Airline Name
PrivatAir (PrivatAir S.A.)IATA: PV / ICAO: PTI / CALLSIGN: PRIVATAIR
Founded in 1977 (as Petrolair, until 1989), commenced operations in 1979, ceased operations in 2018 (Dec. 5th)
(Filed for insolvency)Subsidiary Info:
PrivatAir Germany(I believe both PrivatAir SA and Germany shared the same logo)
IATA: PV [shared] / ICAO: PTG / CALLSIGN: PRIVATJET
Exact founding date unknown, commenced operations in 2003 (Oct.), ceased operations in 2018 (Oct.)
(Operating license revoked, later filed for insolvency with PrivatAir S.A.)
Country of Origin
Switzerland / Swiss Confederation ()
Main Hub(s): Geneva Airport (GVA)Subsidiary Country of Origin: Germany / Federal Republic of Germany (
)
Subsidary Main Hub(s): Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Dusseldorf Airport (DUS)
(Do note that some information about the subsidiary’s hubs/bases are unclear and even unverified in a few cases, so I apologize if there are any errors with the information given.)
Aircraft Types Used (from those available in WoA)
NOTE: While in the past I might’ve used “x/y” to determine what was operated by which airline in the event of multiple related airlines (successors, subsidiaries, etc.), this suggestion will instead categorize them in divided sections, going in order of the most relevant or biggest, in descending order. If I like this system, it will appear on future suggestions - treat this as a “test” for now.
PrivatAir (S.A.)'s fleet:
(For this airline, most types are already available in WoA.)Aircraft operated (already in-game):
Boeing 737 (-200 Adv, -300, -700, -700BBJ, -800, B732/B733/B737/B738) - 10 former.
(1/3/1/4/1 for each variant, respectively.)
(Pictured below: Boeing 737-200 Adv HB-IEH - now known as C5-CAQ)Do note the fact that in the shot directly above, the left side of the aircraft in specific had a small logo of the airline next to the L1 door. Going forward, if any other aircraft have the same trait of having the airline’s logo only on the left side, they will be included with a view of both sides.
Anyways though, in the early years of the airline, when it was known as Petrolair, they did operate this exact aircraft (along with a few others) with a different, earlier livery, which I figured I’d show here:
(Pictured below: Ditto, under Petrolair colors)Anyways, as for the -300s:
(Pictured below: Boeing 737-300 HB-IIN - now known as EK73740, stored)Before I get to the next bit, two important notes:
1: I wasn’t quite sure if the -700BBJs would fall under “already in-game” or “not in-game”, as aircraft such as other BBJs and even ACJs were suggested. However, if the BBJs are considered distinct, separate aircraft, and thus cannot be added with the rest of the 737s, then that’s alright - I wanted to include the BBJs here for the sake of consistency.
And also, they were included because there were seemingly no reference images for the lone, “commercial” 737-700 (HB-JJH), so in order to show what it must’ve looked like, I might as well include the BBJs.2: The second note is that all PrivatAir 737-700s had winglets installed, so they likely should be exclusively represented with winglets in-game.
Anyways, with those aside, here are the -700s:
(Pictured below: Boeing 737-700(WL) BBJ HB-IIO - now known as TC-MGA)Here’s another -700, appearing to have been operated on behalf of KLM, hence the small blue “On behalf of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines” text below the airline’s logo:
(Pictured below: Boeing 737-700(WL) BBJ HB-JJA - later broken up, known as D-AWBC at end of its life)As a means to provide a better reference, here’s a better look at the L1 door text:
(Pictured below: Ditto, from a zoomed-in view)Next up, here’s a bare white livery for this type:
(Pictured below: Boeing 737-700(WL) BBJ HB-IIQ - later broken up, known as D-AWBB at end of its life)No two-picture reference is necessary, as there appeared to be no other text or logos on the other side of the airframe.
However, just for the record, there was a variant of the livery with the logos/text:
(Pictured below: Ditto, same aircraft as above, with L1 door logo/text)And finally, for this type, a livery known as “U2 Elevationair”; the aircraft was rented out to transport the band U2:
(Pictured below: Ditto, in the Elevationair livery)And now, the final variant of the type, the -800:
(Pictured below: Boeing 737-800(WL) HB-IIR - now known as OK-TVW)Now, with the 737s covered, next aircraft:
Boeing 757 (-200, B752) - 3 former.
(Pictured below: HB-IEE - now known as N107TV, due to be known as N330GR)Do note that all PrivatAir 757s had winglets installed, however given that they were all installed later on in the 757’s time with the airline (installed 2007-2008 in specific), there is actually some media of them without winglets, shown in the next few pictures:
(Pictured below: Ditto, earlier on in life, without winglets)Here’s a unique pure silver livery, with a different logo a bit more representative of Switzerland here:
(Pictured below: Ditto, in silver livery)The aircraft livery-wise looks the same on both sides, but the left side has some blocked windows(?) so figured I’d include a secondary reference just in case.
Anyways, you might have recalled my comment from above about Petrolair, that beyond just the 737-200, operated a “few other” aircraft types - the 757 was one of such operated by them, shown here:
(Pictured below: Ditto, under Petrolair colors)That should be it for the 757s. Onto the next type:
Boeing 767 (-300ER, B763) - 2 former.
(Pictured below: HB-JJG - now known as 3C-MAG)For some reason, their 767s were painted blue and gray instead of red and gray - I’m unsure why, but oh well.
Also, something to note: Little media appears to exist of the other 767-300, HB-JJF, at least when it comes to operating with PrivatAir colors. This might be because the aircraft was frequently leased out throughout the 2010s, such as being leased out to TUIfly shown here.
