Centralwings

Infobox_Airline
airline=Centralwings

logo_size=189
fleet_size=10
destinations=36
IATA=C0
ICAO=CLW
callsign=CENTRALWINGS
parent=LOT Polish Airlines
founded=2004
headquarters=Warsaw, Poland
key_people=Waldemar Królikowski (CEO)
hubs= Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport
John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice
focus_cities=
frequent_flyer=
lounge=
alliance=
company_slogan=Pay less, expect more| website=http://www.centralwings.com/

Centralwings is a scheduled airline (although will convert to becoming solely a charter airline on 1 October 2008) based in Warsaw, Poland. Previously operated as low-cost airline. It is a subsidiary of LOT Polish Airlines, operating international services in Europe, using Boeing 737 aircraft. Its main base is Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport, with hubs at Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport and John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balicecite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work= Flight International | page= 63 | date= 2007-04-03] .

History

The airline was established in December 2004 and started operations in February 2005. Centralwings, as its name suggests, competes in the Central European market, namely Poland, with a fleet of LOT Boeing 737 aircraft.

Since it started operations Centralwings has operated scheduled services from Gdansk, Katowice, Krakow, Lodz, Poznan, Szczecin, Warsaw and Wroclaw. For most of this time around 60% of its capacity has been allocated to routes serving Ireland and the UK, where it faced fierce competition from ultra-low-cost competitors such as Ryanair and Wizz Air. However, it has also operated flights to a range of Mediterranean beach and island destinations as well as cities such as Amsterdam, Bologna, Lille, Lisbon, Paris Beauvais and Rome. Its current schedule of just under 30 routes will all cease by mid-October 2008 at the latest and they shall concentrate on providing charter operations. [cite news| url=http://www.anna.aero/2008/09/12/wizz-air-and-ryanair-dominate-polish-lcc-landscape/| title=Wizz Air and Ryanair dominate Polish LCC landscape; Centralwings to end scheduled flights this month| date=12th September 2008| publisher=anna.aero]

Destinations

Fleet

The Centralwings fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of 11 September 2008) [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=CWI&al_op=1] :

*3 Boeing 737-300
*7 Boeing 737-400 (one aircraft is operated for Wind Rose Aviation)

As of 11 September 2008, the average age of the Centralwings fleet is 13 years ( [http://www.airfleets.net/ageflotte/Centralwings.htm] ).

External links

* [http://www.centralwings.com/ Centralwings]
* [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=CWI&al_op=1 Centralwings Fleet]

References