Germanwings GmbH is a low-cost airline based in Cologne, Germany, and is wholly owned by Lufthansa.^[1] Cologne Bonn Airport, Stuttgart Airport and (to a lesser extent) Berlin-Schönefeld Airport are the important hubs in the airline's network of approximately 85 destinations. Further Germanwings bases are at Hannover-Langenhagen Airport and Dortmund Airport.^[2]

History

In 1997, Eurowings set up a low-cost department, which became a separate company under the name Germanwings on 27 October 2002. On 7 December 2005, the airline signed an agreement to purchase 18 Airbus A319 aircraft (with a further 12 options), with deliveries scheduled from July 2006 until 2008.^[3] During winter 20042005 Germanwings leased two Boeing 717 from Aerolíneas de Baleares to test this type, but no order was made after. Initial plans to merge Germanwings, Eurowings and TUIfly into one airline apt to compete with Air Berlin/LTU on the German market (and also with EasyJet and Ryanair on international routes) were brought forth in 2008, but were never realized. Instead, Germanwings became a wholly owned Lufthansa subsidiary on 1 January 2009.^[4]

Destinations

Fleet

As of January 2012, the Germanwings fleet consists of 31 Airbus A319-100 aircraft with an average age of 6.3 years.^[5]

Another aircraft of the same type is still on order waiting for delivery. The airliners are equipped with either 142 or 156 passenger seat in an all-economy class layout.^[6]

Special paint schemes

Some Germanwings aircraft were applied special liveries, in order to promote German cites (e.g. the Bearbus paint scheme inspired by the coat of arms of Berlin), or for advertisement (e.g. a pink livery for T-Mobile). ^[7]

Booking and inflight services