R3D Luftverkehr-AG, operating as R3D Airlines, is a privately held international boutique airline headquartered on the grounds of Geneva Airport (GVA), Le Grand-Saconnex, Meyrin, Geneva, Switzerland. Geneva-GVA also serves as the carrier’s only hub.
R3D operates as a boutique leisure airline, offering seasonal flights to several popular winter and summer European resort destinations, alongside providing day to day nonstop air service between Geneva-GVA and several cities across Europe.
History
It Started With A Winning Lottery Ticket
In March 2012 a young Swiss couple, Markus Leuenberger (b 1984) and Elin Vogel (b 1985), took a skiing vacation to Colorado. Both were employees at the legacy carrier EuroSwiss Airlines, where Markus worked as a 1st officer pilot while Elin was a flight attendant. While they were in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, the couple bought a few MegaBucks lottery tickets.
While walking through the Denver airport to return to Switzerland, a TV news show displayed the winning lottery ticket drawing. Markus and Elin checked their tickets and discovered they had actually won the lottery’s cash option grand prize - a payout of over $500 million! The couple skipped their return flight to collect their winnings.
When they finally returned home, Markus and Elin decided to start an airline of their own, and hired several colleagues from EuroSwiss to come along. The two decided to name their new airline R3D Airlines - R3D is pronounced RED, by the way - with the R3D reference coming from the last 3 Base36 digits on their winning lottery ticket number: 69XJ0-R3D. Since red was also the couple’s favorite color and the national colors of Switzerland, they decided to use red and white as the livery color scheme.
Startup
Elin and Markus flew to Dublin, Ireland and visited with JetStream Aircraft Leasing (now JetStream Aerospace) to acquire aircraft to be leased. To make their money go as far as possible in their startup efforts, Markus and Elin decided to initially eschew the use of jet aircraft entirely and instead begin with turboprop airliners, which could be acquired at less than 1/3rd the cost. They first considered the Bombardier DHC-8 Q400, but the couple ultimately signed up to lease ATR 72-600 aircraft instead. Markus Leuenberger was the company’s first pilot to attain ATR 72 piloting certification.
R3D Airlines began scheduled operations on Monday 3 December 2012 with a trio of leased ATR 72-600s based at Geneva-GVA, flying scheduled and charter air service to destinations around Europe using a standard 2:2 seating configuration in 18 rows (72 pax). Two of the ATR 72s were assigned to fly scheduled flights to and from Amsterdam-AMS, Barcelona-BCN, Berlin-BER, Frankfurt-FRA and Paris-ORY. The 3rd aircraft was a dedicated charter aircraft that flew passengers from Geneva-GVA to skiing destinations in the winter and sunbathing destinations during summer. Markus frequently flew as captain on many flights, while Elin occasionally served on the same flights as cabin crew.
2014: New 60-Pax Seating Configuration
By 2014, R3D Airlines was effectively breaking even. Having worked as a flight attendant on countless flights, Elin Vogel gradually perfected the company’s in-flight service model, making it exceptionally customer-friendly in numerous ways. From early on R3D encouraged the use of the company’s mobile phone app, offering customers a €5 (or CHF 5) discount on airfares for mobile phone users as well as various frequent flier perks.
But Elin also served as an impromptu sounding board for R3D’s customers, many of whom were unaware that she was actually a co-owner of the carrier. Elin routinely interviewed passengers during flights, persuading them to give reviews of their individual passenger experiences. Customers readily obliged and offered her plenty of opinions, enumerating all the pros and cons of their travel experiences, both with R3D and with other carriers.
In time, the consensus seemed to be that while customers generally liked the airline’s friendliness, technology and pricing well enough, they also wanted more options in terms of seating and comfort. At the time R3D offered only a single class configuration, but about half of customers expressed a willingness to pay more to get a better in-flight experience, while the other half valued the low cost experience..
After much discussion, Elin convinced Markus to have R3D undertake a different strategy: Instead of sticking with the single-class, low cost carrier (LCC) model, why not become more of a boutique airline and offer 2 or even 3 seating classes, and offer passengers a choice? At the same time, the airline could upgrade the cabin as a whole to make it better for customers.
