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Germania (airline)

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Not to be confused with Germania Flug.
Germania
IATA ICAO Call sign
ST GMI GERMANIA
FoundedApril 1978 (1978-04)
Commenced operations5 September 1978 (1978-09-05)
Ceased operationsFebruary 5, 2019 (2019-02-05)
Operating bases
Subsidiaries
HeadquartersBerlin, Germany
Key peopleKarsten Balke (CEO)

Germania Fluggesellschaft mbH, trading as Germania (German pronunciation: ['gɛrmani:a]), was[2][3] a privately owned German airline with its headquarters in Berlin.[4] It began by focusing on charter operations, then moved towards becoming a scheduled carrier, although some charter flights were still flown under the brand.[5] 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.[6] It declared bankruptcy on 4 February 2019 and it ceased operations on 5 February 2019.[3]

History

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Germania logo used until 2009
Germania Boeing 737-300 in 1996

Early years 1978-1999

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The airline was founded in April 1978 as Special Air Transport or SAT for short in Cologne and started operations on 5 September 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 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, the traditional Latin name of Germany, on 1 June 1986.[7] For many years, Germania's main area of doing business were charter services for TUI, Condor 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.

Scheduled services

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On 12 November 2001, Germania launched scheduled services between Berlin Tegel and Frankfurt. Germania initially offered a one-way ticket at EUR 99.00. Incumbent operator Lufthansa reacted immediately by lowering its prices and effectively matching the low Germania fares.[8] Previously, Lufthansa sold tickets between these two cities for EUR 485.00 return. Lufthansa was sued for its anticompetitive practice and was forced to raise its fare to at least EUR 30.50 one-way over the Germania fare.[9]

By early summer 2002, it became public that Germania obviously would lose its major leisure charter contract with German tour operator TUI from late 2002. The contract accounted for 75 percent of Germania's flight volume. The loss of the TUI charter contract combined with other business development led to skepticism regarding the financial health of the company. At that time, Germania and S.A.T. had a fleet of 27 aircraft of which only eight were deployed on the carriers charter and scheduled services. All remaining aircraft were leased to others.[10]

Later, Germania was again partnered by TUI for creation of its new low-cost division Hapag-Lloyd Express. While TUI took a 100%-stake in the start-up, Germania was contracted to wet-lease eight of its Boeing 737-700 aircraft.[11] Hapag-Lloyd Express commenced operations with the first four Boeing 737 on 3 December.[12] Germania flights between Berlin and Cologne/Bonn were moved to Hapag-Lloyd Express as part of the deal.[13]

However, Germania retained own scheduled operations between from Berlin Tegel to Frankfurt and Munich. In November 2002, flights to Palma da Mallorca was added. Reportedly in late 2002 or very early 2003, Germania acquired a fleet of 17 Fokker 100 from bankrupt US Airways at an extremely low price.[14]

Budget airline operations as "gexx"

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Germania decided to use its acquired Fokker 100 fleet to build a low-budget airline named "gexx". Set-up as a virtual carrier with flights operated by its mother Germania, gexx commenced short-haul operations out of Berlin Tegel on June 1, 2003. Unlike most other airlines, gexx used a fixed-fare scheme - depending the route tickets were sold at a single price with no differentiation concerning time of booking.[15] Germania gradually refurbished further Fokker 100, allowing a continued growth of its gexx division. Within the first year of operations, gexx handled 1,42 million passengers while maintaining an average load factor of 72 percent and an average ticket fare of EUR 82, allowing a profitable operation. At the same time, it operated 15 Fokker 100 to 26 destinations around Europe.[16]

Following a purchase of a 64% stake in dba (later part of Air Berlin) on 28 March 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.

Germania relaunched scheduled flights under its own brand name out of Berlin and Düsseldorf, beginning with the 2008 summer schedule.

The foundations were laid for the first maintenance hangar at Berlin Brandenburg Airport on 21 March 2011. Germania planned to use the hangar together once the airport becomes operational.[17]

On 3 March 2014, Germania had its traffic rights for flights to Iraq revoked after an intervention by Iraqi Airways.[18] On 12 March 2014, Germania was allowed to resume all operations to Iraq with the first flight resuming on the 17 March 2014.

Further expansion plans

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Germania opened two seasonal UK bases in summer 2013, Manchester and London-Gatwick after securing charter contracts from several holiday companies. London-Gatwick remained as a permanent base after opening two scheduled routes to Pristina and Erfurt. London-Gatwick also served an inbound destination for sister company, Gambia Bird airlines. In summer 2014, Norwich International was added as Germania's third UK (seasonal) base.

