THE LAST AUTHENTIC AIRLINE IN TYROL

It comes close to silly behaviour to consider a postcard as the deciding factor that the aviation-business in Austria developed into what it is now. No, it wasn’t, but it set the ball rolling.

How it all began...

In 1959, Jakob Ringler, an enthusiastic young aviation fan who was hard to match, got a postcard from his aunt from New York which showed a brand new Boeing 707 on it’s cover. This flared up his passion to new heights, and through sheer willpower he pushed his ethusiasm for aviation forward.
After his economic-degree, he was busy abroad and ran several projects. Back, he contributed his share to the aviation-business which began to flourish.

What should be stressed is that without his afford and Tyrolian resolution we would have renounced things without we can’t do anymore!

We owe more to him as we may expect: He founded more aviation companies in Austria than anyone else, and despite economic weak and troubled times, all the firms are still operating successfully today.
Tyrolean Airways belongs to Austrian Airlines (AUA) now, the helicopter firms Heliair and the Christophorus Air Rescue is headed now by the Austrian automobile club OEAMTC. Last but not least, the Swarovski family owns Tyrolean Jet Service.
In 1999, he took over Tyrolean Air Ambulance and finally founded Welcome Air, the last airline with tyrolean roots. These days, Irene and Mag. Jakob Ringler are running together a successful and solid airline with a tiny, but fine fleet of 3 Dorniers and 2 ambulance jets.

Destinations / Flightplan

Welcome Air operates in Austria and also flies into the rest of Europe. It offers scheduled flights, business and special event flights as well as ambulance flights, sarcastically known as “Gipsbomber” (Plaster-bombers) in the winter months. This summer, Welcome Air takes you to Gothenburg, Graz, Innsbruck, Hanover and Olbia on Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda. Apart from that, they also have added Rotterdam in their flightplan as well as Antwerp during special times.

Flying with a Mercedes!

Welcome Air has, beside 2 ambulance jets which serve whole Europe, also three Dornier 328-110 in service, which can be used for small ambulance flights as well. The Dorniers are state-of-the-art, in a very good condition and are known among the experts as the “Mercedes in the air”.

They’re equipped with comfortable seats, and Tyrolean’s model plant airline is lavish with the leg space apart from that. All aircrafts are clean and attractively furnished – they take care of their costumers.

                                                                 Ambulance Transport

Departed from Innsbruck (LOWI/INN) in the morning


Climbing out of the mountains                 Approaching Graz (LOWG/GRZ)


GRZ-INN Catching the last sunshine before sunset at 30.000 feet

It’s like being part of the family...

The service is nice – the crew is friendly and attentive to the passengers who get served very well throughout the journey. You don’t get treaten like a guest, but more as a member of the family, and you’ll surely enjoy the relaxed and warm atmosphere onboard. The best things come in small packages: excellent service, extensive offer of beverages and little small presents. The only you may fault Welcome Air with is the catering – the generous filled rolls are tasty, no doubt about that, but for the ticket price and the length of some flights your idea of a meal may be different. However, it seems that this works out and people are satisfied.

For me as a Tyrolean, it was an honour and a pleasure to fly again with Welcome Air, the last shining star on Tyrol’s sky! Welcome onboard!!