Crossair
IATA ICAO Callsign
LX CRX CROSSAIR
Founded1975 (1975)
(as Business Flyers Basel AG)[1]
Commenced operations18 November 1978 (1978-11-18)
(as Crossair)
Ceased operations31 March 2002 (2002-03-31)
(re-organized as Swiss International Air Lines)
HubsEuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg
Frequent-flyer programQualiflyer
SubsidiariesCrossair Europe (1997—2002)
Parent companySAirGroup
HeadquartersSaint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France

Crossair Ltd. Co. for Regional European Air Transport (German: Crossair AG für europäischen Regionalluftverkehr) was a Swiss regional airline headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel, Switzerland.

After taking over most of the assets of Swissair following that airline's bankruptcy in 2002, Crossair was restructured to become Swiss International Air Lines.[2]

History

The airline was founded as a private company under the name Business Flyers Basel AG in 1975 by Moritz Suter. The name later changed to Crossair on 18 November 1978, before the beginning of scheduled services on 2 July 1979, with flights from Zürich to Nuremberg, Innsbruck and Klagenfurt. It was headquartered at Zurich Airport in Kloten in 1985.[3]

It added charter services for major shareholder Swissair in November 1995.

After parent company SAirGroup had to apply for a debt restructuring moratorium in October 2001, it became necessary to change the entire planning. On 31 March 2002, Swissair ceased all operations while most of its assets were taken over by Crossair which then was subsequently restructured and rebranded to become Swiss International Air Lines.[2]

Head office

Crossair was headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel, Switzerland.[4] In 2002 the name "Crossair" was replaced with "Swiss International Air Lines" on the head office building.[5]

Destinations

Crossair flew from Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lugano and Zurich. Crossair was very interested in serving from several hubs and, therefore set up a multi-hub business plan. Crossair set up a Eurocross scheme from their Basel base to serve smaller airports and transfer their passengers to larger hubs with short transit times (only around 20 minutes) This helped Crossair link with partners, such as Swissair from Zurich. Crossair also operated flights between Swiss airports.

Fleet

Crossair Avro RJ85
Crossair McDonnell Douglas MD-82
Crossair Saab 2000

Crossair has operated the following aircraft throughout its existence:[6][7]

Crossair fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Avro RJ85 4 1993 2002 Transferred to Swiss International Air Lines.
Avro RJ100 16 1995 2002 Transferred to Swiss International Air Lines.
One crashed as Flight 3597.
British Aerospace 146-200A 3 1990 1994
British Aerospace 146-300 2 1991 1996
Cessna T210 1 1976 Un­known
Cessna 310P 1 1976 Un­known
Cessna 320C 1 1975 Un­known
Cessna 421B 1 1976 Un­known
Cessna 550 1 1976 Un­known
Cessna 551 1 1977 1982
Embraer ERJ-145LU 22 2000 2002 Transferred to Swiss International Air Lines.
Fairchild Hiller FH-227 1 1984 1984 Leased from Delta Air Transport.
Fairchild Swearingen Metro II 3 1979 1983
Fairchild Swearingen Metro III 9 1981 1990
Fokker F27 Friendship 2 1984 1984
Fokker 50 5 1990 1995
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14 1 1995 1995 Leased from ALG Aeroleasing
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 1 1995 2001 Transferred to Nordic Airlink.
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 11 1995 2002
Piper L-4J 1 1975 2001
Saab 340 14 1984 2002 One crashed as Flight 498.
Saab 2000 32 1994 2002 Largest operator.
One written off as Flight 850.

Accidents and incidents

  • 10 July 2002: Swiss International Air Lines Flight 850 made an emergency landing at Werneuchen Airfield in Germany. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair when it hit an earth bank placed across the runway, the markings of which did not conform to standards.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Eintrag der Swiss International Air Lines AG, ehemals Crossair, im Handelsregister des Kantons Basel-Stadt". Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  2. 1 2 ch-aviation.com - Swiss retrieved 11 March 2023
  3. ↑ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 30 March 1985. 71." Retrieved on 17 June 2009.
  4. ↑ "Location." Crossair. Retrieved on 13 June 2009.
  5. ↑ "INDUSTRY BRIEFS." Airline Industry Information. 2 July 2002. Retrieved on 12 January 2010. "According to a company statement, the new name replaces Crossair at the corporate headquarters in Basel."
  6. ↑ "Crossair fleet". aerobernie.bplaced.net. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  7. ↑ "Crossair Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  8. ↑ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Saab 340B HB-AKK Nassenwil". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  9. ↑ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  10. ↑ "H-IZY Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 18 December 2010.

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