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“D-ABME, welcome to Dusseldorf” – this was the greeting on 24th May 2012, as the first brand new airberlin Boeing 737-800 in oneworld livery landed in Germany. The touchdown of the oneworld jet at the airport in the Rhineland metropolis reaffirms the importance of the role Dusseldorf plays for Germany’s second largest airline.
“airberlin’s hub at Dusseldorf International Airport is growing and prospering. airberlin already offers the widest range of non-stop flights in North Rhine Westphalia, particularly in the sector of intercontinental flights to North America. With the touchdown of the first oneworld Boeing at the airport we are sending another positive signal of the integration of the airport into the route network of our oneworld partner airlines and thus also of further growth,” said Hartmut Mehdorn, CEO airberlin.
“We are delighted that airberlin has made the first landing with its brand new Boeing in oneworld livery at Dusseldorf Airport. This is another signal for us that the airline is committed to further growth at its Dusseldorf hub. In addition airberlin runs its main maintenance operation at our airport and is in an excellent position to carry out the upcoming inspection of the aircraft, thanks to the state-of-the-art facilities in aircraft hangar 7,” said Christoph Blume, Managing Director of Dusseldorf International Airport.
Dusseldorf International Airport is also reaping the long-term benefits of airberlin becoming a member of the leading global airline alliance oneworld. On the one hand, American passengers arriving in Dusseldorf have access to more destinations via connections to the route network of airberlin’s codeshare partner American Airlines. On the other hand, passengers from Dusseldorf gain access to numerous destinations in America through the connections provided between the hub in Dusseldorf and the American Airlines hubs in New York-JFK, Miami and Los Angeles; these include the Bahamas, Barbados, Honolulu, Orlando, Phoenix, San Diego and Tampa. Some of the leading oneworld carriers, such as British Airways, Iberia and Finnair, are already operating flights to Dusseldorf International Airport. In addition, the route networks of oneworld partner airlines American Airlines and Royal Jordanian, which do not operate direct flights to Dusseldorf, are connected to the city through codeshare flights with airberlin.
The jet aircraft, registration number D-ABME, is the first of airberlin’s Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft to have been given the oneworld livery at Boeing’s Customer Delivery Center in Seattle. It took the aircraft around 10.5 hours to cover the 4,506-mile journey from King County International Airport in Seattle to Dusseldorf. After 3,170 miles the D-ABME landed in the Icelandic town of Keflavik to refuel. The new aircraft was flown over to Dusseldorf by Thomas Wilpert and Florian Deiters, Captains and Boeing Delivery Commanders for airberlin, and Mike Brucke, Manager Engineering Control for airberlin CAMO. The inspection for certification by the German Aviation Agency is planned to take place in the airberlin hangar in Dusseldorf on 25th May. The first passenger flight for “Mike Echo” is scheduled for 26th May on the route from Dusseldorf to Rome.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