Elin and Markus agreed to refit one of the ATR 72s with a 2 or 3 class arrangement and see how it performed.
When they leased two newer ATRs, R3D worked with their lessor, JetStream Aerospace, to remove 12 seats and create a new, 2-class layout. Because the main entrance to the ATR 72s is located at the rear of the aircraft, the last 6 rows were set up with state of the art 1:1 seats for 12 passengers, with greater width and with each seat featuring a table next to the aisle. This section was named Comfort Class, and it offered 34 inch pitch seats with contoured cushions, larger backrests and an elevated level of service that would be complimentary with the airfare.
Meanwhile, the remaining 12 rows set in the front of the aircraft - 48 seats - were kept in the standard 2:2 configuration for 12 rows and a 31 inch pitch. This section was named Standard Class, and would continue to offer amenities on a pay as you go basis. Their seats were comfortable but spare.
The new aircraft had an overall total of 60 seats - 12 fewer than previous aircraft - but was redecorated end to end with wooden accents, beautifully covered seating, and relaxing mood lighting that would operate from gate to gate.
These new 60-pax aircraft were rolled out during the fall of 2014 and proved to be such a success that all scheduled aircraft were migrated over to the 60-pax configuration, while the carrier’s remaining charter aircraft were kept in the traditional 72-pax arrangement.
By 2016 Elin Vogel and Markus Leuenberger began working full time from the company’s head offices at Geneva-GVA, although they both continued to take flights serving as cabin crew and flight crew, respectively. Although Elin was listed as the company’s CEO and Markus as the COO (chief operating officer) on paper, the two continued to collaborate on nearly everything.
Meanwhile, Elin gave birth to daughter Emma Vogel in 2017 and son Matteo Vogel in 2019. Elin had already arranged for onsite daycare at the company’s Geneva-GVA offices back in 2013 to accommodate the company’s working parents.
2019: R3D Adds Airbus A220s To The Fleet
In 2017, R3D decided it was time to start adding jets to their fleet. The goal was to continue using the tried-and-true ATR 72s on short distance routes, while deploying jets on longer and higher traffic routes. The Boeing 737-700 and Airbus A319 were initially discussed, and the company gave considerable thought to going with either Bombardier CRJ or Embraer E-Jet regional aircraft to save costs.
In the end, the new Bombardier CS300 seemed to fit the bill best. Markus and Elin admired the CS300’s superior range, fuel burn, and passenger capacity. They had seen the aircraft on display at various air shows during the mid 2010s, and when lessor JetStream Aerospace made an enticing lease offer, R3D signed on the line to start taking delivery on the aircraft starting in early 2019.
After some financial and legal struggles, Bombardier entered into a joint venture with Airbus and by 2018 the CS300 was rebranded as the Airbus A220-300. R3D took delivery of its first A220 in December 2018, which was configured with 20 reclining seats placed at the front in Comfort Class set at 2:2 with a 36 inch pitch, and 115 Standard Class seats placed at the rear were configured at 2:3 with a 31 inch pitch. The A220s were also given similar interior designs to the 60-pax ATRs.
The A220s entered scheduled service in January 2019 and began flying between Geneva-GVA and the 4 major European hubs of London-LHR, Paris-CDG, Amsterdam-AMS and Frankfurt-FRA.
With the arrival of the A220s, R3D also entered into a series of lucrative codesharing agreements with several intercontinental airlines, including Jade Air (China), L’Avion (France), Nuages Airline (France), IceJet (Iceland), Levant Airlines (Lebanon), Nederland Airlines (Netherlands), Ambient Airlines (UK), and Floridair (USA).
2020: Covid 19
Covid 19 arrived in Switzerland in late February 2020 via Milan, Italy. Predictably, the disease spread quickly and the Swiss government began imposing various protective measures from March 2020 to combat the spread of it. The country did not implement a total lockdown but it did greatly limit use of public transport, including air travel.
During the spring of 2020 nearly all passenger air transport was shut down, and R3D Airlines responded by suspending about 90% of its flight schedule. The remaining flights were generally limited to carrying cargo and essential personnel only, mostly within Switzerland and a couple of other European cities, mainly Paris-CDG and Milan-MXP.
