DORTMUND, DÜSSELDORF – Düsseldorf as gateway to the world. This state capital is the Number One production location for Eurowings Luftverkehrs AG: It is home to 17 airplanes, half the Eurowings fleet; totally 422 employees, about one third of the total workforce of this regional airline, work in this city on the Rhine river. From today, the latest top model of the regional fleet also belongs to the Düsseldorf station – The ceremony of giving a brand-new CRJ900 „next generation“ plane the name of the town of Wermelskirchen and the commissioning mark the next step of growth of Eurowings in this state capital. As part of a general fleet swap-around, the airline proposes to operate totally 12 of these ultra-modern airplanes from Düsseldorf in the next twelve months.

The required infrastructure had been created by this regional airline a couple of weeks ago: Since May 1, the airline has leased about one third of North Rhine Westphalia's newest and largest hangar number 7 as maintenance base for its planes. With 8000 square meters area at their command, the maintenance crews can work at up to six jets at a time, which improves the high standards of safety and reliability of the fleet even more. For example, an internal W-LAN makes it possible that technicians can view all relevant data on their laptop computers directly at or in the plane and therefore work at highest efficieny.

Eurowings has seen a phase of constant growth in Düsseldorf in recent years, which carries on the tradition established in North Rhine Westphalia. Eurowings was formed in 1993 by the merger of Nürnberger Flugdienst (NFD) and Regionalfluggesellschaft Nordrhein-Westfalen (RFG) – the roots of RFG date back to the year 1975. Initially operating an air taxi service in Dortmund, RFG published its first flight schedule in 1980. Investment in latest aircraft technology has since been the rule: The first modern turboprop plane was commissioned in 1986, Eurowings' jet tradition began in 1988.

The nearly simultaneous acceptance of three type CRJ900 aircraft starts the airline's current first phase of a comprehensive modernization of much of its regional fleet: Totally 15 type BAe 146 jets by the British supplier British Aerospace will be replaced by brand-ndew airplanes type CRJ900 of the Canadian Bombardier by summer 2010. The regional airline will take over a new plane every month and integrate it in its fleet – most planes will be stationed in Düsseldorf. The new 86-seater twin jets are much more economical than the BAe's and therefore emissions are also lower. Besides, they are more silent, which is a lot more comfortable for the passengers, and they are equipped with state-of-the-art technical cockpit equipment.

Eurowings Executive Board member Peter Kranich: „The new jets will move this company forward effectually. We invest in the future for our employees. Huge investment will alsao be made in training hundreds of pilots and technicians in handling the new aircraft. One the fleet modernisation is complete, Eurowings will operate exclusively highly modern jet aircraft of the CRJ200, 700 and 900 product family from Bombardier.“ Then, the airline will have done what few companies can boast of: Focussing on one aircraft type offers substantial advantages in terms of resource planning and fleet operation. Peter Kranich: „Together with our partner Lufthansa we are holding a perfect position. The policy of consistent modernisation of its fleet and the Düsseldort location pursued by Eurowings shows that this company has the power of shouldering huge investment even in a time of crisis. Today, I would like to say Thank You to all employees because without their dedication and commitment this company would not have been able to do such a tour de force.“