Delta Air Transport

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Delta Air Transport
Delta Air Transport BAe 146-200
IATA code : QG
ICAO code : DAT ( previously DE)
Call sign : DELTAIR
Founding: 1966
Operation stopped: 2002
Seat: Brussels , BelgiumBelgiumBelgium 
Home airport : Brussels-Zaventem Airport
Number of employees: approx. 1030 (in March 2001)
Passenger volume: 3.3 million (2000)
Fleet size: 32
Aims: Europe
Delta Air Transport ceased operations in 2002. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

Delta Air Transport (operating as DAT Belgian Regional Airlines between 1988 and 1996 ) was a Belgian airline and from 1996 a full subsidiary of the Sabena airline . After their insolvency , the company was renamed SN Brussels Airlines in spring 2002 , which in turn was merged with Brussels Airlines in 2007.

history

A Fokker F28-4000 operated by DAT Belgian Regional Airlines in 1991.

Delta Air Transport ( DAT ) was founded in Antwerp in June 1966 as a demand airline. Initially, the company used a Cessna 206 , Cessna 210 and Cessna 337 as air taxis . With two Beechcraft 65 aircraft, scheduled flights took place from September 19, 1967 on behalf of the Dutch airline KLM between Antwerp and Amsterdam . KLM subsequently held a 33% stake in the company. From December 1967, Delta Air Transport started using Douglas DC-3 aircraft on ad hoc charter flights and for KLM in scheduled services. From 1968 there were liner services for Sabena between Brussels and Eindhoven . Convair CV-440 and Douglas DC-6 purchased second -hand replaced the Douglas DC-3 in 1972.

The shipping group Compagnie Maritime Belge , which was already the main owner of the Belgian charter airline BIAS International , acquired a majority stake in Delta Air Transport in February 1973 . Following joined BIAS their two machines of the type Douglas DC-8 from the new sister company. The two jet aircraft operated under the company name Delta International on tourist charter flights to the Mediterranean until mid-May 1973 . In 1974 DAT again offered charter flights for package travelers with a Boeing 720 . The company planned to operate a total of five machines of this type, but only took one Boeing 720 off as a result of the first oil crisis and the reduced demand in the tourism sector. This was sold again a year later. On March 18, 1977, Delta Air Transport received the first of its five Fairchild Hiller FH-227s and then decommissioned all piston-engined aircraft.

From the beginning of the 1980s, DAT increasingly used its five aircraft on behalf of the Dutch NLM Cityhopper and for Sabena in regional scheduled services. The close cooperation with Sabena led in April 1986 to the fact that she acquired a 49% stake in the company. The company then mainly flew feeder services for Sabena and operated under the name DAT Belgian Regional Airlines from 1988 . At the same time, the fleet was modernized and expanded with machines of the types Fokker F28 (from November 1987), Embraer EMB 120 (from June 1988) and BAe 146 (from November 1989). In 1996, Sabena acquired the remaining shares in the company held by KLM and took over the airline in full. Subsequently, the company's headquarters were relocated from Antwerp to Brussels. Delta Air Transport continued to exist as an independent subsidiary, but used its aircraft exclusively in the corporate colors of Sabena and under their flight numbers. In the following years, Sabena ceded numerous European short-haul routes to Delta Air Transport , whose fleet was continuously expanded at the same time with machines of the Avro RJ 85 and Avro RJ 100 types .

In the 2000 financial year, the company carried 3.3 million passengers. The parent company, Sabena , filed for bankruptcy on November 7, 2001 and stopped all flights at the same time. The profitable subsidiary DAT was separated from the bankruptcy estate and resumed operations on November 10th. At the beginning of 2002 a new investor was found for the airline in SN Airholding , who renamed the company in February 2002 to SN Brussels Airlines . The SN Airholding took over in late 2004, the Belgian low cost airline Virgin Express and graduated in 2006 with SN Brussels Airlines together. The merged company was renamed Brussels Airlines in March 2007 .

Incidents

A Douglas DC-6B operated by Delta Air Transport in 1976.
  • On May 9, 1970, a Douglas DC-3 (OO-AUX) collided with a generator at Schiphol Airport . Due to the amount of damage, the aircraft was written off as a total loss.
  • On October 4, 1974, a 105-person Douglas DC-6B (OO-VGB) had an accident while taking off from Southend-on-Sea Airport . The co-pilot had retracted the landing gear while the machine was still on the runway. The aircraft was written off as a total loss.
  • On June 2, 1990, an Embraer 120RT (OO-DTH) collided with a Piper 601 over Antwerp Airport . A camera team was on board the small aircraft to take aerial photos of the transport machine. The four occupants of the Piper were killed in the crash. The Embraer was able to make an emergency landing in Antwerp.

fleet

A BAe 146 from DAT at Stuttgart Airport in 2001.

Fleet when name is changed

At the time of the company's name change to SN Brussels Airlines , the company's fleet consisted of 14 Avro RJ 85s, 12 Avro RJ 100s and 6 BAe 146-200s.

Previously deployed aircraft

See also

Web links

Commons : Delta Air Transport  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. Aero, issue 206, year 1987
  2. Flight International, July 19, 1973 [1]
  3. Flight International, October 17, 1974 [2]
  4. jp airline fleets 76
  5. jp airline-fleets, Edition 78
  6. Flight International, March 15, 1986 [3]
  7. jp airline-fleets international, born 1987 to 1990
  8. Flight International, October 24, 1995 [4]
  9. jp airline-fleets international, Edition 1999/2000
  10. Flight International, November 26, 2001 [5]
  11. Aviation Safety Network, May 9, 1970 [6]
  12. Aviation Safety Network, October 4, 1974 [7]
  13. ^ Aviation Safety Network, June 2, 1990 [8]
  14. jp airlines-fleets international, various annual issues