VLM Airlines

The title of this article is ambiguous. The article on the Belgian charter airline of the same name founded in 2017 can be found under VLM Airlines (2017) .

VLM Airlines
IATA code :	VG
ICAO code :	WLM
Call sign :	RUBENS
Founding:	1992
Operation stopped:	2018
Seat:	Antwerp , Belgium
Home airport :	Antwerp airport
Number of employees:	55 (2017)
Fleet size:	6th
Aims:	regional
Website:	www.flyvlm.com
VLM Airlines ceased operations in 2018. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

VLM Airlines (short for V laamse L uchttransport m aatschappij , dt. "Flemish Air Transport Company ") was a Belgian regional airline based in Antwerp and based at Antwerp Airport .

history

Previously used BAe 146-300

VLM Airlines was founded in 1992 and started operations in May 1993 with flights between Antwerp Airport and London City Airport . In 2005 the airline reported the eighth year of operation with a positive balance in a row. In the same year, the Antwerp base was abandoned in favor of a new one at London City Airport. In 2007 VLM also hired a BAe 146-300 from the UK flightline .

In December 2007, VLM was taken over by Air France-KLM . At the end of May 2009 it became known that the company would adapt to the corporate design of its sister company CityJet . She was to fly under this name in the future, which was the case. The independent VLM website was also closed.

In 2008, VLM was awarded the Worlds Best Regional Airline by Skytrax .

In March 2013 it became known that the parent company Air France-KLM wanted to sell CityJet and was in advanced talks with several interested parties. In October 2013, the franchise agreement with Air France was dissolved and replaced by a code share agreement .

In December 2013 the sale of CityJet and VLM Airlines to the German Intro Aviation was confirmed by Hans Rudolf Wöhrl . After the sale was completed in May 2014, it became known that VLM would again be separated from the meanwhile parent company CityJet and that in future it would act as an ACMI provider with CityJet as the main customer.

In October 2014, however, the sale of VLM to its own management and the purchase of up to 14 Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 was announced. Since January 2015, the company has been offering its own scheduled flights again, independently of Intro Aviation. At the end of February 2016, the purchase of the superjets was canceled; The reasons were delays in the approval by the European Aviation Safety Agency and tensions between the West and Russia over the war in Ukraine . It was then not clear which aircraft were to be used to replace the Fokker 50 .

On May 13, 2016, the company filed for bankruptcy protection due to its high debt. This was initially granted on May 25, 2016 for a period of 6 months, during which time operations should continue as normal. This creditor protection was withdrawn by the Supervisory Board on June 22nd and instead filed for bankruptcy , as the financial resources were no longer sufficient to maintain operations.

After the company went bankrupt , it was bought by SHS Antwerp Aviation at the end of 2016 . Flight operations resumed in early 2017. This holding company, in which European and Chinese investors are involved, has also been operating Maribor Airport in Slovenia since the beginning of 2017 and was the owner of Ljubljana- based VLM Airlines Slovenia , whose flight operations were carried out by Belgian VLM Airlines .

On August 31, 2018, it was decided at an extraordinary meeting to transfer the company into liquidation. Flight operations were completely stopped on September 3, 2018.

Destinations

As of April 2018, there were scheduled flights from Antwerp to Aberdeen , Birmingham , London (City) , Cologne / Bonn , Maribor , Munich , Rostock-Laage and Zurich , with the flights from / to Maribor with a stopover in Munich and the flights from / to Rostock with a stopover in Cologne / Bonn.

fleet

As of October 2017, the VLM Airlines fleet consisted of six Fokker 50s .

See also

• Former Airlines List (Europe)

Web links

Commons : VLM Airlines  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• VLM Airlines website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} ch-aviation - VLM Airlines (English), accessed on March 1, 2016
2. ↑ ^{a b} VLM flies from Antwerp to London again , accessed on October 19, 2017
3. ↑ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international 2007/2008 . Zurich Airport 2007, p. 509.
4. ↑ airliners.de - VLM Airlines loses its own identity May 29, 2009
5. ↑ worldairlineawards.com - World Airline Award Winner Airlines ( Memento of the original from August 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ ch-aviation.ch - Air France-KLM in talks with 2-3 serious bidders interested in Cityjet (English) April 16, 2013
7. ↑ ch-aviation.ch - Cityjet to terminate Air France franchise agreement from October , accessed on June 27, 2013
8. ↑ aerotelegraph.com - City Jet goes to Hans Rudolf Wöhrl December 20, 2013
9. ↑ aero.de - Intro completes takeover of Cityjet Group , accessed on May 2, 2014
10. ↑ austrianaviation.net: Intro sells VLM Airlines austrianaviation.net - Intro sells VLM Airlines , accessed on October 28, 2014
11. ↑ VLM cancels Superjet order , accessed on March 1, 2016
12. ↑ VLM Airlines scraps Superjet order (English), accessed on March 1, 2016
13. ↑ Laura Frommberg: VLM Airlines saves itself in creditor protection. In: aeroTELEGRAPH. May 13, 2016, accessed May 14, 2016 . 
14. ↑ The court grants VLM Airlines time to restructure. In: airliners.de. May 25, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2016 . 
15. ↑ Setback for Bodensee Airport: VLM files for bankruptcy. In: airliners.de. June 22, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2016 . 
16. ↑ Ch-aviation - Belgium's VLM rejects claims of move to Maribor, Slovenia (English), accessed on October 19, 2017
17. ↑ Ch-Aviation, Belgium's VLM rejects claims of move to Maribor, Slovenia, January 12, 2017 (in English), accessed on April 13, 2018
18. ↑ Ch-Aviation, SHS Aviation outlines ambitious plans for Maribor, Slovenia, March 2, 2017 (in English), accessed on April 13, 2018
19. ↑ VLM in Liquidation , accessed October 8, 2018
20. ↑ In addition, 2 Airbus A320s are stationed at Brussels Airport for charter and private flights. Brussels VLM Airlines, flight schedule April 2018 ( Memento of the original from June 30, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (in English), accessed April 13, 2018