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Germania (airline)
Encyclopedia
Germania Fluggesellschaft mbH, operating as Germania, is an airline
with its headquarters in Berlin
, Germany
. It operates scheduled and chartered flights and aircraft lease services. From its bases at Berlin Tegel Airport and Düsseldorf Airport, scheduled flights to Turkey
, Kosovo
, Syria
, and Lebanon
are offered, aiming at the ethnic minorities living in Germany.
Holiday flights to the Mediterranean on behalf of tour operators are (as of 2011) operated out of Bremen Airport
, Baden Airpark
, Hannover Airport and Munich Airport.
Germania carried 2.5 million passengers in 2009 and has around 600 employees (at January 2010).
The airline was founded in April 1978 as Special Air Transport (SAT) in Cologne
and started operations on 5 Sep 1978. with a Fokker F-27. In November 1978, a Sud Aviation Caravelle
was purchased from LTU
, which was replaced by two used Boeing 727-100 from Hapag-Lloyd Flug (now TUIfly
). Germania Express has adopted the IATA code "ST" which was previously used by Yanda Airlines.
In spring 1986, the company was re-organised and its name was changed to Germania on 1 Jun 1986. For many years, Germania's main area of doing business were charter services for TUI
, Condor Flugdienst and Neckermann Reisen
– an area in which Germania earned a reputation for offering the lowest prices. In 1992 the registered office was relocated to Tegel. In the same year Germania won the bid for flight services between the old and new capital of Germany (Bonn
and Berlin
) on behalf of the German government, establishing a short-lived Beamten-Shuttle (German for “shuttle for civil servants”).
In 1998, the airline pioneered the use of aircraft for advertising in Germany (advertisers included Siemens
and various tour operators). In the same year, Germania began to lease more and more planes to other airlines such as Hapag-Lloyd Express, Maersk and Delta
.
In June 2003, Germania started to offer tickets directly to passengers under the brand Germania Express (gexx). Following a purchase of a 64 % stake in dba (now part of Air Berlin
) on 28 Mar 2005, Germania wet-leased 12 Fokker 100 aircraft to dba. At the same time, dba took over Germania Express's 15 established low-cost
routes and thus absorbed Germania's gexx brand. Germania on the other hand, with all aircraft having been leased to other airlines, no longer offered routes directly to passengers. While the partial merger between Germania and dba was already reversed in the summer of 2005, the cooperation of Germania and dba was extended to 14 Fokker 100 aircraft. Air Berlin
chief, Joachim Hunold, was tasked by Germania owner, Hinrich Bischoff, to take charge of the future of the company shortly before Bischoff's death on 11 Nov 2005. However, an agreement between Bischoff and Hunold was not reached in the end as Bischoff's heirs refused to accept.
Germania relaunched scheduled flights under its own brand out of Berlin
and Düsseldorf
name beginning with the 2008 summer schedule. However, in the light of the financial crisis, plans for a further network extension were temporarily postponed.
The foundations were laid for the first maintenance hangar at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) on 21 March 2011. Germania will use the hangar together with Air Berlin as from June 2012.
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
with its headquarters in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It operates scheduled and chartered flights and aircraft lease services. From its bases at Berlin Tegel Airport and Düsseldorf Airport, scheduled flights to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, and Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
are offered, aiming at the ethnic minorities living in Germany.
Holiday flights to the Mediterranean on behalf of tour operators are (as of 2011) operated out of Bremen Airport
Bremen Airport
Bremen Airport or Flughafen Bremen serves the German city of Bremen and is located south of the city. There were 2.4 million passengers in 2008.-History:The beginnings of the airport date back to the early 20th century...
, Baden Airpark
Baden Airpark
Baden Airpark , or officially Flughafen Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, is an international airport located in Rheinmünster in the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany, south of Karlsruhe, west of Baden-Baden and north of Strasbourg, France....
, Hannover Airport and Munich Airport.
Germania carried 2.5 million passengers in 2009 and has around 600 employees (at January 2010).
History
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
and started operations on 5 Sep 1978. with a Fokker F-27. In November 1978, a Sud Aviation Caravelle
Sud Aviation Caravelle
The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle was the first short/medium-range jet airliner produced by the French Sud Aviation firm starting in 1955 . The Caravelle was one of the more successful European first generation jetliners, selling throughout Europe and even penetrating the United States market, with...
was purchased from LTU
LTU International
LTU Lufttransport-Unternehmen GmbH was an airline based in Düsseldorf, Germany, now fully owned by Air Berlin. The initials stand for the German phrase LuftTransport-Unternehmen . It operated scheduled services on medium and long-haul routes, as well as charter services...
, which was replaced by two used Boeing 727-100 from Hapag-Lloyd Flug (now TUIfly
TUIfly
TUIfly Vermarktungs GmbH is an airline based at Hannover Airport in Langenhagen, Lower Saxony, Germany. The airline offers both charter and scheduled low-cost flights. About 60% of all seats are sold directly, 30% as a part of a TUI holiday package and 10% by other agencies...
