New charter airline Aero Georgia targets September launch

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The Caucasian country of Georgia could be served by a new charter airline as soon as this September following successful talks with two eastern European investors.

Aero Georgia is aiming to launch flights with a single narrow-body aircraft capable of carrying up to 150 passengers, Igor Aptsiauri, the company’s chief executive, told me in a telephone interview.

“This will be the first time that Georgia will have a purely charter airline,” he said.

“What we have noticed here in Georgia is that there's a very big demand for charters. And not only in Georgia … If we look at the big airlines in eastern Europe and the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States] region, the ones that are doing more or less OK financially are all charter airlines...

This is why flights are still operating from Milan’s airports

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When Italy’s government placed the northern region of Lombardy on lockdown this weekend, many assumed that Milan’s airports would immediately halt flights.

The reason for isolating Lombardy, after all, is to slow the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus disease that has so far infected 109,500 people worldwide, killing 3,800. Italy is by far the European country worst affected by the outbreak, with 7,375 cases and 366 deaths. Lombardy is its worst hit region.

Several countries and airlines have already taken matters into their own hands by grounding flights and cutting frequencies to northern Italy.

Yet, as of Sunday March 8th, the day that the lockdown began, Milan’s Malpensa Airport and Bergamo Airport were both insisting that it’s business as usual in their terminals. Bergamo Airport’s operator is still sharing a video that encourages its customers to #keeponflying...

South Sudan's most credible airline targets breakthrough year

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Sky Navigator, a South Sudanese virtual airline that launched operations in 2019, has laid out an ambitious plan to normalize air transport in its war-torn home nation.

The company is locally owned but relies on chartering aircraft from foreign partners due to the limited capabilities of the South Sudan Civil Aviation Authority, which lacks the ability to issue Air Operator’s Certificates (AOCs) and has ceded control of its airspace to Sudan since the two countries separated in 2011.

A pair of 12-seater Cessna Caravans is currently operated by the airline under short-term contracts with Horn Aviation of Kenya and Fly Zanzibar of Tanzania.

But managing director Cosmos Gombura is aiming to replace these units with five of Sky Navigator’s own Caravans this year – three on long-term leases and two purchased outright – as well as pressing the regulator to begin issuing local operating licenses as soon as possible...