Lufthansa Flight 288
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Contact Air Flugdienst was a German regional airline from
Filderstadt Filderstadt (; Swabian: ''Fildorsdadd'') is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is located approximately 13 km south of Stuttgart. Filderstadt is located next to the Stuttgart Airport and t ...
. With flight operations based at
Stuttgart Airport Stuttgart Airport (German: ''Flughafen Stuttgart'', formerly ''Flughafen Stuttgart-Echterdingen'') is the international airport of Stuttgart, the capital of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is christened in honor of Stuttgart's forme ...
, it operated scheduled passenger flights under the
Lufthansa Regional Lufthansa Regional is an operational entity for regional and feeder flights performed by two regional airlines owned by Lufthansa within its route network.
brand.


History

The airline was founded in 1974 as a tax-break by Gunter Eheim, a German World War II test pilot and later manufacturer of aquarium filters, initially operating chartered passenger services using a small fleet of
Dassault Falcon 20 The Dassault Falcon 20 is a French business jet developed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. The first business jet developed by the firm, it became the first of a family of business jets to be produced under the same name; of these, both ...
and Learjet aircraft. In 1981, Contact Air became one of the launch customers for the
British Aerospace Jetstream The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin-turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the Britis ...
, along with US carrier
Mall Airways Mall Airways was an American regional airline which operated throughout the northeastern United States and eastern Canada from 1973 to 1989. The carrier operated a mixed fleet of Beechcraft 1900, Piper Navajo Chieftains, Beech 99 Airliners, an ...
. Its first aircraft of that type was delivered in the following year. In 1984, Contact Air was subcontracted by DLT to operate one of its Jetstreams on scheduled regional flights on behalf of
Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
. Subsequently, DLT acquired 24.8 percent of the Contact Air shares. Having waged the alternative of ordering the
ATR 42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aérospatiale (now Airbus) and ...
, Contact Air announced in 1986 that it had chosen the
de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...
for a fleet enlargement, thus becoming the second European airline to operate that type, after
Tyrolean Airways Tyrolean Airways, officially ''Tyrolean Airways Tiroler Luftfahrt GmbH'', was an Austrian regional airline based in Innsbruck with its hub at Vienna International Airport and its homebase at Innsbruck Airport. It was owned by the Lufthansa Grou ...
. Two years later, Contact Air became the first non-Canadian buyer of the stretched Dash 8-300 version, ordering three aircraft worth $35 million. In April 1996, Contact Air became a founding member of
Team Lufthansa Team Lufthansa was an alliance of regional airlines mainly in Germany, who flew niche routes on behalf of Lufthansa. Overview Team Lufthansa was founded in 1996 by Lufthansa in the wake of the deregulation of the airline market as new competi ...
. In 2004, this airline association was reorganized as
Lufthansa Regional Lufthansa Regional is an operational entity for regional and feeder flights performed by two regional airlines owned by Lufthansa within its route network.
, a
Star Alliance Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. Founded on 14 May 1997, its CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. , Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenge ...
affiliate. Henceforth, all Contact Air flights were operated using the Lufthansas branding and flight numbers. On 29 November 2011, it was reported that Lufthansa would terminate its contract with Contact Air effective 1 October 2012. At that time, the Contact Air fleet consisted of eight
Fokker 100 The Fokker 100 is a regional jet produced by Fokker in the Netherlands. The Fokker 100 is based on the Fokker F28 with a fuselage stretched by to seat up to 109 passengers, up from 85. It is powered by two newer Rolls-Royce Tay turbofans, ...
, six of which were operated on behalf of Lufthansa out of Stuttgart Airport, with another two being based at
Zurich Airport Zürich Airport (), french: Aéroport de Zurich, it, Aeroporto di Zurigo, rm, Eroport da Turitg is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the airline hub, principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. It serves Zürich, Switze ...
and operated for
Swiss International Air Lines Swiss International Air Lines AG, colloquially known as SWISS, is the flag carrier of Switzerland, operating scheduled services in Europe and to North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Zurich Airport serves as its sole hub and Geneva ...
. In May 2012, Contact Air agreed to be taken over by
OLT Express Germany OLT Express Germany (formerly OLT Ostfriesische Lufttransport GmbH or OLT) was an airline based in Bremen in Germany. The company moved to Bremen from Emden in February 2012. It operated regional scheduled and charter flights linking northern G ...
, a step which was finalized in September of that year following its approval by the
Federal Cartel Office The Federal Cartel Office (, ; BKartA) is Germany's national competition regulatory agency. First established in 1958, BKartA comes under the authority of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. The agency is headquartered ...
.


Corporate affairs

Prior to acquisition the headquarters were in
Filderstadt Filderstadt (; Swabian: ''Fildorsdadd'') is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is located approximately 13 km south of Stuttgart. Filderstadt is located next to the Stuttgart Airport and t ...
. Previously they were in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
.


Destinations

The scheduled destinations that were served by Contact Air on behalf of Lufthansa included:


Fleet development

Over the years of its existence, Contact Air operated the following aircraft types:


Incidents and accidents

*On 6 January 1993, Lufthansa Flight 5634 from
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
to
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, which was carried out under the
Lufthansa CityLine Lufthansa CityLine GmbH is a German airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Munich Airport. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa and maintains hubs at Frankfurt Airport and Munich Airport, from where it operates a dense domestic ...
brand using a Contact Air Dash 8-300 ( registered D-BEAT), crashed short of the runway of
Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, ), also known as Roissy Airport or simply Paris CDG, is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris ( and its metropolitan area), and the largest intern ...
. Four out of the 23 passengers on board died; the four crew members survived. The accident happened as a result of a failed
go-around In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for various reasons, such as an unst ...
, which had become necessary because the aircraft ahead, a
Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
of
Korean Air Korean Air Co., Ltd. (), operating as Korean Air (Korean Air Lines before 1984), is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations and international flights. The present-day Korean Air ...
, had suffered a blown tyre upon landing and the runway had subsequently been closed. *On 14 September 2009, Lufthansa Flight 288 from
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
to
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, which was operated by a Contact Air
Fokker 100 The Fokker 100 is a regional jet produced by Fokker in the Netherlands. The Fokker 100 is based on the Fokker F28 with a fuselage stretched by to seat up to 109 passengers, up from 85. It is powered by two newer Rolls-Royce Tay turbofans, ...
registered D-AFKE, made an emergency landing at
Stuttgart Airport Stuttgart Airport (German: ''Flughafen Stuttgart'', formerly ''Flughafen Stuttgart-Echterdingen'') is the international airport of Stuttgart, the capital of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is christened in honor of Stuttgart's forme ...
at 10:47 local time due to undercarriage failure. There were no injuries amongst the five crew members and 73 passengers on board. In the media coverage following the accident, Contact Air was criticised for operating ageing Fokker 100 aircraft, some of which previously had belonged to an airline that had been banned from European airspace over safety concerns. *One of Contact Air's former Fokker 100 aircraft crashed in
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
as Bek Air Flight 2100 on December 27, 2019, killing 12.Путаницу с количеством жертв при крушении самолета Bek Air признали чиновники
/ref>


References


External links


Contact Air
(Archive) {{Airlines_of_Germany Defunct airlines of Germany European Regions Airline Association Airlines established in 1974 Airlines disestablished in 2012 1974 establishments in West Germany Lufthansa Companies based in Stuttgart German companies established in 1974 German companies disestablished in 2012