LTS Lufttransport Süd AG,rzjets.net - LTS
retrieved 5 March 2023 usually shortended to LTS and later branded as LTU Süd (Lufttransport-Unternehmen Süd),ch-aviation.com - LTU Süd
retrieved 5 March 2023 was a German leisure

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

headquartered and based in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, operating scheduled and charter flights to European and long-haul leisure destinations. It operated from May 1984 until it merged with its parent company, the larger LTU, in 1998.

History

LTS

Parent company LTU from

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, an already well-established leisure carrier, opened the subsidiary Lufttransport Süd AG & Co KG Fluggesellschaft (LTS) in August 1983. LTS started with three

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the trijet Boeing 727, 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The ...

s, which were soon transferred to yet another subsidiary,

LTE LTE may refer to: Science and technology * LTE (telecommunication) (Long-Term Evolution), a mobile telephony standard ** LTE Advanced, an enhancement ** LTE Advanced Pro, a further enhancement * Compaq LTE, a line of laptop computers * Leukotrie ...

based out of

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

. The subsidiaries were established in order to operate more cost efficient flights out of Munich with lower wage, newly hired employees. LTU mainline crews worked under very expensive

labor contract An employment contract or contract of employment is a kind of contract used in labour law to attribute rights and responsibilities between parties to a bargain. The contract is between an "employee" and an "employer". It has arisen out of the old m ...

s that could not be restructured unilaterally by the company. LTS was a way to circumvent high labor costs by having its employees fly with completely different contracts than those already held by employees of LTU in Düsseldorf. Another reason for operating separate airlines under one parent company was the fact that

German law The law of Germany (), that being the modern German legal system (), is a system of civil law which is founded on the principles laid out by the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, though many of the most important laws, for example ...

did not permit flight attendants to operate on more than two different types of aircraft families. During fleet transition periods, however, airlines are allowed to have flight attendants qualified on up to three aircraft. At the time LTS was opened, LTU already operated

Lockheed L-1011 The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter commercial operations, after the Boeing 74 ...

and McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 aircraft.

LTU Süd

In 1988, LTS was rebranded to LTU Süd, also receiving a new corporate design to closer resemble its well-known parent company LTU. LTU intended for LTU Süd to serve European, African and Southeast Asian destinations out of Munich with

aircraft. After the 1988 recertification of

ETOPS The Extended-range Twin-engine Operations Performance Standards (ETOPS) () are safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for Twinjet, twin-engine commercial passenger aircraft operations. They are a safety measu ...

to be allowed to fly overwater for more than 180 minutes, LTU Süd acquired additional larger

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified ...

aircraft in 1989 to fly across the Atlantic and the Far East. For the purpose of operating transatlantic flights out of Düsseldorf with the 767, LTU opened an additional crew base for LTU Süd at

Düsseldorf Airport Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the seventh-largest city in Germany, with a 2022 population of 629,047. The Düsse ...

. All LTU Süd flights were marketed as LTU flights. LTU Süd was dissolved and fully merged into its parent company LTU in 1998. LTU itself was then absorbed into

Air Berlin Air Berlin plc & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com, was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline after Lufthansa, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers c ...

nearly 10 years later, in 2007.

Fleet

During its 15-year existence, LTS operated the following aircraft: *13

Boeing 757-200 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the trijet 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its maiden ...

Boeing 767-300ER The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lts - Lufttransport Sud German companies established in 1983 German companies disestablished in 1998 Defunct airlines of Germany Airlines established in 1983 Airlines disestablished in 1998 1983 establishments in West Germany 1998 disestablishments in Germany