Air Alps

Not to be confused with Air Alpes.

Air Alps

IATA ICAO Callsign A6 LPV ALPAV
Founded	1998
Commenced operations	1999
Ceased operations	2014
Hubs	Bolzano
Secondary hubs	Rome-Fiumcino
Focus cities	Salerno
Fleet size	3
Destinations	2
Company slogan	Discover the sky
Headquarters	Innsbruck, Austria
Website	airalps.at

Air Alps (Air Alps Aviation, Alpenländisches Flugunternehmen Ges.m.b.H.) was an airline with its head office at Innsbruck Airport in Innsbruck, Austria. It was an independent regional airline serving 10 cities in Italy from Milan and Rome, international services from Milan, as well as charter services. Its main base was Innsbruck Airport, with hubs at Malpensa Airport, Milan and Leonardo da Vinci Airport, Rome. Formerly its head office was elsewhere in Innsbruck.

History

The airline was established in 1998 and started operations on 28 March 1999 with two Dornier 328 aircraft, acquiring three more in 2000 and one more in each year of operation. It was founded by Air Engiadina who owned 49% of the airline, the other 51% being owned by Dietmar Leitgeb, president and chief executive of Air Engiadina. In 2001, a group of investors from the Italian province of South Tyrol acquired the majority stake. In October 2005 a codeshare agreement with Alitalia on the entire Air Alps network was established. The airline is owned by Alpen-Air consortium (89.82%), Sudtiroler Transportstrukturen (7%), and Beteiligungs-und Finanzierungs (3.18%).

In 2004, a new CEO and Operations Director was appointed. The Manager Network Development Koen Hertoge was responsible for the integration into the Alitalia Network for both national and international routes, which eventually helped Air Alps Aviation to be back in profit.

As of November 2007 the company employed 160 people, 60 in Innsbruck and 100 in Italy.

In November 2012 Air Alps ceased operations after their only then-remaining scheduled PSO-route Bolzano-Rome ceased. In August 2013 the liquidation of the company was announced.

In January 2014 it was announced that Air Alps will resume operations and start flying on behalf of the German virtual airline Rostock Airways. The first of several planned routes is Bremen-Zürich which started on 3 February. On 22 February it was announced that this service will cease on 28 February due to conflicts between Air Alps and Rostock Airways. Air Alps never resumed any operations since then.

Destinations

File:OE-LKD-1.jpg

An Air Alps Dornier 328-110 Departing Innsbruck Airport

Air Alps doesn't operate any routes as of March 2014.

Former destinations

Germany

• Bremen - Bremen Airport (ended 28 February 2014)

Switzerland

• Zürich - Zürich Airport (ended 28 February 2014)

Air Alps operated the following services according to their homepage (April 2012).

• Rome-Fiumicino to Bolzano in code-share with Alitalia.
• Olbia to Bolzano (seasonal).

They also operated charterflights from Bolzano to the following destinations, Cagliari, Catania, Crotone, Lamezia Terme and Zadar (Croatia). Alitalia used to codeshare on all Air Alps services until they stopped operations in 2012.

Fleet

The Air Alps fleet consisted of the following aircraft (as of 1 January 2014):

• 1 Dornier 328-110 (OE-LKA)

External links

• Official website