MICHAEL PHELAN / LONDON
UK charter carrier Astraeus is gearing up for a fleet-renewal order, as the 18-month-old airline looks to provide capacity for future growth. The airline wants to acquire up to 10 Airbus A319s or Boeing 737-700s, and expects to finalise a deal by the end of this year.
The Gatwick, UK-based carrier has a fleet of four leased 737-300s, including one in service with Iceland Express, and two leased -700s, but says having four different lessors causes commonality issues.
"Our core leases expire in early 2005," says Jonathan Hinkles, Astraeus commercial director, "and we're considering a combination of purchasing and leasing to replace them. We're looking at six to 10 aircraft."
One advantage of the A319s is that they could be configured with 152 seats for Astraeus, against 148 on the 737s, says Hinkles, although Astraeus' wide-ranging operations would pose challenges for any single fleet. "As well as short-haul flights for tour operators we fly the -700s on 7h sectors for private customers. We already know that the -700 can do these different missions, but we need to investigate the A319," he adds.
Iceland Express says that in its first five months of operations it has captured 75% of the increase in total traffic to Copenhagen and London from Reykjavík compared with last year, but adds that it is bracing for a difficult winter as it awaits an Icelandic court ruling on competition complaints lodged against Icelandair. The airline accuses Icelandair of cross-subsidising its London and Copenhagen routes to undercut Iceland Express.Source: Flight International
