in which Fraport holds a 24.5 percent stake, is the situation somewhat more relaxed. In June, the number of passengers handled there fell by just under 32 percent to 2.62 million.

The Corona crisis continues to have a firm grip on Frankfurt Airport. Instead of the slow recovery hoped for, passenger numbers at Germany’s largest hub fell again in September. Continued travel restrictions and the intensified pandemic do not lead us to expect any improvement for the rest of the year either.

Just under 1.15 million passengers were counted in the month, 83 percent fewer than a year earlier, as operator Fraport reported on Tuesday. This was also around 360000 passengers less than in August, when the year-on-year decrease was "only 78 percent of the total. The other German airports and their association ADV also confirm the trend: after a brief summer peak, passenger numbers have been trending downward since mid-August.

On the back burner for months

Germany’s largest airport has already been running on a tight budget for months. Not until next Thursday will the fourth runway, Runway West, be put back into operation after almost six months of compulsory shutdown. This would not really be necessary for the still sparse flight operations, only the shorter distances to the de-icing facility allow the operation of "18 West" seem to make sense during the winter months.

Double premiere in the Catholic parish center: First came the water damage, then Corona. Thankfully, the afternoons could initially take place in the Protestant Martin Luther parish hall until the damage was repaired. There they met for the last time in March 2020. Then came a four-month forced break with Corona.

The team around the main responsible person Bianca Volkert, considered for a long time back and forth, weighed all risks and decided to offer now for the first time again common afternoons. Both the team and all the elderly members of the congregation belong to the risk group, and accordingly precautions had to be taken. Admission only with registration, mask, disinfect hands and plenty of space between seats. Guests and team were limited to a minimum so that only 20 guests, three service staff (Margarete Keidel, Marianne Schneider, Bianca Volkert) and two kitchen staff (Christa Bauer, Ilse Fenn) could be present. This drastic restriction prompted the team to spend two consecutive afternoons helping the senior citizens of the parish.

The joy of reunion was great on both sides. The most difficult thing for everyone was not being able to hug each other. Singing was also not allowed, but Rudolf Schlembach played beautiful melodies on the zither and read suitable poems and prayers in between.

"In return for government aid, Deutsche Bahn AG wants to save about five billion euros, including about 2.25 billion euros in personnel costs. In plain language, the implementation of this agreement between the Group and the German government means cutting far more than 10.000 jobs at Deutsche Bahn throughout Germany."The group did not want to comment on the statements on Sunday upon request. According to its own information, it employs around 211 people in Germany.000 people.

According to the paper, Hommel fears "a tough austerity policy on the backs of employees, with apprenticeships cut in half and a halt to urgently needed new hires". As after the supervisory board meeting last Friday, the trade unionist proposed an "Alliance for Employment and Mobility". Hommel said on Friday that the company’s board of management had assured him of its willingness to do so.

Although passenger numbers plummeted by about 90 percent during the Corona crisis, the railroad has barely adjusted its capacity. The German government now wants to support the state-owned company through a further capital increase. 6.9 to 8.4 billion euros could flow in the process. In addition, the federal government wants an increase in the new debt limit of currently about 25.4 billion euros.

The Corona virus has brought the entire amateur sport in Bavaria to a standstill. Since the beginning of the week, one sports association after the other has canceled its matches or competitions because of the pandemic. The last umbrella organizations followed on Friday. The Bavarian Football Association (BFV) has suspended all matches up to the 23rd round. March canceled. In addition, the BFV recommends its approximately 4600 clubs to stop training and not to play any test matches.

Health has priority

"It is a matter of stopping the chain of infection. Priority has the health of all", explains Upper Franconia’s BFV district chairman Thomas Unger. Whether and when the game could be resumed, is open. Because the situation changes hourly: "There are constant telephone conferences with the Bavarian government and the authorities. I can’t say today what the situation will be like tomorrow."

Zenk is not surprised

For Detlef Zenk, trainer of the soccer district league team VfR Katschenreuth, the development is no surprise: "I expected that. My assessment is that the season is over." The 58-year-old has ordered his soccer players to take a break from training. Annoying, because after a sweaty preparation his kickers were "top fit and hot for the start after the winter break" had been. But Zenk of course understands the reason for the break: "There’s no alternative, because soccer is cool, but totally unimportant. The task now is to slow down the spread of the virus so that, if possible, all seriously ill patients can be treated in the clinics."

Four out of five natural disasters worldwide in the past decade have been attributed to extreme weather and the consequences of the climate crisis, according to a Red Cross study.

These include severe weather, flooding and heat waves. That was 83 percent of all disasters, up from 76 percent in the previous decade.

In the process, more than 410.000 people have died, the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reported Tuesday in Geneva. Heat waves claimed the most victims, followed by storms. In total, some 1.7 billion people were affected, many of them more than once, it said. They lost relatives, were injured or lost homes, livestock, fields and livelihoods, according to the report.