page_title: LTU International
section_title: Takeover by Air Berlin
hierarchical_section_title: LTU International / History / Takeover by Air Berlin
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Ein A330-200 der LTU kurz vor der Landung auf den Flughafen Düsseldorf.
context_page_description: LTU, legally incorporated as LTU Lufttransport-Unternehmen GmbH, was a German leisure airline headquartered in Düsseldorf. It operated medium and long-haul routes and maintained hubs at Düsseldorf Airport, Munich Airport and Berlin-Tegel Airport. LTU was acquired by Air Berlin in 2007. Use of the LTU brand ceased in 2009, and LTU itself was dissolved by April 2011.
context_section_description: In March 2007, Air Berlin took over LTU International, creating the fourth-largest airline group in Europe in terms of traffic. Combined, the airlines carried 22.1 million passengers in 2006. The takeover was driven by the prospect of branching into long-haul operations and the chance to establish a stronger presence at Düsseldorf Airport. For a period, LTU retained its name on its leisure routes, while routes to the U.S. and China immediately switched to Air Berlin branding.
  In April 2007, shortly after the Air Berlin takeover, a new livery was presented. It maintained the traditional red and white corporate colors, but the body was now much more white.
  
  On 1 May 2007, LTU operated the first Arctic & North Pole Sightseeing Flight from continental Europe in aviation history for their charter customer Deutsche Polarflug. The flight took 12h 55m and the aircraft, an A330-200 took a group of 283 passengers from Düsseldorf via Norway, Svalbard, The North Pole, Eastern Greenland and Iceland back to Düsseldorf.  The flight was filmed for an episode of PilotsEYE.tv
  LTU opened a third long-haul base besides Düsseldorf and Munich at Berlin Tegel Airport in October 2007, basing a single Airbus A330-200 there to launch flights to Bangkok, Punta Cana and Varadero.
caption: An LTU Airbus A330 in the short-lived new color scheme presented in 2007, landing at Düsseldorf Airport.
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