Experienced former Air Hamburg team launches LUMINAIR, targeting charter brokers.

It’s been a long journey – a bit longer than we hoped – but it feels amazing. I am on top of the world.” Algernon Trotter has just stepped off a test flight with representatives of Luftfahrt-Bundesamt, the German civil aviation authority. It was successful and the company expects to  collect its official  Air Operator’s Certificate soon.  He will then be the CEO of LUMINAIR, a new German charter operator.

Trotter started his career at a charter broker before moving to Air Hamburg. This was not a coincidence. Air Hamburg’s floating fleet was always popular with brokers. Vista Global bought the operator in 2022 removing these aircraft from the market to serve its members.

A group of four former Air Hamburg colleagues – Trotter, David Bergold, Alexander Stevens and Julia Feddern felt there was still room for a new operator. Three large Hamburg investors agreed and after many months of work LUMINAIR now has 12 employees and one Cessna Citation XLS.

LUMINAIR hopes to add another aircraft and three more pilots soon.  Like Air Hamburg, it will operate a floating fleet with each aircraft served by six pilots. It is looking at adding larger cabin aircraft within the next 12 months.  

“We are totally focused on charter. We are not selling cards or hours, we are totally in the broker sphere.”

“We are totally focused on charter. We are not selling cards or hours, we are totally in the broker sphere,” says Trotter. “We can also be very flexible with brokers and work with them to personalise trips for their customers.” 

 The company is aiming to charter each aircraft for around 800 hours a year. This focus on charter means that Luminair is prepared to guarantee charter hours, cutting owners’ costs or even providing a return. 

“We see ourselves as asset managers where we can offset depreciation and financing costs at a minimum,” says Trotter. “We can really lower owner’s costs of flying and really aim to generate a return for our owners.”

LUMINAIR’s investors are all experienced aircraft owners who know the team. After speaking with Corporate Jet Investor, Trotter and the team were heading out for a celebration dinner. The first charter is in a few days. After getting its AOC, Luminair is open for business.

Luminair first Cessna Citation XLS being welcomed to Hamburg Airport