Germany
Dusseldorf Airport - German & Austrian Airlines
These shots were all taken during a short break to Dusseldorf in early May 2019.
Eurowings
With its headquarters at Dusseldorf, Eurowings is a low-cost carrier which previously operated short-haul feeders on the Lufthansa regional network. It commenced low-cost services in 2015 as part Lufthansa's strategy to compete with low cost carriers (LLCs) in the European market. The airline operates under the Eurowings Group, a LCC brand within Deutsche Lufthansa AG that also includes Eurowings Europe, SunExpress and Brussels Airlines.
The largest aircraft operated by Eurowings are Airbus A330 and A340s. As of May 2019, the carrier had 9 of the former and two A340s on strength.
Above: The Eurowings ramp and maintenance area from the top of Car Park 7. The following shot looking in the opposite direction was taken from my Loganair Embraer as it taxied to line-up for takeoff on 6 May. Aircraft are often directed to one of the stands in this area on arrival and their passengers transferred to the terminal via a shuttle bus.
Please note that all my images are subject to copyright. They are not free to use and have been embedded with a digital watermark.
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There`s always a good chance of seeing some of the special-liveried airliners at major airports and Dusseldorf is no exception, especially with regard to German carriers. One of the most striking is this one advertising Europa Park which will appeal to all kids old and young. Europa Park is the largest theme park in Germany, and the second most popular theme park resort in Europe, after Disneyland Paris. The aircraft made several return trips to Dusseldorf over the weekend.
Other Eurowings aircraft seen in special colours included Airbus A330-203 D-AXGF advertising `Fabulous Las Vegas`, Airbus A320-214(WL) D-AEWM in Eurowings Boomerang Club Livery, D-ABDP with Croatia titles, and Airbus A320-214 D-ABDU (below) celebrating the centenary of the Hertz Car Rental company.
Below: The bland, all-white Eurowings Dash 8s make up the vast percentage of turbo-prop flights here. There are currently 17 of the type in the fleet.
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG, commonly known as simply Lufthansa, is the largest German airline and, when combined with its subsidiaries, also the largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from the German word Luft "air" and Hansa, the Hanseatic League. Lufthansa is one of the five founding members of Star Alliance, the world's largest airline alliance, formed in 1997.
With the possible departure of the UK from the European Union drawing ever closer, Lufthansa Airbus A320-214 D-AIZG reinforces Germany`s view on the EU: "Say yes to Europe!" The aircraft is pictured above taxiing to the terminal after landing on Monday 6 May.
Lufthansa A321-131 D-AIRW in Star Alliance livery.
Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (FWB: AB1), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com was a major German airline and at its peak, Germany's second-largest. Air Berlin was founded in 1978 by Lelco, an American company. Following German reunification, Air Berlin was sold and became a German company in 1991 but after years of losses, filed for insolvency in August 2017. It ceased operations on 27 October 2017 but Lufthansa agreed to buy 81 aircraft and employ 3,000 of the defunct company`s employees for €210 million, also taking over the subsidiaries Niki and Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter.
Lufthansa Airbus A321-131 D-AIRK. Sunday 5 May 2019.
Besides its own services which include Lufthansa Regional a.k.a. CityLine, and owning subsidiary passenger airlines Austrian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings, Deutsche Lufthansa AG owns several aviation-related companies, such as Lufthansa Technik and LSG Sky Chefs, as part of the Lufthansa Group. In total, the group has over 700 aircraft, making it one of the largest airline fleets in the world.
Bombardier CRJ-900 D-ACNF. Saturday 4 May 2019.
Condor
Condor is Germany's second-largest commercial airline based on fleet size and passengers flown and is a subsidiary of the British Thomas Cook Group. Its main base is Frankfurt Airport from which most of its long-haul flights depart with secondary bases at Munich, Hamburg, Hannover, Stuttgart and Leipzig/Halle Airports, as well as Düsseldorf. Boeing 757-330(WL) D-ABOL is pictured above.
During 2018 and 2019, all five Boeing 757-300s operated by Thomas Cook Airlines were transferred to Condor and re-registered in Germany. The last aircraft to be transferred was G-JMAA which became D-ABOP on 3 April 2019. As of May 2019, the Condor fleet comprised 8x Airbus A320s, 10x A321s, a single A330, plus 15 Boeing 757s and 16 Boeing 767s. The average age of the carrier`s aircraft is 18 years. Over the weekend at Dusseldorf I only saw Boeing 757s and Airbus A321s or smaller.
