XL Airways Germany

XL Airways Germany
IATA ICAO Callsign
X4 GXL STARDUST
Founded 2006
Ceased operations 2013
Hubs Frankfurt Airport
Focus cities Hannover Airport
Fleet size 5
Parent company Asset Liability Management Company hf (formerly known as Straumur Investment Bank)
Headquarters Mörfelden-Walldorf, Germany
Key people Bertolt Flick (CEO)
Website xlairways.de

XL Airways Germany GmbH was[1] a charter airline headquartered in Mörfelden-Walldorf, Hesse, Germany, operating charter and ad-hoc lease services, mostly out of Frankfurt Airport. The airline belonged to now bankrupt Straumur Investment Bank from Iceland (together with XL Airways France).

History

The airline was founded as Star XL German Airlines by Avion Group from Iceland and received its AOC on 3 May 2006. On 30 October of the same year, the Avion leisure business was bought out and re-organized as XL Leisure Group, resulting in the airline changing its name to XL Airways Germany.

On 11 September 2008, BBC News Channel reported that XL Leisure Group had filed for administration due to rising fuel prices, although initially Simon Calder confirmed the group's website was still taking bookings, the group folded the next morning. Operations of the German and French airline subsidiaries were not affected, however. On 12 September 2008, Straumur Investment Bank acquired XL Airways Germany and its French sister company, XL Airways France.

The company filed for bankruptcy on 27 December 2012; operations for the winter season had already been suspended on 14 December.[2] The company officially closed on 3 January 2013.[3]

Destinations

An XL Airways Germany Airbus A320-200 at Stuttgart Airport, Germany. This A320-200 crashed into the Mediterranean on 27 November 2008 as XL Airways 888T. (1 June 2008)

XL Airways Germany served the following destinations in December 2012:[4]

 Egypt

 Germany

 Greece

 Kosovo

 Macedonia

 Morocco

 Portugal

 Spain

 Tunisia

 Turkey

Fleet

An XL Airways Germany Boeing 737-800 at Düsseldorf Airport (2007).

In December 2012, the fleet's average age was 9.8 years and consisted of:

XL Airways Germany Fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Passengers Notes
Boeing 737-800 5 189 Leased

Previously, the fleet consisted of 3 Airbus A320 airliners.[5]

Incidents and accidents

  • On 27 November 2008, XL Airways Germany Flight 888T crashed into the Mediterranean Sea near Canet-en-Roussillon on the French coast. The plane was an Air New Zealand-owned Airbus A320 leased to XL Airways Germany registered D-AXLA (formerly ZK-OJL), and was undertaking a technical flight immediately prior to a scheduled handover back to Air New Zealand. At the time of the accident the plane was painted in Air New Zealand livery. Seven people — two Germans (pilot Norbert Kaeppel and co-pilot Theodore Ketzer from XL Airways) and five New Zealanders (one pilot, three aircraft engineers and one member of the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand) - were killed.[6][7]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.ch-aviation.ch/portal/airline.php?cha=XLG
  2. ↑ http://www.ch-aviation.ch/portal/airline.php?cha=XLG
  3. ↑ http://atwonline.com/operations/xl-airways-germany-files-bankruptcy
  4. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120227060643/http://www.sunexpress.com/xq-tr/en/booking/route-network.jsp. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ XL Airways fleet list at planespotters.net
  6. ↑ "At least two dead after Air NZ owned plane crashes in France". The New Zealand Herald. 28 November 2008.
  7. ↑ "Air NZ plane crashes in Mediterranean". Newstalk ZB. 28 November 2008.
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