HAMAREIN AIR - GULF CARRIERS, LTD.: United Arab Emirates (1977-1980). Established at Ras al Khaimah Airport in 1977, Hamarein operates cargo and charter services in the Persian Gulf region employing a single Douglas DC-8-20F.
In 1978, the carrier seeks authority to serve London (LGW); however, the Iranian revolution of 1979-1980 so depletes traffic that the company must stop flying.
HAMBURG AIRLINES, GmbH. & CO., K. G. (1): Germany (1988-1993). This new German regional carrier is established at Hamburg on April 15, 1988 with Wolfgang Biederbeck as managing director. The initial fleet of this successor to bankrupt Hansa Express, GmbH. comprises a de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100 and a Dornier 228-200 and these are employed in September to inaugurate scheduled services to Goteborg, Rotterdam, and Antwerp.
Enplanements total 2,000.
The fleet of the 92-employee commuter in 1989 includes 4 DHC-8-100s.
Passenger boardings leap up 241.7% to 40,600. Revenues skyrocket 255.9% to $6.3 million.
In 1990, a Fokker 100 jetliner is added for charter flights between the various German states. Antwerp is dropped from the route network as flights are initiated to London (LGW) and Amsterdam. Enplanements total 84,730.
Airline employment is increased by 15.2% in 1991 to 190. The Fokker 100 is withdrawn and replaced by three additional DHC-8-100s and two DHC-8-300s. In March, daily frequencies are inaugurated from Hamburg to Birmingham and Manchester, England. Other new routes are initiated to Riga, Vilnius, and Saarbrucken.
Passenger boardings swell 54.2% to 185,000.
Owner Eugene Block, now holding the last independent regional carrier in Germany, opens negotiations for a new partner in the first quarter of 1992. As a result, the company is sold to Saarland Airlines, GmbH. in December. Chairman Block retains 20% shareholding and is given a seat on the Saarland board. Managing Director Biederbeck is succeeded by new joint managing directors, Manfred Moeschel and Jurgen Nappe. Traffic figures are now no longer released.
Airline employment in 1993 stands at 170. The fleet of the Saarland subsidiary is increased by three DHC-8-300s and plans are announced to replace the Boeing with Airbus equipment.
Minsk joins the route network while other scheduled destinations served come to include Amsterdam, Birmingham, Manchester, Dresden, Hamburg, Leipzig, Halle, Berlin (Templehof), Brussels, Riga, Saarbrucken, Riga, Vilnius, and Frankfurt. Charters are also offered to Venice, Sylt, Verona, Geneva, Paris, London, and Edinburgh.
In financial difficulty since the collapse of a major tour contractor, MP Travel, Saarland and its Hamburg subsidiary go bankrupt at the end of August.
HAMBURG AIRLINES, GmbH. & CO., K. G. (2): Germany (1993-1997). Following the summer 1993 bankruptcy of Hamburg Airlines, GmbH. & Co. (1), a new carrier with the same name is established at the Hamburg base in the fall. Bernard Walter is the new managing director and his leased fleet includes 3 de Havilland Canada DHC-8-102s and 2 DHC-8-311s. Revenue flights are restarted to the company’s previous markets.
The workforce is cut to 120 in 1994 and Managing Director Walter places orders for two British Aerospace BAe 146-200s, the first of which is delivered late in the year.
The second Dash-200 is delivered in 1995 and enplanements total 290,460.
Airline employment is increased by 32.3% in 1996 to 340 and the all-leased fleet now includes 2 BAe 146-200s, 3 DHC-8-102s, and 2 DHC-8-311s. A BAe 146-300 is leased from Asset Management Organization during the first quarter and is placed into service on May 1 over the company’s summer charter routes. Code-sharing agreements are signed with Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. and Aer Lingus Irish Airlines, Ltd.
These feeder arrangements allow passenger boardings to soar 38.2% to 470,000.
Destinations visited in 1997 include Athens, Berlin, Dresden, Dublin, Hamburg, Leipzig, Oporto, Riga, Rome, Saarbrucken, Stuttgart, Thessaloniki, and Vilnius. The company enters into a code-sharing alliance with TAP Air Portugal, S. A.
Unable to maintain economic viability, the company conducts its last flight on December 21 and shuts down.
World History
