Cimber Sterling A/S, also known as Cimber Air and styled as Cimber Sterling, was a Danish airline based in Sønderborg, Sønderborg Municipality, Denmark,[1] operating scheduled domestic and international services in co-operation with Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and Lufthansa. Its main bases were Copenhagen Airport and Billund Airport, with a smaller base at Aalborg Airport.[2] The airline filed for bankruptcy on 3 May 2012.[3][4]

Cimber Sterling
IATA ICAO Call sign
QI CIM CIMBER
Founded1950 (1950)
(as Cimber Air)
Ceased operations3 May 2012 (2012-05-03)
Operating bases
Frequent-flyer programEuroBonus
AllianceTeam Lufthansa (1998–2003)
Parent companyMansvell Enterprises
HeadquartersSønderborg, Denmark
Key people
  • Jan Palmer (CEO)
  • Jacob Krogsgaard (deputy CEO, CCO)
  • Martins Antonovics (deputy CEO, CFO)
  • Gregory Gurtovoy (Chairman)
Websitewww.cimber.com

History

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Cimber Air De Havilland Dove at Hanover Airport in 1970
 
A VFW-Fokker 614 at Groningen Airport in 1977

Cimber Air was founded in 1950 by Ingolf Lorenz Nielson who took over Sønderjyllands Flyveselskab.[5] Its first aircraft was a single engine SAI KZ III, call sign OY-DMO which had been used for flights primarily between Sønderborg and Copenhagen. In 1969 the airline took delivery of an eight-seat De Havilland Dove twin-engine light airliner.[citation needed]

Cimber Air was one of the very few operators of the VFW-Fokker 614 regional jet. It also operated Nord 262 and Grumman Gulfstream I turboprop aircraft on its scheduled services.

 
Cimber Air Nord 262 OY-BDD, Sønderborg Airport, Denmark, November 1993

On 3 December 2008 Cimber Air bought parts of Sterling Airlines, which had filed for bankruptcy on 29 October 2008. The new airline, which was named Cimber-Sterling, was created on 7 January 2009. Cimber bought the AOC (Air Operators Certificate), slots, brand and website (www.sterling.com and other domains). Aircraft leases were negotiated with the owners. Employees of the former Sterling Airlines was not part of the takeover, but were welcome to seek employment in the new airline.[citation needed]

 
Cimber Sterling Boeing 737-7L9
 
Cimber Air ATR-42-500

Cimber Sterling was originally wholly owned by Cimber Air Holding (Nielsen family) and had 368 employees (at March 2007).[2] It was listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange in 2009.[6] In 2011, due to financial difficulties[7] Cimber Sterling entered into a subscription agreement with Mansvell Enterprises Ltd, which gave Ukrainian billionaire Ihor Kolomoyskyi a stake of 70.8%.[8][9]

On the morning of 3 May 2012, Cimber Sterling cancelled all flights and declared bankruptcy.[3][10] Within hours, other airlines announced their entry on selected routes.[3]

Cimber Sterling was the main sponsor of the Danish handball team in 2009 and 2010.[11]

Fleet

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The Cimber Sterling fleet included the following aircraft (as of 11 December 2013):[12]

Cimber Sterling fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
ATR 72-200 2 68
Bombardier CRJ-200 5 0 50
Total 7 0

References

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  1. ^ "Contact Archived 2010-12-28 at archive.today." Cimber Sterling. Retrieved on 19 January 2010. "Cimber Sterling A/S Lufthavnsvej 2 6400 Soenderborg Denmark"
  2. ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 3 April 2007. p. 66.
  3. ^ a b c "Cimber Sterling's bankruptcy: routes quickly taken over". anna.aero. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  4. ^ "Cimber Sterling has filed for bankruptcy". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  5. ^ "Cimber Air". Airline History. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  6. ^ "CORRECTED - UPDATE 1-Cimber Sterling slashes outlook again, shares drop". Reuters. 24 February 2010.
  7. ^ "Cimber har tabt alle pengene". Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  8. ^ "Cimber Sterling enters into subscription agreement with Mansvell Enterprises Ltd". Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  9. ^ Fraende, Metet (7 July 2011). "Cimber Sterling gets 165 mln DKK lifeline". Reuters. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  10. ^ "Cimber Sterling Airline Bankrupt". Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  11. ^ "Nyheder 24 timer i døgnet - seneste nyt - jp - jyllands-posten.dk".
  12. ^ "Cimber Sterling fleet list at ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 2009-12-27". Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
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