Interflug

Interflug is a German airline operating regular scheduled services to overseas destinations, low-cost scheduled services within the Euro-Mediterranean region, and charter services. It is the second-largest German airline after the flag carrier Lufthansa.

= History = Until 1945, Deutsche Luft Hansa had served as the German flag carrier. Following the end of the Second World War and the subsequent allied occupation of Germany, all aircraft in the country were seized and the airline was liquidated. In 1954, a West German company acquired the Lufthansa trademark and established a new airline under that name to serve as the flag carrier for West Germany. In 1955, Deutsche Lufthansa was founded as rival East German flag carrier. It soon became obvious that the East German airline would likely lose a lawsuit over the use of the Lufthansa branding. As a result, Interflug was set up on 18 September 1958 as a "back-up" company, initially intended to complement the East German aviation industry by operating chartered flights. In 1963, the East German Lufthansa was liquidated, officially due to poor profitability (though this step foreclosed the imminent stripping of the Lufthansa name). Its staff, aircraft fleet, and route network were transferred to Interflug, which henceforth served as the East German flag carrier.

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 and the subsequent political upheaval in East Germany, several foreign airlines expressed interest in taking over parts of the highly unprofitable company to secure a share of the German air traffic market, especially out of Berlin. In early March 1990, Lufthansa signed a letter of intent to acquire 26 percent of Interflug, but the offer was blocked by Germany's Federal Cartel Office. On 1 July 1990, Interflug became a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). As a consequence of the German reunification on 3 October 1990, Interflug came under the administration of the Treuhandanstalt, along with all other state-owned property of East Germany, which continued to search for an investor for the company.

Finally, an investment group made up of German and Russian businessmen came forward to buy Interflug with the intention of converting it into a low-cost airline operating scheduled and charter services from Germany primarily to popular holiday destinations, whilst maintaining a significant portion of the original Interflug network.

Interflug in British Columbia
Interflug began its service between Schönefeld Airport in Berlin and Grant McConachie International Airport in Vancouver, British Columbia in 2007, initially as a winter-only service to carry skiers intending to visit various ski resorts in BC such as Whistler and Azouzetta. Just prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, the service became a year-round operation. During the Olympics daily flights were made, which afterwards was reduced to twice weekly in the summer timetable and four times weekly in the winter timetable. Summer flights are operated with the Airbus A340-300, and winter flights with the larger-capacity Ilyushin Il-96M.

In March 1991, Interflug signed a letter of intent with De Havilland British Columbia for an order of eighteen DHBC-9B Kehloke 2 airliners. However, in October of that year, Boeing – who had finalised its purchase of De Havilland in 1989 – announced that Kehloke production would be discontinued and no further firm orders would be taken, and instead offered customers holding options on the Kehloke 2 the opportunity to buy Boeing 737 variants instead, at the original terms that had been agreed to. Interflug chose not to accept this offer, instead opting for the Tupolev Tu-204.

= Fleet =

Current

 * Airbus A220
 * Airbus A318
 * Airbus A321neo - replacing Tu-204, first of 30 delivered 2018
 * Airbus A340-300
 * Avro RJ 85
 * Avro RJ 100
 * Ilyushin Il-96M
 * Irkut MC-21-300 - to be delivered from 2023
 * Sukhoi Superjet 95B - 18 (2012 to date)
 * Tupolev Tu-204-100 - second operator after Aeroflot; being replaced by A321neo, to be retired by 2024.

Historic

 * Aero Ae-45 (1956–1961)
 * Airbus A310 (1989–2013)
 * Antonov An-2 (1957–1962)
 * Antonov An-24 (1966–1975)
 * Boeing 727-200 (1991–1996)
 * Boeing 737-400 (1994–1997)
 * De Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 (1990–2011)
 * Ilyushin Il-14 (1955–1967)
 * Ilyushin Il-18 (1961–1991)
 * Ilyushin Il-62 (1970–1997)
 * Let L410UVP (1982–1998)
 * McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (1996–2016)
 * Tupolev Tu-124
 * Tupolev Tu-134 (1969–1994)
 * Tupolev Tu-154M (1986–2003)

= Routes = Entries with a green background indicates a destination in British Columbia. "Domestic" refers to services within Germany, "Continental" refers to services within the European Union.