LoCo, RAF Airbase Niederrhein, Ryanair and Germanwings

The respected Dutch finacial newspaper “Het Finacieele Dagblad” had an interview with Erik de Vlieger, via his IMCA group active in aviation with FlyMetropolis, Tulip Air, Dynamic Airlines, 50% stake in Air Lib (negotiating a full take over with French Government) and 60% ownership of KLM Exel. He announced that there is a project going on called “LoCo” to start a new daughter-company of KLM Exel in the lowcost sector. “Loco” would fly out of former RAF Airbase Niederrhein in Germany, which is relatively near to the Dutch cities of Venlo and Nijmegen.

Hope is to start operating as of the end of May, destinations mentioned: Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Nice, Copenhagen and Helsinki and a/c preferred would be A320. As the question is if a/c would be available on such a short term the F100 is mentioned as a starting option as Erik de Vlieger has an option to purchase up to 60 from American Airlines (see also one of my responses in the Buzz saga).

As Ryanair will start operating out of the new civil airport Niederrhein (now owned by Dutch investors) this could be a real kick off for Niederrhein and new competition for Germanwings in Germany.

Will keep you posted 🙂