 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 1980 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | 2013 | ||||||
| Hubs | Augsburg Airport (1986-2002) Munich Airport (1996-2013) | ||||||
| Alliance | Team Lufthansa (1996-2004) Lufthansa Regional (2004-2013) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Augsburg (1980-2008) Hallbergmoos (2008-2013) | ||||||
Augsburg Airways was a regional airline from Germany. A member of Team Lufthansa and its successor Lufthansa Regional, it operated feeder services at Munich Airport on behalf of Lufthansa.
The company was founded in 1980 as Interot Airways, offering corporate flight services out of Augsburg Airport on behalf of its then owner Haindl Papier, a large (West) German paper manufacturer. [1]
In 1986, Interot Airways commenced scheduled passenger flights on the Augsburg–Düsseldorf route, using its then two Beechcraft Super King Air. [2] [3] In 1987, three Beechcraft 1900 were ordered, [4] and the fleet was further expanded following an order for three aircraft of the larger Dash 8-100, which were delivered in 1991–92. [5] By then, the domestic route network at Augsburg Airport had grown to include Berlin, Cologne, Dresden, Hamburg and Leipzig [3] so that Interot Airways was considered an alternative for business travellers who wished to avoid busy Munich Airport. [6]
In 1994, Interot launched its first international route (to Florence), [6] which was followed by flights to Birmingham and London City Airport in 1995. [7] [8] In 1996, the airline went into a cooperation with Lufthansa, becoming the first franchise partner of the Team Lufthansa brand, [9] which coincided with being renamed Augsburg Airways. [2] On 27 October of that year, flights from Munich to Dortmund, Erfurt (both of which had previously not been served by Lufthansa) and Leipzig were commenced. [9] In December, Augsburg Airways sold its last remaining Beechcraft 1900, thus becoming an exclusive operator of the Dash 8. [10]
By 2000, Air Littoral, Cimber Air, Contact Air and Rheintalflug had joined Team Lufthansa, [11] and Augsburg Airways operated a network of 30 domestic and European destinations including Bayreuth, Elba, Frankfurt, London, Newcastle, Paderborn, Prague and Strasbourg. [12] On 1 June 2002, Augsburg Airways terminated its last routes from Augsburg Airport, [13] and handed over control of its scheduling, sales, and marketing operations to Lufthansa, which was considered "necessary for the carrier's survival." [14] Routes from Augsburg Airport where briefly taken over by Denim Airways. In 2004, Lufthansa reorganized its regional franchise partners under the Lufthansa Regional brand, of which Augsburg Airways became a member along with Air Dolomiti, Contact Air, Eurowings and Lufthansa CityLine. [15]
In the same year, Augsburg Airways was acquired by Cirrus Group (the owner of Cirrus Airlines), which was restructured as Aton GmbH in 2008, [2] and the airline subsequently relocated its headquarters to Hallbergmoos. In 2009, the Embraer E-Jet joined the fleet, the only jet airliner type operated by Augsburg Airways. [16] (In 2000, the acquisition of the Bombardier CRJ200, Embraer ERJ 135 or Fairchild Dornier 328JET had been evaluated, but no order was placed). [1]
On 26 October 2012, Lufthansa announced that it would terminate its contract with Augsburg Airways (which by then served 35 destinations from Munich Airport with its fleet of 15 aircraft) at the end of the 2013 summer season. [17] In a similar manner, the cooperation with Contact Air had ended one year earlier. The last flight by Augsburg Airways under the Lufthansa Regional brand took place on 26 October 2013, and the company with its then 450 employees was subsequently shut down on 31 October. [18] Consequently, its Embraer fleet was transferred to Lufthansa CityLine, while the Bombardier Q400 fleet was returned to lessors and stored at Maastricht Airport. [19]
Until closing down, Augsburg Airways operated 36 destinations for Lufthansa Regional, among them Graz, Zagreb, Gothenburg, Dresden, Warsaw and Prague. Some of Augsburg Airways' aircraft were also available for charter flights, when they were not employed on the network.
Over the years, the following aircraft types were operated:
| Aircraft | Subtypes | Introduced | Retired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beechcraft Super King Air [3] | 1986 | 199? | |
| Beechcraft 1900 [4] [10] | 1987 | 1996 | |
| Bombardier Dash 8 [5] [16] | Dash 8-100 | 1991 | 2002 |
| Dash 8-200 | 1997 | 2003 | |
| Dash 8-300 | 1993 | 2010 | |
| Dash 8-400 | 2000 [1] | 2013 | |
| Embraer E-Jet [16] | Embraer E190 | 2009 | 2013 |
| Embraer E195 | 2009 | 2013 | |
Continental Express was the operating brand name used by a number of independently owned regional airlines providing commuter airliner and regional jet feeder service under agreement with Continental Airlines. In 2012 at the time of Continental's merger with United Airlines, two carriers were operating using the Continental Express brand name:
US Airways Express was the brand name for the regional affiliate of US Airways, under which a number of individually owned commuter air carriers and regional airlines operate short and medium haul routes. This code sharing service was previously operated as USAir Express. Mainline carriers often outsource to regional airlines to operate services in order to increase frequency, serve routes that would not sustain larger aircraft, or for other competitive reasons. US Airways Express operations were conducted from smaller markets in the United States, Canada, and the Bahamas primarily centered on US Airways' major hubs and focus cities. Upon the completion of US Airways' merger process with American Airlines, US Airways Express was rebranded as American Eagle on October 17, 2015.
