CityJet operates
Bombardier CRJ900LRs
on behalf of SAS
Scandinavian Airlines.
The carrier’s latest
deal made it the
manufacturer’s largest
European customer
for the type.
AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/
ELIAS HADJARIhttp://www.airlinerworld.comwww.airlinerworld.com 9595the aircraft slowly as we develop and
train the crew.”
Currently, the Russian jet is not
certified for operations at London City.
O’Connell explained: “We continue
to work with Superjet in terms of the
requirement for London City capabil-
ity. There is a plan in place and for us
it’s a question of when the time is right
and when the requirement is done, we
will put the aircraft in to City.”
This involves a new configuration for
later deliveries, including software
changes to braking distance and
approach speeds, and new winglets.
As it stands, the RJ85s will continue
to ply the airline’s routes from London
City well in to 2021, with a programme
of upgrades recently announced to
lengthen their life. O’Connell contin-
ued: “We see the RJ85 has a future for a
few more years yet, although we will be
progressively reducing the size of that
fleet. We have wet-lease customers on
the RJ85 in Air France and KLM. It’s a
good reliable aeroplane and it’s great
for London City.”
Building its ACMI Business
The ACMI operation is now the
airline’s main focus. “We see the ACMI
market in Europe as a growing market
and therefore we believe in the forward
strategy of the company as being
one that entails becoming a major
ACMI carrier in Europe,” explained
O’Connell.
In a further expansion of its Nordic
operation, it was announced on
January 24 that CityJet had bought
Danish carrier Cimber. "It was rela-
tively similar to Blue1," said O’Connell.
“We acquired the company and it
already had an existing relationship
with SAS, so in purchasing Cimber
we acquired the infrastructure to offer
even more high-quality ACMI capacity
to SAS.”
The existing agreement between
CityJet and SAS was subsequently
extended from three to six years
following the procurement. The Irish
carrier also announced the
purchase of six Bombardier CRJ900
jets, with an option on four more, to
replace Cimber's 11 CRJ200s. These,
in addition to the 12 ordered in 2016
and already in service, make CityJet
Bombardier’s largest European
customer for the type.
O’Connell said: “We see the CRJ900
[and SSJ100] as aircraft that are perfect
for the ACMI platforms for EU airlines
and will continue to build our fleet
around these.”
Superjet International, the marketers
of the SSJ100, is keen to showcase its
aircraft in Europe through CityJet, inthe hope that this may translate in to
orders from other carriers.
Since joining the fleet, CityJet’s
SSJ100s operated for Finnair during
August and September last year on
European routes from Helsinki. They
have also flown with bmi regional,
with EI-FWB (c/n 95108) providing
extra capacity from the carrier’s Bristol
hub this March.
However, the biggest boost for the
Russian jet was the two-year wet lease
deal with Brussels Airlines, which
started in April. Three SSJ100s will
be operated on behalf of the Belgian
flag carrier as the airline retires its
remaining Avro RJ100s.
O’Connell said: “The Superjet has
given us a fantastic aircraft. Our
passengers love it and the wet-leaseThree SSJ100s have
been painted in Brussels
Airlines colours as part
of CityJet’s wet lease
agreement with the
Belgian flag carrier.
GIANLUCA NATALIZIO