Styrian Spirit

Styrian Spirit
IATA code :	Z2
ICAO code :	STY
Call sign :	Styrian
Founding:	2003
Operation stopped:	2006
Seat:	Unterpremstätten , Austria
Home airport :	Graz-Thalerhof
Company form:	Corporation
Number of employees:	85
Fleet size:	5
Aims:	National and international
Styrian Spirit ceased operations in 2006. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

Styrian Spirit was the brand name of Styrian Airways AG , an Austrian regional airline based in Unterpremstätten near Graz ( Styria ).

history

The Styrian Airways AG was founded in 2003 by 2001 HGI Beteiligungs AG founded and an individual. With the participation of the state of Carinthia , Carinthian Spirit was also one of the brand names. The former Lauda Air Manager and later FlyNiki Managing Director Otmar Lenz was the board member from the foundation of the company until December 2005. Then Andreas Rösslhuber became a member of the board, who was appointed as restructuring manager. However, due to the catastrophic economic conditions that Andreas Rösslhuber discovered, the renovation did not succeed. Other brand names were Slovenian Spirit and Salzburg Spirit . The primary target group of Styrian Spirit were business travelers, but there were also offers for tourists on weekends . Only Canadair jets from Bombardier were operated.

The Salzburg Airport announced the end of March 2006, he would with a grant of 1.5 million euros at the airline involved.

insolvency

On March 24, 2006, the airline had to file for bankruptcy due to serious financial difficulties (debts of several million euros) . The bankruptcy proceedings opened on March 28, 2006. According to the administrator, the liabilities amounted to around 9 million euros. Styrian Spirit owed landing and handling fees to Graz Airport and Salzburg Airport in recent months. Graz Airport lost scheduled connections such as Stuttgart and Zurich due to the disappearance of the airline . Since then, Stuttgart has been served by Austrian , Zurich was taken over by Swiss at short notice . From 2007, Zurich was served by Robin Hood Aviation , which, however, filed for bankruptcy in August 2011. Even the Salzburg airport were scheduled flights to Zurich and Paris lost.

In September 2005, at the instigation of the Carinthian Governor Jörg Haider , the Hypo Alpe Adria -Bank granted a loan without collateral of two million euros to the already financially troubled airline. The board members of Hypo Alpe Adria-Bank Wolfgang Kulterer and Gert Xander were charged with breach of trust in this context. In January 2013, the Klagenfurt Regional Court resumed the process of granting the loans from Hypo Alpe Adria to Styrian Spirit. Both board members were subsequently sentenced to several years in prison.

fleet

The Styrian Spirit fleet consisted of the following types:

• 4 Bombardier CRJ200 ( OE-LSC , OE-LSD , OE-LSE and OE-LSS )
• 1 Bombardier CRJ700 ( OE-LSF )

The two aircraft OE-LSE and OE-LSD were operated under the names Salzburg Spirit and Slovenian Spirit .

See also

• Former Airlines List (Europe)

Web links

Commons : Styrian Spirit  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Styrian Spirit website ( memento from December 30, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
• Pictures at Airliners.net
• ORF News: Cash injection for Styrian Spirit

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Haider pounded on millions" ( Memento from October 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Kleine Zeitung , February 6, 2013
2. ↑ kaernten.orf.at: New process for Styrian Spirit begins , ORF Carinthia, January 20, 2013
3. ^ Multi-year prison sentences in the Styrian Spirit trial of February 8, 2013, accessed on February 8, 2013.
4. ^ "Politicians' will followed to the detriment of the bank" , Kleine Zeitung , February 8, 2013