German carrier OLT Express is to realign its business model and introduce new low-cost, non-stop connections from three German regional airports from next month as it expands its point-to-point offering in Germany and wider European market. The airline, formerly owned by financial services company Amber Gold like its ill-fated sister carrier OLT Express Poland, was acquired last month by Dutch financial investment firm Panta Holdings, parent of ACMI provider Denim Air and previously owner of Belgian regional carrier VLM Airlines prior to its sale to Air France-KLM.
While OLT Express Poland has entered bankruptcy, the Bremen-based operator has been able to maintain its niche services and press ahead with a previously announced purchase of fellow German operator Contact Air. This deal was concluded on September 1, 2012 and expanded schedules for the Northern Winter 2012/2013 schedule have now been unveiled focused on network growth at Dresden, Münster / Osnabrück and Saarbrücken.
At Dresden, OLT Express will introduce new links to Budapest, London Southend and Vienna from October 28, 2012, adding to its existing flights to Hamburg and Zurich. The London and Vienna routes will be flown on a daily basis; Budapest will be served on a three times weekly basis, while the existing Hamburg connection will be upgraded from a 50-seat Saab 2000 to a 100-seat Fokker 100 jet, doubling capacity. “Dresden was the first location of OLT Express Germany, from where we continued our expansion earlier this year. We are very successful in Saxony,” explained Prof Dr Joachim Klein, Chief Executive Officer, OLT Express Germany.
This expansion marks the return of services to all three cities from Dresden. Budapest was previously linked by Interflug and Malev Hungarian Airlines, most recently being served by City Air between May 2003 and February 2004. Vienna was previously linked to Dresden by Eurowings and Tyrolean Airways and was served up until March this year by Cirrus Airlines. Meanwhile, the London market has been previously served by Eurowings to Stansted (April 1998 to October 1998), British Airways to Gatwick (March 2007 to October 2008), bmi British Midland to Heathrow (April 2010 to March 2011) and most recently by Eurowings to Heathrow (March 2011 to March 2012).
At Münster / Osnabrück, OLT Express is to introduce an eleven times weekly service to Munich, a four times weekly offering to Paris CDG and three weekly rotations to Milan Malpensa from October 15, 2012. These are in addition to the previously announced plans for an eleven-times weekly link to Berlin Schönefeld, a six times weekly service to Stuttgart and a daily operation to Vienna, which will all also launch from the same date.
"We made the airport at Münster / Osnabrück a focus for our new activities in Germany, because the region is currently under-served by scheduled air links. We are sure that as we establish ourselves here our high quality of our product and our low prices will enable us to be economically successful," said Prof Dr Joachim Klein.
OLT Express’ new domestic route Munich is already served by airberlin and Lufthansa CityLine, while Berlin (albeit Tegel Airport) is linked to Münster / Osnabrück by airberlin. The Parisian market was previously served by Air France, Eurowings and most recently between May 2008 and December 2009 by Air France partner Regional, while Stuttgart had regulalr services as recently as March this year when Lufthansa CityLiner closed its route. The Milan service represents a new city pair for Münster / Osnabrück
At Saarbrücken, new services will be introduced from October 1, 2012 to Hamburg (daily), London Southend (three times weekly), Munich (eleven times weekly) and Vienna (four times weekly) after a single Fokker 100 is based at the airport. "With our new routes, we will expand the existing offer from Saarbrücken Airport significantly,” said Prof Dr Joachim Klein, highlighting that the return of a link to Munich and its hub connection as a key development for local travelers.
The Saarbrücken - Munich route has been flown continuously by Luxair since July 1995 but the link was closed in October 2011. The Luxembourg flag carrier also provides links from the German airport to Hamburg, a route it launched in March 2008, while the carrier also served Vienna for a limited period between April 1992 and January 1993. There have been no previous regular scheduled links between Saarbrücken and London.
(by Declan Maguire, Editorial Assistant)
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