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Charter Pioneers
Last updated 2019  Air Transat of Canada, A330, Venice 2014 (WS) After WWII airlines still were strictly regulated by the governments, and outside the USA generally they were state-owned and subsidized, with ticket prices beyond the means of working-class travelers. Charter airlines of North America and Europe were the first to change the situation and with this chapter only significant pioneers should be mentioned, not all their subsidiaries. United States A first step towards future has been undertaken in 1949 by U.S. President Truman, when he awarded the certificate to Resort Airlines as a Certificated Cruise Carrier. During the Berlin Airlift and the Korean War, non-standard “Large Irregular Carriers” proved their ability. But in 1957 North American Airlines, established by Stan Weis as a travel agency with cheap fares, was stopped by the Supreme Court (as R.E.G. Davies reported it). In 1959 the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) issued certificates to 25 “Supplemental Carriers”. In 1962 World Airways by E.J. Daly was the first Supplemental to order jets, Boeing 707s. Trans International Airlines (TIA), founded by Kirk Kerkorian, answered with a DC-8 order. They appeared also in Europe, as well as Capitol, Overseas National (ONA, then National Airlines), Saturn Airways, taken over by TIA, forming Transamerica Airlines, Seaboard World, Air National and Modern Air. Some ones were awarded important contracts within the framework of the Civil Reserve Program, flying for the Military Air Transport Service. When in the USA decades ago charter airlines suffered under restrictions, such as the “affinity group” regulations, the species of “travel clubs” had emerged. The Coronado of the Denver Ports of Call (which temporarily became the airline Skyworld) or the B.727 of Nomads could have been watched at Munich during the “Oktoberfest” or on Caribbean islands. American Trans Air, its predecessor having been founded in 1973 for the Ambassadair Travel Club, got in 1981 the FAA certificate for charter flights and was described a decade later even as America’s largest charter airline, before the ATA label disappeared. A special business became the services for sports clubs and their brand was shown by charter airlines such as Viscount. Towards the end of the century, mergers between the tour operating companies and the airlines had to secure profits, and tour giants’ labels appeared on aircraft of the charter companies, comparable to the development in Europe. A new North American Airlines started in 1990, founded by Dan McKinnon, “primarily to provide a feeder service to El Al’s gateways in North America (…). El Al held a 24.9% shareholding until 2003. Acquired by World Air Holdings in April 2005, its scheduled services to West Africa and Guyana were withdrawn in May 2008”, so reported by Flight Intl 2010, registering full ownership by Global Aero Logistics. In March 2012, LJ reported that North American Airlines and World Airways, owned by Global Aviation Holdings and engaged in troop charter, filed for Chapter 11 insolvency protection, suffering under the reduction of US presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, stating: “Global Aviation Holdings belongs to the investment company Matlin Patterson, which in the past already has smashed ATA Airlines, Arrow Air and Varig Log.” Ryan International of Ronald Ryan (not to be confused with Ryanair) filed for chapter 11, too, on the same reasons.
Canada An early example was Wardair, founded in 1952 by M. Ward, providing charter flights to Europe, then even with the B.747. In 1990 it was swallowed by Canadian Airlines. Air Transat started charter flights in 1987 and then it got its reputation also with scheduled flights to Europe. Nationair was unlucky when in 1991 a DC-8 on a pilgrims’ flight from Jeddah to Nigeria suffered a defect and crashed near Jeddah, killing 261 people. Skyservice started inclusive tour operations in 1994 and closed down in 2010. Canada 3000, created by Air 2000 of the UK, was more successful. Air Transat remained the leader.
