Company history

Hamburg Airlines was founded in April 1988 and commenced operations with a Dornier Do 228

Dornier Do 228

The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, manufactured by Dornier GmbH from 1981 until 1998. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics bought a production licence and manufactures the 228 for the Asian market sphere. Approximately 270 Do 228 were built at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany and...

 with services between its home base of Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

 and Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

 and Westerland. A couple of months later a second Do 228 was added and services expanded to Antwerp and Gothenburg

Gothenburg

Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...

. By the end of 1988 a de Havilland Canada Dash 8 was added and the airline expanded operations.

With the reunification of Germany, flights to the east were added and the airline leased a Fokker 100 and the routes 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...

 based Tempelhof Airways

Tempelhof Airways

Tempelhof Airways was an airline based in West Berlin during the time when it was under the jurisdiction of the western nations. It operated from 1981 until the reunification of Germany in 1990.-Company history:...

 were taken over and Berlin became a second hub for Hamburg Airlines. As destinations expanded, London Gatwick Airport

London Gatwick Airport

Gatwick Airport is located 3.1 miles north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and south of Central London. Previously known as London Gatwick,In 2010, the name changed from London Gatwick Airport to Gatwick Airport...

, Kalinigrad and Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

 were served. But Hamburg Airlines was losing money so in 1993 it was sold to Saarland Airlines (a charter company), but Hamburg Airlines continued to operate independent of the mother company. In 1993 Saarland Airlines went bankrupt and Hamburg Airlines ceased operations for a short period until revived in December 1993 under the name Hamburg Airlines Luftfahrtgesellschaft. The aircraft of choice for the Hamburg Airlines was the BAe 146

BAe 146

The British Aerospace 146 is a medium-sized commercial airliner formerly manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2002. Manufacture of an improved version known as the Avro RJ began in 1992...

. Things did not go well for Hamburg Airlines and by 1997 it was in dire financial problems, when no buyer or merger partner could be found, Hamburg Airlines was liquidated on 21 December 1997.

Fleet details

• Dornier Do 228
  Dornier Do 228
  The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, manufactured by Dornier GmbH from 1981 until 1998. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics bought a production licence and manufactures the 228 for the Asian market sphere. Approximately 270 Do 228 were built at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany and...
  
  
• de Havilland DHC-8
• Fokker 100
• BAe 146-100/200/300
  BAe 146
  The British Aerospace 146 is a medium-sized commercial airliner formerly manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2002. Manufacture of an improved version known as the Avro RJ began in 1992...