In summer 1994, the German tour operator Öger Tours and the small German airline Ratioflug entered into a cooperation to offer low-cost charter flights from Germany to the Dominican Republic in winter 94/95. The German Federal Ministry of Transport granted traffic rights to Ratioflug for period of six months. Because Ratioflug did not have any airplane with corresponding capacity and range it leased a Boeing 757-200 from the Turkish airline Birgenair for these flights.[4]