AIR ECOSSE, LTD.: United Kingdom (1977-1988). Fairflight Charters, Ltd. associate AEL is formed at Aberdeen, Scotland, in June 1977 to provide ad hoc air charters in support of the North Sea oil industry. Scheduled commuter services begin on July 1, 1979 with a fleet of Embraer EMB-110P1 Bandeirantes. Destinations include Aberdeen, Carlisle, Dundee, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Isle of Man, London (LHR), Manchester, Prestwick, and Wick.
Next day, the company joins the Royal Mail program known as “Spokes from Speke,” flying two Bandeirantes each night from Edinburgh and Glasgow to the sorting hub at Liverpool (Speke Airport) and back to the two Scottish cities for distribution.
Enplanements advance steadily, reaching 51,653 in 1981 and 64,000 in 1982.
Just after landing at Flotta on a service from Aberdeen on April 20, 1983, wind lifts the left wing of a DHC-6-300 with 2 crew and 10 passengers. When in reaction the right wing touches the ground, the plane cartwheels off the runway and through a fence, coming to rest with both wings detached; there are no fatalities.
Enplanements for the year climb to 74,243.
The fleet is upgraded in 1984 by the gradual retirement of several Bandeirantes in favor of five Shorts 330/360 equipment. One of the two new Shorts 360s received is employed to service a Datapost contract from the Royal Mail Postal Service. Painted in the RMPS’s scarlet and gold livery, the aircraft makes overnight delivery of urgent express packages within the U. K. and to the Continent. In late fall, service to Belfast, Dublin, and Liverpool is suspended.
Chairman Michael Butler’s company adds extensive air ambulance, cargo, and charter operations in 1985; his fleet now comprises 2 EMB-110Ps, 4 Shorts 330s, and 2 Shorts 360s. The fleet is radically altered in 1986 as the Bandeirantes and 360s are withdrawn and a fifth Shorts 330 is purchased.
A significant decline in passenger traffic, caused by a decline in lift requirements from the North Sea oil industry, triggers such a drop in traffic and income that, by spring 1987, AEL is forced to suspend flights and seek protection from the courts. A bankruptcy judge appoints a new interim administration to oversee reorganization.
In 1988, the 330s are retired in favor of three Dornier 228-200s. The reorganization process, however, fails and the company shuts its doors. It will be reborn in 1989 as Aberdeen Airways, Ltd.
AIR ENGIADINA, LTD.: Flugplatzstr 11, Berne Airport, Bern-Belp, CH-3123, Switzerland; Phone 41 (319) 960-1211; Fax 41 (319) 9601217; Http://www. klmalps. ch; Code RQ; Year Founded 1987. Organized at Samedan/St. Moritz in the Engiadina region of Switzerland with SFr 4 million shareholding during the first quarter of 1987, this small regional is outfitted with a single British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31. Scheduled services linking its base with Zurich commence on April 22. Flights connecting Zurich with Erfurt commence in January 1988 and, by 1989, the single Jetstream 31 has generated sufficient business to require President Dr. W. J. Zinsli to open a route from Zurich to Eindhoven.
Although a Mitsubishi Mu-2B-60 Marquise is placed on line during the first weeks of 1990, the company encounters regulatory problems with Swiss aviation authorities. Also in significant financial difficulty, the little operator stops flying at the end of January. A new investor, Zurich-based charter and air taxi Air Material, A. G., takes over and under direction of its president, Dietmar Leitgeb, who becomes managing director, invests SFr 1.5 million and resumes the Zurich-Eindhoven route.
Jetstream 31 flights continue apace in 1991 and orders are placed for two Dornier 328-110s.
In May 1992, frequencies are initiated from Berne to Munich. Introduction of the new service brings corporate recapitalization, up from SFr 0.5 million to SFr 4.8 million. A Dornier 228-200 is leased from Lugano-based Sunshine Aviation and is employed to begin a twice-weekly route from Zurich to Erfurt, capital of the state of Thuringia in the former East Germany. Simultaneously, an order is placed for a Dornier 328. At year’s end, frequencies on the routes to Munich and Eindhoven are doubled. Enplanements total 13,651.
In 1993, the company employs a workforce of 17 and possesses a fleet comprising 1 British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31, 1 Dornier 228200, and 1 Mitsubishi Mu-2B-60. Destinations visited include Zurich, Antwerp, Eindhoven, and in the winter season, St. Moritz. Service from Zurich to Brno, Czech Republic, is introduced on September 9, followed by flights to Erfurt in the former German Democratic Republic.
On October 21, the first production Dornier 328-110 is turned over in ceremonies at the Oberpfaffenhofen plant of Deutsche Aerospace. Ten days later, on October 31, Jetstream 31 flights commence, linking Berne with Vienna in the first-ever air link between the Swiss and Austrian capitals. Following the delivery flight to Berne, the new SFr 13-million Dornier 328-110, the company’s largest single investment to date, enters service in December linking that Swiss city daily with Munich and Vienna. Enplanements total 21,000, but expansion costs bring a loss of SFr 470,000.
