VLM Airlines

VLM Airlines

IATA VG ICAO VLM Callsign RUBENS
Founded	1992
Hubs	London City Airport
Frequent flyer program	Flying Blue (Air France-KLM)
Fleet size	18
Destinations	15
Parent company	Air France-KLM
Headquarters	Antwerp, Belgium
Key people	Johan Vanneste (Managing Director), Jaap Rosen Jacobson (Chairman)
Website	http://www.flyvlm.com/

VLM Airlines (short for Vlaamse Luchttransportmaatschappij - Flemish Air Transport Company) is a Belgian airline.

History

VLM Airlines started operations in May 1993 with a scheduled service between Antwerp Airport and London City Airport. The airline now employs over 400 people, and carried 745,781 passengers in 2007. Its original hub was Antwerp, but the airline now has its base at London City Airport^[1].

In 2008 the airline reported its tenth consecutive year of profits for the year ending 31 December 2007, it had a net profit of 3.6m euros. Turnover grew to 112m euros and passenger numbers rose 9% to 745,781 during 2007^[2].

On 24 December 2007, Air France-KLM announced that they had signed an agreement for a full takeover of the company from Panta Holdings ^[3].

Air France-KLM announced on 28 May 2009 that VLM Airlines will gradually start to operate under the brand name CityJet. The name CityJet is already in use by the Irish regional partner of Air France-KLM. From 2010 the name VLM Airlines will be replaced altogether by CityJet although both companies would continue to operate independently.^{[citation needed]} As a result, VLM Airlines has replaced its frequent flyer program, VLM Encore, with Air France-KLM's Flying Blue and flyvlm.com has been merged with the CityJet website.

Destinations

VLM Fokker 50 current livery

VLM Fokker F50 old livery

• Belgium
  • Antwerp - Antwerp Airport
• France
  • Nantes - Nantes Atlantique Airport
  • Strasbourg - Strasbourg Airport
• Germany
  • Hamburg - Hamburg Airport
• Jersey
  • Saint Peter - Jersey Airport
• Luxembourg
  • Findel Airport
• Netherlands
  • Amsterdam - Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
  • Eindhoven - Eindhoven Airport
  • Rotterdam - Rotterdam Airport
• United Kingdom
  • London - London City Airport Base
  • Manchester - Manchester Airport

Destinations no longer served by VLM include Liverpool, Southampton, Isle of Man, Brussels, Geneva and Frankfurt.

VLM Airlines has one Fokker 50 on standby for ad hoc-charter flights, available for flights across Europe & Northern Africa. The Airline also flies on ACMI-basis for other airlines, including Air France, Flybe and Aer Arann when extra capacity is needed.

Fleet

Current

The VLM Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft (as of December 2009):^[4][5]

As of September 2009, the average age of the VLM Airlines fleet was 19.9 years.^[6]

Retired fleet

In the year 2007 VLM used a BAe 146-300 wet leased from Flightline.

Service

VLM promotes itself as Europe’s premiere “Business Airline” and reflects this in its pursuit of superior service. Onboard, passengers are served substantial and fresh meals, and passengers can request a vegetarian or kosher meal at the time of reservation. Meals are presented on a half-tray, and all passengers are served drinks in real glasses with tea and coffee served in china cups. Such features are not commonly found on short haul airlines.

The airline's frequent flyer program is now Flying Blue, replacing VLM Encore. Passengers can earn miles on Flying Blue to be redeemed against VLM flights as well as the whole AF-KL network and partners.

External links

• Official website
• Velocity inflight magazine

References

v • d • e Airlines of Belgium Abelag Aviation · Brussels Airlines · Cargo B Airlines · European Air Transport · Jetairfly · TNT Airways · Thomas Cook Airlines (Belgium) · VLM Airlines