COVID-19 Update: TICO, Lufthansa Group and More
TICO Issues 90-Day Fee Deferral
The ongoing impact of the COVID-19 crisis continues to place severe financial strain on all registrants. Effective immediately, TICO is implementing a 90-day deferral of fees payable for the following: Year-end, Jan. 31, original due date April 30, now July 31; Year-end, Feb. 28, original due date May 31, now Aug. 31; Year-end March 31, original due date June 30, now Sept. 30.
There is no action required by registrants to qualify for the above deferral. For those that have already remitted fees for a prior period, or for the above periods, note that TICO does not accept requests for refunds.
Lufthansa Group Brings 60,000 Europeans Home
The Lufthansa Group carriers have repatriated some 60,000 citizens from the airline carriers’ home countries.
The passengers were unable to return to their various homelands due to the global travel ban currently in place as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak. Lufthansa, Austrian, Brussels Airlines and Swiss International Air Lines have conducted over 300-repatriation flights to cities as far as Oceania’s Sydney and Auckland, Asuncion, Paraguay, as well as Santiago, Chile in South America. An additional 45 flights are forthcoming in the next few weeks.
With continuing travel restrictions being instituted, Lufthansa extended its repatriation flight schedule until May 3. These flights were originally scheduled to conclude on April 19. Furthermore, this means that all remaining flights of the original flight schedule, between April 25 and May 3, will be cancelled. While the flights that were planned to operate through April 24 were already cancelled, these newer route cancellations will be implemented successively and affected passengers will be informed of the changes.
The Lufthansa Group will thus continue to offer a lean network of flights for basic and necessary service. A total of 18 weekly, long-haul flights are scheduled: three times a week each from Frankfurt to Newark and Chicago (both USA), Montreal (Canada), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Bangkok (Thailand) and Tokyo (Japan). In addition, the airline still offers approximately 50 daily connections from its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich to cities in Germany and throughout Europe.
SWISS will also offer three weekly long-haul services to Newark (USA) from Zurich, in addition to a substantially reduced short- and medium-haul timetable focusing on select European cities.
A Message From VoX International
“VoX is proud to have represented destinations far and wide since its inception in 2002 and at this time our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues around the world as well as you, our Canadian community. The global COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the travel industry and the lives of everyone like nothing else before. In these challenging and unprecedented times, we are reaching out to you to extend our best wishes and offer our support in any way we can. We hope that you are staying safe in this time.
“VoX would like to thank all of our media partners for their support throughout the years and particularly now, acknowledge the outstanding efforts of journalists working around the clock to keep Canadians informed and safe as this rapidly evolving situation changes minute to minute.
“Currently, the VoX team is working from home and listening carefully to public healthcare professionals to take all recommended precautions to practice safe social distancing and flatten the curve. We may be physically separated but we are continuing to stay connected with each other and can be reached through phone, email, video chat and everything else in between.
“The safety and health of Canadian travellers is of utmost importance to us and we are here to continue to keep you informed. We love travel and we can’t wait to welcome you back in our destinations once it is safe to do so. Whether it’s taking in a sunset in Hawaii, enjoying authentic BBQ in Texas, adventuring around Costa Rica and so much more, there are countless incredible travel experiences waiting to return to on the other side of this. For information on how the current situation is impacting any of the destinations which VoX represents, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team of account managers.
“We know that while we weather the storm and stay #SafeAtHome, Canadians may be looking for escapism from the current situation. We are inspired by the creativity of our partners in finding ways to bring their destinations to you in this time through virtual tours, live streams, social media and more. If you are looking for positive travel stories, ideas, images or anything else, please let us know. We appreciate you bringing these opportunities to us and we hope that providing these resources will help spread positivity and light in this time.”
Warm regards,
Susan Webb, President
VoX International
Disney Cruise Line Extends Suspension of Operations
Disney Cruise Line has extended its temporary suspension of operations through April 28.
Travellers affected will receive a full refund or a future cruise credit worth 125% of the fare paid, to be used within 15 months of the original sailing date.
In a statement, Disney officials said, “While we know this decision may be disappointing, the health and wellbeing of our guests is of the greatest importance. We are equally committed to the wellbeing of our incredible crew members who live and work aboard our ships on Castaway Cay.”
Barbados Curfew
On Friday, Barbados announced a 24-hour curfew with all supermarkets and minimarts closed until further notice.
People could only be on the road if seeking medical attention or going to a pharmacy, or if part of the essential services.
For the statement from the acting prime minister Santia Bradshaw, visit https://bit.ly/2R8IFGF.
