Lufttransport Süd
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Airline |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Founder | LTU |
| Defunct | 1998 |
| Fate | Integrated into LTU |
| Successor | LTU |
| Headquarters | Munich , Germany |
Area served | Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, transatlantic destinations |
| Products | Scheduled and charter airline services |
| Owner | LTU (parent company) |
| Parent | LTU |
LTS Lufttransport Süd AG, widely recognized as LTS and subsequently rebranded as LTU Süd (Lufttransport-Unternehmen Süd), was a German leisure airline based in Munich. It provided both scheduled and charter services targeting European and long-haul vacation destinations. The airline functioned from its inception in May 1984 until it was integrated into its parent company, the larger LTU, in 1998.
LTS
The parent airline LTU, headquartered in Düsseldorf and known for its leisure travel operations, established the subsidiary Lufttransport Süd AG & Co KG Fluggesellschaft (LTS) in August 1983. Initially, LTS operated a fleet of three Boeing 757 aircraft, which were later reassigned to another LTU subsidiary, LTE, based in Palma de Mallorca.
The creation of these subsidiaries was designed to lower operational expenses by hiring new personnel under contracts with reduced wages compared to LTU's mainline staff, who were subject to expensive labor agreements. By setting up LTS, LTU effectively circumvented these high labor costs through separate employment terms. Moreover, German regulations limited flight attendants to working on a maximum of two aircraft types; since LTU's fleet included both Lockheed L-1011 and McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 models, forming LTS helped ensure compliance during fleet modernization.
LTU Süd
In 1988, the airline underwent a rebranding to become LTU Süd, adopting a corporate identity more closely aligned with its parent company LTU.
From its base in Munich, LTU Süd was tasked with serving destinations across Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia utilizing Boeing 757 aircraft. Following the 1988 ETOPS recertification that permitted longer overwater operations, the airline expanded its fleet in 1989 by adding larger Boeing 767 aircraft to facilitate transatlantic and Far East services. To support transatlantic routes departing Düsseldorf, LTU established a dedicated crew base there specifically for LTU Süd. All flights operated by this subsidiary were marketed under the LTU brand name.
In 1998, LTU Süd was fully consolidated into LTU. Subsequently, LTU itself became part of Air Berlin in 2007.
Fleet
During its 15 years of service, LTS operated the following aircraft: