Money Buzz! Europa

Category: Infrastructure

  • Travelers to Greece must complete an electronic declaration

    Travelers to Greece must complete an electronic declaration

    From 1 July, all entrants to Greece, regardless of nationality, must complete, at least 48 hours before travel, an electronic declaration on the following website.

    The declaration contains information about the starting point of the traveler, previous trips and stays in other countries, as well as the address where will stay in Greece.

    After filling in the electronic declaration, a unique identification code (QR code) is automatically generated, which must be submitted, in electronic form or on paper, to the local authorities upon arrival in Greece. 

    Passengers without a QR code will not be allowed to enter Grecce.

    Based on the data from the declaration, it is possible that the passenger will be tested for coronavirus on arrival in Greece, and will need to isolate himself until the result.

  • Over 1.000 daily Ryanair flights over Europe since 1 July

    Over 1.000 daily Ryanair flights over Europe since 1 July

    Ryanair will operate over 1.000 daily flights across 200 European airports, restoring almost 90% of its pre-Covid-19 route network.

    Ryanair crew members and airport support teams are returning to work after the 3½ month Covid-19 shutdown.

    In line with the recommendations of EASA and the ECDC, Ryanair has introduced new health measures for both our crews and our passengers, which will minimise the risk of Covid-19.

    These include mandatory face masks/coverings, fewer check bags, cashless inflight services, and improved hygiene procedures.

    500.000 seats on sale

    Ryanair is releasing 500.000 seats on sale from just €19.99 one way for travel in late Aug & Sept.

    These fares are the lowest ever offered by Ryanair during the peak summer months and are avaible until midnight Fri 3 July.

  • Over 23 000 people killed in road accidents in the EU in 2018

    Over 23 000 people killed in road accidents in the EU in 2018

    In 2018, 23 339 people died in road accidents in the EU, 45% being passenger car occupants, 21% pedestrians, 15% motorcycles, 8% bicycles and 12% other categories, shows Eurostat.

    There has been a downward trend over the last 10 years in the number of road traffic victims in the EU.

    Compared with 2008, the number of road fatalities has fallen by more than 13 000 persons (-37%), from almost 37 000 to less than 24 000 in 2018.

    Highest number of road fatalities in Romania and Bulgaria

    Compared with the population of each member state, the lowest rates of road fatalities in 2018 were observed in Ireland (29 road traffic victims per million inhabitants), Denmark (30), Sweden (32) and the Netherlands (35), ahead of Malta (38), Spain (39) and Germany (40).

    At the opposite end of the scale, the highest rates were recorded in Romania (96 road traffic victims per million inhabitants), Bulgaria (87), Croatia and Latvia (both 77) and Poland (75).

    In 2018, there were in total 52 road traffic victims per million inhabitants in the EU as a whole.

  • Eni found new gas in the Mediterranean Sea offshore Egypt

    Eni found new gas in the Mediterranean Sea offshore Egypt

    Eni have successfully drilled the first exploration well in the North El Hammad license, in the conventional Egyptian waters of the Nile Delta, on the prospect called Bashrush.

    The discovery further extends to the west the gas potential of the Abu Madi formation reservoirs discovered and produced from the so-called “Great Nooros Area”.

    The new discovery is located in 22 meters of water depth, 11 km from the coast and 12 km North-West from the Nooros field and about 1 km west of the Baltim South West field, both already in production.

    The well discovered a single 152 meters thick gas column within the Messinian age sandstones of the Abu Madi formation with excellent petrophysical properties.

    The well will be tested for production.

    In the North El Hammad concession, which is in participation with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), Eni through its affiliate IEOC holds 37.5% interest, the role of Operator, BP holds the 37.5%, and Total holds the 25% of the Contractor interest.

    Eni has been present in Egypt since 1954, where it operates through IEOC Production.

  • Enel Green Power awarded the contract for its first solar plant in India

    Enel Green Power awarded the contract for its first solar plant in India

    Enel Green Power has been awarded the right to sign a 25-year energy supply contract for a 420 MWsolar project in India.

    Located in the State of Rajasthan, the project will be its first solar plant in the country.

    The project was awarded under the 2 GW Ninth Tranche of the national solar tender issued by the government company Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited.

    Construction works over 180 million US dollars

    The construction of the solar plant, which is expected to start operations at the end of 2021, will involve an investment of approximately 180 million US dollars.

    Under the energy supply contract to be assigned to EGP pursuant to today’s tender, the solar project delivers specified volumes of energy over a 25-year period to SECI.

