More than 20,000 people helped to mark 20 years since christening of line's first cruise ship
By
Rebecca Gibson |
More than 20,000 people helped AIDA Cruises to kick off its “AIDA – an inspiring smile. The original turns 20” anniversary celebrations on 7 June.
The event marked 20 years since the launch of the first-ever AIDA ship, AIDAcara, which was christened by Christiane Herzog, the wife of former German president Roman Herzog, on 7 June 1996 in Rostock, Germany.
“With the commissioning of AIDAcara, we triggered a revolution in the cruise market and for the first time, we also generated a great deal of enthusiasm for this type of vacation among young and lifestyle-oriented people,” said Michael Ungerer, president of AIDA. “Since that day, more than five million guests have put their trust in us and today, AIDA is synonymous with the most desirable vacation form in Germany.”
To date, AIDA has invested a total of €2.5 billion to build nine of its ten ships in its native Germany.
In 1999, AIDA ordered two more newbuilds from Aker MTW in Wismar and on 4 May 2002, the first of these ships was named AIDAvita by Doris Schröder-Kopf, a German journalist and the wife of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. On 12 April 2003, German supermodel Heidi Klum christened the other newbuild AIDAaura. A year later, AIDA signed its first shipbuilding contract with Papenburg-based Meyer Werft, which built and delivered seven ships between 2007 and 2013.
This October, AIDA is due to launch the first of two new-generation ships, which will both be built and delivered by the Mitsubishi shipyard in Nagasaki, Japan. Named AIDAprima, the 124,500gt newbuild will be the first of AIDA’s ships to be outfitted with dual fuel engines enabling it to operate using LNG. Sailing seven-day Western European roundtrips from Hamburg, AIDAprima will also be the first cruise ship to be deployed year-round from a German port.