| |||||||
Founded | 24 February 1988 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ceased operations | March 1999 | ||||||
Operating bases | Palma de Mallorca Airport | ||||||
Fleet size | 9 | ||||||
Parent company | Iberia Lufthansa (until 1992) | ||||||
Headquarters | Palma de Mallorca, Spain |
Viva Air (legally Vuelos Internacionales de Vacaciones, S.A.) was an airline from Spain that operated during the 1980s and 1990s.
Viva Air was founded on 24 February 1988 by Iberia and Lufthansa. At the beginning, flights were mostly from Germany to Spain, in particular to Palma de Mallorca. By 1992, the partnership between Lufthansa and Iberia dissolved and Iberia took over the operations of Viva Air. Shortly thereafter, Viva Air entered the Spanish domestic scheduled market using Douglas DC-9s, but those were quickly replaced by the Boeing 737-300.
The airline's aircraft stood out with their simple and colourful Joan Miró-style livery created by Spanish school children. It was intended to symbolise the Spanish sunshine which most of its passengers sought during their holidays. After the first few years of operation, the airline was one of the first subsidiary airlines of a major carrier (in this case Iberia) to gain a foothold into London's Heathrow Airport from where Viva operated several scheduled services on behalf of its parent company using Viva callsigns and Viva flight numbers.
Since the scheduled flights were losing money, Iberia took over those routes and Viva Air was relegated to charter flights using Boeing 737-300 aircraft of which it had 10 in service by 1995.
Owing to heavy competition from other Spanish and European charter companies, Viva Air began to lose money and, by 1999, operations ceased and the airline was liquidated. Iberia took over all staff, aircraft and route licenses.
Viva Air operated the following aircraft: [1]
Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Boeing 737-300 | 15 | 1988 | 1999 | |
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 | 3 | 1990 | 1992 | Sold to Airborne Express |
Maersk Air A/S was a Danish airline which operated between 1969 and 2005. Owned by the A. P. Møller–Mærsk Group, it operated a mix of scheduled and chartered passenger and cargo services. Headquartered at Dragør, its main operating bases were Copenhagen Airport, Billund Airport and Esbjerg Airport. The airline had offshore helicopter operations from 1975 to 1999 and had three airline subsidiaries: Maersk Air UK, Maersk Commuter, and Star Air.
AeroSvit Airlines private stock company, operating as AeroSvit — Ukrainian Airlines / АероСвіт, was a Ukrainian private airline. Its head office was on the grounds of the Boryspil International Airport in Boryspil.
Palmair European was a British tour operator with its head office in the Space House in Bournemouth, United Kingdom. Palmair offered charter and scheduled flights on behalf of Bath Travel. Its main base was Bournemouth Airport. Palmair have now stopped any flights for the foreseeable future and the airline has been placed into a "deep freeze" until the economic climate improves.
Air Berlin plc & Co. Luftverkehrs KG, branded as airberlin or airberlin.com, was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline after Lufthansa, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers carried. It was headquartered in Berlin and had hubs at Berlin Tegel Airport and Düsseldorf Airport. At the time of its insolvency, it was a member of the Oneworld airline alliance, having joined in 2012.
Pacific Western Airlines Ltd (PWA) was an airline that operated scheduled flights throughout western Canada and charter services around the world from the 1950s through the 1980s.
Air Europe was a wholly privately owned, independent British airline, established in 1978 under the working title Inter European Airways. It adopted the Air Europe name the following year. Its head office was in Reigate, Surrey, then in Crawley, West Sussex.
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.
Privatair SA was a Swiss airline headquartered in Meyrin, which operated business jets as well as scheduled services on behalf of major airlines. In addition the company operated crew and pilot training facilities. PrivatAir SA was a registered air carrier with two air operator's certificates, in Switzerland and through its subsidiary PrivatAir GmbH in Germany. On 5 December 2018, PrivatAir filed for insolvency and ceased operations.
DBA Luftfahrtgesellschaft mbH, founded as Delta Air and formerly branded as Deutsche BA, was a German low-cost airline headquartered on the grounds of Munich Airport in a building within the municipality of Hallbergmoos, Bavaria, Germany. It operated scheduled domestic and international services and also operated charter flights for tour operators in Europe and North Africa.
Niki was an Austrian low-cost airline headquartered in Office Park I at Vienna Airport in Schwechat. It operated scheduled and charter services to European and North African leisure destinations from Vienna, Salzburg, Graz and Innsbruck and also started services from several German airports in March 2017. Niki had a variety of owners, including two stints of ownership under Niki Lauda (1949–2019). In January 2018, the airline was acquired by Lauda, an airline that also had ties to Niki Lauda.
Germania Fluggesellschaft mbH, trading as Germania, was a privately owned German airline with its headquarters in Berlin. It began by focusing on charter operations, then moved towards becoming a scheduled carrier, although some charter flights were still flown under the brand. The change in strategy led to growth over its last few years, and Germania operated to destinations in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from several German bases. It carried 2.5 million passengers in 2009 and had around 850 employees as of summer 2014. It declared bankruptcy on 4 February 2019 and it ceased operations on 5 February 2019.
Combi aircraft in commercial aviation are aircraft that can be used to carry either passengers as an airliner, or cargo as a freighter, and may have a partition in the aircraft cabin to allow both uses at the same time in a mixed passenger/freight combination. The name combi comes from the word combination. The concept originated in railroading with the combine car, a passenger car that contains a separate compartment for mail or baggage.
Wamos Air, formerly named Pullmantur Air, is a Spanish charter airline headquartered in Madrid. It mostly operates leisure charter flights from its main base at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport and also operates aircraft for other entities.
Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian or AUA, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of Lufthansa, the flag carrier of Germany. 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.
TUI fly Deutschland, formerly TUIfly, is a German leisure airline owned by the travel and tourism company TUI Group. It is headquartered at Hannover Airport with bases at several other German airports. TUI fly Deutschland is part of TUI Group's airline unit.
Transair was an airline based in Canada. It was purchased by Pacific Western Airlines in 1979. Transair's operational headquarters was located at the Winnipeg International Airport in Manitoba.
Transwede Airways AB, was a Swedish charter and later also scheduled airline operating between 1985 and 1998. Based at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, Transwede initially flew Sud Aviation Caravelles, and from 1987 also McDonnell Douglas MD-80s. Most charter services were operated for package tour companies to the Mediterranean.
Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A., usually shortened to Iberia, is the largest airline of Spain, based in Madrid.
Euroberlin France was a Franco-German joint venture airline founded in 1988.
Maersk Air was a Danish airline that operated between 1969 and 2005. Owned by the eponymous A. P. Møller–Mærsk Group, it operated a mix of scheduled and chartered passenger and cargo services. Headquartered at Dragør, its main operating bases were Copenhagen Airport, Billund Airport and Esbjerg Airport. The airline had offshore helicopter operations from 1975 to 1999 and had three airline subsidiaries: Maersk Air UK, Maersk Commuter and Star Air.