History
The airline was established on 1 August 1950 and started operations in 1950. It was founded by the late Captain Ingolf Nielsen. Its first aircraft was a single engine KZ III, call sign OY-DMO which had been used for flights primarily between Sønderborg and Copenhagen. Cimber Air was one of the very few operators of the VFW-Fokker 614 regional jet. It also operated the Nord 262 and the Grumman Gulfstream 1 on its scheduled services. Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) purchased 26% of Cimber Air in May 1998 and expanded its codeshare agreement. In March 2003, SAS sold the stake back to Cimber Air Holding.
On 3 December 2008 Cimber Air bought parts of Sterling Airlines, which had filed for bankruptcy on 29 October 2008. The new airline, which was named Cimber-Sterling, was created on 7 January 2009. Cimber bought the AOC (Air Operators Certificate), slots, brand and website (www.sterling.com and other domains). Aircraft leases were negotiatied with the owners. Employees of the former Sterling Airlines was not part of the takeover, but were welcome to seek employment in the new airline.
Cimber Sterling was originally wholly owned by Cimber Air Holding (Nielsen family) and had 368 employees (at March 2007). It was listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange in 2009. In 2011, due to financial difficulties Cimber Sterling entered into a subscription agreement with Mansvell Enterprises Ltd, which gave Ukrainian billionaire Ihor Kolomoyskyi a stake of 70.8%.
On the morning of 3 May 2012, Cimber Sterling cancelled all flights and declared bankruptcy. Within hours, other airlines announced their entry on selected routes.
Cimber Sterling was the main sponsor of the Danish handball team in 2009 and 2010.
Read more about this topic: Cimber Sterling
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