Berline (airline)

This article is about a German airline from 1991 to 1994. For other usages of the term Berline, see Berline.

Berline (legally incorporated as Berlin-Brandenburgisches Luftfahrtunternehmen GmbH) was a German airline that operated chartered cargo and holiday flights out of its base at Berlin Schönefeld Airport.^[1] It had approximately 90 employees.^[2]

Berline

IATA ICAO Call sign BZ TBL —
Founded	1991; 34 years ago (1991)
Ceased operations	1994; 31 years ago (1994)
Operating bases	Berlin Schönefeld Airport
Headquarters	Berlin, Germany

History

A Berline Ilyushin Il-18 at Berlin Schönefeld Airport (1992)

Foundation

Following the failed privatization and subsequent decision by Treuhandanstalt to liquidate loss-making former East German state airline Interflug in early 1991, a group of former employees acquired five of Interflug's ageing Ilyushin Il-18 turboprop aircraft and founded Il-18 Air Cargo,^[1] an airline offering chartered freight services.

On 1 November 1991, the name was changed to Berline,^[2] and the airline commenced chartered passenger flights from Berlin-Schönefeld Airport to holiday resorts at the Mediterranean Sea, thus continuing the Interflug tradition. In 1992 and 1993, another two modern Fokker 100 airliners were added to the Berline fleet, which were leased from TAT.^{[citation needed]}

Closure

After several investors withdrew and a subsequent credit freeze, Berline experienced financial problems.^[3] On 31 March 1994, the company filed for bankruptcy and immediately ceased all flight operations.^[4] Plans to restart operations were not successful,^[5][6] and on 28 October of that year, Berline was officially shut down.^{[citation needed]}