The charter marketer Green Airlines has finally ceased sales on the holiday routes from Groningen, Paderborn and Rostock-Laage due to a lack of “flight partners”. A few days ago, the company posted on its homepage and in social networks that it should fly again from August 1, 2021.
Green Airlines intended to market "climate-friendly flights" using Alk Air's roughly 30-year-old Boeing 737-300s from Paderborn and Rostock-Laage airports. After only a few days, the Bulgarian airline abruptly withdrew from the deal and publicly criticized the ticket seller's payment practices . Just Us Air decided against flying with Green Airlines altogether and publicly stated that it had no contract with the company . Nevertheless, tickets were still being sold under the codes of Alk Air and Just Us Air.
Green Airlines originally announced that holiday flights from Groningen, Paderborn, and Rostock would be operated by German Airways. However, the former WDL only flew sporadically from Groningen, and that has now also come to an end . "German Airways will cease operating flights for Green Airlines from Paderborn and Groningen with immediate effect," the airline announced. The reason given is: "This is due to the rapidly changing market environment caused by the Covid pandemic and the rising incidence rates in some countries."
German Airways will only continue to operate flights on the Cologne/Bonn-Paderborn-Westerland route. Recently, they have been accepting extremely long positioning flights for this route , which hardly makes Green Airlines' "green" image seem "eco-friendly." Against this backdrop, Green Airlines' official statement seems downright absurd. It should also be noted that competitors are achieving excellent load factors on some of the same routes. "Green Airlines is suspending its tourist flight services with immediate effect. This affects the Spain and Greece connections from Paderborn/Lippstadt and Rostock-Laage airports to Mallorca, Rhodes, Crete, and Kos. Routes from Groningen Airport Eelde to Mallorca, Ibiza, Corfu, and Faro will also be temporarily suspended. Booked tickets will be refunded. The reason for this decision is the ongoing difficult situation due to the coronavirus pandemic. The scheduled service between Cologne/Bonn or Paderborn/Lippstadt and Sylt will continue," Green Airlines wrote in a press release. It should be clarified that Green Airlines is not an airline and therefore is not authorized to operate scheduled flights. These are charter flights, and furthermore, Green Airlines is attempting to avoid paying compensation under EU Regulation 261/2004 with the help of a law firm . They present themselves as an airline to the outside world, but when it comes to fulfilling passenger rights, they refuse to be one.
“The airline based at Cologne / Bonn Airport had leased up to two Embraer 190 aircraft including crews to the young Green Airlines in the past few weeks. One jet was stationed in Groningen, the Netherlands. The second jet will no longer start operating from Paderborn, ”said German Airways in a broadcast. This means that the grandly announced vacation program by Green Airlines has disappeared after just a few legs. Only the Sylt flights can be booked via their homepage. Furthermore, the “ghost route” in Zurich can still be found, but it has not been booked for a long time.
From the point of view of Green Airlines boss Stefan Auwetter it sounds like this: “The decision to suspend our tourist offer was difficult for us. In view of the incidence developments in Spain and Greece and the associated tightened entry and exit regulations, however, there was no alternative. Many travelers with a destination in southern Europe are unsettled and maintaining operations with aircraft that are likely to be underutilized was out of the question for us ”.
Environmental projects disappeared from the homepage
The last line of the charter marketer's press release reads: "An expansion of scheduled flight services and the addition of new routes are already planned." The current non-airline operator has applied to the Federal Aviation Office for an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and operating license. Whether the authority will grant this application is entirely unclear. The criteria regarding competence, safety, and especially financial viability are very strict. It could also be a mere legal maneuver to circumvent passenger rights.
The Airliners.de portal revealed that some of the environmental projects advertised on the Green Airlines website did not even know about the cooperation. For this purpose, chargeable (payment fee) donations were requested. The statement made by the orchards indicates that not much of it may have arrived. At least the sponsoring association didn't know anything about it. Green Airlines has now removed the allegedly supported projects for orchards and Hamberger Moor from the homepage.