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Tyrolean Airways

Tyrolean Airways, legally Tyrolean Airways Tiroler Luftfahrt GmbH, was an Austrian regional airline based in Innsbruck[1] with its hub at Vienna International Airport[2] and its homebase at Innsbruck Airport. It was owned by the Lufthansa Group and was an affiliate of the Star Alliance together with its parent Austrian Airlines.

Tyrolean operated regional flights under the "Austrian Arrows" brand on behalf of Austrian Airlines from September 2003 until July 2012, when nearly all employees and the fleet of Austrian Airlines was transferred to it following a labour dispute. Following a new labour agreement, Tyrolean was merged into Austrian Airlines and dissolved as a company on 31 March 2015.[3]

History

Early years

The airline was established in 1958 as Aircraft Innsbruck by Gernot Langes-Swarovski and Christian Schwemberger-Swarovski. It adopted the title Tyrolean Airways when scheduled services began on 1 April 1980.[4]

Tyrolean Airways was the only airline to operate Dash 7 airplanes into the steeply inclined mountain airport at Courchevel in France.

Development as part of Austrian Airlines

The airline was acquired by Austrian Airlines in March 1998 after the original majority owner, Mr Gernot Langes-Swarovski, made the company available for purchase. In 2003, as part of an effort by its parent company to consolidate its brand, the fleet was rebranded as Austrian Arrows with livery changed to match that of the Austrian Airlines Group. Airline operations, however, were still managed independently by Tyrolean from its Innsbruck base.

As of 1 July 2012, all Austrian Airlines Group flights were carried out by Tyrolean Airways. In a consolidated effort to save Austrian Airlines from bankruptcy, the Austrian Airlines CEO at the time, Jaan Albrecht merged the entire fleet and staff of the Austrian Airlines Group, approximately 460 pilots and 1,500 cabin crew, into Tyrolean. All Austrian Airlines Group flights — except for a single Boeing 777-200ER (OE-LPB) due to international traffic laws — were operated by Tyrolean, but maintained their Austrian flight numbers.

In October 2014, it was reported that Tyrolean's flight operations and staff were to be re-integrated into Austrian Airlines,[5][6][7] as a new labour agreement had been signed.[5] On 31 March 2015 all flight operations, crew members and aircraft were reintegrated into Austrian Airlines. Tyrolean Airways was dissolved having served as a vehicle to return Austrian Airlines to operation.

Fleet

The Tyrolean Airways fleet included:[8]

Further reading

  • Günter G. Endres, Tyrolean Airways, Air Pictorial monthly magazine, U.K., January 1984, pp. 8-12
  • Harry Hopkins, An Alpine niche, Flight International magazine, U.K., 13 May 1989, pp. 24-27
  • Tyrolean Airways selects Canadair regional jet, Regional Update publication, Bombardier-Regional Aircraft Division, September-October 1995, pp. 1-2
  • Ian Harbison, The Feitl link, Commuter World magazine, U.S.A., June-July 1997, pp. 6-8

External links

References

  1. Impressum. Tyrolean Airways. Retrieved on 25 February 2012. "Fürstenweg 176 A-6026 Innsbruck"^
  2. Directory: World Airlines Flight International, 27 March 2007^
  3. Tyrolean to merge with Austrian Airlines next spring | News Details | News from Star Alliance | News | Star Alliance Employees Portal retrieved 2015-04-24^
  4. Aircraft Innsbruck Airline History, retrieved 2 November 2021^
  5. AUA KV-Bord unter Dach und Fach 31 October 2014^
  6. Austrian Airlines beendet Tyrolean-Experiment 8 October 2014^
  7. Austrian, Tyrolean flight crew union near labour agreement deal^
  8. Last flight: Austrian Airlines says goodbye to the last Dash aircraft 5 February 2023^