Spanish low-fare start-up Air Asturias plans to begin operations to several European and Latin American destinations on 1 June using a leased fleet of two Airbus A320s and one Boeing 767-300ER.
Air Asturias executive vice-president Javier Taibo says the carrier will launch long-haul flights from Madrid Barajas to Cartagena in Colombia, Cancun in Mexico, Panama and the Venezuelan island of Margarita. European services will be flown from its El Principado base in north-west Spain, says Taibo, a former Air Madrid chief executive. Destinations will initially include Barcelona, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan and Paris.
Taibo does not say from where the three aircraft will be leased. He says the carrier is “in negotiations with lessors” and expects the aircraft to be delivered at the start of May, when Air Asturias will begin the process of applying for an air operator’s certificate.
The carrier plans to add a third A320 in November, followed by two more of the type and another 767-300 in 2007. Beyond that, Taibo says, the airline will have to “wait and see” how operations are going.
A chief executive has yet to be named. Taibo says talks are being held with the head of an undisclosed airline and a decision is expected shortly.
The start-up is 88%-owned by Spanish hotel group Celuisma. Construction group Mall holds a 10% stake and 2% is held by aviation consultancy Edefa, which is headed by Taibo. Celuisma chief Jose Antonio Fernandez Rodriguez will be chairman of Air Asturias. The airline is being launched with capital of €6 million ($7.2 million). Celuisma and Edefa previously held stakes in Air Madrid, but the two companies sold their interests in the carrier to Optursa Management and Air Madrid co-founder Herminio Gil in December 2004.
KERRY EZARD / LONDON
Source: Flight International
