German charter carrier LTU has found a buyer for its regional airline subsidiary RAS Fluggesellschaft, which it acquired four years ago.
LTU, which has suffered a poor financial performance recently, had planned to close down the regional early next year. It had decided that the operation did not fit in with its own long-haul charter operations.
RAS, which operates a pair of Shorts 360-300s on domestic routes, is being purchased for an undisclosed sum by Mönchengladbach-based Wings Factor, which plans to relocate the airline's operations to Düsseldorf Express Airport. RAS says it intends to replace the Shorts 360s with larger ATR 42 or Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8 turboprops.
The regional currently serves domestic points including Berlin, Saarbrucken and Hannover. The new owner is set to restructure the route network.
Source: Flight International