Europe Airborne package tourism with prop planes, provided by charter airlines for travel companies during the 50s, had started also in Europe. Later they changed to jet aircraft in high-density seating layouts. At that time an all-inclusive charter ticket could cost half as much as the IATA economy fare. Of course, charter carriers were fought by IATA and by European governments, the owners of standard carriers. And the state-owned standard carriers acquired or established their own charter subsidiaries. Already in 1955 Deutsche Flugdienst was founded, in 1960 it became Condor as a Lufthansa subsidiary and then it absorbed Suedflug. In 1971, Condor was the first charter airline to introduce the Boeing 747 and used it on flights to four continents. In England, Dan-Air, founded in 1953, used even the Comet. In 1992 it was taken over by British Airways. Court Line has collapsed already in 1974. For Europe in 1975, R.E.G. Davies has listed as top-ranking charter airlines (by passenger numbers) Britannia and Dan-Air of the UK, followed by Condor of Lufthansa and by Sterling of Denmark. The latter had started in 1962. Among its activities was even a Sterling Philippines subsidiary with the Caravelle and DC-8, but in 1993 Sterling was bankrupt and in 2008 its successor Sterling European ended.
Condor + MyTravel = Thomas Cook In order to secure profits, airlines merged with tour operating companies. Department store giant Karstadt-Quelle founded C&N Touristic, which acquired Lufthansa’s subsidiary Condor. In 2003 England’s renowned tour operator Thomas Cook and its JMC Airlines, successor of Caledonian and Flying Colours Airlines, was entered by C&N Touristic and the airline label Thomas Cook was created, sporting the name of the founder of world’s first tourist agency in the 19th century. In 2001 Thomas Cook Airlines (Germany) was listed (by Airline Business) ranking number 33 global, and Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) ranking 50. In 2002 the German branch descended to rank 48 and in 2004 Condor returned to its own popular label. An attempt by Air Berlin to acquire Condor was abandoned in 2008. Also a merger with Germanwings did not come true, for Lufthansa bought it. Airtours International, founded in 1990 in the UK, had acquired Inter European Airways, Premiair of Denmark, the successor of Conair and Scanair of SAS, Air Belgium and FTI of Germany. In 2002 it took the name of its parent company My Travel. Its further history continued with the Thomas Cook Airlines Group, which integrated MyTravel in 2008. In 2002 Thomas Cook (Germany) and Thomas Cook (UK) together achieved 31 billion RPK. That result would have placed them on rank 23 global, in 2017 Condor added regular North Atlantic services, followed by a cooperation with Malaysia Airlines. But in Feb 2019 came the news (via Spiegel online) that the Thomas Cook Group wanted to get rid of its airlines, including Condor. In September 2019 Cook went into administration – compare the chapter Mega Groups.
TUI + Thomson Mergers of charter airlines with tour operating companies created fully integrated travel giants with completely new corporate identities. In Germany, travel giant TUI emerged from Touropa, which had started package holiday tourism by rail in the 50s. It engaged Atlantis for transatlantic charter flights, but the (socialist) transport minister fought a battle against it in defense of Lufthansa, and in 1973 Atlantis was “out”. In 1972 the well-known German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, formed by a merger between Hapag and Norddeutscher Lloyd, established its charter airline Hapag-Lloyd Flugzeug GmbH, under participation of Dr. Hinrich Bischoff, starting in 1973, combated by authorities. In 1977 it acquired the united Bavaria (of brewery owner Josef Schoerghuber) and Germanair. It must not be confused with a completely separate Aero Lloyd. Bought by Preussag in 1997, Hapag-Lloyd formed the TUI Group. In 2005 it was decided to rename HapagFly into TUIfly. In 2000 TUI has acquired Nouvelles Frontieres, owner of Corsair, and it participated in Neos of Italy, ArkeFly of Netherlands and others. In Russia, Kolavia’s successor Metrojet has begun flying for TUI, then separated. Etihad abandoned the idea of a joint venture with TUIfly and Niki. And when in 2019 competing Thomas Cook airlines’ activities were stopped, Spiegel online published also TUI’s profit warning.
