German Airways facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
German Airways

Founded	1980
Fleet size	5
Parent company	Zeitfracht Group
Headquarters	Cologne, Germany
Website	germanairways.com

German Airways is an airline from Germany. It used to be called Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter, or LGW for short. Its main office was in Düsseldorf.

LGW started as an independent company in 1980. It offered regular flights and special charter flights for smaller groups. After working with Air Berlin for many years, LGW became part of Air Berlin in 2017.

When Air Berlin stopped flying, Lufthansa bought LGW in October 2017. LGW then became part of Eurowings, which is Lufthansa's low-cost airline. Later, a company called Zeitfracht Group bought LGW from Lufthansa in April 2019. They changed its name to German Airways in early 2020. However, their agreement with Eurowings ended in April 2020, and LGW had to file for insolvency (meaning they had financial problems).

In 2022 and 2023, another airline called KLM rented airplanes from German Airways. This helped KLM fly more passengers. When an airline "wet-leases" a plane, it means they rent the aircraft along with its crew, maintenance, and insurance.

History of German Airways

An LGW Dornier 228 airplane in 2004

An LGW Dash 8-400 flying for Air Berlin in 2011

Starting as an Independent Airline

Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter (LGW) was started in 1980 by Bernd Walter. He also owned a flying school at Dortmund Airport. At first, LGW offered special flights that people could ask for, like air taxi services.

During the 1990s, the airline grew and started offering regular flights within Germany. At that time, LGW had 25 employees. Their biggest airplane was the Dornier 228, which could carry 19 passengers.

Working with Air Berlin

In 2007, LGW began working with Air Berlin. Air Berlin was the second largest airline in Germany at that time. From October 2007, you could book LGW flights to Düsseldorf Airport and Berlin Tegel Airport through Air Berlin's website.

In 2008, Air Berlin added the De Havilland Dash 8-400 airplanes to its fleet. Ten of these planes were rented to LGW. LGW then used them for regional flights.

After this, LGW stopped acting as a separate company. It no longer offered its own charter services. Instead, it flew regular flights for Air Berlin, using Air Berlin's flight numbers and brand. LGW's own website was closed.

By 2011, LGW had 110 employees, and by early 2013, this number grew to 480. LGW also started to employ jet pilots in 2013. This happened because some Embraer 190 jet airplanes were moved to LGW from Niki, another airline owned by Air Berlin.

By spring 2015, LGW increased its fleet of De Havilland Dash 8-400 planes from 12 to 17. In May 2017, Air Berlin announced that it planned to fully buy LGW. Air Berlin had already owned a large part of LGW since 2009.

Being Sold to Lufthansa

Lufthansa bought LGW in 2017. This happened as part of Air Berlin's bankruptcy process. After Air Berlin stopped flying on October 27, 2017, LGW started flying for Eurowings. Eurowings is a part of Lufthansa. LGW took over some of the flight agreements that Air Berlin used to have with Eurowings.

Besides its existing Dash 8-Q400 planes, LGW also received 13 Airbus A320-family airplanes. It started hiring new crews in November 2017. The sale was finalized in January 2018. The European Commission had approved the deal in December 2017.

By late 2018, all of LGW's Airbus A320 family airplanes were moved to other airlines within the Eurowings group.

Sale to Zeitfracht Group and New Name

In January 2019, news came out that Lufthansa planned to sell LGW to a company called Zeitfracht. Zeitfracht already owned another German airline, WDL Aviation, which was also branded as German Airways. Zeitfracht had also bought parts of Air Berlin's maintenance division.

The deal was completed on April 1, 2019. This also started a long-term agreement for LGW to lease its planes to Eurowings.

In May 2019, LGW announced that it would replace all of its De Havilland Dash 8-400 planes. They would get newer Embraer 190 planes starting in late 2019. These new planes would also fly for Eurowings as part of the long-term lease.

In March 2020, Zeitfracht announced that LGW would change its name to German Airways. It would operate under the German Airways brand alongside its sister company, WDL Aviation. However, in April 2020, the company filed for insolvency. This was because Eurowings canceled its contract for LGW's entire Bombardier DHC-8-400 fleet. This cancellation happened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Destinations

As of January 2019, German Airways flew European routes for Eurowings. They mainly focused on Düsseldorf Airport, where most of their planes were based. This contract ended in April 2020.

Fleet

An airline's "fleet" is the group of airplanes it owns or operates.

Current Fleet

Various German Airways Embraer 190 airplanes parked.

As of July 2023, the German Airways fleet has the following airplanes:

Historical Fleet

Before, LGW used to operate these types of airplanes under its own name or for other airlines:

See also

In Spanish: Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter para niños