DM Airlines news: More planes, ZRH fleet planned and ultra-long-hauls
During the last weeks, DM Airlines has been expanding operations out of Zurich. Just today, the 100th contract slot has been filled and the ZRH fleet is now made up of 17 based planes. Many of these are pass rewards (mostly A320 family aircraft), but a couple of new A340s have also joined the fleet in the last few days.
A poll was carried out deciding what the airline’s main fleet plane at ZRH would be with the A340-300 winning with almost 40%. Since then the general fleet plans for ZRH have been created, and the expected total number of ZRH-based planes is approximately 120 - made up of A340s (up to 30) as well as 787s, C919s, B463s, E190s and E2s (10 of each), with 747s and other aircraft types in smaller quantities. As of now, a new (widebody) plane joins the ZRH-based fleet about every 2 days.
(Pic. 1: DM Airlines ZRH operations - here you can see both of DM Airlines’ A340-300s, as well as an A346, 747, A321 and B463, among many other planes from connection partners @B0Ebrahim, @Hirohitoswaifu, @Scorpius, @ZurichAirways, @DJaviation and @CJ_RVWilliams)
Another poll was also made to decide if a new aircraft type will join the fleet, and with 74% approval, the A340-500 will be added to the fleet at multiple airports. While it is not the most profitable aircraft and many routes will inherently operate at a loss, it will have an important role in making ultra-long-haul flights possible. The main routes it will be used on are PRG-SYD and ZRH-SYD, but it will fly to some other destinations as well based on demand. The acquisiton of A340-500 is crucial so even the furthest away airports can be reached from the core European hub network of PRG and ZRH. Livery design is currently in progress but multiple different livery combinations will likely be used, including the 2026 Football fever livery.
(Pic. 2, 3, 4: Visualizations of potential A345 football fever livery colors)