). Germania Express has adopted the IATA code "ST" which was previously used by Yanda Airlines.
In spring 1986, the company was re-organised and its name was changed to Germania on 1 Jun 1986. For many years, Germania's main area of doing business were charter services for TUI
Tui
As a noun, Tui may refer to:* Tu'i , a title of nobility in Polynesia and some of Melanesia* Tui Awards, New Zealand's annual music industry awards* Tui , a brand of New Zealand beer produced by Tui Breweries...
, Condor Flugdienst and Neckermann Reisen
Arcandor
Arcandor AG is a holding company located in Essen, Germany that oversees companies operating in the businesses of mail order and internet shopping, department stores and tourism services. It was created in 1999 through the merger of Karstadt Warenhaus AG, which was founded in 1920, and Quelle...
– an area in which Germania earned a reputation for offering the lowest prices. In 1992 the registered office was relocated to Tegel. In the same year Germania won the bid for flight services between the old and new capital of Germany (Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
) on behalf of the German government, establishing a short-lived Beamten-Shuttle (German for “shuttle for civil servants”).
In 1998, the airline pioneered the use of aircraft for advertising in Germany (advertisers included Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
and various tour operators). In the same year, Germania began to lease more and more planes to other airlines such as Hapag-Lloyd Express, Maersk and Delta
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
.
Air Berlin
Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG is Germany's second largest airline, after Lufthansa, and Europe's sixth largest airline in terms of passengers....
) on 28 Mar 2005, Germania wet-leased 12 Fokker 100 aircraft to dba. At the same time, dba took over Germania Express's 15 established low-cost
Low-cost carrier
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline is an airline that generally has lower fares and fewer comforts...
routes and thus absorbed Germania's gexx brand. Germania on the other hand, with all aircraft having been leased to other airlines, no longer offered routes directly to passengers. While the partial merger between Germania and dba was already reversed in the summer of 2005, the cooperation of Germania and dba was extended to 14 Fokker 100 aircraft. Air Berlin
Air Berlin
Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG is Germany's second largest airline, after Lufthansa, and Europe's sixth largest airline in terms of passengers....
chief, Joachim Hunold, was tasked by Germania owner, Hinrich Bischoff, to take charge of the future of the company shortly before Bischoff's death on 11 Nov 2005. However, an agreement between Bischoff and Hunold was not reached in the end as Bischoff's heirs refused to accept.
Germania relaunched scheduled flights under its own brand out of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
name beginning with the 2008 summer schedule. However, in the light of the financial crisis, plans for a further network extension were temporarily postponed.
The foundations were laid for the first maintenance hangar at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) on 21 March 2011. Germania will use the hangar together with Air Berlin as from June 2012.
Fleet
As of May 2011, the Germania fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 12.6 years:| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-100 Airbus A320 family The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001... |
6 | 2 | 150 | |
| Boeing 737-300 Boeing 737 Classic The Boeing 737 Classic is the name given to the -300/-400/-500 series of the Boeing 737 following the introduction of the -600/-700/-800/-900 series. They are short- to medium- range, narrow-body jet airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Classic series was introduced as the 'new... |
2 | 0 | 136 | to retire November 2011 |
| Boeing 737-700 Boeing 737 Next Generation The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as Boeing 737NG, is the name given to the -600/-700/-800/-900 series of the Boeing 737 after the introduction of the -300/-400/-500 Classic series. They are short- to medium-range, narrow-body jet airliners... |
9 | 0 | 148 | six aircraft are operated for Air Berlin Air Berlin Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG is Germany's second largest airline, after Lufthansa, and Europe's sixth largest airline in terms of passengers.... |
| Total | 17 | 2 | ||
Fleet development
Over the years, Germania operated the following aircraft types:| Aircraft | Introduced | Retired |
|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319 Airbus A320 family The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001... |
2011 | |
| Boeing 737-300 Boeing 737 Classic The Boeing 737 Classic is the name given to the -300/-400/-500 series of the Boeing 737 following the introduction of the -600/-700/-800/-900 series. They are short- to medium- range, narrow-body jet airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Classic series was introduced as the 'new... |
1987 | 2011 |
| Boeing 737-700 Boeing 737 Next Generation The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as Boeing 737NG, is the name given to the -600/-700/-800/-900 series of the Boeing 737 after the introduction of the -300/-400/-500 Classic series. They are short- to medium-range, narrow-body jet airliners... |
1998 | |
| Fokker 100 | 2003 | 2008 |
See also
- AirlineAirlineAn airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
- Berlin Brandenburg Airport
- BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
- Transport in GermanyTransport in GermanyAs a densely populated country in a central location in Europe and with a developed economy, Germany has a dense and modern transportation infrastructure....