36 start-up airlines line up for take-off. Part 1: Europe

Summary

• There are 36 global start-ups yet to launch, in addition to 42 new airlines that became active between Jan-2020 and 12-Jun-2021.
• Of those, 13 are based in Europe, eight in Latin America, eight in Asia Pacific, four in Africa and three in North America.
• "The jury's still out" on whether all these start-ups will succeed, according to Air Lease Corporation's Steven Udvar-Házy.
• This, Part 1 of a three part series, looks at the European wannabes.

For Part 2 of this report, please see Part 2: LatAm, AsiaPac

For Part 3 of this three part report, please see 36 start-up airlines line up for take-off. Part 3: Africa, N America

The July edition of CAPA Live, entitled "Surviving a pandemic: LCCs and Full Service Business Models", is on 14-Jul-2021.
Tune in to watch several of the CEOs of new airline startups, along with many other leading voices

There are 36 global airlne start-ups yet to launch

CAPA's global start-up airline database contains 159 names as at 22-Jun-2021. This is on top of the 42 new airlines that have already become active in the COVID-19 era (between Jan-2020 and 12-Jun-2021).

However, a large number of these airlines have been in the database for several years, and there has been no news concerning them for some time. They may or may not still have active plans to launch, but this is currently not clear.

There are 36 start-ups globally that are currently actively expecting to launch; either there is a specified time frame to launch or, in the case of two of them, there is no specified launch, but there are recent news reports of their activities.

The 36 start-ups are shown in the table below, listed in ascending order of expected launch.

Planned start-up airlines that have expected launch dates

Name	Expected launch	Business model	Main hub	Country/Territory	Region
1. FlyWestAf	May-21 (delayed)	Low cost carrier	Banjul Yundum	Gambia	Central/Western Africa
2. Sky Alps	Jun-21	Virtual airline	Bolzano Dolomiti	Italy	Western Europe
3. PLAY	Jun-21	Low cost carrier	Reykjavik Keflavik	Iceland	Western Europe
4. ITA Transportes Aereos (Itapemirim Airlines)	Jun-21	Full service carrier	GRU São Paulo Guarulhos	Brazil	Upper South America
5. Flyr	Jun-21	Low cost carrier	Avinor Oslo	Norway	Western Europe
6. Airseven	Jun-21	Virtual airline	Copenhagen Roskilde	Denmark	Western Europe
7. PRAGUSA.ONE	Jun-21		Prague Vaclav Havel	Czech Rep.	Eastern/Central Europe
8. Canarian Airways	Jun-21		Tenerife-Sur	Spain	Western Europe
9. Ecuatoriana Airlines	Oct-21		Quito Mariscal Sucre	Ecuador	Upper South America
10. Connect Airlines	Oct-21	Regional/Commuter	Toronto City Billy Bishop	Canada	North America
11. Green Africa	Jul-21	Full service carrier	Lagos Murtala Muhammed	Nigeria	Central/Western Africa
12. Avatar Airlines	2H2021	Low cost carrier	Las Vegas McCarran	USA	North America
13. FLY-CD	3Q2021	Full service carrier	Bonaire Flamingo	Bonaire	Caribbean
14. Zambia Airways	2Q2021	Full service carrier	Lusaka Kenneth Kaunda	Zambia	Southern Africa
15. Flycana	2Q2021	Low cost carrier	Santo Domingo Las Americas	Dominican Rep.	Caribbean
16. Breeze Airways	2Q2021	Low cost carrier	Salt Lake City	USA	North America
17. SKS Airways	2Q2021	Charter	Johor Bahru Senai	Malaysia	South East Asia
18. Thai Summer Airways	2Q2021	Low cost carrier	Utapao Rayong-Pattaya	Thailand	South East Asia
19. Fly Armenia Airways	2Q2021	Full service carrier	Yerevan Zvartnots	Armenia	Eastern/Central Europe
20. Jump Air	2Q2021	Charter	Vilnius	Lithuania	Eastern/Central Europe
21. Aeroperu	2021	Full service carrier	Lima Jorge Chavez	Peru	Upper South America
22. AVA Airways	2021	Full service carrier	Santo Domingo Las Americas	Dominican Rep.	Caribbean
23. flypop	2021	Low cost carrier	London Stansted	United Kingdom	Western Europe
24. Yuva JetLines Airways	2021	Regional/Commuter	Ranchi Birsa Munda	India	South Asia
25. Air Premia	2021	Full service carrier	Seoul Incheon	South Korea	North East Asia
26. La Nova	2021	Virtual airline	Geneva	Switzerland	Western Europe
27. NELLA Airlines	2021	Regional/Commuter	Brasília	Brazil	Upper South America
28. Ultra Air	2021	Low cost carrier	Medellín Jose Maria Cordova	Colombia	Upper South America
29. Heston Airlines	2021	Charter	Vilnius	Lithuania	Eastern/Central Europe
30. Greater Bay Airlines	2021	Low cost carrier	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	North East Asia
31. Pasifika Air	2021		Christchurch	New Zealand	Southwest Pacific
32. Canh Dieu Airlines (Kite Air)	2022	Full service carrier	Chu Lai	Vietnam	South East Asia
33. Toki Air	2022	Low cost carrier	Niigata	Japan	North East Asia
34. Emerald Airlines (Ireland)	2023	Regional/Commuter	Dublin	Ireland	Western Europe
35. SkyBird Airlines*	?	Charter	Cairo International	Egypt	North Africa
36. Moov Airways*	?	Low cost carrier	EuroAirport Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg	Switzerland	Western Europe

