Herfst fall 2019: Air Antwerp flies Fokker 50 Deurne-London

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In English:
https://www.aviation24.be/airports/antw ... r-antwerp/

De Standaard:

http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20190519_04411307

KLM brengt nieuwe luchtvaartmaatschappij naar Deurne

Vandaag om 20:57 door btj | Bron: BELGA

De luchthaven Deurne krijgt een nieuwe luchtvaartmaatschappij: Air Antwerp.

Dat heeft de redactie van Travel Magazine vernomen.
De maatschappij wil in een eerste fase Antwerpen verbinden met een drietal bestemmingen,
waaronder Londen City Airport.

De aandeelhouders van het pas opgerichte bedrijf zijn KLM en het Ierse CityJet.
Zij brachten een startkapitaal samen van 61.500 euro,
waarvan één derde door KLM en de overige twee derden door CityJet met hoofdzetel in Dublin.

Air Antwerp hoopt dit najaar van start te kunnen gaan met één Fokker 50,
een toesteltype met plaats voor vijftig passagiers dat destijds ook door VLM Airlines werd gebruikt op de korte verbindingen.

De regionale luchtvaartmaatschappij hoopt ook een aantal ex-werknemers van VLM aan te trekken.
Dat bedrijf ging in vereffening nadat er geen overnemer werd gevonden.

De oprichtingsakte van Air Antwerp is vorige maandag gepubliceerd in het Staatsblad,
meldt Travel Magazine nog.

Bestuurders van het nieuwe bedrijf zijn de Nederlander Willem Alexander Hondius (namens KLM)
en de Belg Johan Maertens.

Maertens wordt ook de ceo van Air Antwerp.
Hij was tot eind vorig jaar vorig jaar de laatste topman van het failliete VLM Airlines.

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...a feature in "De Tijd".
https://www.tijd.be/ondernemen/luchtvaa ... p/10128631
/
https://translate.google.com/translate? ... &sandbox=1

The airlines KLM and CityJet want to fly with aircraft from 50 to 80 seats.

"Those are devices that the two companies do not have.

With Air Antwerp, we want to reach niche markets that KLM and CityJet cannot serve themselves,
"says the spokesperson.

"With society, KLM wants to attract people from the south of the Netherlands
that it will not reach with its large aircraft."

Air Antwerp has an application for a Flight Permit (AOC) pending
with the Federal Public Service Mobility.

It is unclear when a decision will be taken.

The new society therefore does not know when it will start flying.
At VLM and Air Belgium it took longer than planned to get an AOC.

"Indeed, there is still some work to be done," acknowledges Marcel Buelens,
the top man at Antwerp airport, who was able to view the business plan.

"The license is not yet available and
in the short term I believe that investments will also have to be made
in aircraft other than the Fokker 50.

I do not expect Air Antwerp flights to start before September 2019."


For the airport of Deurne, the new company is a boost after the bankruptcy of VLM last year .

Buelens: "Thanks to Air Antwerp, we are entering the international KLM network
and that is still a roaring name in the business flights sector,
a niche that we are mainly aiming for."


London City Airport - if it becomes that destination - has always been an important destination for Antwerp,
but had disappeared after the liquidation of VLM last year.

Buelens does not exclude that Air Antwerp
will fly to cities such as Hamburg, Munich or Zurich in the future.

Deurne airport lost 40 percent of its passenger capacity last year due to the liquidation of VLM Airlines.

"We are reclaiming them now," says Buelens.

"Thanks in part to TUI - the only client of some size -
that has increased its capacity at the airport by 30 percent since last month."

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...several photos
and background information now at
https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/air- ... of-london/

Air Antwerp starts flying the fastest direct connection between Antwerp and the centre of London

9 September 2019

A ceremony was held this afternoon at Antwerp Airport
in the presence of Air Antwerp CEO Johan Maertens and CEO of Antwerp Airport Marcel Buelens
to celebrate the official start of Air Antwerp flights.

Aviation24.be not only attended the event but also was present in the first flight to London City
that left earlier in the morning with 42 of the 50 seats filled..

From today, the new regional airline will fly 16 times a week between Antwerp and London City Airport.

The flights are operated with a Fokker 50, a turboprop that can accommodate 50 passengers.

The aircraft belongs to Amaopla (Sweden) and is used in dry-lease.

...much more thru
https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/air- ... of-london/