Luminair secured its Air Operator Certificate (AOC), #D-430, from the German federal aviation regulator (Luftfahrt Bundesamt - LBA) on November 1, 2024, enabling it to start commercial flights with its maiden aircraft, a recently delivered Citation XLS.
The nascent charter operator was established by a group of former Air Hamburg executives and is backed by three major investors from Hamburg. The founders identified a gap in the market following VistaJet Group Holding's acquisition of Air Hamburg, which removed its floating fleet from general charter availability.
Luminair took delivery of its first aircraft, Citation XLS D-CRIE (msn 560-5769), on October 28, 2024. The aircraft initially flew from Mönchengladbach to Münster/Osnabrück before proceeding to Hamburg Helmut Schmidt, all under Luminair's 'LUA' code. On October 30, 2024, it completed a roundtrip to Hamburg Luebeck. Originally registered in the US, this Citation XLS was then operated privately in Türkiye, before joining Swan Aviation (Istanbul Atatürk), marking the retirement of this aircraft type by the Turkish operator.
CEO Algernon Trotter told Corporate Jet Investor that Luminair plans to add a second aircraft and aims to introduce a large-cabin jet within the next year. The company will focus solely on providing charters to brokers, rather than selling cards or hours, with a target of achieving approximately 800 charter hours per aircraft annually. Luminair will employ a floating fleet model similar to that of Air Hamburg, ensuring that each aircraft is supported by a team of six pilots.
