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Category Archives: Startups

The start-ups that didn’t start and most probably won’t Standard

People waiting for departure at Tenerife South airport terminal / Jeremy Page - Flickr

Islas Afortunadas, Aerocanarias, Victoria Airways Bird Blue… Every now and then a new project is said to be about to start operations. We have been following what is going on with these start-ups in this blog but at the moment none of them have seen the light of day. Last Friday, Preferente.com published an article on this subject. The Canary Islands has been used for several attempts which don’t seem to end in anything tangible. One of these is the case of Islas Afortunadas, a company to be based in the Canary Islands. They intended to begin operating in the fall of  2013. The idea…

Plus Ultra finally receives AOC Standard

Plus Ultra EC-MDG by José Luis Celada Euba - flickr

According to an article in preferente.com, five years after the initialization of the project Plus Ultra has finally received its Air Operator Certificate (AOC). This news means that Plus Ultra now has all the necessary permissions to get off the ground. AESA gave them an “A license” which permits them to, “exploit air services for passengers, freight and/or post, in exchange for earnings and/or rent payment.” The wait has not been easy for the company, especially once they purchased their first plane which must be kept indoors and maintained. They had been aiming to start operation in the first quarter…

Binter Cabo Verde to be the new AOC of Binter Canarias Standard

Binter Canarias ATR 72-500 EC-KGJ landing in Funchal by Aero Icarus

Binter Cabo Verde will be registered as an African airline tomorrow. Even though they do not have an AOC yet, they are expecting to get it granted by the Authorities of Cape Verde soon. ElMundo published the information yesterday: Binter Cabo Verde will have two planes to fly from the African archipelago. They will have a staff of 60 Cabo Verdean employees. However, the new company will be integrated in the Spanish brand Binter. The Spanish airline currently has 16 regional aircrafts ATR 72-500 and two CRJs. The latter two will be the ones that Binter Cabo Verde will use. Then, at the end of 2015,…

Future looks grim for Air Horizont and León Air Standard

Air Horizont Plane by BrunoGeiger - flickr

Two new airlines, Air Horizont and León Air, are already facing serious financial challenges after beginning operations this 2015 summer season. The website O2B cites the root of the problem as being the lack of demand due to alternative forms of transportation, more specifically, high-speed trains. León Air has already had to discount its Burgos- Barcelona tickets due to a 30% drop in demand during its first month. Air Horizont, based in Zaragoza, had originally programmed flights this season to Munich, Rome, Barcelona and Alicante. However, according to O2B, owing to lack of demand the company has since said it,…

Plus Ultra will have its own wholesale company Standard

Plus Ultra EC-MDG by José Luis Celada Euba - flickr

According to an exclusive in Reportur, Plus Ultra will have its own wholesale company Plus Ultra Vacaciones. Plus Ultra had been aiming to start operations in the first quarter of 2015 but has yet been unsuccessful in doing so. The president of the tour operating company will be Welcoming International, with Victoria González Zuinaga and Francisco Xavier García Fernández in charge. Both have experience in F&G Hotels and real estate development in Spain. Welcoming International will have 40% of the Air Plus Ultra Capital, followed by Peiva Interprovincial with 21%, controlled by Antonio Pérez and Francisco Pérez Vicente. Other important…

Leon Airlines will begin operating the 1 of April Standard

Leon Airlines Logo

Leon Airlines will begin operating from the Leon airport to Barcelona on the 1st of April. Last week EuropaPress published an article informing that the company has already signed an agreement to operate from the airfield in Leon and will feature a Saab 340 plane with a 35 passenger capacity that will link the capital of Leon to Barcelona daily. We informed about this company in December, though at the time operations were expected to begin in February. “Our first flight is expected, without any operative changes, for the 1st of April and will be to Barcelona at the first…

Air Horizont to start operating in April Standard

A British Airways 737-400 operating in Alicante

Just as we have been announcing since the 7th of November, Air Horizont will connect Zaragoza with direct flights to Alicante, Seville, Rome and Munich, though the goal is to continue increasing the number of destinations. According to El Economista, the flights will begin in the month of April with ticket sales starting at 39 Euros. Despite having competitive prices, Air Horizont is not a low cost airline because it provides better services for its clients. For example, in-flight refreshments and a checked bag are included in the ticket cost, as well as other services. Moreover, they will fly to…

Victoria International Airways: a start-up for Palma Standard

Screenshot of the Victoria International Airways web site

“Victoria International Airways is a new airline based in Spain that offers Full Charter Service to tour operators and travel agencies…”. This is the presentation of the airline in their LinkedIn page, which also informs that their fleet is composed of Airbus 320s with a 180 seat cabin configuration. This morning, Preferente.com published an article about this company. According to the information in it, they will not be able to start for the moment due to lack of an aircraft. The airline is being created by several entrepreneurs from Málaga and Mallorca. The project was born more than a year ago and has people…

La Seu d’Urgell: yet another commercial airport in Spain Standard

Air Andorra's web site screenshot

LaVanguardia informed that La Seu d’Urgell airport is no longer an airfield, as of yesterday it has become a commercial airport and hence tourist, passenger, cargo or private flights may operate there from now on. This is happening five years after Alguaire started operations on January 17, 2010 also in the province of Lleida. Both airports are owned by the Government of Catalonia. Albert Batalla – mayor of Seu d’Urgell – said that both airports are compatible with each other because they are different: Alguaire is for big aircrafts and La Seu d’Urgell airport is for smaller planes, with up to forty or fifty…

Air Horizont is the name for the new Zaragoza based airline Standard

Zaragoza airport terminal by Juan50300 - Flickr

The new Zaragoza based start-up we were expecting has already got a name. According to the information provided by FranjaDigital.com, Air Horizont informed Aena that they intend to operate two weekly frequencies with three new destinations: Munich, Rome and Seville. This would be the first part of their plan. Later, they may incorporate up to four more routes from Zaragoza i.e. Málaga, Alicante, Gran Canaria and Bologna. Some of these routes were already operational in the past, but eventually disappeared. With regard to, Málaga and Alicante, they would be started again to compete with the high speed train services (AVE). Apart from the new routes…