If in the event you do find any media of HB-JJF with PrivatAir colors, I’m sure that you get the idea - feel free to tag it on in a reply.Anyways, next aircraft:
Aircraft operated (not in-game):
Grumman G-1159 Gulfstream II (no specific variant, GLF2) - exact number of aircraft operated not available/not clear.
(Pictured below: HB-IEY - now known as N826GW)Here’s some colorized media of the airframe, with “Petrola” titles on the engines:
(Pictured below: Ditto, colorized)Now there was a lack of information properly proving if “Petrola” was the same as “Petrolair” - I assumed that it was, given that their names are very similar, but if I am wrong, please do let me know in a reply.
As for the next type:Gulfstream IV (no specific variant, GLF4) - 1 former.
(Pictured below: HB-ITX - now known as N770KS)And that should have covered everything the Swiss PrivatAir has to offer.
Now then, here’s their German counterpart:PrivatAir (Germany)'s fleet:
(All operated types are in WoA already - or are planned to be.)Aircraft operated (already in-game):
Airbus A319 (-100, -100LR, A319) - 8 former.
(5/3 for both variants.)
(Pictured below: Airbus A319-100 D-APAA - partially preserved, known as A6-EID at end of its life)You might have been used to the PrivatAir logo and text only appearing next to the L1 door of an aircraft, but PrivatAir Germany decided to incorporate the information on both sides of the aircraft; such will be shown below:
(Pictured below: Airbus A319-100 D-APAB - later broken up, known as N175CS at end of its life)While this was on a different airframe, this trait of having the name and logo on both sides was shared by other A319s, such as D-APAA shown above this shot - though it was not a trait of the 737s, which we’ll get to later.
Though speaking of which, here’s a closeup shot of what the small “On behalf of Airbus” text looks like:
(Pictured below: Airbus A319-100 D-APAA - again, from a zoomed-in view)As for the other A319 variant:
(Pictured below: Airbus A319-100LR D-APAD - now known as VH-VCJ, stored)Do note that the “On behalf of Airbus” text was changed slightly to be “On behalf of Lufthansa”, at least for this airframe.
Here’s a closer shot of what that looks like:
(Pictured below: Ditto, from a zoomed-in shot)With those covered, now onto the next aircraft:
Boeing 737 (-700 BBJ, -800) - 5 former.
(2/3 for both variants.)
(Pictured below: Boeing 737-700(WL) BBJ D-AWBB - later scrapped)As mentioned previously, the 737s didn’t have the PrivatAir branding on both sides of the airframe, even when it came to this side of the airline, so do keep that in mind. Also, do note that all 737-700s, alongside the -800s, had winglets.
Anyways, from what it seems, their -700s only had the bare white liveries to offer, so let’s go to the -800s:
(Pictured below: Boeing 737-800(WL) D-APBB - now known as RA-73218)And that should be it for PrivatAir Germany’s side.
However, I’m not done with this section just yet, as there’s a bit of a “bonus” I wanted to include.See, under sites such as Planespotters, there is a second subsidiary listed, known as PrivatAir Saudi Arabia. However, given the lack of information about the relations between the other two PrivatAir companies (or if there are even any), I wasn’t sure whether or not to include this - but after asking around, I was told that I could include it as a little small bonus section, so I will.
The main reasons this wasn’t referenced at the top with PrivatAir SA and Germany were because of the lack of definitive information about the company and their relations, the fact that it is part of an entirely different region, and the fact that this subsidiary has only one type operated.
But anyways, explanation aside, here’s the bonus:
(Pictured below: Boeing 737-800(WL) BBJ VP-COH)(As a sidenote, finding images for this was actually kind of fun, see aircraft like HB-JJA and the 757s in specific)
Why should this airline be added?
I’d say this airline should be added as it was beyond significant in the history of Swiss/German aviation, playing a niche, yet important role as a business/luxury airline operating on behalf of other, larger airlines (ex. KLM and Lufthansa). Additionally, as a nice small bit of history, the airline would later go on to helping out with ECAir in its early years, up until around 2016 when the airline (briefly) ceased operations.
Beyond just historical importance, it would also definitely add to the variety of operators/contracts available in Europe and, of course, would pair nicely with the upcoming 737 family/remodels. They also have quite a fair share of livery material, both normal and special/events, and of course operating into the late 2010s should allow them to be seen on the map as a normal map contract operator.Now, when I mention Europe, I mean that they served a wide variety of destinations all across it - from what I was able to find, they served airports like Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Leipzig, London (Luton/Heathrow), Manchester, Prague, and of course Swiss airports like Geneva, their hub, and Zurich.
Their operations weren’t just limited to Europe either, as I found pictures of them operating to airports across quite a few other regions, such as Boston, Calgary, New York (JFK/Newark), Washington Dulles, Houston and Chicago, thus proving this airline would further add to those who prefer realistic operations, and show that it would be capable of serving a decent variety of destinations instead of just one, or a few, regions.
(they also served airports around Asia/Oceania such as Sydney, Tokyo Narita and Kuala Lumpur but I believe that’s outside of the range of the B752/B763 in-game, at least directly from GVA)So, to summarize, I believe that this airline should be added as it was a significant part of Switzerland’s (or even Europe’s) aviation history, would make for great additions to see at a notable variety of airports, especially European airports like Heathrow, Prague, Leipzig and Zurich, has a nice variety of both standard and event liveries, and would be great to see with the soon-to-be full 737 family.
SOURCES:
PrivatAir’s Planespotters.net Page
PrivatAir Germany’s Planespotters.net Page
PrivatAir’s Wikipedia Page
A fair bit of looking around on JetPhotos