In England, Britannia Airways, the successor of Euravia, has become a part of the Thomson Organisation in 1965. It acquired Orion and Blue Scandinavia, the former Transwede, in 1998. Air 2000, which swallowed Leisure International, was rebranded First Choice Airways, a subsidiary of First Choyce Holidays. “TUI merged with First Choice to create TUI Travel in September 2007 (…). From May 2009, the two carriers were combined as Thomson Airways” (so reported by the World Airlines Directory 2010). In 2013 SZ (Jan24) reported a 56.4% share in TUI Travel being held by the TUI AG, being 25% owned by Alexey Mordashev. An acquisition of TUI Travel however was reported being too expensive. Towards Air Berlin and Niki The renowned German charter carrier LTU, founded in 1955, became partially owned by Westdeutsche Landesbank. When West LB participated in TUI, it was forced to sell its LTU shares and that carrier became a member of the failed SAir Group (Swissair). It was saved by REWE, the food supply chain entering the tourist business by acquiring DER. Rewe’s LTU Touristic took also a 70% stake in IToursS from Russia, flying with Airline400. LTU Sued offered charter flights to far-away destinations. With scheduled intercontinental flights, LTU has got its excellent reputation. The Spanish subsidiary LTE was given away.
British Airways bought a major stake in a German company Delta Air and later renamed it Deutsche BA. In 2003 BA sold it (at a price of 1 euro) to Hans Rudolf Woehrl. Under the shortened label DBA, Woehrl’s new airline became Germany’s second-largest. In 2006 Woehrl bought the Rewe share in LTU. A private Air Berlin USA has entered in 1979 the Berlin corridor with charter flights, becoming German-owned in 1992. In 2006 Air Berlin under Joachim Hunoldt acquired DBA. In 2007 it added LTU and took also a 49% share in Belair of Hotelplan, successor of Swissair daughter Balair. After LTU had been saved by Air Berlin, pilots struggled for the traditionally higher LTU wages and for the 3-man cockpit, whereupon Air Berlin let LTU disappear in 2011. A smaller charter carrier is Germania, started in 1978 as SAT, renamed Germania under owner Hinrich Bischoff. In 2005, shortly before his death, he offered it to Joachim Hunoldt and Air Berlin acquired it, preserving the label Germania. Regional carrier LGW was fully acquired in 2009. A Swiss subsidiary Holiday Jet started in 2015. A surprising interlude was Gambia Bird, ended in late 2014. It was considered a prelude of Germania’s insolvency in 2019. Famous was Lauda Air, started in 1979 by Formula 1 racing car champion Niki Lauda in Austria, initially as a charter carrier. Then he built up a regular network, which connected even Miami with Vienna and Vienna with Melbourne. Temporarily Lufthansa held a 40% share. Acquisition by Austrian Airlines in 2000 was cynically commented and in 2009 it was fully integrated. In 2005 Lauda’s Italian branch was incorporated into Livingston, stopped in 2014. In 2004 Lauda, with help of Air Berlin and planes from Aero Lloyd, started the new airline FlyNiki, rebranded Niki, then fully entered by Air Berlin, which has become Germany’s second-largest airline. Air Berlin continued its history as a standard carrier, in 2009 Pegasus of Turkey bought a 16% shareholding and in 2011 Etihad acquired a 30% stake (see the chapter Mega Groups). After insolvency of Air Berlin in 2017, Hunoldt sold his 2.2 million euro share at 0.6 million (Bild, Oct14). Air Berlin absolved its last regular flight officially on Oct27, 2017. Its daughter Niki was announced to be bought by the IAG group, in 2018 however it was taken over by Laudamotion, to cooperate with Condor, but in May 2018 Lauda sold 75% of his shares to Ryanair - see the chapter Low-Cost Pioneers.
Meridiana A multi-national history had Meridiana. It was founded in 1963 by Aga Khan (according to World Airlines Directory) as Alisarda. Merged with Universair of Spain, it became Meridiana in 1992 (see B.I. Hengi), placed on the touristic market. It absorbed Eurofly, it developed into Italy’s second-largest regular carrier, but an intended fusion with Alitalia in 2011 did not come true. In 2011 Meridiana integrated Air Italy, which had started in 2005. It has created in 2007 even an Air Italy Polska and an Air Italy Egypt, both short-lived. Qatar Airways entered Meridiana officially in 2017. Wikipedia described it being “owned by Qatar Airways through AQA Holding (49%) and by Alisarda (51%). For a new Air Italy label see the chapter Mega Groups.
