Luftverkehr Friesland-Harle
German regional airline
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luftverkehr Friesland-Harle, commonly abbreviated LFH,[1] was a small airline based in Wangerland, Germany, that was established in 1983 and which operated scheduled and chartered passenger and cargo flights, linking Harle Airfield (de) to the East Frisian Islands.[2] Schedules were started on 1 October 1983, a few days after the foundation. At March 2007 it had 30 employees.[2] In 2011, LFH was acquired by fellow FLN Frisia Luftverkehr, which continued to operate the subsidiary until it was fully absorbed in 2014.[3]
.png)
| |||||||
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | September 1983 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Commenced operations | October 1983 | ||||||
Ceased operations | 2014 (merged into FLN Frisia Luftverkehr) | ||||||
| Fleet size | 8 | ||||||
| Parent company | FLN Frisia Luftverkehr from 2011 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Wangerland, Germany | ||||||
Destinations
As of 2013, LFH operated scheduled services between Harle and Wangerooge, on-demand flights to the other East Frisian Islands of Langeoog, Baltrum, Norderney, Juist and Borkum, as well as to Heligoland.[3] The airline was also occasionally contracted to operate flights in Estonia.
Fleet
As of August 2013, the LFH fleet consisted of the following aircraft types:[4]
| Aircraft type | In service |
|---|---|
| Britten-Norman Islander | 5 |
| Cessna 172 | 3 |
| Total | 8 |
Incidents and accidents
- On 3 March 2007 at around 16:40 local time, an LFH Britten-Norman Islander (registered D-ILFB) overshot the runway at Ruhnu Airfield in Estonia during a poor-weather landing following a domestic flight from Pärnu. The aircraft was destroyed when it crashed into trees, but the pilot and the two passengers on board survived the accident.[5]
- Another one of the company's Islanders, registered D-ILFC, was damaged in a landing incident at Wangerooge on 29 June 2009. The aircraft, with one pilot and five passengers on board, was on a short 5-minute flight from Harle when the pilot had to abort landing twice because he was blinded by the sun. At the second go-around attempt, the aircraft slammed hard into the runway, destroying the left landing gear and substantially damaging the left wing. The pilot managed to get airborne again and performed a successful emergency landing at nearby Jever Air Base. There were no injuries.[6]
