Crossair
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Crossair | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| IATA LX |
ICAO CRX |
Callsign Crossair |
| Founded | 1983 | |
| Hubs | Euro-Airport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg | |
| Frequent flyer program | Qualiflyer | |
| Alliance | SAirGroup | |
| Fleet size | 88 | |
| Destinations | ||
| Headquarters | Zürich, Switzerland | |
| Key people | Moritz Suter | |
| Website: www.swissair.aero (Swissair) www.crossair.org (Crossair) www.qualiflyer.org (Qualiflyer) |
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Contents |
[edit] History
Founded as a private company under the name Business Flyers Basle by Moritz Suter, it changed to Crossair on November 18, 1978, before the beginning of scheduled services on July 2, 1979 with flights from Zürich to Nuremberg, Innsbruck and Klagenfurt. Added charter services for major shareholder Swissair in November 1995. On March 31, 2002, Swissair passed out of existence as most of its assets were taken over by Crossair which then changed names to Swiss International Air Lines.
[edit] Fleet
Crossair operated the following aircraft.
| Aircraft | Total | Delivered | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piper L-4J | 1 | 1975 | ||
| Cessna 310P | 1 | 1975 | ||
| Cessna 421B | 1 | 1976 | ||
| Cessna 551 | 1 | 1977 | ||
| Fairchild Swearingen Metro II | 3 | 1979 | ||
| Fairchild Swearingen Metro II | 9 | 1980? (actual year unknown) | ||
| SAAB 340 | 34 | 1984 | 2002 | flew mainly from Basel replaced by Embraer ERJ 145 |
| Fokker 50 | 5 | 1990 | 1995 | |
| Fokker F27 | 3 | 1984 | 1984 | |
| BAe 146 | 3 | 1990 | 1994 | |
| Avro RJ 85 | 4 | 1993 | 2002 | named Kärpf, Piz Julier, Montchaibeux, Lindenberg |
| Avro RJ 100 | 16 | 1995 | 2002 | all were named |
| Saab 2000 | 32 | 1994 | 2002 | all were stored or sold, though what happened to one is not known was world's largest operator of the type in 2000 flown mainly from Basel replaced by Embraer ERJ 145 |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 12 | 1979 | 2004 | some were named, all were sold, though what happened to one is not known mostly used on larger routes from Zurich, and some from Basel |
| EMBRAER ERJ 145 LU | 25 | 2000 | 2005? (actual year unknown) | all were named or sold used on routes from all three hubs replaced SAAB aircraft |
| EMBRAER ERJ 145 LR | 1 | 2002 | named Gemsstock used on routes from all three hubs replaced SAAB aircraft |
- Swissair leased an MD-11 to Crossair for the Zurich-Palma De Mallorca route.
[edit] Incidents and accidents
- On January 10, 2000, Crossair Flight 498 crashed just after take-off in Zürich. All 10 people aboard were killed.
- On November 24, 2001, Crossair Flight 3597 crashed near Zürich, killing 24 of 33 people aboard, including the famous La Bouche singer Melanie Thornton.
