Darwin Airline
A Darwin Airline Saab 2000 | |||||||
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| Founded | 12 August 2003 | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | 28 July 2004 | ||||||
| Ceased operations | 12 December 2017 | ||||||
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| Parent company | Adria Airways | ||||||
| Headquarters | Bioggio, Lugano, Switzerland | ||||||
| Key people | Emilio Martinenghi (President) | ||||||
| Employees | 314 (as of October 2014) | ||||||
Darwin Airline SA was a Swiss regional airline with its head office in Bioggio, Lugano flying under the brand name Adria Airways Switzerland. It operated scheduled domestic and international services in some western European countries. It used the brand name Etihad Regional from January 2014 to July 2017, when Etihad Airways sold its 33% stake to the owner of Adria Airways. It previously also operated flights on behalf of Alitalia. Its bases were Geneva Airport and Lugano Airport.
In November 2017, the Swiss authorities suspended the airline's license for scheduled flights due to financial difficulties but allowed the wetlease operations to be continued. On 12 December 2017, the airline was declared bankrupt and ceased all remaining operations after its license was voided, while some of its fleet was transferred to its owner Adria Airways; the Saab 2000 aircraft operated scheduled services from Ljubljana Airport in the name of Adria Airways with the aircraft still carrying the Adria Airways Switzerland livery until Adria declared bankruptcy in 2019.