Other Initiatives Separated from the big groups remained Monarch Airlines, started in 1968 in the UK. In 2014 it was entered by Greybull Capital, but in 2017 the traditional airline ended in bankruptcy. In 1996 British Airways saved Air Liberte, started in France in 1988, merged it with TAT, and later both disappeared. Air Liberte’s Tunisian daughter of 1989 became Nouvelair in 1996. Among the many charter carriers, not listed here, a multi-national attempt was Trans European Airways (TEA), started in 1971 in Belgium. In 1988 TEA Basel, the later TEA Switzerland, was added. It was followed by TEA France and TEA UK, the former Mediterranean Express. All the TEA labels vanished. Another ambitious example has been the Air Europe Group. Air Europe of England started charter flights in 1979. The Airlines of Europe Group was a holding company, owned by the International Leisure Group. Partial ownership in Air Europa of Spain, Norway Airlines and then Air Europe Italy was listed. The group failed in 1991 (information by Flight Intl). In 1998 the SAir Group (Swissair) entered Air Europe of Italy and both vanished. Surviving Air Europa added in 2009 even scheduled Madrid – New York services.
Air Atlanta Icelandic is another multi-national example. It started in 1996 and later it acquired a majority stake in Excel Airways of the UK. In 2005 it merged with Islandsflug as Avion Group, which bought Star Airlines of France, renaming it XL Airways with a subsidiary in Germany, and sold XL. The last XL.com of England changed to long-haul, while Air Mediterrannee had to shrink. TAP of Portugal started in 1985 Air Atlantis, which ended in 1993. Yes of 2000 was an example of long-haul charter activities, majority-owned by TAP, then changing name to White Airways. Viva Air Lines had been started in 1988 by Lufthansa and Iberia, which then took it over. Remarkable had been Spantax with its Coronado fleet, founded in 1959 and ended in 1988, when Spanair was started. Decades after, Wamos Air of Spain became flashy with its B.747s, leased and leased out. Jet X of Iceland started in 2004. It became Primera Air Scandinavia in 2009, started Primera Air Nordic in Latvia, opened trans Atlantic services and went bankrupt in 2018. In Czechoslovakia, formerly a communist Soviet ‘satellite’, SLU served the functionaries, but after privatization as Travel Service it became the main owner of icon CSA – see the chapter Open Skies. There are small carriers, too. Air Via of Bulgaria, appearing even on flights to Dubai, is just an example. An interlude had been African Safari Airways, Swiss-owned, founded in 1967 for flights from Europe to Kenya.