In August 2020, air travel began to resume with masking requirements. Around the same time, R3D Airlines received a much-needed state backed loan of CHF 750 million (about $824 million) from the Swiss federal government to sustain its operations. The loan came at a crucial time, when the company was approaching potential bankruptcy. Fortunately, the loan helped sustain the company through the rest of the pandemic.
By February 2022, most Covid related restrictions were lifted, and R3D Airlines began rebuilding its route network accordingly.
2020s: Post Covid Expansions
In December 2021, R3D Airlines introduced direct air service to several regional airports near major ski resorts within Switzerland, France and Italy. While R3D had already provided winter service for years to larger European ski resorts like Grenoble-GNB, Innsbruck-INN, Klagenfurt-KLU and Urgell-LEU, R3D leased a set of Daher Kodiak 9-passenger utility aircraft to carry customers nonstop to smaller, more remote airfields. The Kodiaks were initially placed on routes from Geneva-GVA to Chambery-CMF, Courchevel-CVF, Annecy-NCY, Lugano-LUG and Sion-SIR. Service was later added to Samedan-SMV and Saanen-LSGK.
The Kodiak flights were timed to occur every two hours or so during the day, so that thru-passengers could be expeditiously connected to the next flight to their resort. During the off season the same Kodiak aircraft were kept busy providing sightseeing and charter flights around Switzerland, France and northern Italy.
In April 2022, R3D Airlines expanded its codesharing network by signing a year-round codeshare agreement with Nisiá Airlines of Greece. The new agreement was an important strategic move, because Nisiá’s regional route network covered an array of island spots within Greece from its hubs at Athens-ATH and Thessaloniki-SKG. Nisiá and R3D began coordinating flights between Geneva-GVA and these airports to optimize passenger connections, while providing Nisiá with a virtual hub at the heart of central Europe providing air service across the continent. This arrangement provided strong year round connections between the Greek islands and the rest of Europe, with peak service coming during the summer months. Because of the agreement, R3D’s revenue stream was strong enough that by the spring of 2024 the company was able to pay back its state-backed Covid 19 loan ahead of schedule.
In November 2022, R3D expanded its seasonal Daher Kodiak air service to include access to smaller regional ski resort airports from Zurich-ZRH. The new direct service from ZRH was especially profitable due to that airport’s greater worldwide air service networks.
In February 2023, R3D entered into a major codesharing agreement with the major US based Columbia Airlines. The agreement offered smooth connecting service between Geneva-GVA and several US cities, including Boston-BOS, Chicago-ORD, Dallas-DFW, Denver-DEN, Houston, IAH, Miami-MIA, New York-JFK, San Francisco-SFO and Washington-IAD. Columbia also realigned its flight schedule to and from Geneva-GVA to accommodate the deal, providing extra flights to Denver-DEN in winter and Miami-MIA during summer.
During the 2023 Paris Air Show, R3D Airlines signed a new leasing agreement to acquire a series of new Aria V12 eVTOL and Aria V42 eVTOL aircraft. The V12s were to replace the existing leased Daher Kodiak planes, while the carrier plans to use the V42s would be used to create new regional routes, such as Geneva-GVA to Lyon-LYS, and to upgrade several seasonal routes to year round service.
Also in 2023, Elin Vogel gave birth to daughter Ella Vogel, her 3rd child.
2024: Flex Seating
In early 2024, R3D Airlines introduced a new cabin option for both its Airbus A220 and ATR 72 aircraft, known as Flex Seating.
Designed by a team of employees led by Elin Vogel, the new Flex Seating was configured so that any aisle seat within a given 2-seat set on the aircraft could be quickly converted into a single premium seat with table, thus allowing its companion window seat to instantly become a Comfort Class seat. The table could be installed by cabin crew and/or ground crew in under 30 seconds by folding the aisle seat forward to its locked position, then setting the Comfort Class table on top and locking it into place. The tables feature a slightly recessed area in which passengers can safely set down drinks and mobile phones, etc, without fear of them sliding off the table surface.
