Avion Express, a charter and narrow-body
ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) operator, has
unveiled plans to expand operations to South America by
establishing an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) under Brazilian
regulations.
Brazil’s pro-business approach
towards the aviation sector, coupled with the the country’s civil
aviation simplification program introduced during the pandemic by the National Civil
Aviation Agency (ANAC) in partnership with the Federal Government,
creates a favourable environment for overseas businesses to enter
Brazil’s airline market.
“As the largest economy in the region with a
well-developed airline sector, Brazil presents an excellent
opportunity for the development of our company,” said Darius Kajokas, CEO of Avion Express.
“Our primary
objective in Brazil is to bring cost and operational efficiencies
to local airlines and tour operators via our ACMI (wet/damp-lease)
and charter services. This has proven to be a strategic capacity
management tool for our client airlines in Europe, including Air
France-KLM Group, British Airways, Lufthansa Group, SunExpress
(Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines joint venture), TUI, and many
others as well as for our customers from other continents, such as
Flynas, Royal Air Maroc, Sky Airline, Sky Cana, VietJet Air and
many more.”
The new airline will
operate a fleet of Airbus A320 family aircraft for both passenger
and cargo ACMI and charter operations, including Airbus A321F
aircraft, which will support the airline’s freight operations.
“Our goal is to grow steadily yet firmly and expand the fleet of
Avion Express Brazil to a double-digit number of aircraft within
the first two years of operations,” Darius added.
The new
Brazil-based airline is expected to commence operations in Q4 2023 or
Q1 2024.
The expansion of Avion Express is backed by its
parent company Avia Solutions Group, one of the world’s largest ACMI providers with
a fleet of 173
aircraft operating in all continents of the world.
The
group holds 9 AOCs in Europe and is planning to get an AOC in
Indonesia this month, expanding its current presence in more than
68 countries worldwide.
