German charter operator LTU expanded rapidly in the 1970s operating a sizeable fleet of new and used Lockheed L-1011s. Lee Cross tells the story of the TriStars that wore the airline’s famous red and white livery
Between 1973 and 1996, LTU operated 13 individual TriStars of three different models. Series 500, D-AERL, was bought new in 1980 and was the last to leave the airline’s service
AirTeamImages.com/ Wolfgang Mendorf
Lufttransport Union was founded on October 20, 1955 to cater for the growing German charter market and initially offered flights from Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich to destinations across Europe and the Canary Islands. In April 1956, the name was changed to Lufttransport-Unternehmen (companies) or LTU for short.
