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| Founded | 2002 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | 13 January 2010 | |||
| Operating bases | Düsseldorf International Airport | |||
| Fleet size | 8 (at time of closure) | |||
| Destinations | 15 | |||
| Headquarters | Bocholt, Germany | |||
| Key people | Udo Stern (MD) | |||
| Website | www.bluewings.com | |||
Blue Wings AG was a charter airline based in Germany, focussing on serving Turkey, the Middle East and Russia from its base at Düsseldorf International Airport;[1] the headquarters were in Bocholt, Germany.[2]
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Blue Wings was established in 2002, received the AOC on 27 June 2003 and started operations in July of the same year. It initially operated charter flights from Düsseldorf using a wet-leased Airbus A320. In June 2006, the Russian National Reserve Corporation (NRC) acquired a 48 percent shareholding through its Zürich based subsidiary Alpstream AG, which was intended to lead to a close co-operation between Blue Wings and Red Wings Airlines, also belonging to NRC.[1]
On 6 October 2006, Blue Wings signed a purchase agreement with JetBlue Airways for five second-hand Airbus A320-200 aircraft. For cost-saving reasons, Blue Wings adopted a nearly idendical color scheme compared to JetBlue. On 17 October of the same year, another order - this time for 16 new Airbus A320 and 4 Airbus A321 was signed, and subsequently announced during the Farnborough Air Show of the same year.
On 31 March 2009, the Federal Office for Civil Aviation of Germany revoked the operating license of Blue Wings because of solvency fears,[3] forcing the airline to shut down all operations. Blue Wings was saved for once on 23 April of the same year, when it was announced that Elite Aviation, a VIP charter airline from Abu Dhabi, had signed a charter agreement with Blue Wings.[4] Subsequently, the license was reinstated on 5 May.
On 5 August 2009, it was announced that Iraqi Airways, Iraq's national airline, had signed a contract to lease three Airbus A320-232 of Blue Wings, which were used on European routes.[5]
On 13 January 2010, Blue Wings ceased all operations, filing bankrupt due to the economical crisis which had led to a pull-out of investors.[6]
Blue Wings operated the following international scheduled destinations (at November 2009):[7]
The Blue Wings fleet consists of the following aircraft (at 25 November 2009):[8][9]
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers (Business/Economy) |
|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320-232 | 7 | 126 (12/138) 168 (0/168) |
| Airbus A321-200 | 1 | 207 |
At November 2009, Blue Wings average fleet age was 8.6 years.
At closure in January 2010, Blue Wings had unfilled orders for 16 further Airbus A320, 3 Airbus A321 and 5 Tupolev Tu-204.