Generally the standard carriers have bounced back. In 1993 a charter flight from Germany to Mexico did cost around 1,700 mark, a regular flight by Delta only 1,356 mark. The condition to book an inclusive tour (often pro forma, on a camping ground) became ridiculous and the difference been regular and charter carriers faded away. Travelers on a package tour to the south may find themselves aboard an Air Malta or Tunis Air plane. Between France and Canada, still in 1984 95% of the charter traffic was carried by Canadian companies, thanks to the Air France monopoly on that North Atlantic route, which lasted until 1991. Greece has prevented own charter carriers in favor of loss-making Olympic Airways. Foreign charter airlines had to pay high fees for flights to Greece and Greek citizens were prohibited from using them. Edelweiss, started in 1996, was entered by Swiss International in 2008. Consolidation among leisure groups and airlines has made revenue statistics difficult. Among the 150 top airline groups in 2000, the late LTU group, Martinair (from 2008 fully owned by KLM) and Braathens (then taken by SAS) had their origins in the charter business. The low-cost carriers’ scheduled flights were a new threat to the package tour giants and their airlines. Due to the seasonal lows, charter companies need higher load factors and some ones had achieved more than 95 percent. Inclusive-tour passenger numbers dropped and the International Air Carrier Association (IACA) worried about pure charter airlines’ future. Turkey Economic and demographic development boosted also services for migrant workers. Those flights between Turkey and Germany have become a business for Turkish newcomer airlines with their lower costs. Many ones of these companies appeared and disappeared. Until 2005 no less than 43 airlines were listed (described by Karsten Heiligtag in LJ 6/2005). The start was made by Bursa Hava Yollari, the first privately-owned airline in Turkey – and a multitude of adventurous enterprises followed, “truly unnecessary”, as K. Heiligtag commented, “because generally that was always the same circle of entrepreneurs…” A resistant airline on the tourist market has become Sun Express, started by Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa in 1990. Only temporarily, Lufthansa has transferred its shares to Condor. The category of private multi-nationals was entered by Pegasus Airlines. It had been started in 1990 by Aer Lingus of Ireland, which founded also Futura in Spain, but then sold both. Pegasus Airlines of Turkey acquired temporarily a share in Air Berlin, entered Izair and founded Kyrgyz Pegasus Airlines in 2014. The label Pegasus Asia appeared, and Silk Air of Singapore participated in Pegasus. Onur Air started in 2019 Holiday Europe, registered with Bulgaria.
Other Regions - a Different World Charter airlines for tourism emerged also outside the USA, Canada or Europe, e.g. in the Caribbean or in North Africa, mainly in Egypt. After the collapse of communism in former Soviet countries, many new airlines started, difficult to categorize between regular and charter. Transaero appeared even with the B.747, but also other services emerged, e.g. Nordwind flying to the Caribbean for Pegas touristic, which started Ikar or PegasFly. Redwings of Russia took a 48% share in Blue Wings, but in 2010 that newcomer in Germany was out. For Transaero’s collapse see the chapter Mega Groups. Airlines carrying migrant workers from Asia to the United Arab Emirates were different for they had nothing to do with tourism. The Muslim’s pilgrimage to Makkah, the Haj, was extended in an unprecedented way by operators of old aircraft, otherwise laying idle. Jumbos and TriStars with labels never seen before arrived every year at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Mysterious were the Jordanian TriStars of Air Universal and Star Air, registered with Sierra Leone, those ones of SkyGate, based at Sharjah, the rare yellow ones of Air Rum, a Northeast Airlines 747 in ex-Swedish Transjet colors, registered with Swaziland, an Interlink from South Africa, the DC-10 of an Executive Aerospace company from South Africa, with Swaziland registration, an Orange Air from Jordan and so on… Every year new “airlines” offered flights for pilgrims. A special category are airlines described as passenger and cargo carriers, using big jet aircraft only for freight and small regional turboprops for passenger charter flights. From Zaire, Skydeck Cargo 707 flights with hundreds of passengers were reported. At least 150 passengers died, when in 2003 on a crowded Ukrainian cargo IL-76 the freight door opened over the Congo. An analysis came to the result that e.g. in Germany more than half a dozen full-size airlines have developed from charter to regular. In the economic powerhouses Japan, China and in emerging Indonesia or India however, almost none among the many existent jet airlines had the roots in the charter business. Considering not the airline groups, but simply the labeled airlines, among the top 100 (by RPK) in the year 2000, barely ten could have been considered being typical charter-plus-scheduled carriers. The list started with American Trans Air, occupying rank 38, followed by Air Transat of Canada, Canada 3000, Spanair, Transavia, Air Europa, Air Europe, Sun Country (USA) and Lauda Air – that means four carriers of North America and five of Europe. A little more than a decade later (according to The World Airlines), American Trans Air, Canada 3000, Spanair and Air Europe have disappeared from the list, followed by the collapse of Monarch and Cook. Low-fare and individual booking via internet is considered being a reason for the shrinking importance of touristic charter airlines.
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