Germania obviously would lose its major leisure charter contract with German tour operator TUI from late 2002. The contract accounted for 75 percent of Germania's flight volume. The loss of the TUI charter contract combined with other business development led to skepticism regarding the financial health of the company. At that time, Germania and S.A.T. had a fleet of 27 aircraft of which only eight were deployed on the carriers charter and scheduled services. All remaining aircraft were leased to others. Later, Germania was again partnered by TUI for creation of its new low-cost division Hapag-Lloyd Express. While TUI took a 100%-stake in the start-up, Germania was contracted to wet-lease eight of its Boeing 737-700 aircraft. Hapag-Lloyd Express commenced operations with the first four Boeing 737 on 3 December. Germania flights between Berlin and Cologne/Bonn were moved to Hapag-Lloyd Express as part of the deal. However, Germania retained own scheduled operations between from Berlin Tegel to Frankfurt and Munich. In November 2002, flights to Palma da Mallorca was added. Reportedly in late 2002 or very early 2003, Germania acquired a fleet of 17 Fokker 100 from bankrupt US Airways at an extremely low price. Budget airline operations as "gexx" Germania decided to use its acquired Fokker 100 fleet to build a low-budget airline named "gexx". Set-up as a virtual carrier with flights operated by its mother Germania, gexx commenced short-haul operations out of Berlin Tegel on June 1, 2003. Unlike most other airlines, gexx used a fixed-fare scheme - depending the route tickets were sold at a single price with no differentiation concerning time of booking. Germania gradually refurbished further Fokker 100, allowing a continued growth of its gexx division. Within the first year of operations, gexx handled 1,42 million passengers while maintaining an average load factor of 72 percent and an average ticket fare of EUR 82, allowing a profitable operation. At the same time, it operated 15 Fokker 100 to 26 destinations around Europe. Following a purchase of a 64% stake in dba (later part of Air Berlin) on 28 March 2005, Germania wet-leased 12 Fokker 100 aircraft to dba. At the same time, dba took over Germania Express's 15 established low-cost routes and thus absorbed Germania's gexx brand. Germania on the other hand, with all aircraft having been leased to other airlines, no longer offered routes directly to passengers. W Germania relaunched scheduled flights under its own