Air Alps

Air Alps
IATA code :	A6
ICAO code :	LPV
Call sign :	AIR ALPS
Founding:	1998
Operation stopped:	2013
Seat:	Innsbruck , Austria
Home airport :	innsbruck
Company form:	Ges.mbH
Number of employees:	190 (as of 2013) (2004: 200, including 110 flight personnel)
Passenger volume:	400,000 / annually (1998-2009)
Fleet size:	0
Aims:	Continental
Website:	www.airalps.eu
Air Alps ceased operations in 2013. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

Air Alps , spelled airA! Ps (sometimes also KLM Alps ; legally AAA-Air Alps Aviation ), was an Austrian regional airline based in Innsbruck .

history

Foundation and first years

Air Alps was established in 1998 by Air Engiadina (49%) and their manager Dietmar Leitgeb (51%) as Air Alps Aviation Alpine Aviation GmbH, headquartered Igls / Innsbruck , and it began soon after an agreement with the Dutch KLM one, as a result she appeared briefly under the name KLM Alps and also took part in the Flying Dutchman frequent flyer program . Flight operations began in 1999 with the takeover of two Dornier 328 as KLM franchisees (KLM Alps) from Innsbruck and Salzburg to Amsterdam .

In 2000, three more Dornier 328s joined the fleet and Air Alps was able to expand the route network to include the connections Innsbruck - Vienna and Amsterdam - Linz , or open a ´minihub´ in Klagenfurt with new routes (each via Salzburg) to Hamburg , Cologne and Amsterdam. Hamburg and Cologne were soon given up again. Air Alps flew a total of 68 flights a week from Austria to Amsterdam in 2000. The head office was also moved from the airport to the city, Dietmar Leitgeb took over the shares in Air Engiadina and the capital was increased to € 2 million.

From the 2000/2001 winter flight plan, there was a codeshare agreement with Swissair (and later with its successor, Swiss ) on the newly established Klagenfurt - Zurich route and the Innsbruck - Zurich route that followed later in 2001 .

At the beginning of 2001 a new uniform was introduced and the routes Vienna - Stuttgart and the already mentioned Innsbruck - Zurich were opened. In the spring, with over-indebtedness of € 34 million, the seventh largest bankruptcy in the country, compensation had to be announced. In the same year, the ailing airline was taken over by Dietmar Leitgeb, who resigned as Air Alps CEO, through a merger of 28 South Tyrolean industrialists around the ham producer Franz Senfter (86% 26 South Tyrolean investors, 7% Province of South Tyrol and 7% State of Tyrol). There was a further capital increase to € 7 million. The operational name KLM Alps was dropped and operations resumed under the name Air Alps Aviation and a new corporate identity . The cooperation with Swissair / Swiss could no longer be maintained and Air Alps had to stop all flights to Zurich in autumn 2001.

In 2002 the former Alitalia and Alpi Eagles manager Dr. Aldo Bevilacqua was the new CEO and the airline was realigned, with Italy and South Tyrol being the focus. This was followed by the opening of a base in Bolzano with the stationing of an aircraft and the planned recordings of the routes to Cagliari , Olbia, Naples and Lamezia Terme in cooperation with Alitalia . In the summer of 2002 a cooperation with Austrian Airlines started on the route Vienna to Banja Luka and the opening of own routes from Vienna or Munich to Siena and Olbia. Lines from Rome to Stuttgart and Bern followed in autumn . With the takeover of a sixth Dornier 328 , the expansion of the network could be continued and the Parma lines to Rome and Olbia opened. In 2002 Air Alps operated with two Dornier 328 ex Innsbruck, two ex Salzburg, one ex Linz and one ex Bozen.

In 2003 the airline again introduced a new uniform and took over a seventh Dornier 328 (OE-LKG) which further strengthened the network. A new base was set up in Bern and the lines Bern - Amsterdam and in the summer also Elba (also from Zurich) were added. Further lines followed from Stuttgart to Bologna and Lamezia Terme , from Bozen to Lamezia Terme and Bozen via Rome to Tortoli . The cooperation with Alitalia was further deepened and it was planned to take over five more (two of them former Minerva) Dornier 328-110 . The cooperation with City Air on the route Berlin-Tegel - Linz - Salzburg had to be ended.

