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Darwin Airline SA was a Swiss regional airline with its head office in
Bioggio Bioggio is a municipality in the district of Lugano, in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The municipality was created in 2004 with the union of old town of Bioggio with Bosco Luganese and Cimo. In 2008, Iseo chose to be part of the municipal ...
,
Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
flying under the brand name Adria Airways Switzerland. It operated scheduled domestic and international services in some western European countries. It used the brand name Etihad Regional from January 2014 to July 2017, when Etihad Airways sold its 33% stake to the owner of
Adria Airways Adria Airways d.o.o. (formerly ''Inex-Adria Aviopromet'' and later ''Inex-Adria Airways'') was the flag carrier of Slovenia, operating scheduled and charter services to European destinations. The company's head office was at Ljubljana Jože Pu ...
. It previously also operated flights on behalf of
Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. The ai ...
. Its bases were
Geneva Airport Geneva Airport ,, german: Flughafen Genf, it, Aeroporto di Ginevra, rm, Eroport de Genevra formerly and still unofficially known as Cointrin Airport, is the international airport of Geneva, the second most populous city in Switzerland. It i ...
and
Lugano Airport Lugano Airport , german: Flughafen Lugano-Agno, french: Aéroport de Lugano, rm, Eroport da Lugano is a regional airport located west of the Swiss city of Lugano, approximately north of Milan, in the municipalities of Agno, Bioggio and Muzz ...
. In November 2017, the Swiss authorities suspended the airline's license for scheduled flights due to financial difficulties but allowed the wetlease operations to be continued. On 12 December 2017, the airline was declared
bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
and ceased all remaining operations after its license was voided, while some of their fleet was transferred to its owner Adria Airways; the Saab 2000 aircraft still operate scheduled services from Ljubljana Airport in the name of Adria Airways, with the aircraft still carrying the Adria Airways Switzerland livery.


History


Early years

Darwin Airline was established on 12 August 2003 and operations started on 28 July 2004. By October 2013 it had 220 employees. On 25 November 2010, Darwin Airline announced its plans to take over some Baboo operating assets by early 2011. Under the plan, some parts of the combined airline would continue to be marketed under the Baboo name, while Darwin would be able to substantially expand their operations. At the time of the merger, Baboo had returned its fleet of three leased Embraer E-190 to their lessors and only the remaining two Bombardier DHC-8-Q400 were transferred to Darwin Airline to be used on high-density routes as the 74-seater offered a substantial increase in seats compared to the
Saab 2000 The Saab 2000 is a twin-engined high-speed turboprop airliner built by Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab. It is designed to carry 50–58 passengers and cruise at a speed of . Production took place in Linköping in southern Sweden. The Saab ...
. Later both DHC-8-Q400 were sold as they had too much capacity for the Darwin Airline's network. On 2 September 2013, Darwin Airline opened a base at
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
with flights to
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
,
Paris-Charles de Gaulle Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, ), also known as Roissy Airport or simply Paris CDG, is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris ( and its metropolitan area), and the largest intern ...
, Milan Malpensa and its
Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
base using
Saab 2000 The Saab 2000 is a twin-engined high-speed turboprop airliner built by Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab. It is designed to carry 50–58 passengers and cruise at a speed of . Production took place in Linköping in southern Sweden. The Saab ...
aircraft. These services were suspended in early 2014 due to low demand.


