| Carrier: | HLX
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| Headquarters: | Germany
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| Founded: | 2002
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| Destinations: | 39
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| Bases: | Cologne-Bonn, Hannover, Stuttgart
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| Owners: | Tui AG
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| Listed: | Yes
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| Online Booking: | Yes
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| Website: | http://www.hlx.com
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| Fleet | B737-800 2
B737-700 8 + 2 on order
B737-500 5
F100 2
| Overview - HLX
HLX – The European air taxi HLX, born Hapag-Lloyd Express in late 2002, is the low cost arm of massive transportation group Tui AG. The carrier has won most of its renown from a unique approach to branding – aircraft liveried in the style of New York cabs and the accompanying slogan “Fly for the price of a taxi.”
The carrier has also made an impact in the market, as its flights within Germany and to regional business and tourist destinations generated 3.6 million passenger trips in 2005, almost double the 1.9 million it carried in 2003. Tui has said that its LCC unit may achieve its first profit in 2006. However, the carrier has had a hard time achieving market differentiation and its attempts to break into markets in competition with other carriers have not been successful.
It briefly tried to make a name for itself flying to underserved UK cities, such as Coventry (where Tui owns the airport) and Newcastle, which it connected with three cities in Germany. But the services did not stick in the market, and HLX drew down its Newcastle services, as well as operations to leisure destinations from Berlin Tegel. HLX to merge with Hapagfly In Aug-06, Tui announced plans for a merger of its German LCC subsidiaries, Hapagfly and Hapag-Lloyd Express as part of measures to boost profitability at its “two-pronged” tourism and shipping divisions.
The merged carrier is expected to create savings worth approximately EUR220 million by 2008, with the majority of those to be realised in 2007. No timetable for the integration was announced.
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