Triple Alpha Luftfahrtgesellschaft

Triple Alpha Luftfahrtgesellschaft (also known as 3A Airlines and 3AA) was a German airline based in Düsseldorf which has been administration since July 2011.^[1] Their hub was at Düsseldorf International Airport. 3AA operated charter, general aviation, business, cargo, flight school, air ambulance, aerial evacuation and organ transport services.

History

• 1994 - Hans Pfeiffer and Erik Scheidt worked in the overhaul and maintenance of Cessna T303 aircraft; the installations were in Aachen

• 1995 - Creation of Avanti Aviation Aachen Luftfahrtgesellschaft

• 1996 - The airline obtained its AOC and starts flights with two Cessna 421 aircraft

• 1997 - The airline obtained its first jet aircraft, a Cessna Citation II

• 1998:

April - The first turboprop aircraft, a Piper Cheyenne was added

June - The airline was relocated to Düsseldorf and renamed Triple Alpha Luftfahrtgesellschaft

• 1999 - A second Cessna Citation II was delivered

• 2000 - The last propeller aircraft were retired

• 2001:

• February - The first Cessna Citation CJ2 approved in Europe was delivered to Triple Alpha

• October - Due to the economic problems caused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Triple Alpha is forced to reduce flight frequencies and also to mothball the Citation CJ2

• 2002 - Triple Alpha returned to normal activity and the Citation CJ2 was re-activated

• 2004:

• June - Triple Alpha planned to expand, but had not completely recovered from the crisis caused by the 9/11 attacks, and the only new aircraft added to the fleet was an obsolete Cessna Citation V

• August - More Cessna Citation CJ2 aircraft were added

• 2005 - The airline held a Cessna Citation V based in Paris and with French registration, on behalf of French and German aviation authority

• 2006 - Now with 9 Cessna Citations in the airline fleet, Triple Alpha obtained a contract for the construction of an Airbus A319

• 2007:

• June - The airline obtained their first mid-range aircraft, a Challenger 300

• September - The first long-haul aircraft, a Bombardier Global 7000, was added to the fleet

• 2008:

• January - The first Cessna Citation Mustang of Europe was delivered to Triple Alpha

• March - 2 more CJ2 were added

• April - The first A319 was delivered to the airline

• 2009:

• January - Another CJ2 was added

• April - A new CJ2+ was delivered

• September - 60% of Triple Alpha was acquired by the British group Ocean Sky

• December - Another CJ2 was incorporated

• 2010:

• March - Triple Alpha obtained their first IAI Astra

• December - Ocean Sky increased their stake to 80%

• 2011:

• January - A second IAI Astra was delivered

• July - Triple Alpha was placed into administration^[2]

Insolvency

In July 2011, Triple Alpha filed for insolvency and was put under the control of an administrator, named by the German court. The airline is still grounded, but hopes to restart operation soon.

Fleet

• 1 Airbus A319 (grounded in Vienna)
• 1 Bombardier Challenger 300
• 1 Bombardier Global 7000
• 2 Cessna Citation II
• 2 Cessna Citation V
• 8 Cessna Citation CJ2
• 1 Cessna Citation Mustang

References

2. Triple Alpha insolvency