Contact Air Flugdienst is a regional airline headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany,[1] operating scheduled services as part of Lufthansa Regional out of Stuttgart Airport, and on behalf of Swiss International Airlines (which is a Lufthansa subsidiary) out of Zürich Airport.[2]
[edit] History
The airline was established by Gunther Eheim (who is the whole owner until today) as a worldwide passenger and executive charter airline and started operations in 1974 with an initial fleet of Dassault Falcon 20 and Bombardier Learjet aircraft. Contact Air became the first partner airline in the Team Lufthansa regional group in April 1996. On 16 October 2003 the airline introduced the new Lufthansa Regional brand and began operating as such in early 2004.[2]
[edit] Destinations
At April 2010, Contact Air operates the following scheduled services on behalf of Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines :[3]
- Operating for Lufthansa
- Operating for Swiss
[edit] Terminated destinations
- Operated for Lufthansa
- Germany - Frankfurt, Hanover, Hof/Plauen, Nuremberg
- Operated for Swiss
- Italy - Venice
- Italy - Verona
As of December 2010, the Contact Air fleet consists of 8 Fokker 100 aircraft with an average age of 16.8 years.[4][5][6]
[edit] Fleet development
Over the years, Contact Air operated the following aircraft types:[7]
-
[edit] Incidents and accidents
- On 6 January 1993, Lufthansa Flight 5634 from Bremen to Paris, which was carried out under the Lufthansa CityLine brand using a Contact Air Dash 8-300 (registered D-BEAT), hit the ground 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) short of the runway of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, resulting in the death of four out of the 23 passengers on board. The four crew members survived. The accident occurred after the pilot had to abort the final approach to the airport because the runway had been closed due to the aircraft ahead, a Korean Air Boeing 747, had suffered a blown tyre upon landing.[8]
- On 14 September 2009, Lufthansa Flight 288 from Berlin to Stuttgart, which was operated by a Contact Air Fokker 100 (registered D-AFKE) on that day, made an emergency landing at Stuttgart Airport at 10:47 local time due to undercarriage failure. There were no injuries amongst the five crew members and 73 passengers on board;[9] one of them was the then SPD chairman Franz Müntefering.[10]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
