Airbus Updates No.2711

Malta's AirX Charter to launch scheduled leisure charters

AirX Charter Airbus A340-300© Andre Abela

30.06.2020 - 06:12 UTC

AirX Charter (AXY, Malta Int'l) will start operating scheduled charters between London Stansted and Bridgetown in Barbados on behalf of luxury tour operator Blue Sky Luxury and aircraft charter broker Caledonian Jets.

A statement said the services will operate weekly starting on July 3 and will use AirX Charter's only A340-300, 9H-BIG (msn 374). The all-business-class quadjet is configured for up to 100 passengers.

Travellers will be required to check-in at a designated hotel near London Stansted a day before departure to undergo COVID-19 testing at their own expense. This is intended to prevent infections between arriving passengers and Barbadian nationals.

Operations have tentatively been scheduled through the end of 2020.

Flights between the United Kingdom and Barbados are currently suspended. British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) aims to restore its operations from London Gatwick on July 18, 2020, initially as weekly but growing to 3x weekly in August, while Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow) intends to restart weekly services on August 1, according to the ch-aviation schedules module and the airlines' internet booking engines.

Airbus Updates No.2324

Malta's AirX Charter eyes ACMI market with second A340

AirX Charter Airbus A340-300 © Andre Abela

11.11.2019 - 11:24 UTC

AirX Charter (AXY, Malta Int'l) is planning to add a second A340 quadjet and to enter the ACMI market with the unit, Chairman John Matthews told the Corporate Jet Investor.

"I want to do what Titan Airways (ZT, London Stansted) is doing, but with used aircraft. I want to do what Hi Fly (5K, Beja) is doing, but with used aircraft. It will be there to fill a gap. Because obviously some airlines have gone bankrupt, and a lot more will go bankrupt," Matthews said.

Short of disclosing the identity or the precise timeline for the aircraft delivery, Matthews said that he would like to add the A340 "within a couple of months". The aircraft will be equipped with a high-density cabin and will be proferred both to the ACMI market and for charter flights, for example with groups of sports fans.

The Maltese business charter specialist already operates a single A340-300, 9H-BIG (msn 374). The 19-year-old unit is equipped with up to 100 seats in a VIP configuration.

AirX Charter also wants to add a further two Embraer Lineage 1000 business jets, becoming the world's largest operator of the type.

"We are executing a planned expansion at the moment with several Lineages arriving. We don’t have ETOPS approval yet, however as soon approval is given, we can start targeting the transatlantic market. We are now moving into true intercontinental jets with the Lineage expansion," Matthews said.

Matthews added that he expected that a crisis will hit the business charter market shortly and operators of smaller aircraft, seating up to 14 passengers, will be particularly affected. In contrast, the market for larger jets is relatively less saturated.

He pointed out that due to the limited demand for Lineage 1000s, the aircraft are available at low prices. They can compete both against larger Airbus and Boeing narrowbody executive jets, as well as against Global Express jets, which are much more expensive to buy.

"I'm picking [the Lineage 1000s] up at less than 20% of their initial sale price when the aircraft are only a couple of thousand hours old. So, they have two decades of life left, but they have lost 80% of their value. They have no business jet hourly rates on the engines, they have no complicated engine maintenance programs, and we can buy any spares we want from any airline that operates the E190 family," Matthews said.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Embraer Executive Jets delivered only thirty Lineage 1000s to customers, including two to the Força Aérea Brasileira. A further unit is flying for the manufacturer. Out of the 30 delivered aircraft, two are currently stored without an operator - msn 19000261 and 19000307.

The Maltese business charter specialist, a subsidiary of AirX Executive Jets (Salzburg), currently operates a diversified fleet consisting of an A340-300, three B737-500s, one Lineage 1000, seven Challenger 850s, one Challenger 800, and three Legacy 600s. In addition, the carrier's German sister unit AirX Charter (Germany) (AXG, Egelsbach) operates one Challenger 850 and four Cessna 750s.

Going forward, Matthews said that AirX Charter will also add Airbus or Boeing narrowbody business jets.

Airbus Updates No.1559

Airbus A321	-211	6756		VP-BEG	Aeroflot	air-test at VNO 17sep16 prior delivery	ex EI-OVB
Airbus A321	-211	6817		VP-BES	Aeroflot	ferried 21sep16 VNO-EMA for paint prior delivery	ex EI-SVX
Airbus A321	-231	7106		N670NK	Spirit Airlines	delivery 19sep16 BFM-FLL	ex F-WZMJ
Airbus A321	-231	7299		TC-JTO	Turkish Airlines	delivery 22sep16 XFW-IST	ex D-AVYF
Airbus A321	-211	7304		N311DN	Delta Air Lines	delivery 22sep16 XFW-KEF-YYR-MSP	ex D-AVYI
Airbus A321	-231	7307		N989AU	American Airlines	delivery 21sep16 XFW-BGR-PIT-DFW	ex D-AVYL
Airbus A321	-231	7316		HA-LXJ	Wizz Air	delivery 19sep16 XFW-BUD	ex D-AVYO
Airbus A340	-313	278		N278TA	TrueAero Llc	regd 12sep16, ferried 16sep16 SFB-LUBM	ex D-AAAM
Airbus A340	-313	374		9H-BIG	AirX Charter	re-regd 15sep16 after air-test at BOH, posn 21sep16 BOH-STN	ex M-VVIP