RJ85 EI-RJC (c/n E2333)
awaits its next load
of passengers under
a glorious sky in
Toulon, France.
AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM/
MATTHIEU DOUHAIRE96 AIRLINER WORLD SEPTEMBER 2017
airlines we place the aircraft with have
also been very impressed. We have
three aircraft with Brussels Airlines
and it’s working really well.”
KLM and CityJet also extended their
existing codeshare agreement, with
the lease of two RJ85 aircraft from May
- The deal sees CityJet operating
four of the eight daily services between
London City and Amsterdam, as well
as a number of other UK routes on
behalf of KLM Cityhopper.
In February, it appeared that CityJet’s
long-standing agreement with Air
France had come to an end, following
the announcement the French carrier
would take its Dublin to Paris/
Charles de Gaulle route back in house.
However, a reprieve to the franchise
was announced in May and the two
airlines remain in talks to extend the
partnership further.
Changing Times
While CityJet may have been offering
wet-lease solutions for some time, the
shift towards increasing the percent-
age of ACMI business it operates is not
without risks. In the UK, this market
is already crowded, with airlines such
as bmi regional, Cello and Eastern to
name a few, competing.
But O’Connell and his team believe
that CityJet is already well ahead of the
rest of the pack and is positioned nicely
to meet the needs of major European
airlines. “In terms of looking at what’s
different with CityJet, we have invested
in new aircraft in the CRJ900 and
SSJ100 and put them to work with
major carriers on long-term ACMI
contracts. We currently have 23
CityJet has also
operated the SSJ100
on services for Finnair
and bmi regional.
SUPERJET INTERNATIONALaircraft with SAS alone, which is
something no other airline has done.”
The airline continues to improve its
trading position through its scheduled,
ad-hoc and ACMI flying, reshaping
its business into a profitable,
sustainable operator and expanding
its product across Europe, with bases
in the UK, France, Ireland, Amsterdam,
the Nordic region and most recentlyTallinn in Estonia.
“In five to ten years’ time I think you
will see CityJet flying for more major
EU carriers,” O’Connell said. “We will
continue with the scheduled operation- we will have a larger fleet and that
will progressively grow. You’ll see us
larger, you’ll see us with more custom-
ers and we’ll move beyond the 80%
ACMI and 20% scheduled [mix].”
Founder Pat Byrne
rejoined the airline as
Executive Chairman in
February 2015 and later
that year the carrier
unveiled its new livery.
AVIATION IMAGE NETWORK/
BAILEYO’Connell and his team
believe that CityJet is
already well ahead of
the rest of the pack and
is positioned nicely to
meet the needs of major
European airlines.