Host Nation Update, Sept. 29, 2022
Delta to resume Stuttgart-Atlanta flights from March
Delta Air Lines is resuming direct flights from Stuttgart to the United States. From March 27, 2023, the airline will connect Baden-Württemberg’s state airport with its hub in Atlanta four times a week. There are numerous transfer options for travelers there. Boeing 767 aircraft are to be used.
Ulrich Heppe, Managing Director of Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH: “Direct flights to the USA have been of enormous importance to STR for many years. That is why we are very pleased that Delta is resuming the Stuttgart connection to its major hub Atlanta after the Corona break. For the people and the economy in the region and for our American friends, this is a real win.”
Thomas Brandt, Country Sales Manager Germany, Delta Air Lines, said, “Stuttgart Airport has been an important location in our global route network for more than 35 years and we are pleased to be flying from Stuttgart again starting in late March. With our four weekly nonstop flights to Atlanta, we offer leisure and business travelers, as well as passengers visiting friends or relatives, vital and necessary air access from Stuttgart to the East Coast of the U.S., as well as seamless connectivity to more than dozens of destinations in North America. With our cargo capacity on every flight between Baden-Württemberg and the U.S., we also support southern German businesses of all types and sizes.” (Stuttgart Airport Press Release)
Cycling/riding in (the pedestrian zones of) Stuttgart – get off or you get fined
A whistle blows across the Schlossplatz. The police chief inspector Harry Wallenta from the Stuttgart police’s traffic prevention unit is on duty Friday with colleagues to stop all those in the pedestrian zone who are moving around in an unauthorized manner: cyclists and the users of e-scooters. “Everyone knows the rules.” Discussions are sometimes held nonetheless, he says. But they get off and keep pushing. Anyone who thinks they are out of sight because the police have taken up position at the height of the flag rondel has done the math without the police bicycle squad: “Two on a scooter, 1 p.m.,” it says. A female officer gets on her bike and, after a short sprint between the strollers and confronts the duo on the scooter. In this case, it was – allegedly or truly – ignorance: The two youths dutifully inquire about a legal route and push the scooter – not without promising that only one of them will get back on when the police no longer have them in sight beyond the “Königsbau” (downtown Stuttgart).
In the period between 3 and 7:30 p.m., the task forces at Schlossplatz talked to 26 people on scooters and 35 cyclists who do not obey the ban on riding through the pedestrian zone. To Harry Wallenta, this seems comparatively few. Many push – and not only because they have seen the police. “Word also seems to have gotten around that it costs money,” he says. With the scooter 15 euros, with the bicycle 25 euros. The electric scooters are not as strongly represented on weekdays as on Saturday nights, when the party scene is active – or soon on the way home from the Wasen. Even then, the police announced, they will again intensify their controls. Also because many scooter accidents happen under the influence of alcohol.
A 38-year-old man from Stuttgart paid considerably more than the 25 euros for unauthorized cycling. He has to pay a fine of 150 euros, plus fees of 28.50 euros, because he was cycling early in the morning through the still empty Höhenpark on the Killesberg and was caught doing it repeatedly.
According to the city, a warning fine of 55 euros is currently due for a first violation of the ban on cycling in the Höhenpark – in the past, people had already paid a fine of 100 euros. In the case of repeated violations, as in the present case, even if the last one occurred a long time ago, a higher fine is due. (Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Sep 29)
Minister President Kretschmann will fly to the United States
Although the federal-state consultations with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) are getting in his way, Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) is sticking to his USA trip. Kretschmann will fly to the United States with his delegation as planned. He would join the federal-state roundtable on the federal government’s relief package digitally on Oct. 4. Kretschmann is flying to the U.S. from Oct. 2 to 8 with a large delegation to learn about artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, among other topics, in Pittsburgh and California. The U.S. trip has been long-planned and is Kretschmann’s first major trip abroad since 2018, but Kretschmann’s participation was uncertain after the federal-state roundtable was postponed on short notice until Oct. 4. Kretschmann also attaches great importance to negotiations with the federal government – for many weeks he has been insisting on more support from the federal government, for example in local transport. (Stuttgart Nachrichten, Sep 29)
Plan for German holiday next week
This coming Monday, Oct. 3, is ‘German Unity Day,’ a public holiday in Baden-Württemberg and across the country.
Click here to see more details about what to expect on and off-post on a local holiday.
