Step by step, Eurowings is selling its prop airliners type ATR 42-500. Of nine planes in the fleet in 2007, three have been sold, and sales talks for another one have been finalized.

The first plane (identification D-BOOO – MSN 559) had been sold to the Polish Airline EuroLOT, a subsidiary of LOT, in April 2007.

However, the main buyer for Eurowings is the leasing firm Phoenix Surge Sdn Bhd. in Singapore – so that Eurowings airliners can now be met anywhere in the world. For example, the plane identified by D-BNNN – MSN 551, sold in October 2007, is giving service to Total Linhas Aéras in Brazil, D-BRRR – MSN 601, disposed of in December 2007, flies for PT Indonesia Air Transport in Jakarta.

The fourth plane, which will be sold soon, also goes to Phoenix, Helge Probst, Vice President Commercial and Projects for Eurowings, says. Negotiations have been finalised, the contract signing ceremony was planned for shortly after the editorial deadline of this issue. The plane still carries the identification D-BLLL – MSN 549 under a sub-lease arrangement with Cimber Air in Denmark, but plans are to sell it for further service in Australia.

By the way, such long distances are not at all easy for a regional airliner to cover. For example, the pilots of Contact Air and their colleague from the DLH department FRA/CZ, who went with them, needed four days for the transfer of D-BRRR from Saarbrücken to Jakarta – with six touch-downs in Antalya, Dubai, Delhi, Calcutta, Bangkok and Singapore.

Eurowings owned eight and operated one financed ATR 42-500's, all of them leased to Contact Air since 2003. Under the plans for restructuring Lufthansa Regional in 2005, it was decided to sell four of Eurowings' own planes at first. This commission will be completed with the sale of D-BLLL – MSN 549. The other five airliners will continue to be in service under the Contact Air Programme for Lufthansa Regional.

Bye-bye: Contact Air pilots are seen transferring a former Eurowings-ATR 42-500 to Jakarta.