Above: Boeing 757-330(WL) D-ABOI is still in the old livery.
SunExpress Deutschland GmbH
SunExpress Deutschland GmbH is a German leisure airline headquartered in Frankfurt. It`s a subsidiary of SunExpress, which itself is a joint-venture of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa. Its main base is Frankfurt Airport with smaller bases at several other airports throughout Germany. SunExpress Deutschland was founded on the 8 June 2011 with initial routes, from Germany to the Red Sea resorts, served by a trio of Boeing 737-800s. The network has since been extended to several more leisure destinations in Southern Europe and North Africa. The Lufthansa Group announced that SunExpress Deutschland would be the operator of Eurowings' new long-haul operations as of November 2015 and the carrier`s leased Airbus A330-200s now fly from its Cologne Bonn base and Munich Airport. SunExpress Germany`s Boeing 737-86Q(WL)s D-ASXV and D-ASXJ are pictured here.
TUI and TUIfly
TUIfly is a German low-cost and charter airline with hubs in Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg and Stuttgart. The carrier operates routes across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Wholly-owned by integrated tour operator TUI Group, TUIfly is Germany's third-largest airline and as of June 2019 operated 36 Boeing 737s and one Airbus A321.
WDL Aviation
WDL Aviation GmbH & Co. KG is a German charter airline headquartered at Cologne Bonn Airport. Initially named WDL Flugdienst, the company was set up in 1974 as a subsidiary of Westdeutsche Luftwerbung GmbH, an aerial advertising provider founded in 1955. The current name was adopted in 1991, when the parent company was reorganised as WDL Group and WDL Aviation was subsequently acquired by the Berlin logistics company Zeitfracht on 1 October 2017. D-AMGL, pictured here, is one of four BAe 146-200 (Avro RJs) operated by the carrier along with a pair of Embraer ERJ-190s. Past types on WDL`s inventory include the Fokker F-27 Friendship and an Airbus A320-200 which was on lease from Adria Airways between 1992 and 1993.
Lauda
This Austrian airline which was founded in 2004 as Amira Air originally operated a fleet of corporate jets available for executive charter. Former Formula 1 World Champion Niki Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) took over in early 2018, renamed the company Laudamotion, and restructured to offer scheduled passenger flights. The world famous racing driver also had ties to NIki, an airline which had become insolvent, and 15 of its aircraft were integrated into the latest venture. Condor signed an agreement with Laudamotion to cover operational requirements relating to three of the Austrian outfit’s planes, and the flights on these aircraft would be marketed through the Condor website but this arrangement only lasted until the end of April.
Ryanair, already a major shareholder in Laudamotion, had raised its stake to 75% by August 2018 and in March 2019, the airline changed its brand name from Laudamotion to just Lauda. At the time of my Dusseldorf visit, Lauda`s fleet comprised 20 Airbus A320s and a single A321-211, OE-LCG.
Austrian Airlines
Austrian Airlines is the national airline of Austria and is based at Vienna International Airport. The carrier operates both domestic and international networks, particularly to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Austrian's regional carrier, Tyrolean Airways, merged with Austrian on 1 April 2015.
Dash 8 OE-LGG lifts-off into a clear blue sky on Monday 6 May 2019.
easyJet Europe
easyJet Europe Airline GmbH, styled as easyJet, is a low-cost airline based in Vienna, Austria, and a subsidiary of easyJet. It commenced operations on 20 July 2017 with Austrian-registered airliners. The airline was established following the UK referendum vote to leave the European Union and the carrier`s decision to obtain an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) in another EU member state in order to continue operating flights across and within European countries after the UK leaves the EU.
Many aircraft currently registered to easyJet UK will be re-registered to easyJet Europe, and those staff employed by easyJet UK but based elsewhere in the European Union will be transferred to easyJet Europe. easyJet has announced that it is planning to (re-)register a total of 110 aircraft to fly under the new AOC of easyJet Europe by March 2019. easyJet is thus a pan-European airline group with three airlines based in the UK, Austria and Switzerland (easyJet UK, easyJet Europe, and easyJet Switzerland), all owned or part-owned by easyJet plc, based in the UK and listed on the London Stock Exchange. On 30 March 2019, flights became operated by easyJet Europe under their own flight numbers and call-sign.