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Blue Wings

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For the Suriname-based airline, see Blue Wing Airlines. For the Korean football team, see Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
Blue Wings
IATA ICAO Call sign
QW BWG BLUE WINGS
Founded2002; 22 years ago (2002)
Ceased operations31 January 2010;
14 years ago (2010-01-31)
Operating basesDüsseldorf Airport
Fleet size11 (at time of closure)
Destinations23
HeadquartersBocholt, Germany
Key peopleUdo Stern (MD)
Websitebluewings.com

Blue Wings AG was a charter airline based in Germany, focusing on serving Turkey, the Middle East and Russia from its base at Düsseldorf Airport.[1] The headquarters were located on the airport property.

History

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Early years and growth

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Blue Wings was established in 2002, received the AOC on 27 June 2003 and started operations in July of the same year. It initially operated charter flights from Düsseldorf using a wet-leased Airbus A320. In June 2006, the Russian National Reserve Corporation (NRC) acquired a 48 percent shareholding through its Zürich based subsidiary Alpstream AG, which was intended to lead to a close co-operation between Blue Wings and Red Wings Airlines, also belonging to NRC.[1]

On 6 October 2006, Blue Wings signed a purchase agreement with JetBlue Airways for five second-hand Airbus A320-200 aircraft. For cost-saving reasons, Blue Wings adopted a nearly identical color scheme compared to JetBlue. On 17 October of the same year, another order - this time for 16 new Airbus A320 and 4 Airbus A321 was signed, and subsequently announced during the Farnborough Air Show of the same year.[2]

Development since 2009 and closure

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On 30 December 2009, the Federal Office for Civil Aviation of Germany revoked the operating license of Blue Wings because of solvency fears,[3] forcing the airline to shut down all operations. Blue Wings was saved for once on 23 April of the same year, when it was announced that Elite Aviation, a VIP charter airline from Abu Dhabi, had signed a charter agreement with Blue Wings.[4] Subsequently, the license was reinstated on 5 May.

On 5 August 2009, it was announced that Iraqi Airways, Iraq's national airline, had signed a contract to lease three Blue Wings Airbus A320-232, which were used on European routes.[5]

On 13 January 2010, Blue Wings ceased all operations, filing bankruptcy due to the financial crisis which had led to a pull-out of investors. The airline's corporate head office was located in Düsseldorf,[6] at Düsseldorf Airport. Before closure it was in Terminal A.[7][8] Previously it was in Hangar 8 at the same airport.[9]

Destinations

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Blue Wings Airbus A320-200, 2007
A Blue Wings Airbus A321-111 at Düsseldorf Airport in 2005
A Blue Wings Airbus A330-200 at Cologne Bonn Airport (February 2005)

Blue Wings operated the following international scheduled destinations in November 2011:[10]

Africa

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 Morocco
 Tunisia

Asia

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 Kazakhstan
 Lebanon

Europe

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 Germany
 Greece
 Italy
 Portugal
 Russia
 Spain
 Ukraine
 Turkey

Fleet

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The Blue Wings fleet consisted of the following aircraft (at 25 November 2012):[11][12]

Aircraft Total Orders Passengers
(Business/Economy)
Airbus A320-200 11 16[citation needed] 150 (12/138)
168 (0/168)
Airbus A321-200 3 3[citation needed] 207
Tupolev Tu-204 — 5[citation needed] TBA
Total 14 24

References

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  1. ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-03-27. p. 87.
  2. ^ "German carrier Blue Wings orders Airbus A320 Family aircraft". www.airbus.com. Archived from the original on 2017-10-04.
  3. ^ "LBA Öffentlichkeitsarbeit". Archived from the original on 2009-05-09. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
  4. ^ [1][dead link‍]
  5. ^ Iraqi Airways to lease 3 Airbus A320-232 for Europe flights[dead link‍]
  6. ^ "Germans reinstate grounded Blue Wings' operating licence". Flight Global. 2012-05-05. "Germany's civil aviation regulator has reinstated the operating permit for Dusseldorf-based carrier Blue Wings, weeks after grounding the airline."
  7. ^ "Contact." Blue Wings. 12 June 2005. Retrieved on 30 December 2012. "Blue Wings AG Duesseldorf Airport Terminal A 5. OG 40474 Duesseldorf, Germany"
  8. ^ "Wilkommen." Blue Wings. 14 March 2012. Retrieved on 30 December 2012. "Blue Wings AG . Düsseldorf Airport . Terminal A . D-40474 Düsseldorf . Germany"
  9. ^ "Blue Wings AG." Blue Wings. 23 March 2003. Retrieved on 30 December 2012. "Airport Düsseldorf Hangar 8 40474 Düsseldorf"
  10. ^ Blue Wings Timetable Archived November 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Blue Wings Fleet
  12. ^ Blue Wings Company Profile (Page 12)
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Media related to Blue Wings at Wikimedia Commons

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