Mesa Airlines, Inc., is an American regional airline based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is an FAA Part 121–certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number MASA036A issued on June 29, 1979. It is a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group and operates flights as United Express via respective code sharing agreements with United Airlines. It serves more than 180 markets in the Western Hemisphere. In a 1997 article from the Journal of Air Transportation, Mesa's safety record was noted as having the fewest incidents among domestic regional airlines at that time. Mesa filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2010, hoping to shed financial obligations for leases on airplanes it no longer needed and emerged from bankruptcy in March 2011. In November 2017, Mesa opened a new training center in Phoenix. The 23,000-square-foot facility features a full-size CRJ-200 cabin trainer aircraft, 14 classrooms, and has the capacity to train 300 crew members at one time.
Piedmont Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group member American Airlines to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on American Eagle flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by American Airlines. Piedmont also provides ground handling and customer service for airports in the northeastern and western United States.
Luxair, legally Luxair S.A., Société Luxembourgeoise de Navigation Aérienne, is the flag carrier of Luxembourg with its headquarters and hub at Luxembourg Airport. It operates scheduled services to destinations in Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean and Middle East with additional charter and seasonal services. It is Luxembourg's only passenger-carrying airline offering regular, non-charter service.
Germanwings GmbH was a German low-cost airline wholly owned by Lufthansa which operated under the Eurowings brand. It was based in Cologne with hubs at Cologne Bonn Airport, Stuttgart Airport, Hamburg Airport, Berlin Tegel Airport, Munich Airport and further bases at Hannover Airport and Dortmund Airport.
Shuttle America Corporation was an American regional airline based in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It fed United Airlines flights at Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) and Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) under the United Express brand, as well as Delta Air Lines flights at Atlanta (ATL), New York-LaGuardia (LGA), and New York-JFK under the Delta Connection brand. Shuttle America also operated two of three Delta Shuttle East Coast routes, serving Washington, D.C., and Chicago from New York-LaGuardia.
Cirrus Airlines Luftfahrtgesellschaft mbH was a German regional airline with its head office in Hallbergmoos and its maintenance facilities at Saarbrücken Airport. It operated both charter and scheduled flights, the latter on behalf of Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and Air Moldova. Its main bases and hubs were Saarbrücken Airport and Mannheim City Airport. The company slogan was connecting business.
Air Dolomiti S.p.A. is an Italian regional airline that is a member of Lufthansa Regional with its head office in Dossobuono, Villafranca di Verona. Its operating base is at Verona Villafranca Airport, Florence Peretola Airport and Venice Marco Polo Airport and focus cities at Munich Airport and Frankfurt Airport in Germany.
German Airways Fluggesellschaft GmbH, operating as German Airways and formerly named Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter or LGW for short, was a German regional airline headquartered in Düsseldorf.
Air Astana is an airline and the flag carrier of Kazakhstan. The airline group is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It operates scheduled international and domestic services across 64 routes from its two hubs; Almaty International Airport, and Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport.
Contact Air Flugdienst was a German regional airline from Filderstadt. With flight operations based at Stuttgart Airport, it operated scheduled passenger flights under the Lufthansa Regional brand.
Eurowings GmbH is a German low-cost carrier headquartered in Düsseldorf and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. Founded in 1996, it serves a network of domestic and European destinations and formerly also operated some long-haul routes and maintains bases at several airports throughout Germany and Austria as well as in Palma de Mallorca and Pristina.
Lufthansa CityLine GmbH is a German airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Munich Airport. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa and maintains hubs at Frankfurt Airport and Munich Airport, from where it operates a dense domestic and European network as a member of Lufthansa Regional.
Lufthansa Regional is an operational entity for regional and feeder flights performed by two regional airlines owned by Lufthansa within its route network. As part of Lufthansa's rebranding, the Lufthansa Regional brand name has gradually been removed from the public eye since early 2018. The repainted aircraft no longer wear Lufthansa Regional titles.
Helvetic Airways, previously named Odette Airways, is a Swiss regional airline headquartered in Kloten with its fleet stationed at Zurich Airport. It operates flights to destinations in Europe and Northern Africa, mainly leisure markets, on its own behalf, as well as scheduled flights on behalf of Swiss International Air Lines and Lufthansa, using their fleet of Embraer 190s and Embraer 190-E2s.
Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian or AUA, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its hub. As of July 2016, the airline flew to six domestic and more than 120 international year-round and seasonal destinations in 55 countries and is a member of the Star Alliance.
Team Lufthansa was an alliance of regional airlines from 4 countries, which flew niche routes on behalf of Lufthansa. It was replaced with Lufthansa Regional in 2003.
Flybmi, styled as flybmi, legally British Midland Regional Limited and formerly branded as bmi Regional, was a British regional airline that operated scheduled passenger services across the UK and Europe. The head office of the airline was at East Midlands Airport in North West Leicestershire, and it had operating bases at Aberdeen, Brussels, Bristol, East Midlands, Newcastle and Munich.
Britt Airways was a United States airline established as Vercoa Air Service in 1964 and renamed to Britt Airlines when it was purchased by William and Marilyn Britt in 1975 later on Britt Airways. It was based in Terre Haute, Indiana until 1996. It began as a commuter airline. It primarily operated turboprop aircraft but also flew British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven twinjets as an independent air carrier at one point as well. The airline evolved into a regional air carrier operating code share flights primarily for Continental Airlines.
Media related to Augsburg Airways at Wikimedia Commons
