25 Years of Tyrolean Airways

(I-Newswire) April 1, 2005 - With its fleet of 51 aircraft, 'Austrian arrows' has come to dominate a key market segment for the Austrian Airlines Group

'On 1 April 1980, Tyrolean Airways first launched its flight operations on the Innsbruck-Vienna and Innsbruck-Zurich routes using a 48-seater, four-engined Dash 7 aircraft. From these humble beginnings, the airline was to grow to operate a fleet of 51 aircraft and to be widely viewed as one of the most modern and competent in the industry today. This positive trend in the regional segment has been recognised in the form of numerous international awards, and Austrian arrows now sets the standards by which the industry around the world measures itself. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our colleagues who have contributed to this success story over the past quarter of a century, and to say how proud I am of our subsidiary.' The words of Austrian Airlines Group Executive Officer Vagn Soerensen at the ceremony held to mark the silver anniversary of Tyrolean Airways. Mr. Soerensen went on to add, moreover: 'I am certain that the single-mindedness and dedication of the Tyrolean team will enable us to continue building upon our short-haul and medium-haul route network under the brand of Austrian arrows operated by Tyrolean!'

Chief Commercial Officer Dr. Josef E. Burger also endorsed and emphasised the importance of the Innsbruck-based airline: 'Today, Austrian arrows aircraft not only dominate the regional aviation segment within Austria and to its neighbouring countries, but also operate a scheduled and charter route network that extends from Scandinavia and Finland in northern Europe to Spain and Greece in the south. As the backbone of the short-haul and medium-haul segment, the aircraft of Austrian arrows have become particularly important to the Austrian Airlines Group in recent years as it has striven to open up specific target markets in Central and Eastern Europe, and today make a key contribution to the company's market leadership in the region. In addition to this, Tyrolean continues to play an important role in incoming tourist traffic across Austria, and particularly in Tyrol, both in terms of making the region more accessible and of raising its overall profile. The airline provides an effective and visible platform for Tyrol, especially as it carries catchy advertising for the region and its various tourist areas on its aircraft.'

'Working from our headquarters of Innsbruck, we have gradually expanded both our route network and fleet over the past 25 years, to the point where we now have access to bases at every airport in Austria,' explained the Managing Director of Tyrolean Airways, Johann Messner. 'In addition to this, we have always used the most suitable types of aircraft for our specific market segment of machines with up to 110 seats. At present this includes 12 Bombardier Q300, 9 Bombardier Q400 and 17 Canadair Jets, as well as 6 Fokker 70 and 7 Fokker 100, with another Q400 and two Fokker 100 due to be delivered later this year. We first began operations back in 1980 with the Dash 7 from Bombardier, since when Tyrolean Airways has used a total of 55 aircraft from the Canadian manufacturer. We currently operate a fleet of 51 aircraft, making ours one of the youngest in the world today. This means that Austrian arrows operates around half the total fleet of the Austrian Airlines Group.'

Milestones in the history of Tyrolean

1 April 1980: Tyrolean Airways begins its scheduled operations with a Dash 7 aircraft.
1985: a 37-seater Dash 8-100 is added to the Tyrolean fleet. The twin-engined turboprop, the first of its kind in Europe, soon becomes the most popular aircraft in its class on the strength of its outstanding economic and environmental performance.
1987: Tyrolean extends its flight programme to cover all Austrian provinces.
March 1988: Tyrolean is converted into a public limited company. At this point, 92 % of the shares in the company are held by Gernot Langes-Swarovski.
1994: Austrian Airlines ceases domestic operations in favour of Tyrolean, while acquiring 42.85 % of shares in the company. The remaining shares are held by Gernot Langes-Swarovski AG (42.85 %) and Leipnik-Lundenburger Industrie AG (14.30%). By 1998, Tyrolean has expanded its fleet from 16 to 31 aircraft.
1995: the first Fokker F70 is integrated into the fleet, marking the beginning of the 'jet era' for Tyrolean.
1996: three new Canadair Regional Jets are added to the fleet.
March 1998: Austrian Airlines takes over 100 % of the share capital of Tyrolean Airways.
2000: with its fleet of over 30 jets and turboprops of the Fokker 70, Canadair Regional Jet and Dash 8 types, Tyrolean by now operates more than 1,450 flights a week to around 50 destinations in Europe.
May 2001: during the implementation of the Production Company Concept, Tyrolean is converted from a public limited company into a limited liability company.
2002: Rheintalflug integrated into Tyrolean.
2003: as part of the Austrian Airlines Group brand relaunch, a new brand name – 'Austrian arrows' – is announced.
2004: Tyrolean begins using the first of a total of 15 Fokker 100 aircraft on order.
2005: as part of a ceremony held at Innsbruck Airport, Tyrolean takes on a new Bombardier Q400 - the 100th Bombardier Q400 produced by Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier.

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