German Regional Airlines GmbH & Co. KG, operating under the German Airways brand and formerly named ''WDL Aviation'', is a German charter and

wet lease Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...

aircraft operator, headquartered at

Cologne Bonn Airport Cologne Bonn Airport (german: Flughafen Köln/Bonn 'Konrad Adenauer') is the international airport of Germany's fourth-largest city Cologne, and also serves Bonn, former capital of West Germany. With around 12.4 million passengers passing thr ...

, and part of the Zeitfracht Group.

History

Initially named ''WDL Flugdienst'', the company was set up in 1974 as a subsidiary of ''Westdeutsche Luftwerbung GmbH'', an

aerial advertising Aerial advertising is a form of advertising that incorporates the use of flogos, manned aircraft, or drones to create, transport, or display, advertising media. The media can be ''static'', such as a banner, logo, lighted sign or sponsorship bran ...

provider founded in 1955. The current name was adopted in 1991, when the parent was reorganized as ''WDL Group''. With WDL Aviation offering

aircraft lease Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...

and charter services, the aerial advertising and sightseeing flight branch (using

blimp A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hy ...

s) survives in the other subsidiary of WDL Group, which is called ''WDL Luftschiff''. Since 1998, the

British Aerospace 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro Internati ...

is in service with WDL Aviation. Other aircraft types that were operated by WDL Aviation include the

Fokker F27 Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Eur ...

and an

Airbus A320-200 Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

on lease from

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 ...

between 1992 and 1993. WDL Aviation was acquired by the Berlin logistics company ''Zeitfracht'' on 1 October 2017. During 2018, WDL Aviation started acquiring BAe 146-300 QT freighter aircraft while planning to replace its

BAe 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro Internation ...

passenger aircraft with newer

Embraer 190 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding ...

sluchtvaartnieuws.nl - WDL Aviation vernieuwt vloot met Embraer 190
6 December 2018 and received its new brand name ''German Airways'' thereafter. In March 2020, Zeitfracht announced a rebranding for WDL Aviation which is to become German Regional Airlines operating within the ''German Airways'' branding alongside sister company Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter which became the actual, and now defunct, '' German Airways''.airliners.de - "LGW and WDL get new names"
(German) 11 March 2020

Corporate affairs

Ownership and structure

German Regional Airlines is owned by Zeitfracht Group, an owner-managed family business with interests in logistics, aviation and real estate. It has its headquarters in Berlin and over 1,200 employees. German Airways is part of Zeitfracht Aviation, together with the now defunct German Airways Fluggesellschaft mbH, which ran short-lived

operations for

Eurowings Eurowings GmbH is a German low-cost carrier headquartered in Düsseldorf and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. Founded in 1996, it serves a network of domestic and European destinations and formerly also operated some long-hau ...

Business trends

Both German Regional Airlines and the Zeitfracht Group are private companies, and annual reports do not appear to be published. In the absence of these, the little information for German Regional Airlines that appears to be available is:

Fleet

As of August 2022, the German Regional Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:germanairways.com - Fleet
retrieved 4 August 2022

Incidents

* On 25 March 2019,

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ...

Flight 3271 operated by then WDL Aviation, which took off from

London City Airport London City Airport is a regional airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the Borough of Newham, approximately east of the City of London and east of Canary Wharf. These are the twin centres of London's financial ...

enroute to

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

but landed in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. BA blamed WDL Aviation for a paperwork error.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wdl Aviation Airlines of Germany Airlines established in 1974 1974 establishments in West Germany Companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia Companies based in Cologne German companies established in 1974