What Airliners does

Airliners (legal entity Neun Zeichen GmbH) operates airliners.de, a German-language digital news and knowledge platform focused on the German aviation industry (Luftverkehrswirtschaft). Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Berlin, the company delivers daily aviation news, analysis, and interviews to a professional audience spanning airlines, airports, ground handling, MRO, and aviation services. Core product surfaces include the free ad-supported news portal, the airliners+ premium subscription (Privat, Campus, and Teams tiers), a weekly digital PDF magazine (airliners+ Magazin, 25-50 pages), a specialized aviation job marketplace (Stellenmarkt), an aviation company directory (Firmenfinder), a podcast series, video content, and themed newsletters distributed via email, RSS, and a WhatsApp channel. AGMA certification provides audited audience measurement used by advertisers.

The platform's underlying technology is a conventional digital publishing stack combining subscription management, newsletter delivery, PDF magazine generation, podcast/video streaming, and a 20-year searchable article archive. Since 2020, the company has layered a tiered subscription product on top of the free portal, with the premium tier adding ad-free reading, curated briefings, AI-generated article summaries, and enterprise seat licensing. Revenue is generated through four primary streams: tiered subscriptions (Privat €12.95/month, Campus €4.95/month, Teams custom), AGMA-audited banner advertising (marketed via businessAD), job listing fees from aviation employers, and premium company directory listings. Distribution extends across owned web, mobile, podcast platforms, YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Xing, WhatsApp, and a content licensing partnership with PMG Presse-Monitor.

The business is founder-led by publisher David Hake, with no disclosed institutional investors, parent company, M&A activity, or funding rounds. The platform serves a DACH-focused audience, operates with a lean 1-10 person team, and runs a wholly-owned merchandise subsidiary (RBF-Originals.de) selling Remove Before Flight collectibles as an adjacent revenue stream. The German Aviation Research Society e.V. serves as scientific partner. Airliners is therefore a mature, cash-financed niche media business scaling modestly through subscription tiering and multi-channel distribution rather than venture-funded expansion.

Name

Airliners

Legal name

Neun Zeichen GmbH

Website

https://airliners.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Airliners (airliners.de) operates Germany's leading aviation industry news portal, providing daily news, a premium subscription (airliners+), a weekly digital magazine, and a specialized job marketplace for aviation professionals and employers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Premium Subscriptions (airliners+): Tiered subscription model generating recurring revenue from Privat (12.95/month), Campus (4.95/month student rate), and Teams (custom enterprise pricing) subscriptions
2. Advertising Revenue: Banner advertising on the platform, marketed through businessAD. AGMA-audited reach.
3. Job Listings: Airline and aviation industry job marketplace generating revenue from job postings at airports, airlines, industry, and logistics companies
4. Company Directory (Firmenfinder): Premium company profiles and service listings in the aviation company database

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Airliners (airliners.de) is a German-language online news portal and knowledge platform for the aviation industry, publishing daily aviation news, analysis, and industry coverage. It offers a premium subscription (airliners+) with ad-free reading, archive access, and curated briefings, a weekly digital magazine (airliners+ Magazin), an aviation job marketplace (Stellenmarkt), a company directory (Firmenfinder), podcasts, video content, newsletters, and a community forum, monetized through subscriptions, advertising, and job listing fees.

Product overview

Airliners (airliners.de) is a German-language aviation industry news portal offering a comprehensive digital platform for aviation professionals. The core offering consists of the airliners.de news portal providing daily industry coverage, supplemented by the airliners+ premium subscription tier that removes ads, unlocks full archive access since 2000, and provides AI-generated article summaries. Key modules include the weekly airliners+ Magazin digital magazine, a specialized Stellenmarkt (job marketplace) for aviation careers, the Firmenfinder company directory for finding industry partners, a podcast series, video content, and various newsletter offerings. Corporate users can access airliners+ Teams with multi-user management, while students have access to the discounted airliners+ Campus subscription.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• RBF-Originals.de: Merchandise shop for Remove Before Flight collectibles and aviation memorabilia
• airliners+ Magazin
• airliners+ Campus
• airliners+ Teams
• Firmenfinder
• airliners.de-Stellenmarkt

Products and services

• airliners.de Aviation News Portal The primary German-language online news portal for the aviation industry, providing daily aviation news, in-depth analysis, industry coverage, and a knowledge platform for aviation professionals and enthusiasts in the DACH region.
• airliners+ Premium Subscription Tiered premium subscription service offering ad-free reading, full access to all paywalled articles, 20-year searchable archive, curated newsletters, AI-generated article summaries, PDF downloads, article bookmarks, and reading history. Available in Privat (individual), Campus (student), and Teams (enterprise) variants.
• airliners+ Magazin (Weekly Digital Magazine) Weekly digital aviation industry magazine published every Wednesday with 25-50 pages of in-depth articles, interviews, analyses, and guest contributions covering aviation industry topics. Downloadable as PDF for airliners+ subscribers.
• Stellenmarkt (Aviation Job Marketplace)

Quantifiable outcome

• Weekly magazine with 25-50 pages of curated content
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• PMG Presse-MonitorminorOthersLicensing partner for content distribution. Allows press clipping services and licensed redistribution of airliners.de content through PMG's platform for press digests and press clipping services.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Aero.de: German-language aviation industry portal providing news and information on German and European aviation — direct linguistic and geographic peer for DACH audiences.
• Simple Flying: Digital aviation publication covering airlines, airports, and industry news with a consumer/semi-professional audience — competes for the same aviation enthusiast and professional attention online.
• ch-aviation: Switzerland-based aviation intelligence subscription platform serving airlines, lessors, and airports with proprietary fleet data and industry analysis — comparable subscription-driven aviation intelligence model in a nearby geography.
• Aerotelegraph: German-language aviation news portal with consumer subscriptions and broad industry coverage — the closest functional twin to airliners.de and direct competitor in the DACH aviation media market.

Emerging players

• The Aviation Herald: Independent aviation news platform run by Simon Hradecky focusing on incident reporting and European aviation coverage — overlaps with airliners.de's safety and operational content.
• Routes (Informa): Aviation route development intelligence service covering airline network planning and airport marketing — adjacent business-model peer serving aviation commercial teams.

Broad incumbents

• Aviation Week: Global aviation and aerospace industry media brand offering subscription magazines, intelligence, and events — comparable B2B aviation media business model with broader international reach than airliners.de.
• FlightGlobal (Flight Dashboard / Cirium): Long-established English-language aviation news, data, and intelligence brand (part of Cirium/LexisNexis Risk Solutions) — a much larger incumbent with overlapping content, paid subscription intelligence, and aviation industry audience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/airliners_de
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/airlinersde-luftverkehrswirtschaft
• Facebookfacebook.com/airliners.de
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/airliners.de

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Airliners