    The facility will be able to generate more than 750 GWh of renewable energy per year, enough to avoid the annual emission of around 681.600 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

    Enel Green Power, through EGP India, one of India’s leading renewable energy companies, owns and operates 172 MW of wind capacity producing around 340 GWh per year in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

  • Hotel Villa Magna, first hotel in Spain under Rosewood Hotels & Resorts brand

    Hotel Villa Magna, first hotel in Spain under Rosewood Hotels & Resorts brand

    Rosewood Hotels & Resorts has been selected by RLH Properties and owner of Hotel Villa Magna in Madrid, Spain, to manage the iconic property.

    This will be the brand’s first hotel in Spain and fourth operation in Europe, where Rosewood is also expanding into other prime locations.

    The property will debut as Rosewood Villa Magna following a refurbishment, during which the property will remain open, that will incorporate a contemporary design, displaying an inspired interpretation of Spain’s capital city.

    The hotel is centrally located, immediately neighboring the prestigious Serrano shopping district, and other well-known nearby landmarks such as the Golden Triangle of Art, home to the Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza and Reina Sofía Museums.

    Villa Magna is currently closed as a precautionary measure due to COVID-19 and will reopen on September 1, 2020 operating independently until Rosewood assumes management once the refurbishment works have come to an end towards late 2021.

  • Austrian Airlines resumed long-haul flights after 100 days

    Austrian Airlines resumed long-haul flights after 100 days

    One of the first regular long-haul flights operated by Austrian Airlines took off from Vienna today at 10:33 A.M. as flight OS 89.

    The Boeing 767 with the registration OE-LAX landed on time at Newark Airport in New Jersey at around 1:45 P.M.

    Close to one third of the aircraft is occupied, with 64 passengers on board. The return flight is fully booked.

    “Long-haul routes comprise the supreme discipline in Austrian aviation”, says Austrian Airlines CCO Andreas Otto. “Therefore, after such a long interruption, we are of course especially pleased to be able to offer intercontinental flights again and thereby get our hub at Vienna Airport up and running again.”

    The last regularly scheduled Austrian Airlines long-haul flight before the forced coronavirus break, departing from Chicago, landed in Vienna on 19 March 2020.

    In the meantime, Austrian Airlines carried out various repatriation flights from South America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, amongst other places.

    Transport flights for medical supplies from China and Malaysia also took place and will be continued in July.

  • PGE Group launched two new wind farms, Starza/Rybice and Karnice II

    PGE Group launched two new wind farms, Starza/Rybice and Karnice II

    The investment project in the north-western part of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, comprises 43 turbines with a total installed capacity of nearly 100 MW.

    The project has increased the total installed capacity of PGE’s wind farms by 20 percent to near 647 MW and strengthened the group’s position as the Poland’s largest manufacturer of green energy.

    Within the framework of the project implemented in the area of Kamień Pomorski and Gryfice Poviats, 33 wind turbines with a nominal capacity of 2 MW and 10 wind turbines with a capacity of 2.2 MW were built together with the accompanying infrastructure and a grid connection in the form of two substations.

    For the foundations of all the wind turbines, 16,340 m³ of concrete (more than 1,800 courses of concrete trucks) and 2,120 tons of reinforcing steel (more than 8 Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenger aircraft) were used.

    The turbines, each weighing about 260 tons, were mounted on 110 and 125 meter towers respectively. Their blades made of laminate (glass fibre/resin mixture) are 100 or 110 metres long in diameter.

  • Serbia: Total number of transported passengers incresed by 1,1% in 2019

    Serbia: Total number of transported passengers incresed by 1,1% in 2019

    The total number of transported passengers in 2019, relative to the previous year, increased by 1.1%, Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia shows.

    In the observed period, domestic transport of passengers saw a decrease of 0.8%, which influenced the fall of the total number of passengers carried by 0.6%.

    The total performance in 2019, expressed in pkm, decreased by 0.6%, which resulted from a decrease in the performance of the domestic transport of passengers by 5%, while that of the international transport grew by 3.7%.

    The volume of transported goods in 2019, relative to the previous year, increased by 4.8%.

    The domestic transport of goods increased by 7.8%, while the international transport of goods recorded an increase of export of goods by 9.3%, and import by 3.1%, relative to 2018.

    Operations volume, expressed in tkm grew by 12.6%.

    The volume increased both in domestic and international transport.