These Comfort Class tables are designed to be stowed in a forward compartment inside the aircraft’s cargo hold, and to be lifted into the aircraft from the right hand front door by a team of ground and cabin crew who together could install as many of them as required within a few minutes during the aircraft’s turnaround time. Thus, when Comfort Class passengers boarded the aircraft, they would find their assigned seat to be pre-configured with the table, ready to go.
In time the carrier intends to implement Flex Seating throughout all of its ATR 72 aircraft and on the 2-seat side of all A220 planes, while leaving the 3-seat side of those aircraft essentially unchanged although all seating was given updated upholstery. Flex Seating has been added to a handful of newer A220s and ATR 72s starting in the spring of 2024, and the concept is currently undergoing in-field testing. Early results have proven to be positive, and R3D hopes to phase in the new seating to other aircraft as they come in for maintenance.
What’s Next
R3D is planning to take delivery of its incoming Aria V12 eVTOL and Aria V42 eVTOL aircraft beginning in September 2024, including year round air service to more airports within Switzerland and nearby countries. Additionally, leases are being negotiated with lessor JetStream to upgrade Zurich-ZRH to focus city status and provide that city with nonstop A220 flights to several major European destinations.
There have been numerous rumors going around about Elin Vogel and Markus Leuenberger, including rumors that they are either getting married soon (or alternatively about to separate), and/or they are selling R3D Airlines and cashing out. R3D Airlines has refused to comment on any of these rumors, but in a recent interview with a Swiss newspaper Elin Vogel appeared to deny these rumors, saying:
Markus and I are happy to be exactly where we are, doing what we are doing. We are in no hurry to change such a wonderful arrangement.
Destinations
Year Round Service
R3D Airlines operates year round air service between Geneva-GVA and the following destinations.
Amsterdam-AMS, Netherlands
Athens-ATH, Greece
Barcelona-BCN-Spain
Basel-BSL, Switzerland
Berlin-BER, Germany
Bilbao-BIO, Spain
Birmingham-BHX, UK
Bologna-BLQ, Italy
Bordeaux-BOD, France
Brussels-BRU, Belgium
Bucharest-OTP, Romania
Budapest-BUD, Hungary
Copenhagen-CPH, Denmark
Dublin-DUB, Ireland
Düsseldorf-DUS, Germany
Edinburgh-EDI, UK
Florence-FLR, Italy
Frankfurt-FRA, Germany
Geneva-GVA, Switzerland - HQ and Main Hub
Genoa-GOA, Italy
Gran Canaria-LPA, Spain
Graz-GRZ, Austria
Hamburg-HAM, Germany
Hannover-HAJ, Germany
Lisbon-LIS, Portugal
London-LTN, UK
Madrid-MAD, Spain
Manchester-MAN, UK
Marseille-MRS, France
Milan-MXP, Italy
Montpellier-MPL, France
Munich-MUC, Germany
Nantes-NTE, France
Naples-NAP, Italy
Nice-NCE, France
Nuremberg-NUR, Germany
Oslo-OSL, Norway
Palma de Mallorca-PMI, Spain
Paris-CDG, France
Prague-PRG, Czech Republic
Reykjavik-KEF, Iceland
Rome-FCO, Italy
Salzburg-SZG, Austria
Stockholm-ARN, Sweden
Strasbourg-SXB, France
Stuttgart-STR, Germany
Tenerife-TFS, Spain
Thessaloniki-SKG, Greece
Toulouse-TLS, France
Turin-TRN, Italy
Valencia-VLC, Spain
Venice-VCE, Italy
Vienna-VIE, Austria
Warsaw-WAW, Poland
Zurich-ZRH, Switzerland
Seasonal Service (Summer)
Summer seasonal air service is offered between Geneva-GVA and the following destinations.
