Blue Wings

Infobox Airline
airline = Blue Wings

logo_size = 120
fleet_size = 10 (+28 orders)
destinations = 6
IATA = QW
ICAO = BWG
callsign = BLUE WINGS
parent =
company_slogan =
founded = 2002
headquarters = Düsseldorf, Germany
key_people = Alexander Lebedev
hubs = Düsseldorf International Airport
secondary_hubs =
focus_cities =
frequent_flyer =
lounge =
alliance =
website =

Blue Wings AG is a charter airline based in Düsseldorf, Germany. It operates scheduled services to Russia and charter flights mainly to Turkey and the Middle East. Its main base is Düsseldorf International Airportcite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work= Flight International | page= 87 | date= 2007-03-27] ; the headquarters is in Bocholt, Germany.

History

The airline was established in 2002 and started operations in July 2003. It initially operated charter services from Düsseldorf using a wet-leased Airbus A320, delivered in December 2002. The airline received its air operators certificate on 27 June 2003 and began operating the A320 in its own right the following month. In June 2006 Russia's National Reserve Corporation (NRC) acquired a 48% shareholding through its Zürich based subsidiary Alpstream AG. NRC launched a Moscow-based discounter airline early in 2007, under the "Red Wings Airlines" brand. There is a strategic plan of cooperation between Blue Wings and Red Wings Airlines. The airline is owned by Alpstream AG (48%), Jorn Hellwig (26%) and NIL Investment (26%).

Destinations

Blue Wings operates services to the following international scheduled destinations (at April 2008) [ [http://www.bluewings.com/flugziele/?no_cache=1&L=0 Flugziele - Blue Wings AG ] ] :

Turkey

*Adana
*Ankara
*Antalya
*Gaziantep
*Istanbul
*Kayseri
*Malatya
*Samsun

Russia

*Moscow-Sheremetyevo
*Saint Petersburg

Fleet

The Blue Wings fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of 16 August 2008) [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=BLW&al_op=1] :
*10 Airbus A320-200

On order:
*16 Airbus A320-200
*4 Airbus A321-200

Blue Wings average fleet age is 7.4 years (at March 2008) [ [http://www.airfleets.net/ageflotte/?file=calcop&opp=Blue%20Wings Blue Wings Fleet Age] ] .

On 6 October 2006, Blue Wings agreed to buy 5 Airbus A320-200 from JetBlue Airways. As a result, the airline has a color scheme that is identical to that of JetBlue but with different titles and a white tail. On 17 October 2006, Blue Wings, together with its shareholder Alpstream, has signed a contract with Airbus for 20 Airbus A320 family aircraft (16 A320s and four A321s, seating 150 and 210 passengers respectively), confirming a commitment announced during the Farnborough air show in July this year. Fact|date=March 2007

References

External links

* [http://www.bluewings.com/ Blue Wings]