Replacing presenter Natasha Ehrmann, Marc Clement and Jess discussed the latest house price figures published by the Observatoire de l’habitat and what this means for the growing group of people being squeezed by the housing crisis. While the pandemic does not appear to have curtailed spiralling house prices, which grew 16% over a year, there were 20% fewer transactions. Luxembourg’s recently founded tenant support group Mieterschutz is on Saturday organising a demonstration for measures to make access to affordable housing a right.
Luxembourg airline Luxair announced a restructuring plan to limit the impact of the pandemic on staff. Following a 69% drop in activity from January to September, from 1m passengers in 2019 to 323,000 in 2020, it has identified 600 roles that are excess to requirement. Staff will either be retrained or offered early retirement. It was a somewhat less bleak outlook than staff working for other European carriers, with Lufthansa axing over 22,000 jobs, Lufthansa 5,000 and British Airways 10,000. Estimates suggest passenger demand will not recover until late 2022.
The two examined university life during the pandemic, in particular the social, financial and mobility aspects. Erasmus exchanges have been severely impacted with no Erasmus students from outside the EU joining the University of Luxembourg. Meanwhile there has been increased interest for exchanges from students closer to home in Trier.
Upcoming events
10 October: Mieterschutz Housing demonstration, 2pm, Glacis
11 October-Marche Gourmand, Autumn gastronomy hike, 7 kilometres in the Ellergronn nature reserve in Esch, with stops for food. Starts 10am. Luxembourg ticket.
9-25 October: Cineast film festival, films from Central and Eastern Europe will be shown online and in cinemas over the next few weeks, most with English subtitles. Catch the short fiction film marathon on Sunday, as well as black comedy “Comrade Drakulich”. View the full programme on cineast.lu
13 October: Webinar on how the hotel industry is weathering the pandemic, organised by the Ireland Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce.
14 October: British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg online film quiz, 7pm, visit bifilmseason.lu
14 October: Hamilton de Holanda & Chano Dominguez play mandolin and piano, performing Brazilian choro and Spanish flamenco at 8pm. Philharmonie.lu
15 October: Chill at the Phil, a concert with Elida Almeida, a Cape Verdean singer at 7pm. Philharmonie.lu
17 October: Neimenster hosts an open day with performances and tours of its historic building, as well as refreshments. 11-5pm. Neimenster.lu
Listen here
“Connecting” is broadcast every Friday after the 6pm news on radio 100,7. Catch the next Delano segment on the 100,7 airwaves on 9 October. Listen live by tuning in to 100.7 FM in Luxembourg or via livestream, or catch the programme replayed as a podcast available Fridays on Delano.lu.