Billigluft

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Billigluft (IATA: QL, ICAO: BLV) is a Viran low-cost airline with its head office at Pontefrakt International Airport, which is also it's primary operational base. Billigluft operates 3 hundred Boeing 737-700NG aircrafts on routes across Northern Europe and Germany from 27 bases. It has constantly been under criticism for mistreatment of disabled customers, and has responded in a popular move to create a disabled-only airline named DuKannst, or "YouCan", which will be available between Billigluft's 10 most popular destination and departure airports. A tour bus company named Holzwolle Tours, in Rovaniemi (Finland) is owned by Billigluft.

The company's CEO is Yvonne Boehm and the Deputy CEO and COO is Marcel Simard.

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History
Billigluft has grown since its establishment in 1987 from a small airline flying a short hop from Virany to Uvala Boga. Revenue is currently €2,883,000,000 and net profits are at €84,000,000.

Early Years
Billigluft was founded in October 1987 by Pavel Nowak (A former employee of Elite) and Thomas Eberhardt. The airline began with a BAe 146-100 that Nowak acquired on a trip to England in 1985, flying between Pontefrakt International Airport and Vens Airport. The next year, the company added another route - flying Pontefrakt-Kapital Airport and under partial EU deregulation, airlines could begin new international intra-EU services, as long as at least one of the two governments gave approval. Virany disapproved while Norway did not, securing a third route between Pitzte-Vuschmare and Stockholm-Bromma Airport in early 1989. With three routes and three planes, the airline carried 117,000 passengers in this year. Passenger numbers continued to increase, but the airline generally ran at a loss and, by 1992, was in need of restructuring. Yvonne Boehm was charged with the task of making the airline profitable. Boehm quickly decided that the key to low fares was to implement quick turn-around times for aircraft, no business class and only operating a single model of aircraft. By 1997, after the consistent pursuit of its low-cost business model, Billigluft celebrated its 10th birthday by supplying gourmet food to all flights in October.

1992 - 1999
In 1992, the European Union's deregulation of the air industry in Europe gave carriers from one EU country the right to operate scheduled services between other EU states and represented a major opportunity for Billigluft. After a successful flotation on the GLOBESTOCK stock exchange, the airline launched services to London-Stansted, Luxembourg-Findel and Bergen Airport (Finland). In 1993, the company stopped using BAe 146-100 as their only aircraft model and shifted to using Boeing 757 models. In 1999, the Billigluft website was opened, which included an online booking system and a Billigluft-recommended travel agent finder.

2000-2011
In 2001, Billigluft launched a new base of operations in Oslo Airport, Fornebu and ordered 30 new Boeing 737-700NG models. By 2008 the Boeing 737-700NG became the company's new aircraft model.

In February 2006, Yvonne Bauhm threatened that if Frankfurt am Main Airport did not give Billigluft any more low-priced landing fees, the airline would move many of its routes from Frankfurt to London Gatwick (which provided lower landing offers to the airline) and open a base there, or even pull out entirely from Stansted.

Unnecessary Costs & Surcharges
Billigluft charges up to 8% more for a return ticket than 2 one-way tickets. It also adds €0.60 to flight surcharges when the airline is demanded to include extra equipment for disabled customers.

Customer Service
The airline has come under extremely heavy criticism in the past for its poor treatment of disabled passengers. From 1998 to 2000, it offered no wheelchairs for disabled passengers at it's least popular departure points.

In 2008 the company was criticized for having no method of contacting the company without phoning directly to their offices. Billigluft was then required to provide means of contact through e-mail and an online form.

Misleading Advertisment
In 2004, a television advertisement appeared in Virany claiming that its customers "deserved the best because they are Virans, and Billigluft is priviliged to have such a high-class race fly with them". The advert was quickly banned due to its ethnocentric approach and Billigluft withdrew from television advertising until 2010.

Choosing Destinations
When Billigluft negotiates with its airports, it demands very low landing and handling fees, as well as financial assistance with marketing campaigns. In subsequent contract renewal negotiations, the airline has been reported to play airports against each other, threatening to withdraw services and deploy the aircraft elsewhere, if the airport does not make further concessions.

Accidents and Incidents
On 10 December 1999, Billigluft Flight BLV171 (Boeing 757-200), from Kontematt Airport to Vasconia, was evacuated shortly after landing in Vasconia, because airport personnel believed that one of the engines was on fire. The Korsch Air Accidents Investigations group concluded that the release of oil from a broken engine bearing into the path of hot gas had caused the smoke and that there were no signs of fire damage. The investigation also found that although the aircraft was fully evacuated within 90 seconds, some members of the cabin crew struggled to open the emergency doors and had to be assisted by off-duty cabin crew travelling as passengers. Some passengers attempted to evacuate onto the right wing of the aircraft, before being turned back by firefighters. The investigation found that during training, cabin crew were informed that in an emergency, the doors are more difficult to open due to the need to activate the evacuation slides, but the majority of trainees never experienced the pressure needed. The investigation also made several recommendations to the Virany Aviation Authority to improve the quality of training to cabin crew staff.