Crossair
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| Founded | 18 November 1978 (as Business Flyers Basel AG) | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | 31 March 2002 (formed Swiss International Air Lines) | ||||||
| Hubs | Euro-Airport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Qualiflyer | ||||||
| Fleet size | 88 | ||||||
| Parent company | SAirGroup | ||||||
| Headquarters | EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France | ||||||
| Key people | Moritz Suter (Founder and former CEO) André Dosé (CEO) | ||||||
| Website | Crossair.com Crossair.tk | ||||||
Crossair Ltd. Co. for Regional European Air Transport (Template:Lang-de) was a regional airline headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel, Switzerland. It became Swiss International Air Lines after taking over most of the assets of Swissair following that airline's bankruptcy in 2002.
History
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2009) |
Founded as a private company under the name Business Flyers Basel AG by Moritz Suter, it changed to Crossair on 18 November 1978, before the beginning of scheduled services on 2 July 1979 with flights from Zürich to Nuremberg, Innsbruck and Klagenfurt.[citation needed] It was headquartered at Zürich International Airport in Kloten in 1985.[1]
It added charter services for major shareholder Swissair in November 1995. On 31 March 2002, Swissair passed out of existence as most of its assets were taken over by Crossair which then changed names to Swiss International Air Lines.[citation needed]
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Fleet
Crossair operated the following aircraft.
| Aircraft | Total | Delivered | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piper L-4J | 1 | 1975 | Unknown | |
| Cessna 310P | 1 | 1975 | Unknown | |
| Cessna 421B | 1 | 1976 | Unknown | |
| Cessna 551 | 1 | 1977 | Unknown | First Jet Operated by Crossair |
| Fairchild Swearingen Metro II | 3 | 1979 | Unknown | May have been used up to the late 80s or early 90s |
| Fairchild Swearingen Metro II | 9 | 1980s | Unknown | May have been used up to the late 80s or early 90s |
| Saab 340 | 34 | 1984 | 2002 | flew mainly from Basel as well as Lugano and Zürich. Replaced by Embraer ERJ-145 |
| Fokker 50 | 5 | 1990 | 1995 | |
| Fokker F27 | 3 | 1984 | 1984 | |
| BAe 146 | 3 | 1990 | 1994 | |
| Avro RJ 85 | 4 | 1993 | 2002 | named Kärpf, Piz Julier, Montchaibeux, Lindenberg |
| Avro RJ 100 | 16 | 1995 | 2002 | all were named.One written off |
| Saab 2000 | 32 | 1994 | 2002 | all were stored or sold, though what happened to one is not known was world's largest operator of the type in 2000 flown mainly from Basel as well as Lugano and Zürich replaced by Embraer ERJ 145 |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 12 | Unknown | 2004 | some were named, all were sold, though what happened to one is not known mostly used on larger routes from Zurich, and some from Basel |
| Embraer ERJ 145 LU | 25 | 2000 | Unknown | all were named or sold used on routes from all three hubs replaced SAAB aircraft |
| Embraer ERJ 145 LR | 1 | 2002 | Unknown | named Gemsstock used on routes from all three hubs replaced SAAB aircraft |
Destinations
Crossair flew from Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lugano and Zurich. Crossair was very interested in serving from several hubs and, therefore set up a multi-hub business plan. Crossair set up a Eurocross scheme from their Basel base which was set up to help them serve smaller airports and transfer their passengers to larger hubs with short transit times (only around 20 minutes) This helped Crossair link with their partners, such as Swissair from Zurich. Crossair also operated flights between Swiss airports.
Incidents and accidents
- On 10 January 2000, Crossair Flight 498 crashed just after take-off from Zürich. All 10 people aboard were killed.
- On 24 November 2001, Crossair Flight 3597 crashed near Zürich, killing 24 of 33 people aboard, including the famous La Bouche singer Melanie Thornton and two of the three girls from German Eurodance group Passion Fruit. One survived along with eight other passengers, and suffered minor injuries and third-degree burns.[citation needed]
- On 10 July 2002, Crossair Flight 850 made an emergency landing at Werneuchen Airfield, Germany. The aircraft was damaged beyond economic repair when it hit an earth bank placed across the runway, the markings of which did not conform to standards.
Head office
Crossair was headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel, Switzerland.[2] In 2002 the name "Crossair" was replaced with "Swiss International Air Lines" on the head office building.[3]
See also
References
- ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 30 March 1985. 71." Retrieved on 17 June 2009.
- ^ "Location." Crossair. Retrieved on 13 June 2009.
- ^ "INDUSTRY BRIEFS." Airline Industry Information. 2 July 2002. Retrieved on 12 January 2010. "According to a company statement, the new name replaces Crossair at the corporate headquarters in Basel."
External links
- Crossair Website - crossair.com (Archive)
- Crossair Website - crossair.ch (Archive) Template:De icon
- Crossair Website - crossair.ch (Archive)
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