*Although no launch date is currently specified, these airlines are included, as there have been recent news reports concerning them.
Note: list as at 22-Jun-2021.
Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation.

Europe: 13 planned start-up airlines

Sky Alps

Sky Alps is an Italian Virtual airline to be based at Bolzano Dolomiti Airport. In Apr-2021 it agreed with Chorus Aviation to lease two Bombardier Dash 8-400 aircraft for delivery by May-2021.

Launching with a service to Rome, it is expected to add Catania, Cagliari and Lamezia in summer 2021. Sky Alps' launch is expected in Jun-2021.

PLAY

PLAY is a proposed Icelandic LCC, based at Reykjavik Keflavik. Previously known as WAB air, PLAY was founded by former executives of the bankrupt LCC WOW air, with Avianta Capital initially holding a majority stake.

The airline's CEO, Birgir Jonsson, is former Deputy CEO of WOW air.

Originally expected to launch in Summer 2020, it plans to serve destinations in the United States and Europe with Airbus narrowbodies.

It received an AOC and finalised A321neo lease agreements with AerCap in May-2021. PLAY has announced plans to launch a twice weekly Reykjavik-London Stansted service on 24-Jun-2021, increasing to four times weekly on 1-Jul-2021.

It is planning to add services to Alicante, Barcelona, Tenerife South, Berlin, Copenhagen and Paris by Aug-2021.

PLAY plans to grow its fleet to six to eight A321s in 2Q2022 and to operate more than 10 aircraft by 2023. Unlike WOW air, it does not plan to add widebodies to its fleet.

Flyr

Flyr is a new LCC based in Norway. Its founders, including its CEO Tonje Wikstrøm Frislid and investor Erik Braathen, have experience with airlines, including Braathens Regional Airlines, Norwegian, SAS and Widerøe.

Mr Braathen first announced plans for a new airline in early Oct-2020; it launched its website in Dec-2020 and listed shares on Euronext Growth in Mar-2021.

Flyr will initially focus on domestic services, but aims to expand to international destinations in Europe such as Copenhagen, Nice, Barcelona, Alicante, Málaga and Stockholm.

Operating Boeing 737-800s, Flyr plans to expand to a fleet of 28-30 aircraft. It intends to be an efficient and sustainable airline with a digital product, and fewer but more targeted routes and schedules.

Flyr expects its workforce to grow to 350 by the end of 2021, from 45 in early Apr-2021. It received its AOC from Norway's Civil Aviation Authority on 17-Jun-2021, after taking delivery of its first aircraft on 9-Jun-2021. It plans to launch with an Oslo-Tromsø service on 30-Jun-2021.

Airseven

Airseven, a proposed Danish virtual start-up based at Copenhagen Roskilde Airport, received its first two Boeing 737-400 aircraft in Dec-2020.

It plans to operate charter and ACMI leasing services for Primo Tours, Århus Charter and Sun Charter, using the air operator's certificate of Copenhagen Air Taxi, and its investors include the Danish tour operator Primo Tours.

Airseven reportedly plans to launch flights to Spain in Jun-2021.

PRAGUSA.ONE

PRAGUSA.ONE, based in the Czech capital Prague, intends to offer travel packages and direct scheduled services with a fleet of A330 and A350 aircraft.

The airline plans to operate from bases in Prague and Dubrovnik, serving Beijing, Chengdu, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Los Angeles, New York, Singapore and Tokyo.

PRAGUSA.ONE plans to launch Dubrovnik to New York Newark and Los Angeles services in Jun-2021. It will offer business class and economy class to both destinations and a first class cabin on its Los Angeles service.

