newstodate.aero
Aug 11, 2011 (newstodate): The Icelandic charter carrier and ACMI provider Primera Air, now with its aircraft on Danish registration and operating on an AOC issued by the Danish civil aviation authorities, has seen a most busy season.
-We are operating the charter programs of leading tour operators including Bravo Tours and Solresor, and all aircraft and crews are working at a very high level of utilization, says Hrafn Thorgeirsson, Primera Air managing director.
-A typical situation for a carrier like Primera Air, we could easily utilize one or even two more aircraft during the busy summer season - but the question would remain: how to exploit the capacity during the slack winter season?
-One potential venue would of course be to engage in extensive ACMI and ad-hoc charter operations, and we are indeed in this business, too. Only we have decided not to engage in distant markets like Africa and the Middle East, restraining ourselves to respond to requests for operations to and from the Nordic region where our response time is short and where we have crews available.
-Another potential off-season alternative could be to locate the aircraft in, say, Central Europe enabling us to respond to requests in a broader European market. This would, however, require us to station crews abroad which is rather demanding and costly.
-So our strategy for the off-season periods is to respond to requests for ACMI services or ad-hoc operations from airports in the Nordic region, and this keeps our fleet on the wings during winter period, too.
-With a focus on passenger transportation, air cargo is of little importance to us. We have named a GSA, Cargo Care International, to handle requests from cargo customers but the cargo volumes carried are insignificant, says Mr Thorgeirsson.
Primera Air now operates a fleet comprising five Boeing 737-800 and one Boeing 737-700 but does not preclude a growth as market conditions improve.
-We are operating the charter programs of leading tour operators including Bravo Tours and Solresor, and all aircraft and crews are working at a very high level of utilization, says Hrafn Thorgeirsson, Primera Air managing director.
-A typical situation for a carrier like Primera Air, we could easily utilize one or even two more aircraft during the busy summer season - but the question would remain: how to exploit the capacity during the slack winter season?
-One potential venue would of course be to engage in extensive ACMI and ad-hoc charter operations, and we are indeed in this business, too. Only we have decided not to engage in distant markets like Africa and the Middle East, restraining ourselves to respond to requests for operations to and from the Nordic region where our response time is short and where we have crews available.
-Another potential off-season alternative could be to locate the aircraft in, say, Central Europe enabling us to respond to requests in a broader European market. This would, however, require us to station crews abroad which is rather demanding and costly.
-So our strategy for the off-season periods is to respond to requests for ACMI services or ad-hoc operations from airports in the Nordic region, and this keeps our fleet on the wings during winter period, too.
-With a focus on passenger transportation, air cargo is of little importance to us. We have named a GSA, Cargo Care International, to handle requests from cargo customers but the cargo volumes carried are insignificant, says Mr Thorgeirsson.
Primera Air now operates a fleet comprising five Boeing 737-800 and one Boeing 737-700 but does not preclude a growth as market conditions improve.