Travel

WORLD TRAVEL AIRLINES was founded on 19 November 1976 in

Stuttgart (Germany) .

Founders were local Travel Agencies and the Federal Republic of Germany. The Federal State provided the main part of the start-up capital, which was enough to buy two brand new Boeing 747-200B.

In the early 90s, WTA had already a Fleet of 23 B 747-200B and was already the biggest Airline for charter flights to and from Germany. They started to expand their Services now to other European countries.

Starting in 1994, World Travel replaced the B 747-200s by the more modern B 747-400, to operate their flights more economically. The modification of the fleet was completed end of the year 2000, when the last B 747-200 was formally adopted on 20 November, on Flight WT 076 from Stuttgart to Seattle respectively Los Angeles.

Afterwards the Plane approached it?s last Trip to Mojave Desert, to be scrapped.

In early 2001, WTA came after a hard winter in big financial problems. Due to the aggressive pricing policy of Airlines like Landmark, Orbit and Pacifica Airlines, World Travel lost many profitable contracts with important tour operators. Finally, end of January 2001, a businesswoman from Nuremberg convinced a large American Bank, with German base in Dusseldorf, to grant him a large loan to buy the airline of the existing property owners.

The convincing strategy was to buy smaller planes, to be more flexible. However, the bank named as condition, that the head office of the airline is to be relocated to Frankfurt in order to be closer to the market.

After all, the 23rd May 2001 was a Milestone for World Travel Airlines, when the first Flight from Europe to South America was opened with Flight WT 023 from Frankfurt to Lima. Meanwhile the South American routes are the Passion of WTA and one of the main business areas of the airline.

Boeing 737-400 WORLD TRAVEL AIRLINES

On 01 March 2002, World Travel Airlines was able to complete a great business with Boeing, as the financially troubled SOAR AIRLINES cancelled them an order with 389 brand new B 737-400s, which were already stored since 1999 and 2000 when the last Aircraft of this Type was built, waiting for a new buyer. Logical that WTA benefited from high discounts and the company?s new stategy could finally be translated into reality. The first of these great Jets entered in Service on 15 December 2002, what was the beginning of a new era in the history of the Airline. World Travel Airlines finally was able to build up a network of connections to smaller airports with lower passenger volume and at the same time they could offer now a feeder service to fill the 747?s. WTA became now more independent of the tour operators, because they were selling their flights now more as scheduled flights. Although holiday destinations are still today the main business of the airline, since the B 737 entered in the Fleet, a large part of the airplane seats were sold now directly by World Travel for individual traveling people.

Since then, the airline was profitable once again and the bank was convinced of the CEO?s course, they were in agree to relocate the head office once again back to Stuttgart, what was a big desire of the airline boss.

The move was completed in late 2003, when the company got offered a cheap deal to rent a office building near the Airport of Stuttgart. Today the company is still located there.

What stayed in Frankfurt, was a major maintenance center of WTA and the central accounting.

In November 2004, WTA signed contracts with Airbus and Boeing for the A 321 and B 737-800.

On 23 July 2005 was picked up the first Airbus A 321 in Hamburg-Finkenwerder, the B 737-800 followed a few days later from Seattle, with the new aircraft types was introduced a new livery with blue colours. Nevertheless the B 737-400 Fleet and a main part of the B 747-400 Fleet is keeping their old livery in the combination white, red and black.

Since 2005, WTA expanded its route network to the whole world and won several awards. In recent years, especially for offering the best value for money compared with the competition. In 2015 the airline wanted to build up a new low-cost airline, in order to be able to compete with the other low-cost carriers.

In their search they came in contact with American Pacific Airways, which offered to take over the company completely, because they had such big money problems. Normally WTA had not thought that far, but since the price was so tempting, you could not refuse the offer. So on 15 March 2015 the contract was signed and WTA the new owner of American Pacific Airways. Till 31st October 2015, WTA planned to continue the previous flight schedule of American Pacific Airways, but unprofitable routes were deleted already. From 01. November 2015 and thus the start of the new summer timetable, the flight operation wanted to be completely restarted and synchronized to the connections of World Travel Airlines.

After the young CEO visited their headquarter in San Francisco to check the business processes, one thing was clear for him, the business model of American Pacific Airways has to be changed. Otherwise the Airline has no chance to survive and will bring World Travel Airlines as a whole in big problems. That was the birth of the new low-cost carrier American Pacific Airways .

The WTA chef said with a smile, "the other airlines will have to wrap up warm, inclusive World Travel Airlines".

Captain STR planned to move the headquarters from San Francisco to Arequipa, Peru, what caused big problems, also inside WORLD TRAVEL AIRLINES. The employees were not in agree with it.

So the reorganization of the company could not happen like this, what destroyed the plan of the CEO and caused him troubles, that WTA could get in financial problems because of this.

In July 2015, the CEO became a offer from Pacifica Airlines, to sell American Pacific Airways to them and to withdraw as the CEO from WTA. In return Pacifica Airlines will withdraw from Europe and he could found in cooperation with them a new Airline for Europe, which will be independent from Pacifica Airlines. Also the rights to the brand Landmark Airlines, would be overwritten to the new airline. Captain STR, the former CEO of WTA was in agree with it and the contract was signed on 27 July 2015. Now he finally was able to meet decisions more flexible and independent. He will take the most trusted employees from WTA to the new Airline named PACIFIA AIRLINES EUROPA GmbH, which was officially founded on 23 July 2015. The CEO also will start already the new subsidiary Landmark Airlines, which was founded on 27 July 2015, with the help of some strong investors. This airline will start operations on 15 December 2015. For more informations please also visit pacifica-airlines-europa.wikia