Canarian Airways

Canarian Airways is a proposed Spanish airline to be based in Tenerife, with investment of EUR700,000 from the Canary Islands government in 25% of its capital.

It is expected to launch with a service to Vigo in Jun-2021, using A319 aircraft, and reportedly is planning to add other destinations in mainland Spain and elsewhere in Europe, including the UK and Germany.

Fly Armenia Airways

Fly Armenia Airways is a proposed full service airline to be based at the Armenian capital, Yerevan.

The airline obtained its AOC in Jul-2020 and took delivery of its first aircraft, a Boeing 737-400, in Nov-2020. According to its website, it offers flights from Yerevan to the Russian cities Anapa, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Rostov on Don, St Petersburg and Saratov.

Jump Air

Jump Air, to be based in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, plans to launch passenger and cargo charter and ACMI operations with ATR 72-500 equipment in 2021.

flypop

Flypop is a proposed low cost long haul carrier based at London Stansted Airport, to operate between the UK and the Indian cities of Amritsar and Ahmedabad. On 11-Apr-2021 flypop announced a multiple aircraft A330-300 lease deal with Avolon, for delivery until 2023.

Flypop has been planned for at least five years, and the lease agreement now enables its application to the UK Civil Aviation Authority for an air operator's certificate. It hopes to launch operations by Oct-2021 with one aircraft, and then plans to add an extra aircraft every six months.

A rewards-based crowd-funding programme was launched in Jun-2016 and it has raised further funds through the UK Government's Future Fund, announced in Nov-2020.

Flypop founder and CEO Nino Singh Judge aims to build the airline on underserved VFR demand for direct flights between the UK and secondary cities in India (which were previously served only via Delhi or Mumbai). There is also potential to expand over time from UK-India to include destinations across all of South Asia.

Mr Judge had planned to launch operations before COVID-19, but it may now be a beneficiary of the delay. Unlike competitors that are already operational, it has not incurred costs during the crisis. Moreover, it is now likely to be benefiting from the reduced operating costs resulting from the pandemic - for example, lease and labour costs.

la nova

La nova is a Swiss virtual start-up to be based at Geneva Airport. It plans to operate scheduled regional services to European destinations from Geneva and Zurich. It originally expected to launch services in 2018, but has deferred its launch plans to spring 2021.

According to its LinkedIn page, "Flylanova ltd is a privately-owned, limited liability company based in Geneva and founded by aviation and finance professionals.

"The company is registered with the Geneva Commercial Registry since November 2017. Through '​ La Nova brand, we offer our clients a premium air transport services and operate as a 'virtual' airline by selling seats on aircraft bearing the company visual. We therefore act as flight broker and as such arrange carriage by air on behalf of our clients by chartering aircraft from third-party European aircraft operator as their agent.

"This model of operations is widely use in the industry as it avoids most of the costs linked to highly expensive infrastructure as well as heavy staff and administrative requirements, whose do not fit into the initial risk strategy of our business model. thus allowing an important reduction of costs. This strategy was used by easyJet during its startup years and commonly used by legacy or low cost airlines to meet the capacity increase during peak seasons."

For now, its website currently only displays a post-it image saying "We'll be back soon", but it does not say how soon.

Heston Airlines

Heston Airlines is a Lithuanian A320 family operator based in Vilnius and focused on charter and ACMI markets. According to the lessor Genesis, Heston Airlines has taken delivery of two aircraft and obtained AOC approval.

Its website says that it had planned to launch from May-2021 (and still said this on 22-Jun-2021). It reportedly plans to grow its fleet to seven aircraft by 2022. The airline is part of Heston Aviation, which focuses on aviation assets leasing, trading and MRO.

Emerald Airlines (Ireland)

Emerald Airlines is a proposed regional airline to be based in Dublin, Ireland. Backed by the Irish aviation entrepreneur Conor McCarthy, it has been linked with a bid for the Aer Lingus Regional contract.

Emerald is awaiting an AOC and the delivery of its first two ATR72 aircraft. It aims to operate up to 15 ATR72s eventually. The airline plans to launch operations in 2023.

Moov Airways

Moov Airways (formerly Swiss Skies) is a proposed low cost long haul service operator to be based at EuroAirport Basel.

It plans to operate from its main hub in Basel, as well as bases in other European destinations. It is evaluating destinations in North America, South America, the Caribbean, Middle East, African and India.

It is considering Airbus A321XLR aircraft to develop a long haul network for secondary markets.

Moov Airways was originally expected to begin operations in 2019, but was delayed due to difficulty in raising start-up capital. A revised launch date has not been specified, but the A321XLR is not due to enter service before 2023.

To follow: Part 2. Latin America: eight planned start-ups