Annecy-NCY, France
Arrecife-ACE, Spain
Cagliari-CAG, Italy
Calvi-CLY, France
Catania-CTA, Italy
Corfu-CFU, Greece
Figari-FSC, France
Fuerteventura-FUE, Spain
Geneva-GVA, Switzerland - HQ and Main Hub
Ibiza-IBZ, Spain
Madeira-FNC, Portugal
Málaga-AGP, Spain
Malta-MLA, Malta
Menorca-MAH, Spain
Mykonos-JMK, Greece
Pamplona-PNA, Spain
Rimini-RMI, Italy
Santorini-JTR, Greece
Toulon-TLN, France
Seasonal Service (Winter)
Winter seasonal air service is offered from both Geneva-GVA and Zurich-ZRH to the following destinations, except where otherwise noted.
Albertville-LFKA, France
Andorra/La Seu d'Urgell-LEU, Andorra/Spain (GVA only)
Annecy-NCY, France
Aosta-AOT, Italy
Chambéry-CMF, France
Courchevel-CVF, France
Geneva-GVA, Switzerland - HQ and Main Hub
Grenoble-GNB, France
Gstaad/Saanen-KSGK, Switzerland
Innsbruck-INN, Austria
Kittilä-KTT, Finland
Klagenfurt-KLU, Austria
Lugano-LUG, Switzerland
Megève-MVV, France
Méribel-MFX, France
Östersund-OSD, Sweden
Perpignan-PGF, France (GVA only)
Poprad/Tatry-TAT, Slovakia
Plovdiv-PDV, Bulgaria
Rovaniemi-RVN, Finland
Samedan/Davos-SMV, Switzerland
Sibiu-SBZ, Romania
Sion-SIR, Switzerland
Trondheim-TRD, Norway
Zurich-ZRH, Switzerland - Focus City
Fleet
Current Fleet
R3D Airlines currently uses the following aircraft for scheduled and chartered air services.
Airbus A220-300 - 2019-Present
ATR 72-600 - 2012-Present
Daher Kodiak 900 - 2021-Present - Leaving late 2024
Future Fleet
R3D Airlines has placed firm leasing agreements to acquire the following aircraft in the near future.
Aria V12 eVTOL - delivery expected in late 2024
Aria V42 eVTOL - delivery expected in early 2025
=Nota Bene=
R3D Airlines is entirely fictional and not derived from any real life airline. (I’ve never heard of anyone using a winning lottery ticket to start an airline, have you?)
The R3D ATR 72 flights were kind of inspired by the real life Porter Airlines of Canada, which against much probability was able to successfully launch an all-turboprop airline from a smaller airport in Toronto, though they used de Havilland Dash 8 aircraft instead. (Porter has since added jet services as well.)
I basically gamed out the idea of having a boutique airline operating from Switzerland that would be heavily focused on leisure - at least in the beginning.
I also decided to have the owners be millennial fun-seekers by nature. I don’t know if they could’ve pulled it off in North America, but I think someone like them could do it in Europe. I selected Switzerland for grins, because of its ski resorts and proximity to more resorts in nearby countries. I originally based R3D in Basel-BSL, but decided to move it to Geneva-GVA because GVA turned out to be more conveniently located. I figured Zurich-ZRH would be a suitable home base for Switzerland’s major/legacy carrier, so R3D would do best in one of the other two cities. (I plan to write an article featuring the bigger carrier at a later date.)
I also wanted Elin and Markus to be in the airline business but not be wealthy, for a change. So I decided their funding mechanism needed to be winning the lottery. At first I was going to have them win the EuroMillions lottery, but later I decided to double the prize to $500 million by having them win in the US, which had a real life win of around that amount back in early 2012. They won specifically in Colorado because, well they love skiing so why not?
Switzerland is one of my favorite countries. I visited Basel, Zurich and Lucerne a couple of years ago and loved it. I’m hoping to visit there again in 2025, at which time I’ll probably get around to seeing Geneva and vicinity as well.
The Daher Kodiak 900 template was designed in-house by me. It looks a bit cartoonish for my taste, so I’ll probably revise its design at some point.
I wasn’t going to include the Aria V series aircraft - were were also designed in-house by me - but with all the funky little altiport-class airports popping during my research around Geneva-GVA and Lyon-LYS (and Turin-TRN!), I realized that Elin and Markus would probably come to appreciate the Aria V12 and V42 for their hybrid/clean-fuel power and VTOL capabilities. The region would be pretty ideal for eVTOL planes, so I added them in for fun.