A new airline plans to take to the skies in Denmark: Airseven. The airline will focus on charter operations and could start operations as soon as next month. Airseven will operate a unique fleet consisting of a pair of 737-400s, which are nearly three decades old. Let’s find out more about this startup airline.
Operations
One of Airseven’s major investors is Primo Tours, a Danish tour-operator. Primo will be Airseven’s first customer and flights are estimated to start at the end of the year, according to Aero Telegraph. Depending on when tours pick up, Airseven could become a largely subsidiary airline for Primo Tours.
Airseven is branding itself as a charter, ad-hoc, and wet leasing airline. This means the airline will not establish scheduled routes, instead, flying charter contracts or simply leasing the plane out to one-off flights. These operations can be quite lucrative due to the high cost of last-minute leases.
It should be noted that Airseven is a “virtual airline”, which means it will outsource nearly all of its functions. The aircraft will be operated by the well-known Copenhagen Airtaxi, but carrying the Airseven livery.
Fleet
Airseven’s fleet will consist of two 737-400s (from the classic 737 generation). The two planes, registration OY-ASA and OY-ASB, will be based out of Copenhagen Airport. Both aircraft are configured with 168 economy seats. Despite being the newest airline, Airseven will likely not be the youngest fleet!
According to Planespotters.net, one aircraft is 28-years-old and was originally delivered to Lufthansa in October 1992. The plane has had a long history flying for Sun Express, Air Italy, Blue Air, and more.
The second aircraft is 30-years-old and was originally delivered to Braathens (which later merged into SAS) in October 1990. After a brief stint as Malaysia Airlines, the plane served in SAS’ fleet for over 15 years. The plane has been parked since December 2019 after Blue Air withdrew it from use.
Airseven is likely taking advantage of the falling price of aircraft leases in 2020. With aircraft demand at record lows due to the drop in demand, now could be a lucrative time to place purchase planes at a discount.
Demand present
In a statement to Aero Telegraph, Primo Tours CEO Bjarke Hansen said he believes there is room for a small and flexible airline in the current climate. Charter routes could become more popular in the coming months due to ever-changing border and quarantine restrictions across Europe.
Airseven will also create 100 aviation jobs in the short term, 50 direct and 50 indirect. This will be a boost to the industry which has only seen an outflow of jobs this year. For now, the airline is hoping to take delivery of its new planes next month and start planning flights.
What do you think about Airseven’s plans? Would you fly with a charter airline? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
.jpg){kind=link}