    Observed by mode of transport, the total number of passengers carried in road transport increased, relative to the previous year, by 0.4%, which was influenced by the transport of passengers in domestic transport, which grew by 0.6% in 2019, while the number of passengers in international transport fell by 6.6%.

    The total volume of goods carried in road transport in 2019 was higher than it was in 2018 by 21.5%, while the volume of performance in tkm went up by 26.9%.

    The total number of passenger carried in railway transport recorded a decrease of 17.2%

    The realised fall, expressed in passenger kilometres, wend down by 17.9%.

    The volume of goods carried fell both in domestic and international transport so that the total goods carried in railway transport decreased by 6.5%. The volume of operations in tkm in railway transport fell by 10.4%.

    Air transport, as far as passengers carried and total operations volume are concerned, indicates growth

    Transported passengers’ number, compared to the previous year, increased by 10.1%, and total operations volume by 9.9%.

    When we observe goods transport, the situation in air transport is opposite.

    Namely, in 2019, when compared to 2018, we notice a fall of quantities of goods transported, of 16.3%, and a fall of total operations volume, of 25.3%.

    Inland waterways transport recorded an increase in the quantities of goods carried of 9.3%, and the operations volume, expressed in tkm, saw an increase of 25.3%.

  • Ryanair wants EU to block €3.4bn ”illegal” state aid to KLM

    Ryanair wants EU to block €3.4bn ”illegal” state aid to KLM

    Ryanair called on the EU Commission ”to block the latest illegal” State Aid of €3.4bn to Dutch flag carrier KLM, which equates to a subsidy of €200 on behalf of every man, woman and child of Holland.

    The company shows that ”The Dutch Govt are great at preaching fiscal conservatism to other EU countries but when it comes to bailing out flag carrier airlines they write subsidy checks even faster than Mrs Merkel”.

    Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary said: “16 years after Air France’s takeover of KLM, every Dutch citizen now has to pay €200 each to prop-up Air France-KLM, while each French citizen will only pay a subsidy €100. For this €200 KLM subsidy, every Dutch man, woman and child could buy 5 flights with Ryanair, instead of paying for the failure and inefficiency at Air France-KLM.”

    ”We call on the European Commission to block this subsidy doping to KLM, which will further reduce competition and consumer choice in the Dutch and French markets”, O’Leary completed.

  • Households accounted for 26.1% of energy consumption in EU

    Households accounted for 26.1% of energy consumption in EU

    In 2018, households accounted for 26.1% of final energy consumption in the European Union (EU), latest Eurostat data shows.

    Most of the EU final energy consumption in the households is covered by natural gas (32.1%) and electricity (24.7%).

    Renewables account for 19.5%, followed by petroleum products (11.6%) and derived heat (8.7%). A small proportion (3.4%) is still covered by coal products (solid fuels).

    Energy consumption in households by type of end-use

    In the EU, the main use of energy by households is for heating their homes (63.6% of final energy consumption in the residential sector).

    Electricity used for lighting and most electrical appliances represents 14.1% (this excludes the use of electricity for powering the main heating, cooling or cooking systems), while the proportion used for water heating is slightly higher, representing 14.8%.

    Main cooking devices require 6.1% of the energy used by households, while space cooling and other end-uses cover 0.4% and 1.0% respectively.

    The heating of space and water consequently represents 78.4% of the final energy consumed by households.

  • Ryanair opens 64 routes to/from Vienna commencing July 1st

    Ryanair opens 64 routes to/from Vienna commencing July 1st

    Ryanair announced it will open 67 routes to/from Austria commencing on Wed 1st July next, as part of Ryanair’s post Covid Summer 2020 schedule.

    Its Vienna base will offer 64 routes, including summer services to Palma, Rome, Faro & Athens, and many more.

    Ryanair will guarantee low fares for Austrian customers/visitors at prices which start from €9.99 one way.

    Following the reopening of Lauda’s Vienna A320 base on 1 July, Ryanair will operate to/from Vienna on a mixture of Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Since Lauda will become a wet lease provider for the Ryanair Group, the red brand will continue to fly over the skies of Austria from 1st July.

    Ryanair’s Austria 2020 schedule

    • Over 25 summer destination including Faro, Malaga, Malta, Naples & Palma.
    • Over 20 city break destinations including Dublin, Milan, Madrid, Lisbon & Warsaw.
    • Ryanair will also operate 2 routes to/from Salzburg and 1 route to/from Klagenfurt.