German Regional Airlines
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| Founded | 1991 as WDL Aviation | ||||||
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Commenced operations | 1991 as WDL Aviation | ||||||
Operating bases | Cologne Bonn Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 8 | ||||||
| Parent company | Zeitfracht | ||||||
| Headquarters | Cologne, Germany | ||||||
| Key people |
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| Website | germanairways.com | ||||||
German Regional Airlines GmbH & Co. KG[2], operating as German Airways Fluggesellschaft GmbH[2] and formerly named WDL Aviation, is a German charter and wet lease aircraft operator, headquartered at Cologne Bonn Airport, and part of the Zeitfracht Group.
History
[edit]The beginnings
[edit]The airline's origins date back to WDL-Westdeutsche Luftwerbung K.G., founded in 1955 but legally registered the following year, as an aerial advertising provider.[3] Initial operations consisted exclusively of on-demand and passenger and freight charter flights. As operations grew, several larger aircraft joined the fleet.
Some years later a subsidiary company named WDL Flugdienst[4] was estabilished. The fleet included aircraft suitable for short- and medium-range operations: Fairchild FH.227s, Fokker 27s, and Swearingen Metroliners.[5] For a time, scheduled flights were also operated on behalf of DLT.[6]
In 1991 the parent was reorganized as WDL Group [3] and at the same time the bulk of operations were concentrated in a new airline, WDL Aviation (Koln) GmbH, established to operate even larger aircraft and which inherited all the previous activities.[7] The aerial advertising and sightseeing flight branch (using blimps) survives in the other subsidiary of WDL Group, which is called WDL Luftschiff. Since 1998, the British Aerospace 146 was in service with WDL Aviation. Other aircraft types that were operated included the Fokker F27 Friendship[3] and an Airbus A320-200 on lease between 1992 and 1993.[citation needed]
WDL Aviation was acquired by the Berlin logistics company Zeitfracht on 1 October 2017.[4] During 2018, the air carrier started acquiring BAe 146-300 QT freighter aircraft while planning to replace its BAe 146 passenger aircraft with newer Embraer 190s[8] and received the brand name German Airways thereafter.
German Airways
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In March 2020, Zeitfracht announced another rebranding for WDL Aviation which was to become German Regional Airlines operating within the German Airways branding alongside sister company Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter (LGW) which became the actual, and now defunct, German Airways.[2] German Airways Flug GmbH was duly registered in December 2020 and started flying immediately with Embraer 190s branded German Airways
Corporate affairs
[edit]Ownership and structure
[edit]German Regional Airlines is owned by Zeitfracht Group, an owner-managed family business with interests in logistics, aviation and real estate. It has its headquarters in Berlin and over 1,200 employees.[9][1] German Airways is part of Zeitfracht Aviation, together with the now defunct German Airways Fluggesellschaft mbH, which ran short-lived wet lease operations for Eurowings.
Fleet
[edit]As of August 2025[update], German Regional Airlines the following aircraft:[10]
| Aircraft | In fleet | Orders | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Embraer 190 | 8 | — | Operated under the German Airways brand |
| Total | 8 | — |
Gallery
[edit]
Fokker F-27-600 Friendship
Fokker F-27-200 operated on DLT behalf
Fairchild F-27J
BAe.146-200
Embraer ERJ-190LR
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Incidents
[edit]- On 25 March 2019, British Airways Flight 3271 operated by then WDL Aviation, which took off from London City Airport enroute to Düsseldorf but landed in Edinburgh. BA blamed WDL Aviation for a paperwork error.[11][12][13][14]
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Walter Böhnke retires from WDL management, becomes Chairman of the Advisory Board at Zeitfracht". 29 May 2019. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- 1 2 3 airliners.de - "LGW and WDL get new names" (German) 11 March 2020
- 1 2 3 "Information about WDL Aviation at the Aero Transport Data Bank".
- 1 2 "WDL Aviation: Official website". Archived from the original on 2018-03-14. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
- ↑ "World Airline Directory". Flight International. London Central: 130. 30 March 1985.
- ↑ "World Airline Directory". Flight International. London Central: 133. 1 April 1989.
- ↑ "World Airline Directory". Flight International. London Central: 132. 24 March 1993.
- ↑ luchtvaartnieuws.nl - WDL Aviation vernieuwt vloot met Embraer 190 6 December 2018
- ↑ Aviation Fleet Facts and Figures[permanent dead link] retrieved 22 July 2019]
- ↑ "Global Airline Guide 2025 - German Airways". Airliner World. September 2025. p. 60.
- ↑ Topham, Gwin (25 March 2019). "British Airways flight to Düsseldorf lands in Edinburgh by mistake". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
- ↑ Coffey, Helen (25 March 2019). "British Airways flight to Germany lands in Scotland". The Independent. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
- ↑ Horton, Helena (25 March 2019). "BA flight bound for Dusseldorf lands in Edinburgh after paperwork mix-up". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
- ↑ Hope, Katie (25 March 2019). "BA flight lands in Edinburgh instead of Düsseldorf by mistake". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
External links
[edit]
Media related to WDL Aviation at Wikimedia Commons
