Air Alps Aviation was a regional airline with roots in Innsbruck that operated from 1998 to 2014, at times as a KLM franchisee and later under South Tyrolean ownership. Unlike Tyrolean Airways, it remained a smaller, financially fragile niche carrier that went through several financial crises before finally ceasing operations.
Photo: Aldo Bidini · License: GFDL 1.2 · Source: Wikimedia Commons
From KLM Alps to a South Tyrolean Airline
Air Alps Aviation was founded in 1998 as “Air Alps Aviation Alpenländische Luftfahrt GmbH,” initially based in Igls near Innsbruck. Its shareholders were the Swiss carrier Air Engiadina (49 percent) and manager Dietmar Leitgeb (51 percent). In 1999 the airline began flying as a KLM franchisee under the “KLM Alps” brand with two Dornier 328 aircraft, initially on the Innsbruck–Amsterdam and Salzburg–Amsterdam routes. In 2000, three more Dornier 328s joined the fleet, the head office moved to the city of Innsbruck, and the airline operated 68 flights a week between Austria and Amsterdam, carrying around 180,000 passengers that year.
South Tyrolean Takeover and Expansion
In spring 2001, Air Alps entered composition proceedings over debts of 34 million euros. A consortium of 28 South Tyrolean industrialists led by Franz Senfter then took over 86 percent of the company, with the remaining shares going to the Province of South Tyrol and the State of Tyrol; fresh capital of 7 million euros was injected. The cooperation with Swiss ended in autumn 2001. In 2002 the base moved to Bolzano, with Aldo Bevilacqua becoming CEO. With a fleet that grew to as many as seven Dornier 328s, Air Alps flew routes including Bolzano and Parma to Rome Fiumicino, seasonal flights to Olbia, and, from April 2012, 33 weekly flights between Linz and Vienna on behalf of Austrian Airlines. In its peak year of 2004, the airline carried around 400,000 passengers.
Repeated Shutdowns and the End
In December 2009, Tyrol-based Welcome Air acquired 76 percent of the company; the remaining shares stayed with South Tyrolean businesspeople, the Trentino-Alto Adige region, and the South Tyrolean transport agency STA. On 13 January 2012, Air Alps halted all flight operations for financial reasons, resuming on a reduced scale on 1 February 2012. Operations stopped again in June 2013, and on 20 August 2013 the owners decided to liquidate the company after failing to find an investor; most of the roughly 190 employees were let go by the end of October 2013. A new German investor group acquired Welcome Air’s shares in October 2014 and briefly flew between Bremen and Zurich from 3 February 2014, but ended scheduled operations for good on 28 February 2014 after further takeover talks collapsed.
Further reading: Innsbruck Airport · Austrian Aviation History
Sources (Selection)
- Wikipedia: Air Alps
- Austria-Forum: Air Alps (German)
- aerotelegraph.com: A phantom buys Air Alps (German)
- aerotelegraph.com: Former Rostock Airways owners buy Air Alps (German)
Part of the Austrian Aviation History section. An independent, private history project with no connection to Austrian Airlines AG or the Lufthansa Group.