Cooperation with Etihad Airways

On 17 November 2013, Etihad Airways announced that it had bought a 33% stake in Darwin Airline. Following completion of the deal, Darwin used the name ''Etihad Regional'' with the subtitle "operated by Darwin Airline". The first Darwin aircraft featuring the Etihad Regional livery began operating between Lugano and Geneva on 17 January 2014; the airline announced that all ten of its Saab 2000 aircraft would be repainted in Etihad livery by the end of June 2014. Four ATR 72-500s leased to Etihad Regional were to also be painted in the new livery as soon as they are delivered to the company. In early 2014, Etihad Regional leased four ATR 72-500s from Nordic Aviation Capital to expand routes from Geneva. From the end of March 2014, the airline withdrew its
Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...
- Roma Fiumicino and
Trapani Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an imp ...
-Roma Fiumicino routes, as a result of
cabotage Cabotage () is the transport of goods or passengers between two places in the same country. It originally applied to shipping along coastal routes, port to port, but now applies to aviation, railways, and road transport as well. Cabotage rights ar ...
restrictions, which prevent Swiss aviation companies from operating domestic flights in the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
. It was previously possible for Darwin Airline to fly these routes thanks to a
derogation Derogation, in civil law and common law, is the partial suppression of a law. In contrast, annulment is the total abolition of a law by explicit repeal, and obrogation is the partial or total modification or repeal of a law by the imposition of ...
from the
Italian Civil Aviation Authority , seal = Emblem of Italy.svg , seal_size = 100 , seal_caption = Seal of the Italian Republic , logo = , formed = , jurisdiction = Government of Italy , headquarters = Viale Castro Pretorio, 118, 00185 Roma RM, Italy , coordinates = , em ...
, however, this was not renewed. In January 2014, Darwin Airline cancelled its
Aosta Aosta (, , ; french: Aoste , formerly ; frp, Aoûta , ''Veulla'' or ''Ouhta'' ; lat, Augusta Praetoria Salassorum; wae, Augschtal; pms, Osta) is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, north-northwest of ...
-Roma Fiumicino route before it had commenced; a result of the same cabotage and the European Union's refusal to make an exception for a Swiss company.


Reduction of operations

In February 2014 Etihad Regional cancelled the planned routes from
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
to
Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
and
Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
, as well as the
Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
-Rome route. By October 2014, several more destinations like
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
,
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...
, and Stuttgart were also cancelled. Additionally, services between Lugano and
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...
, which were flown on behalf of
Swiss International Air Lines Swiss International Air Lines AG, colloquially known as SWISS, is the flag carrier of Switzerland, operating scheduled services in Europe and to North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Zurich Airport serves as its sole hub and Geneva ...
until 30 October 2014, were also terminated as Swiss cancelled the contract. In January 2015, it was reported that Etihad Regional faced harsh competition from
Swiss International Air Lines Swiss International Air Lines AG, colloquially known as SWISS, is the flag carrier of Switzerland, operating scheduled services in Europe and to North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Zurich Airport serves as its sole hub and Geneva ...
, however it was stated that Etihad had no plans to cancel the proposed purchase of a higher stake in Darwin Airline as suggested by some sources. However, by February 2015 the company cancelled further destinations like
Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...
and
Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
and also announced they would lay off a fifth of its staff. On 18 February 2015, Etihad Regional ceased two-thirds of its scheduled routes without further notice, amongst them all services to Germany and several to France. The airline continued to operate some of their domestic and European routes from Geneva and Lugano as well as the Italian domestic service from
Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...
to
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
while all services to and from
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...
were cancelled immediately except the domestic service to Geneva. Etihad Regional blamed competitors as well as the Swiss aviation authorities for their failed expansion. On 11 March 2015, Darwin Airline confirmed it would start operating some of their Saab 2000s on behalf of
Air Berlin Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers carried. It was h ...
, in which Etihad Airways also holds a stake, from April 2015. On 29 March 2015, it was also announced that Darwin Airline will operate all of its four
ATR72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed by ...
on several domestic routes for
Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. The ai ...
, in which Etihad Airways also holds a stake. In November 2015, SkyWork Airlines announced the termination of their ACMI contract with Darwin by December 2015 due to crew shortage at Darwin.flyskywork.com - Minor amendments to winter flight schedule
2 December 2015
The operations on behalf of
Air Berlin Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers carried. It was h ...
also ended by 30 April 2016, as Air Berlin started to operate two of the three routes itself while the third one ceased.airberlin.com - Flightplan / GDS
retrieved 16 December 2015
In May 2017, Darwin announced the termination of its Geneva-Zürich route on 29 May 2017, ending all operations in Zürich. The company plans to focus on
Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. The ai ...
wetlease operations instead.aerotelegraph.com - "Etihad Regional pulls out of Zürich"
23 May 2017