In 2003 there was a further capital increase to € 16 million this time and in 2004 the Bozen - Munich line started in cooperation with Lufthansa. The route Bologna - Lamezia Terme had to be discontinued this year, but there were plans to set up a base in Brescia.

The number of passengers increased continuously from the beginning of 72,000 (1999) to 180,000 (2000) or 190,000 (2001) and then reached 400,000 in 2004.

Development since 2009

On June 4, 2009, settlement proceedings via Air Alps were opened at the Innsbruck Regional Court . In December of the same year, Air Alps was taken over by Welcome Air . In this transaction, "Welcome Air" took over 76 percent or the remaining 24 percent remained in the hands of South Tyrolean entrepreneurs, the Trentino-South Tyrol region and Südtiroler Transportstruktur AG (STA).

Due to financial difficulties, Air Alps suspended all flight operations on January 13, 2012 until further notice. Welcome Air also arranged to transfer the entire Air-Alps fleet to Innsbruck. The flight operations were canceled for "operational reasons" - including the flights to Bolzano, Rome, Milan, Parma and Salerno. On February 1, 2012, flight operations were resumed, but initially without cooperation with Alitalia and initially only from Bolzano to Rome-Fiumicino Airport . However, this route was discontinued and Air Alps only operated a few charter flights. In June 2013, flight operations were discontinued again and the planes decommissioned in Innsbruck.

On August 20, 2013, the owners decided to liquidate. The search for investors had previously failed. At the end of October 2013, the majority of Air Alps employees were dismissed as part of the liquidation.

In November 2013 a German investor group showed interest in the takeover of AirAlps and the continuation of the company.

On February 3, 2014, in connection with the planned takeover by the group of investors, the first aircraft took off after almost a year of suspension of flight operations on its maiden flight from Bremen to Zurich.

Due to the failure of the takeover negotiations, scheduled services were suspended again on February 28, 2014.

In October 2014 the company shares of "Welcome Air" in the amount of 76% in AirAlps were acquired by a German investor group. In November 2014, the owners' meeting decided to cancel the liquidation of AirAlps and to continue the company.

AirAlps is currently in a comprehensive restructuring process, the result of which is a change in the previous business model and a realignment on the market.

Destinations

Air Alps offered regular scheduled flights from Bolzano and Parma to Rome Fiumicino Airport . In the summer months, Olbia in Sardinia was also connected to these two cities. In addition, charter flights to holiday destinations in and around Italy were carried out and the aircraft were also used for other airlines, including Alitalia and Cirrus Airlines . In addition to the Bozen - Rome route, Air Alps has been operating the Linz - Vienna route 33 times a week on behalf of Austrian Airlines since April 1, 2012 .

From the beginning of February 2014 to February 28, 2014, the Bremen - Zurich route was operated in cooperation with Rostock Airways.

Code sharing

Air Alps had a codeshare agreement with Alitalia and Austrian Airlines . In the past, there were other agreements with KLM , Swissair , Swiss International Air Lines and City Air .

fleet

As of February 2015, there are no aircraft registered on Air Alps.

See also

• Former Airlines List (Europe)

Web links

Commons : Air Alps  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ " just get in contact with us! ( Memento from August 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive )." Air Alps.
2. ↑ LG Innsbruck, 7 Sa 2 / 09t - Compensation procedure ( Memento from August 3, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
3. ↑ airalps.at - Welcome Aviation Group takes off ( Memento from August 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (.pdf; 118 kB) December 22, 2009.
4. ↑ tirol.orf.at - Financial problems: Air Alps ceases flight operations January 16, 2012.
5. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of February 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on February 3, 2012.
6. ↑ Air Alps flies again from Bolzano to Rome. (No longer available online.) Nur-flug-tours.de, February 9, 2012, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved March 19, 2012 . 
7. ^ CH-Aviation ( Memento of March 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on February 28, 2012.
8. ↑ aero.de - Air Alps is history , August 20, 2013.
9. ↑ austrianaviation.net - Air Alps is liquidated August 20, 2013.
10. ↑ austrianaviation.net - Blue letters for Air-Alps employees November 15, 2013.
11. ↑ Air Alps flies again with Aerotelegraph
12. ↑ airalps.at - network ( memento from August 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on September 23, 2011.
13. ^ ORF News , accessed on May 2, 2012.
14. ↑ Air Alps Infos , accessed on February 27, 2015.