In spring 2015, Germania announced plans to phase out all of their recently refurbished Boeing 737-700s by 2020 to become an all-Airbus operator.[19] The airline therefore ordered 25 new Airbus A320neos for delivery from 2020.[20]

In September 2016, Germania announced it would cease all operations at Kassel Airport where it was the only scheduled carrier at the time.[21] In August 2017, the airline obtained an air operator's certificate (AOC) for its Bulgarian subsidiary, Bulgarian Eagle,[22] and it has registered an Airbus A319 in Bulgaria. The aircraft was going to be, according to the airline, wet-leased to partner companies.[23]

Bankruptcy and liquidation

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In December 2018, it was reported that the airline had suffered heavy losses in recent years, especially during 2018 and that its owners were seeking potential buyers for the airline.[24] On 31 January 2019, it was reported that payment of employee salaries would be delayed.[25] Germania eventually ceased flight operations without previous notice in the night from 4 to 5 February 2019 and declared bankruptcy for itself and its technical and service divisions (excluding Germania Flug in Switzerland [22]).[2][26][3] The final scheduled Germania flight to be in the air was ST 3711 from Fuerteventura to Nuremberg which landed on 5 February at 01:11 CET in the morning.[26]

Corporate affairs

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Germania's head office in Berlin

Ownership and structure

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Germania Fluggesellschaft mbH was a private company that had been founded and run for many years by Hinrich Bischoff, who died on 11 November 2005. His wife Ingrid Bischoff was the main shareholder, but she sold it. Germania had its headquarters at Riedemannweg 58, Berlin, Germany.[27][28]

There are three main operating subsidiaries:

Germania also had an interest in:

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As Germania was a private company, annual reports did not have to be published. Very few figures were released into the public domain. In the absence of these, the little information for the Germania group that appears to be available was:

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Turnover (€m) 144.80 179.96 171.41 177.78 206.88 203.79 271.05 396.47 424.25 369.10 453.67
Profit (€m) 6.769 6.157 6.896 0.283 0.361 0.505 −10.852 −26.848 −6.796 −7.742 6.084
Number of employees 709 714 644 622 553 513 605 880 901 954 1.108
Number of passengers (m) 2.5 2.3 2.4 2.6 3.0
Number of scheduled seats (only) (m) * 0.22 0.75 1.31 2.83 3.19 3.95 4.57
Number of aircraft (group)(at year end) 27 16 15 17 13 15 19 23 22 22 29 35
Notes/sources [32] [33] [34][35]
[36] 		[37][38]
[39] 		[40] [41][5]
[42] 		[5][43] [5][44] [5][45]
[46] 		[5][45]
[47] 		[5][48]
[49][50] 		[51][52]

*In the absence of meaningful published data, the number of scheduled seats operated is shown as a proxy for the trends of the business.

Destinations

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Germania offered a wide range of some year-round and mainly seasonal leisure and some metropolitan routes from several German airports. From its bases, scheduled flights to Armenia, Turkey, Kosovo, Israel and Lebanon were also offered, servicing minorities living in Germany and Austria.

Codeshare agreements

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Fleet

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Germania Airbus A319-100
Germania Boeing 737-700
Germania Fokker 100 in 2004

Final fleet

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At the time of shutdown, the Germania fleet (excluding the Swiss and Bulgarian subsidiaries Germania Flug and Bulgarian Eagle) consisted of the following aircraft:[54]

Aircraft In service Orders Passengers[55] Notes
Airbus A319-100 19 — 144
150
Airbus A320neo — 25 180 Were to be delivered from 2020.[20]
Airbus A321-200 6 — 215
Boeing 737-700 5 — 148 One in 30th anniversary special livery.
Were to be retired by 2019.[19]
Total 30 25

Historical fleet

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Over the years, Germania operated the following aircraft types:[56][57][58]

Aircraft Introduced Retired
Boeing 737-300 1987 2011
Fokker 100 2003 2008
Boeing 727-100 1984 1987
Fokker F27 Friendship 1978 1981
Sud Aviation Caravelle 1978 1986

