XL Airways Germany GmbH was
a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
charter airline
Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline).
Regulation
Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...
headquartered in
Mörfelden-Walldorf
Mörfelden-Walldorf is a town in the Groß-Gerau district, situated in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main region in the federal state (Bundesland) Hesse, Germany.
Geography
Location
Mörfelden-Walldorf is situated within a triangle formed by the South He ...
,
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
, operating charter and
ad-hoc lease services, mostly out of
Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres ...
. The airline belonged, together with now defunct
XL Airways France
XL Airways France was a French airline with its head offices on the grounds of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. It operated scheduled flights mainly to long-haul destinations in Africa, the Middle East, the United States and the Caribbean as wel ...
, to
ALMC hf
ALMC hf., formerly Straumur Investment Bank hf. ( is, Straumur Fjárfestingabanki), is a regional investment bank headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland.
Founded in 1986 as ''Hlutabréfasjóðurinn'' and rebranded as Straumur in 2004, the bank in ...
(formerly ''Straumur Investment Bank'') from
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
.
History
The airline was founded as Star XL German Airlines by
Eimskip
Eimskipafélag Íslands hf. is an international shipping company with 55 offices in 20 countries and four continents; Europe, North America, South America and Asia. Eimskip specializes in worldwide freight forwarding services with focus on frozen ...
from
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
and received its
air Operator's Certificate
An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets, and system in plac ...
on 3 May 2006. On 30 October of the same year, the Avion leisure business was
bought out and re-organized by the
XL Leisure Group, resulting in the airline changing its name to ''XL Airways Germany''.
On 11 September 2008,
BBC News Channel
BBC News (also known as the BBC News Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television news channel for BBC News. It was launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 5:30 pm as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic telev ...
reported that
XL Leisure Group had filed for administration due to rising fuel prices, although initially
Simon Calder
Simon Calder (born 25 December 1955) is a freelance UK travel journalist and broadcaster. He works for various news and travel publications as well as being travel correspondent for ''The Independent''.
Biography
In 1962, Calder joined the Wo ...
confirmed the group's website was still taking bookings, the group folded the next morning. Operations of the German and French airline subsidiaries were not affected, however. On 12 September 2008,
Straumur Investment Bank acquired XL Airways Germany and its French sister company, XL Airways France.
The company filed for bankruptcy on 27 December 2012; operations for the winter season had already been suspended on 14 December.
The company officially closed on 3 January 2013.
Destinations
![Airbus A320-214, XL Airways Germany JP6291806](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Airbus_A320-214%2C_XL_Airways_Germany_JP6291806.jpg)
XL Airways Germany served the following destinations in December 2012:
Fleet
Fleet at airline's closing
![Boeing_737-8Q8,_XL_Airways_AN1909807](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Boeing_737-8Q8%2C_XL_Airways_AN1909807.jpg)
As of December 2012, the XL Airways Germany fleet consisted of the following aircraft:
[XL Airways fleet list at planespotters.net](_blank)
/ref>
Formerly operated
Previously, the fleet consisted of the following aircraft:
Accidents and incidents
*On 27 November 2008, while executing XL Airways Germany Flight 888T
XL Airways Germany Flight 888T (GXL888T) was an acceptance flight for an Airbus A320 on 27 November 2008. The aircraft crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, off Canet-en-Roussillon on the French coast, close to the Spanish border, killing all s ...
, 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: '' ...
registered to XL Airways Germany crashed into the Mediterranean Sea near Canet-en-Roussillon
Canet-en-Roussillon (; ca, Canet de Rosselló, ; oc, Canet de Rosselhon, ) is a commune and town in the French department of the Pyrénées-Orientales, administrative region of Occitania.
Geography
Canet-en-Roussillon is located in the ca ...
on the French coast. The plane was owned by Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacif ...
and leased to XL Airways Germany registered as D-AXLA (formerly ZK-OJL), and was undertaking a technical flight immediately prior to a scheduled handover back to Air New Zealand. At the time of the accident the plane was painted in Air New Zealand livery. All seven people on board — two Germans (captain Norbert Kaeppel and first officer Theodore Ketzer from XL Airways) and five New Zealanders (one pilot, three aircraft engineers and one member of the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand
The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAA; Māori: ''Te Mana Rererangi Tūmatanui o Aotearoa'') is the government agency tasked with establishing civil aviation safety and security standards in New Zealand.
The CAA also monitors adherence ...
) - were killed.
See also
*List of defunct airlines of Germany
This is a list of defunct airlines of Germany.
See also
* List of airlines of Germany
* List of airports in Germany
References
{{List of defunct airlines
*
Germany
Airlines
An airline is a company that provides air transport se ...
References
External links
Official website
{{Airlines of Germany
Defunct airlines of Germany
Airlines established in 2006
Airlines disestablished in 2013
German companies disestablished in 2013
German companies established in 2006