Small Planet Airlines (Germany)

Small Planet Airlines GmbH was[3] a German charter airline headquartered in Berlin and a subsidiary of now-defunct Small Planet Airlines from Lithuania.[1]

This article is about the former German airline. For the Lithuanian sister company, see Small Planet Airlines. For the Cambodian sister company, see Small Planet Airlines (Cambodia). For the Polish sister company, see Small Planet Airlines (Poland).
Small Planet Airlines (Germany)
IATA ICAO Callsign
5P LLX GERMANJET
Founded2015
Commenced operationsMay 2016[1]
Ceased operations31 October 2018[2]
Focus cities
Fleet size7
Parent companySmall Planet Airlines
HeadquartersBerlin, Germany
Key people
  • Andreas Wobig, CEO
  • Oliver Pawel
Websitesmallplanet.aero

History

The airline was founded in 2015 and operated its first charter services out of Düsseldorf Airport using its parent's licence by October 2015.[1] Along with its owner, Small Planet Airlines from Lithuania, which owns 80% of the German airline, and sister airline Small Planet Airlines (Poland), it belonged to the Small Planet Group. The headquarters in Berlin is expected to have up to 15 employees while each aircraft will be operated by 5 crews of 6; together that gives an expected overall employee count of around 75.[4]

The airline received its own German operations license on 13 May 2016 and operated its first flight (Bremen to Heraklion) on the same day.[1] In January 2018, Small Planet Airlines Germany welcomed its one-millionth passenger.[5]

On 18 September 2018 Small Planet Airlines Germany filed for bankruptcy while planning to continue its operations during a restructuring.[6][7] Shortly after, TUI announced plans to replace their charter operations at Paderborn Lippstadt Airport with services operated by TUI fly Deutschland with more takeovers to be likely.[8] Shortly after, Small Planet lost the operations for TUI from Leipzig Halle Airport as well, this time to Germania.[9]

On 31 October 2018, Small Planet Airlines Germany ceased all operations and returned most of the aircraft to their lessors while its parent company still negotiated the sale of its remaining assets.[3] In November 2018, these were planned to be bought up by SF Aviation Holding which also owns VLM Airlines Brussels,[10] however shortly after this deal fell through.[11] On 28 November 2018 it was announced that Small Planet Airlines Germany had declared bankruptcy.[12]

Destinations

Since May 2016, the company operated charter flights to various Southern European leisure destinations from its bases on behalf of travel groups like Thomas Cook and TUI.[1]

Fleet
Small Planet Airlines (Germany) Airbus A320-200

As of May 2018, Small Planet Airlines GmbH operated the following aircraft:[13]

Aircraft In Service On order Passengers Notes
Airbus A320-200 5 0 180
Airbus A321-200 2 0 220
Total 7 0

References
  1. airliners.de - "Small Planet Airlines takes off with German license" 13 May 2016
  2. Nick Wenzel (November 2, 2018). "Small Planet Airlines Germany suspends operations". International Flight Network. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
  3. aerotelegraph.com - Small Planet gibt Flugzeuge an Leasingfirmen zurück 2 November 2018
  4. "SMALL PLANET AIRLINE Berlin bekommt eine neue Fluggesellschaft". www.berliner-zeitung.de. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  5. "Small Planet Airlines Germany celebrates its one-millionth passenger". www.smallplanet.aero.
  6. "Small Planet Airlines GmbH stellt Insolvenzantrag zur Restrukturierung – Weiterführung des Flugbetriebes in Deutschland, Österreich, der Schweiz und den Niederlanden". www.smallplanet.aero.
  7. "Deutsche Small Planet rutscht in die Insolvenz". www.airliners.de.
  8. touristik-aktuell.de - Paderborn: TUI Fly ersetzt Small Planet Airlines (German) 11 October 2018
  9. airliners.de - "TUI plans without Small Planet for the winter" (German) 18 October 2018
  10. https://www.aerotelegraph.com/small-planet-deutschland-geht-an-vlm
  11. aerotelegraph.com - "Übernahme von Small Planet ist gescheitert" (German) 27 November 2018
  12. austrianaviation.net - "Sachwalter bestätigt Small-Planet-Deutschland-Aus" (German) 28 November 2018
  13. "Small Planet Airlines Germany adds dry-leased A321s".

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