Adria Airways Switzerland

In July 2017, Darwin Airline was bought by the holding company which owns
Adria Airways Adria Airways d.o.o. (formerly ''Inex-Adria Aviopromet'' and later ''Inex-Adria Airways'') was the flag carrier of Slovenia, operating scheduled and charter services to European destinations. The company's head office was at Ljubljana Jože Pu ...
, the largest airline in
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
. Darwin reportedly remained a separate company operating as ''Adria Airways Switzerland''. The new brand took over the fleet and current route network by September 2017 with all ''Etihad'' branding being removed from the website.adriaairways.ch - Company
retrieved 9 September 2017
Shortly afterwards, it was announced that the airline would cease all scheduled operations and focus on ACMI services on behalf of other airlines. The
ATR 72-500 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed ...
s will be returned to lessors.exyuaviation.com - Adria Switzerland to focus on ACMI, reduce fleet
20 October 2017
On 27 November 2017, Darwin Airline confirmed the closure of its base in Lugano by the end of 2017, with all routes to and from there ending, as well as the closure of all summer seasonal routes from its other base in Geneva, leaving the airline with scheduled year-round flights between Geneva, Lugano (until year-end) and
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. Soon after, Darwin Airline filed for bankruptcy protection stating a negative financial outlook due to the loss of wetlease agreements with bankrupt airlines
Air Berlin Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers carried. It was h ...
and
Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. The ai ...
. The airline's operating licence was suspended on 28 November 2017 by the Swiss authorities and all remaining flights were no longer operating until further notice.https://www.adriaairways.ch/en-us/breaking-news/important-announcement/ However, the Swiss authorities allowed the wetlease operations to be continued.atwonline.com - Darwin Airline grounded by Swiss regulators
28 November 2017
On 12 December 2017 it was announced that Darwin Airline had been declared
bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
and would be dissolved while the operations licence had been voided. No further flights would be operated. At the same time,
Adria Airways Adria Airways d.o.o. (formerly ''Inex-Adria Aviopromet'' and later ''Inex-Adria Airways'') was the flag carrier of Slovenia, operating scheduled and charter services to European destinations. The company's head office was at Ljubljana Jože Pu ...
announced that by 2018 that Darwin Airline's Saab 2000 fleet would be taken over by its parent company while the
ATR 72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed ...
would be returned to its lessor at the same time.austrianaviation.net - "Final over and out for Darwin Airline"
(German) 12 December 2017


Corporate affairs

Formerly its head office was on the grounds of Lugano Airport in Agno, near Lugano.


Destinations

As of September 2017, Darwin Airline served the following destinations using the ''Adria Airways Switzerland'' brand. All scheduled routes were suspended effective 28 November 2017.


Codeshare agreements

Darwin Airline also had
codeshare agreement A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...
s with the following airlines: *
Air Serbia Air Serbia (stylised as ''AirSERBIA''; sr, / ) is the flag carrier of Serbia. The company's headquarters is located in Belgrade, Serbia, and its main hub is Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. The airline was known as Jat Airways until it was ...
(between Zürich and Belgrade) *
Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. The ai ...
(between Geneva and Rome) * Etihad Airways (between Geneva, Abu Dhabi, Mahé, Bangkok, Phuket and Kuala Lumpur)


Fleet

As of September 2017, the Darwin Airline fleet included the following aircraft:adriaairways.ch - Fleet
retrieved 9 September 2017


References


External links


Official website
{{Authority control Defunct airlines of Switzerland Airlines established in 2003 Airlines disestablished in 2017 Companies based in Locarno Former Star Alliance affiliate members Swiss companies established in 2003 Swiss companies disestablished in 2017