The employee population is increased to 40 — a whopping 185.7% — in 1994, as a second Dornier 328-110 enters service over a new route from Bern to Amsterdam and London (LCY). Share capital is boosted by another SFr 2.4 million. Late in the year, the company merges with Sunshine Aviation, with the combined carrier operating under the AEL name. Plans are made for the acquisition of a third German turboprop, which will be employed during the new year to launch scheduled passenger services to Frankfurt and London (LCY).
Passenger boardings increase 147.5% to 40,586.
Operations continue apace in 1995. With the beginning of the summer schedule in late March, frequencies are introduced from Berne to Frankfurt and frequencies are increased on the route to Amsterdam and London. Charters from Switzerland to Elba are instituted for several months, beginning in May, and a fourth Dornier 328-110 arrives on October 27. Enplanements for the year more than double, rising to 84,204.
The workforce stands at 100 in 1996 and the owned fleet now includes 1 Jetstream 31 and 4 Dornier 328-110s. Two additional leased Dorniers enter service in the fall (allowing removal of the Jetstream 31) and two remain on order.
Enplanements ascend to 104,208 and profits show an increase: $2.7 million (operating) and $10,000 (net).
Airline employment is increased by 21.6% in 1997 to 124 and share capital is now SFr 16.2 million. Several new routes are introduced.
Passenger boardings to accelerate 26.7% to 133,000. Although operating revenues increase by 18.2% to $26 million, expenses leap ahead by 37.8% to $26.6 million. Consequently, the previous year’s operating gain is turned into a $600,000 loss. There is a net loss of $800,000.
Destinations visited in 1998 include Amsterdam, Berne, Brno, Dublin, Eindhoven, Elba, Frankfurt, London, Manchester, Munich, Reus, Vienna, and Zurich.
On April 23, daily roundtrips begin between Berne and Dusseldorf Express Airport, along with thrice-weekly frequencies from Berne to Dublin. Saturday roundtrips commence on May 16 from Zurich to the Italian island of Pantelleria, along with additional daily frequencies to Manchester and Munich.
Saturday roundtrips start on May 23 between Berne and Montpellier, while frequencies between Berne and Geneva are increased.
At the end of the year, Managing Director Leitgeb founds a new subsidiary, Air Alps, GmbH., at Innsbruck. Ownership in the new regional is shared between Leitgeb (51%) and AEL (49%). Plans are made to begin revenue flights with a pair of Fairchild Dornier 328-110s.
Customer bookings accelerate 7.6% to 144,000.
By the beginning of 1999, airline employment has been cut by 11.3% to 110.
During April, a new marketing agreement is entered into by AEL and Air Alps, GmbH. with KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines, N. V.). Under its terms, the two small companies, with their six Dorniers, become part of the Dutch major’s global route network. Together, the two are renamed KLM Alps, GmbH. and repaint their aircraft in a modified version of the major’s light blue and white livery. Small individual company titles are worn on the port side of aircraft fuselages, below the silver cheatlines forward.
On May 1, KLM Alps, GmbH. inaugurates thrice-daily roundtrips between Bern, Innsbruck, Salzburg, and Amsterdam. The new concern replaces Tyrolean Airways, A. G. on the service.
On September 16, Northwest Airlines begins to code-share on company roundtrips from Bern to Amsterdam.
The year’s customer bookings plunge 11.6% to 127,000.
The workforce at the start of 2000 totals 140, a 27.2% boost over the previous 12 months.
On March 26, frequencies on the new Dornier 328-110 route from Geneva to Venice via Milan are boosted from four every week to six. Crossair, Ltd. now begins to code-share on the company’s twice-daily Dornier 328-110 return flights from Geneva to Toulouse and Marseilles.
By May 22, the entire Air Engiadina fleet has been repainted in KLM Alps, GmbH. colors. Five days later, seasonal 328-100 roundtrips are started to Klagenfurt from Cologne, Hamburg, and Munich.
A new Fairchild Dornier 328-110 is received in Air Engiadina livery on July 18.
Having previously ordered 3 Fairchild 428JETs, KLM Alps, GmbH. officials are disappointed in mid-August when the manufacturer, citing high costs, indicates that it will not build the jetliner. Airline officials indicate that they will wait until 2001 before making a decision on another type.
AIR ENTERPRISES: United States (1966-1967). Established at Huntington, West Virginia, in early 1966, Air Enterprises, owned by
O. M. Pierce, steps forward to operate as a third-level associate of Cleveland-based TAG Airlines. Employing a Piper PA-23 Aztec, the carrier inaugurates daily roundtrip scheduled flights to Columbus, Ohio, via Portsmouth, on February 10.
When TAG Airlines suspends services over a number of routes in the early fall of 1967, Air Enterprises elects to alter its affiliation and strike out as an independent. On October 3, the company is reformed and renamed Tyme Airlines.
World History
