DBA and LTU - Counterpart to Lufthansa?

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2006 im Fachbereich BWL - Unternehmensführung, Management, Organisation, Note: 1,0, Otto Beisheim School of Management Vallendar (Herbert Quandt Endowed Chair for International Management), Veranstaltung: Lufthansa Lecture on Airline Management, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: On February 17th, 2006, Hans-Rudolf Wöhrl announced that his investment holding INTRO had acquired an equity stake of 60% in LTU, a German charter airline, for an undisclosed amount. INTRO also holds 59.9% in Deutsche BA (DBA), a German low-cost carrier. DBA was founded in 1992 as a German subsidiary of British Airways. It was launched to enhance competition upon Lufthansa, actively targeting business travellers within Germany. In 1999 DBA comprised of 20 Boeing 737-300 aircrafts representing one of the world's most modern fleets with an average age of only 1.5 years. It was repeatedly ranked by the German Capital magazine as the airline with the best price / performance ratio, reaching a 99% on-time average. In 2002 the company changed its business model towards being a low-fare airline, while maintaining the present quality level. Up to that point in time, DBA has not had one profitable year in history. One needs to keep in mind though that British Airways had founded the company to pressurize Lufthansa's margins within Germany, and not necessarily to earn money. Nevertheless, British Airways decided to divest the business in 2003, as losses continued to exceed acceptable amounts. On July 1st, 2003, Hans-Rudolf Wöhrl's investment holding INTRO acquired the airline for the symbolic amount of ?1, while further being granted ?70mm in cash from British Airways to buy itself off its loss making subsidiary. Wöhrl had been a member of DBA's advisory board from 1994 up to 2001 and therefore is an expert of both the company and the aviation industry. By the end of 2004 DBA successfully accomplished the turnaround, after only 1.5 years under new ownership, and made its first profits in history. In April 2004 Wöhrl resigned as DBA's CEO and became head of the airline's advisory board. DBA's two top managers Martin Gauss and Peter Wojahn jointly operated the firm since then, who at the time both acquired a 10% stake in DBA. In March 2005 DBA acquired Germania Express, a competing German low-cost carrier, which added 12 airplanes and 15 new routes to the company. On February 13th, 2006, ATON investment holding bought a 25.1% stake in DBA. ATON is controlled by Lutz Helmig, who recently sold 94% of the Helios Hospital Group, which he had founded, for ?1.5bn. Helmig simultaneously became a member of DBA's advisory board. [...]