Air France-KLM’s Dutch arm is stepping up labor talks aimed at securing employee wage cuts in time to qualify for a E3.4b bailout by the Netherlands government. Discussions with KLM’s unions and works council have accelerated as the airline strives to secure the 20% salary reduction by Oct. 1, CEO Pieter Elbers said Thursday. “We are now in the midst of very intensive talks to come to a comprehensive package meeting these requirements,” Elbers said. “It’s our ambition to have it finalized by Oct. 1. It’s a hard deadline.” Part of the plan is already in place after 2,000 staff signed up for voluntary departure and the carrier retired older planes and slimmed down its network. Still, pay cuts for pilots, cabin crew and ground staff are central to the pay deal required by the Dutch state in exchange for the funds secured to get the carrier through the pandemic. “One of the key conditions is a pay contribution from workers,” Elbers said. “Stakeholders should make a contribution as well.” According to the settlement under negotiation, lower-paid staff will take a cut of significantly less than 20%, with their higher-paid colleagues bearing a heavier burden, he said.<br/>
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The EC’s proposals regarding the sustainability of air travel lack clarity in terms of what they are seeking to achieve, in the view of KLM CE Pieter Elbers. Elbers said Thursday he does not “precisely understand what’s the objective of some of the things. Is the objective to make flying for our customers much more expensive so they fly less? That’s nothing to do with sustainability in itself, that’s just a way to influence consumer behaviour. Are the taxes meant to encourage companies to speed up their sustainability programmes?” he asked, arguing that most businesses already do all they can in that regard. Earlier in September, the EC presented its plan to reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. It has previously discussed measures such as taxes on aviation fuel as potentially helping the region to meet that target. Instead of such taxation – which he says ends with money going into “general funds” – Elbers believes the focus should be on “investing in real innovation and bringing forward the industry”. He mentions KLM’s work with Delft University on developing biofuels as an example of that “innovation”, alongside its investment in new-generation aircraft. He also notes what he sees as a contradiction in the recent state bailouts of European airlines being potentially followed by an effort to impose new taxes on the same businesses.<br/>
Vietnam Airlines has opened bookings for Seoul-Hanoi, with the first flight scheduled to depart 25 September. “This is the first official scheduled international commercial flight to Vietnam since the Covid-19 situation restabilised in Vietnam,” the airline said Wednesday. The airline is offering over 300 seats on an Airbus A350. Tickets are not sold through its website but instead through its offices and official agents in South Korea and Vietnam. “Being the first scheduled international commercial flight to Vietnam, stringent coordination of Vietnam Airlines and the [relevant] authorities is required. As soon as the plan was approved on the night of September 22 by the government, Vietnam Airlines and related units completed all necessary procedures to resume this route and open bookings.” Passengers are subject to various requirements, and this includes producing a valid result for a Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction test, taken within three days before departure; confirming their quarantine details in Vietnam; installing a tracking app on their mobile phone; and completing medical reports.<br/>