LTU International Airways,[1] usually shortened to LTU and legally incorporated as LTU Lufttransport-Unternehmen GmbH, was a German leisure airline headquartered in Düsseldorf. It operated medium and long-haul routes and maintained hubs in Düsseldorf, Munich and at Tegel Airport in Berlin. LTU was acquired by Air Berlin in 2007.[1][2] Use of the LTU brand ceased in 2009, and LTU itself was dissolved by April 2011.[3]
LTU was established in May 1955 as Lufttransport Union and started operations in Frankfurt. In 1956 it began operating charter flights. The initials LTU stand for the German phrase LuftTransport-Unternehmen which translates to "air transport enterprise". LTU had been headquartered in Düsseldorf since 1961.[4] Over the years, LTU became one of the biggest and most renowned German leisure airlines and operated worldwide charter flights from many German airports, but mainly from its traditional main hub at Düsseldorf.
In 1983, a new subsidiary based in Munich called LTS was founded, which had a similar livery, using blue instead of red. It was rebranded LTU Süd in 1987 and got a new livery closer to LTU's red livery. In 1998 LTU Süd was dissolved and completely incorporated into LTU.[5] LTU also operated sister companies in Spain (LTE, 1987 - 2001) and Austria (LTU Austria, 2004 - 2008). Its traditional red and white livery barely changed over the years, becoming a recognizable trademark in the German charter flight business.
In 1991, LTU acquired four new McDonnell Douglas MD-11 becoming the first and only German passenger operator. They handed them over to Swissair in 1998.[6]
By March 2007 the airline's owners were Intro Verwaltungsgesellschaft (55%) and Marbach Beteiligung und Consulting (45%) and had 2,892 employees.[7]
Purchase by Air Berlin
In March 2007, Air Berlin bought LTU for €140 million in cash, creating the fourth-largest airline group in Europe in terms of traffic. Combined, the airlines carried 22.1 million passengers in 2006. The purchase was aimed at adding long-haul operations and increasing market share at Düsseldorf Airport. LTU initially retained its name on its leisure routes, while routes to the United States and China immediately switched to Air Berlin branding.[8]
In May 2007, LTU presented its new livery. It maintained the traditional red and white corporate colors, but refreshed the overall appearance with smoother lines and overall more white. The new design was first applied to LTU's then new twelfth long-haul aircraft, an Airbus A330-200.[9] This livery was later adapted to become the new Air Berlin design.
On 1 May 2007, LTU operated the first Arctic & North Pole sightseeing flight from continental Europe in aviation history, a charter flight for Deutsche Polarflug. The flight took 12h 55m and the aircraft, an A330-200 took 283 passengers from Düsseldorf via Norway, Svalbard, to The North Pole, eastern Greenland and Iceland back to Düsseldorf. The flight was filmed for an episode of PilotsEYE.tv.[10]
Air Berlin announced in 2008 that the trademark LTU would no longer be used. All flights were rebranded as Air Berlin.[12] The last known flight under LTU callsign, but already in Air Berlin livery, was on 13 October 2009 from Montreal to Düsseldorf. As of April 2011, the LTU's AOC had expired and the company itself was dissolved.[3] On 27 October 2017, Air Berlin itself ceased operations.
Fleet
During its existence, LTU operated the following aircraft, including the fleet incorporated into Air Berlin by March 2007:[13][14]
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