 |
||||
|
||||
| Founded | 2002 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bases | London Gatwick Airport | |||
| Fleet size | 12 | |||
| Destinations | Variable | |||
| Headquarters | Crawley, United Kingdom | |||
| Key people | Mario Fulgoni, Steve Clarke, Shaun Monnery, Rob Bishton, Larry Major, Darren Brewer | |||
| Website | www.flyastraeus.com | |||
Astraeus trading as Astraeus Airlines is a British airline based in Crawley, England. In May 2008, Astraeus changed its business model and ceased full time charter and schedule service flying to concentrate on sub lease activities. Astraeus provides aircraft anywhere in the world to meet short and long term lease requirements, wet lease (full crew), damp lease (pilots only, local cabin crew) or dry lease options. The main base is London Gatwick Airport, with an office in Crawley 10 minutes from Gatwick. Astraeus is named after the Greek Titan God of The Dusk.
Current ACMI customers include bmi, Iceland Express, Ghana International Airlines, Palmair, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Trawel Fly and Aer Lingus.
Astraeus also provides ad-hoc services to a variety of customers, for example flights for sports clubs, military and government, and business customers.
Astraeus Limited holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating License; it is permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. Astraeus is an IOSA registered company by the International Air Transport Association.
Contents |
History
Astraeus began charter operations in 2002 with Boeing 737 aircraft. The fleet was extended in 2004 to include Boeing 757 aircraft.
Milestones include being the only UK airline to operate to Equatorial Guinea plus and the first operator to take a Boeing 757 into the French ski destination of Chambery. Astraeus regularly flies to destinations in Africa such as Freetown in Sierra Leone) Equatorial Guinea (Malabo and Bata), Algeria (Hassi Messaoud) and Kazakhstan (Uralsk). In 2007 a scheduled service programme commenced flying to Chambery, Hurghada, St John’s and Deer Lake, Canada and the Cape Verde Islands.
By 2008 the fleet had grown to two Boeing 737-300s, two Boeing 737-700s and five Boeing 757-200s.
Astraeus is the only airline based at London Gatwick Airport. The fleet has grown with the addition of a Boeing 737-500 and another 737-700. An Airbus A320 was delivered in October 2009.
Astraeus is a 100% subsidiary of Eignarhaldsfelagid Fengur hf, an Icelandic based travel group that also owns Iceland Express in Iceland.
Fleet
The Astraeus fleet consists of the following aircraft (at 1 November 2009):
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320-200 | 4 | 180 | |
| Boeing 737-300 | 2 | 148 | |
| Boeing 737-500 | 1 | 121 | Operated for Palmair |
| Boeing 737-700 | 3 | 148 | |
| Boeing 757-200 | 5 | 160-221 | |
| Total | 12 | ||
Special charter
Iron Maiden commissioned an Astraeus 757 as transport for their 'Somewhere Back in Time' tour in 2008 and nicknamed it Ed Force One. The aircraft was converted into a combi configuration, repainted with an Iron Maiden livery and was used in this scheme until 28 May 2008 for commercial flights as well as used by Iron Maiden. The same aircraft (G-OJIB) was used again on the second leg of the Somewhere Back in Time tour in 2009. The plane played a major role on the award-winning Iron Maiden documentary "Flight 666" which was seen in cinemas in 42 countries on 21 April 2009 (the "Maiden Day") and was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in June 2009.
Bruce Dickinson
Bruce Dickinson, lead singer of British heavy metal band Iron Maiden is an Astraeus Captain flying the Boeing 757 aircraft and regularly flies for ACMI customers.
External links
References
|
||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
