Tyrolean Airways, legally ''Tyrolean Airways Tiroler Luftfahrt GmbH'', was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

based in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

with its hub at

Vienna International Airport Vienna Airport is an international airport serving Vienna, the capital of Austria. It is located in Schwechat, southeast of central Vienna and west of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Its official name according to the Austrian Aeronaut ...

and its homebase at Innsbruck Airport. It was owned by the Lufthansa Group and was an affiliate of the

Star Alliance Star Alliance is an airline alliance headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. Founded on 14 May 1997, it was the world's first global airline alliance. Star Alliance has 25 member airlines that operate a combined fleet of over 5,000 aircraft, servi ...

together with its parent

Austrian Airlines Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian or AUA, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of Lufthansa, the flag carrier of Germany. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where i ...

. Tyrolean operated regional flights under the ''Austrian Arrows'' brand on behalf of Austrian Airlines from 2003 until July 2012, when nearly all employees and the fleet of Austrian Airlines was transferred to it following a labour dispute. Following a new labour agreement, Tyrolean was merged into Austrian Airlines and dissolved as a company on 31 March 2015.

History

Early years

The airline was established in 1958 as Aircraft Innsbruck by Gernot Langes-Swarovski and Christian Schwemberger-Swarovski. It adopted the title Tyrolean Airways when scheduled services began on 1 April 1980. Tyrolean Airways was the only airline to operate Dash 7 airplanes into the steeply inclined mountain airport at Courchevel in France.

Development as part of Austrian Airlines

The airline was acquired by

in March 1998 after the original majority owner, Mr Gernot Langes-Swarovski, made the company available for purchase. In 2003, as part of an effort by its parent company to consolidate its brand, the fleet was rebranded as ''Austrian Arrows'' with livery changed to match that of the Austrian Airlines Group. Airline operations, however, were still managed independently by Tyrolean from its Innsbruck base. As of 1 July 2012, all Austrian Airlines Group flights were carried out by Tyrolean Airways. In a consolidated effort to save Austrian Airlines from bankruptcy, the Austrian Airlines CEO at the time, Jaan Albrecht merged the entire fleet and staff of the Austrian Airlines Group, approximately 460 pilots and 1,500 cabin crew, into Tyrolean. All Austrian Airlines Group flights — except for a single Boeing 777-200ER (OE-LPB) due to international traffic laws — were operated by Tyrolean, but maintained their Austrian flight numbers. In October 2014, it was reported that Tyrolean's flight operations and staff were to be re-integrated into Austrian Airlines, as a new labour agreement had been signed. On 31 March 2015 all flight operations, crew members and aircraft were reintegrated into Austrian Airlines. Tyrolean Airways was dissolved having served as a vehicle to return Austrian Airlines to operation.

Fleet

The Tyrolean Airways fleet included:

References

External links

Official website of Tyrolean AirwaysOfficial website of Austrian Airlines
{{Coord, 47.2579, N, 11.3541, E, source:wikidata, display=title Defunct airlines of Austria Airlines established in 1978 Airlines disestablished in 2015 Austrian companies established in 1978 2015 disestablishments in Austria Former Star Alliance affiliate members