DAT (Denmark) (DX, Kolding) will launch scheduled services between Saarbrücken and Berlin Tegel in Germany on January 1, 2020, taking over the route vacated by Luxair (LG, Luxembourg).
According to the Danish carrier's online booking system, flights will operate 17x weekly (3x daily on working days and 2x daily on Sundays) using an ATR72-600 turboprop. It will be DAT's first scheduled route to or in Germany.
The carrier currently operates two ATR72-600s, the ch-aviation fleets module shows, and intends to base one of them out of Saarbrücken.
The route is currently served 18x weekly by Luxair (LG, Luxembourg). Flights are operated by Regional Jet (Tallinn Lennart Meri) using CRJ700 equipment. Prior to the Adria Airways (Ljubljana) bankruptcy, the route was flown by the Slovenian flag carrier on behalf of Luxair using a CRJ700. Luxair said in a press release that it will end services between Saarbrücken and Berlin at the end of 2019, citing a lack of economic viability of the route.
Luxair said that "despite numerous, recurring and intensified measures, the route did not reach the goal of economic sustainability". The carrier pointed out that operating the single route requires a sizeable presence in Saarbücken, making it operationally challenging.
