A unique in their history renewal of their fleet is undertaken this year by Eurowings. A total of 27 aircrafts will be exchanged…
A unique in their history renewal of their fleet is undertaken this year by Eurowings. A total of 27 aircrafts will be exchanged: 16 Turboprop aircrafts will give their place to 11 more modern, faster and more comfortable jets. Friedrich-Wilhelm Weitholz, Chairman of the Directory Board of Eurowings, owned 49% by Lufthansa, stated: When it comes to a premium product, like the one we are offering in cooperation with Lufthansa, our clients demand faster, more quiet and more comfortable aircrafts. This is why this year we leave completely behind us our proven Turboprop fleet and we become one of the first regional airlines to transform into a jet-company.
Only two aircraft types will belong to the Eurowings fleet in the future, the BAe 146 of BAE Systems and the CRJ 100/200 of the Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier. With just two aircraft types we save significant operations and maintenance costs: every airline tries to concentrate in the smallest possible number of aircraft types. This has significant productivity advantages for us, continued Friedrich-Wilhelm Weitholz.
For the year 2004, the operative result of Eurowings was 14,8 Million Euro, while the profit after tax showed 6,4 Million Euro. Eurowings together with their subsidiary Germanwings achieved a turn over of 473 Million Euro and an increase in passengers by 23%. Our company is healthy and records profits. We are comparatively in a much better situation than the majority of the other airlines of the sector. In order to continue in the same way, we need to invest- in a more modern fleet for example, added Friedrich-Wilhelm Weitholz.
A part of the new jets that will be added to the fleet are leased by Eurowings from BAE Systems Assett Management, while the rest will come from Air Dolomiti. Five Turboprops of the 500 line will be leased to Contact Air after the renewal of the fleet, eight ATR-200 will go to Feedex and be transformed into cargo aircrafts, while an ATR 72-200 has already been sold to Avanti Air. Eurowings own 100% of the leading German low-cost carrier Germanwings. The Germanwings fleet consists of modern Airbus A-319 and A-320 aircrafts, while 18 more Airbus jets have been ordered this year to ensure the airline`s further expansion.
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