The start-up airline of Croatia, Fly Air41 has been granted the Air Operator’s Certificate from the Croatian Civil Aviation Agency on August 18. The Sundair sister company performed its demonstration flight on Airbus A319-100, registration number 9A-BER, from Zagreb to Dubrovnik on 12:10 local time, then headed towards Pula and back to Zagreb at 16:00 on Tuesday, August 17, 2021. After successfully completing the demonstration flight, the CCAA granted the operating certificate to run the commercial flight operations on Wednesday.
The first commercial flight was scheduled on August 20 on the Leipzig-Corfu route. Initially, Fly Air41 will utilize the fleet of Airbus A319. As per Marco Rosello, the owner of the airline, the company will add two A320s in September 2021. Soon, the machine of this type will be shifted to Zagreb to make corresponding preparations. This start-up airline hasn’t made its plan on its own scheduled flights this year as it is set to offer ACMI services for Sundair along with charter operations for the tour operators.
The Airbus A319-100, 9A-BER will be stationed in Leipzig and fly for Sundair. The aircraft’s livery is identical to Sundair, and it has the logo of Sundair on its tail. It was positioned to Germany on a day after it received its AOC. In a press release, Sundair stated that the only aircraft of Fly Air41 would offer leisure charter flights to cater to Sundair’s existing guests, with the first scheduled flight to Kerkyra. Customers can book their tickets as well as package deals for all departures to Leipzig.
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The German sister Sundair has a fleet of four in-house A319-100s and three A320-200s. Till August 18, it also added A319 on a wet-lease from Croatia Airlines, based out of Leipzig. It is assumed to be replaced by A319-100 of Fly Air41. Sundair has further plans to add another two A320-200s to its combined fleet. Both of the upcoming aircraft will operate under the Air Operator’s Certificate of Fly Air41.
About Fly Air41
Fly Air41 Airways is a Croatian start-up airline. The airline is founded this year, i.e., 2021, as a sister airline with Sundair. It has its base in Zagreb, Croatia. It transports holiday travelers to the relaxing and beautiful destinations in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and the Canary Islands through German bases such as Leipzig. Along with holiday flights, the upstart also offers special and charter flights.
Fly Air41 is a new charter and leasing airline that operates both private and commercial services. The new airline secured its AOC with Airbus A319 leased from Sundair.
The current fleet of Fly Air41
Currently, Airbus A319-100 is the only aircraft in the fleet of Air41, which was delivered in August 2021. The average fleet age is about 12 years.
The plan behind the new start
German Charter Airline Sundair had planned to start Air41 at the end of April or the beginning of May and was working on obtaining the certificate. The Air Operator’s Certificate is the utmost for every air operation to use aircraft for commercial purposes. It requires staff, financial resources, and a system to secure it. Sundair will continuously operate from several cities in Germany using 7 Airbus aircraft, while Air41 will operate flights between Germany and Croatia. The new Croatian airline, Fly Air41, will provide a seasonal connection between Dusseldorf and Berlin in Germany and Brac in Croatia.
The holiday packages for Croatia will soon be coming through partnerships with business companies, including German Schauinsland-Reisen tour operators.
Fly Air41 won’t be the subsidiary of Sundair, as the two airlines are more likely to be sister airlines and continue to operate separately. Fly Air41 intends to resemble the livery worn by Sundair aircraft and will have Sundair’s logo on the tail fin. As the strong growth is foreseen due to lively interest, Fly Air41 will look for aircraft for private and commercial customers, along with wet leases and charter. The airline is looking forward to operating aircraft management.
This year, Croatia has launched two new airlines, Fly Air41 and ETF Airways, supported by local Croatian investors. ETP Airways is set up to fly on routes from Croatian Adriatic coasts such as Dubrovnik, Pula, Split, and Zadar to France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. ETP made its first commercial flight in June on the Pristine-Helsinki route.
Fly Air41 aims to capture the market niches related to tourism by partnering with major tour operators, operating on charter routes, and supporting the country’s tourism development in the coming days.