References

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  1. ^ "Germania set to offer 4.57 million scheduled seats in 2018". 12 March 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b flgermania.com Archived 2019-02-05 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 5 February 2019
  3. ^ a b c "Germania: German airline declarces insolvency and ceases flights" 5 February 2019
  4. ^ "Contact Archived 2010-04-18 at the Wayback Machine." Germania Airline. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Germania set to offer 4.57 million scheduled seats in 2018". anna.aero. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  6. ^ Germania (7 July 2015). "Germania Airline". Archived from the original on 2015-09-01. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-03. p. 86.
  8. ^ "Lufthansa verschärft Streit mit Germania". Der Tagesspiegel Online. 25 February 2002.
  9. ^ "Strecke Frankfurt - Berlin: Gericht: Lufthansa muss teurer als Germania sein".
  10. ^ "Neue innerdeutsche Linienflüge im Herbst geplant: Germania verliert Großteil des Chartergeschäfts".
  11. ^ "TUI-Konzern startet unter "Hapag-Lloyd Express" ins neueGeschäftsfeld No-Frills-Airlines".
  12. ^ "Hapag-Lloyd Express". Archived from the original on 2004-02-03.
  13. ^ "Stiller Rückzug von Germania".
  14. ^ "Flugstrecken erweitert: Germania lockt mit neuen Zielen".
  15. ^ "Der neue Billigflieger". 15 May 2003.
  16. ^ "Billigflieger: Germania erwischt Blitzstart". Der Spiegel. 2 June 2004.
  17. ^ "airberlin press – Press releases". Archived from the original on 2011-09-30. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  18. ^ "Germania stripped of Iraqi traffic rights on Iraqi Airways' request". ch-aviation. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  19. ^ a b "Einheitsflotte: Germania wechselt ganz zu Airbus - aeroTELEGRAPH". aeroTELEGRAPH. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  20. ^ a b "Germania Group invests in the future with order of Airbus A320neo. Extensive fleet renewal starts 2020". Germania Fluggesellschaft mbH. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  21. ^ aero.de - "Kassel Airport loses Germania" (German) 22 September 2016
  22. ^ a b "Germania Subsidiary Bulgarian Eagle Granted AOC". layoverhub.net. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  23. ^ "Bulgarischer Germania-Ableger darf starten". Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  24. ^ aerotelegraph.com - "Germania is for sale" (German) 8 January 2018
  25. ^ "Germania delays January salaries amid funding concerns". ch-aviation. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  26. ^ a b aero.de - "Germania files for insolvency and ceases flights" (German) 5 January 2019
  27. ^ Germania express Company History Archived 2012-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
  28. ^ "Germania (airline)". Archived from the original on 2015-07-12. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  29. ^ "HolidayJet". Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  30. ^ "INTRO Aviation - Home". Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  31. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-02-13. Retrieved 2015-03-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  32. ^ "Jahresabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2007 bis zum 31.12.2007".
  33. ^ "Jahresabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2008 bis zum 31.12.2008".
  34. ^ "Germania press release:Contract signed for Airbus order 26 July 2010". Archived from the original on 2012-09-24. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  35. ^ "About Germania - The Company". Germania. Archived from the original on 2013-01-07.
  36. ^ "Jahresabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2009 bis zum 31.12.2009".
  37. ^ "A J Walter Aviation press release". Retrieved 2012-09-30.
  38. ^ "Germania Selects Eaton to Provide Hydraulic Pumps". Eaton. 29 March 2011.
  39. ^ "Jahresabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2010 bis zum 31.12.2010".
  40. ^ "Jahresabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2011 bis zum 31.12.2011".
  41. ^ "GuestLogix press release". GuestLogix. 22 March 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  42. ^ "Jahresabschluss für das Geschäftsjahr vom 1. Januar 2012 bis 31. Dezember 2012".
  43. ^ "Jahresabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2013 bis zum 31.12.2013".
  44. ^ "Jahresabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2014 bis zum 31.12.2014".[permanent dead link‍]
  45. ^ a b "Deutsche Fluggesellschaft: Germania steckt in Finanznot". Spiegel Online. 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  46. ^ "Jahresabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2015 bis zum 31.12.2015".[permanent dead link‍]
  47. ^ "Finanzbericht zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2016 bis zum 31.12.2016". Bundesanzeiger.
  48. ^ "Germania Launches Pristina – Copenhagen Route". Germania. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  49. ^ Hegmann, Gerhard (2019-01-14). "Germania: Wechsel von Boeing zur Airbus macht Probleme". Retrieved 2019-01-15.
  50. ^ "Jahresabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2017 bis zum 31.12.2017". Bundesanzeiger Verlag GmbH.
  51. ^ "Germania set to offer 4.57 million scheduled seats in 2018". anna.aero. 2018-03-12. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  52. ^ "Germania - Lufthansa Group Fleet". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
  53. ^ Liu, Jim (6 February 2017). "Germania / Sky Express to launch codeshare service in S17". Routes online. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  54. ^ "Global Airline Guide 2017 (Part One)". Airliner World (October 2017): 15.
  55. ^ flygermania.com - Flotte (German) retrieved 15 February 2018
  56. ^ "Germania Fleet - Airfleets aviation". Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  57. ^ "SAT Fluggesellschaft - Fleet - Planelogger". Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  58. ^ "Germania - Fleet - Planelogger". Retrieved June 8, 2023.
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Media related to Germania at Wikimedia Commons

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