|
||||
| Founded | 1962 (as Sterling Airways) Merged with Maersk Air in 2005 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | 29 October 2008 | |||
| Hubs | Copenhagen Airport | |||
| Focus cities | ||||
| Fleet size | 27 | |||
| Destinations | 39 | |||
| Company slogan | We would fly with us | |||
| Parent company | Northern Travel Holding | |||
| Headquarters | Copenhagen Airport Dragør, Dragør Municipality, Denmark |
|||
| Key people | Reza Taleghani (CEO) | |||
| Website | sterling.dk | |||
Sterling Airlines A/S was a low-cost airline with its head office at Copenhagen Airport South in Dragør, Dragør Municipality, Denmark.[1] It was created in September 2005 through the merger of two Danish airlines — Sterling European Airlines and Maersk Air — which had been bought by the Icelandic investment group Fons Eignarhaldsfélag a few months before. One month after the merger, Sterling Airlines was sold to the FL Group. In December 2006, Sterling was sold again, this time to Nordic Travel Holding. On 6 January 2006, Hannes Smárason, CEO of the FL Group, stated that a merger of EasyJet and Sterling was a possibility.
On 29 October 2008, Sterling filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations.[2] On 4 December 2008, Cimber Air announced that it had purchased Sterling and intended to restore the airline as a separate company, with a gradual expansion throughout Europe. The purchase included Sterling's name, website and landing slots, but not aircraft. Former Sterling employees were not guaranteed jobs in the resurrected company, although Cimber believed many of them would be offered jobs.[3]
At the end of 2005, Sterling Airlines had 1,600 staff and 29 aircraft, making it almost twice as large as Icelandair. The company flew to some 40 European destinations, with Copenhagen Airport, Oslo Airport, Gardermoen and Stockholm-Arlanda Airport as primary hubs.
Contents |
Sterling Airlines traces its history back to 1962, when Eilif Krogager, founder of Danish travel agency Tjæreborg (today part of MyTravel Group), started the charter airline Sterling Airways with two Douglas DC-6B bought from Swissair, in order to better service his own package tours from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean. Further DC-6Bs were acquired in 1963. In 1965 Sterling received its first Caravelle, and in 1968 the company was bought out of the Tjæreborg Group and started servicing other travel agents as well.
Sterling Airways Flight 296 crashed near the Dubai airport on March 14, 1972, killing all 112 persons on board. The 106 passengers were returning to Denmark following a holiday in Sri Lanka. Air Disaster Database [4]
In 1987, the company celebrated its 25th anniversary with 19 aircraft and almost 1,300 staff, but a few years later, in 1993, Sterling Airways went bankrupt. In 1994, the estate after Sterling Airways re-created the company as Sterling European Airlines, with three aircraft and 182 staff.
In 1996, Sterling was bought by the Norwegian shipping company Fred. Olsen.
In 2000, Sterling started with regular air services to Málaga and Alicante, to compensate for the diminishing charter travel business. More routes were added in 2001, when it was also decided that Sterling should leave the charter industry and become a fully fledged low-fare airline. During 2002, Sterling opened 21 new routes, primarily between Scandinavia and Southern Europe, but also routes from Copenhagen to Oslo and Stockholm.
In 2003, Sterling expanded its fleet from six to eight aircraft and opened 11 more routes between Scandinavia and Southern Europe. Passenger numbers reached a record high of 1.3 million, a 40% increase on 2002. In 2004, the fleet grew to 12 aircraft.
In March 2005, Fred. Olsen sold Sterling to the Icelandic investment company Fons Eignarhaldsfélag, owners of the small Iceland Express airline, and the managing director of Iceland Express, Almar Örn Hilmarsson, was promoted to new managing director for Sterling. In June 2005, the Fons Eignarhaldsfélag bought Maersk Air from the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group and announced that they wanted to merge the two airlines under Sterling Airlines A/S. In September 2005, the merger was approved by the authorities and Sterling Airlines A/S was the only operational company - the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe—and only a month later Fons Eignarhaldsfélag sold the company to the FL Group. In December 2006, FL Group sold Sterling to Northern Travel Holding, a holding company owned by the three Icelandic private equity companies FL Group, Fons Eignarhaldsfélag and Sons.
In August 2006, Sterling adopted a buy-on-board program that allows pre-ordering and onboard purchases of duty free merchandise and meals.
In April 2007, Essential Aircraft Maintenance Services (EAMS) has been established by LD Equity 2 based on the acquisition of Sterling’s aircraft maintenance department. LD Equity 2 has, together with a new management team, acquired Sterling's aircraft maintenance activities and has established Essential Aircraft Maintenance Services A/S.
On 29 October 2008 Sterling declared bankruptcy due to the rising fuel prices in the first half of 2008 and the Icelandic financial crisis in October that hit its major investor. The entire fleet was grounded with immediate effect.[2][5]
At the time of Sterling's collapse the airline served the following destinations: Austria (Salzburg), Belgium (Brussels), Bulgaria (Burgas and Varna), Croatia (Split), the Czech Republic (Prague), Denmark (Aalborg, Billund, and Copenhagen), France (Biarritz, Paris, Montpellier, and Nice); Germany (Berlin), Greece (Athens and Chania), Hungary (Budapest), Italy (Bologna, Florence, Milan, Naples, Rome, Venice), Norway (Oslo, Gardermoen, and Bergen), Poland (Kraków), Portugal (Faro and Funchal), Spain (Alicante, Barcelona, Las Palmas, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca and Tenerife), Sri Lanka (Colombo), Sweden (Gothenburg, Malmö and Stockholm), Switzerland (Geneva), the United Kingdom (Edinburgh, London, and Nottingham), United Arabic Emirates (Dubai)."
As of 29 October 2008 the fleet has been grounded, due to Sterling declaring bankruptcy. Several airplanes are stored at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (5 737-700 and 2 737-800) and the nearby Batajnica Airport (4 737-700) in Belgrade, Serbia.
The Sterling Airlines fleet included the following aircraft (as of October 2008):[6]
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers |
Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-500 | 4 | 126 | Europe | |
| Boeing 737-700 | 15 | 148 | Europe | |
| Boeing 737-800 | 7 | 189 | Europe | |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 1 | Europe | operated by FlyExcellent | |
| Total | 27 |
|
|||||||||||||||||