Eastern Airways

History

The airline started operations in December 1997 with a scheduled service between Humberside and Aberdeen following KLM's withdrawal from the route. In February 1999 it purchased Manchester based Air Kilroe, granting the company an Air Operator's Certificate and giving the airline a fleet of two BAe Jetstream 32 aircraft. In 2002 the first J41 entered the Eastern fleet, the aircraft type which now forms the majority of the fleet. 12 BAe Jetstream 41 aircraft and their associated routes were transferred from British Airways CitiExpress on 30 March 2003 giving Eastern a springboard into many regional UK airports which have now become aircraft bases. In 2003 an Embraer 145 and 135 were wet leased from City Airline to compete on some longer routes. They were quickly replaced with Saab 2000 aircraft due to similar speed and lower fuel consumption. Since 2003 the company has acquired further Saab 2000 aircraft from Crossair and other European carriers and a number of additional Jetstream 41 aircraft from American regional carriers. The airline was owned by Bryan Huxford (59%) and Richard Lake (41%).; however, the Bristow Group, a large helicopter operator serving the offshore oil and gas industry in the U.K., U.S. and elsewhere, now has a 60% ownership stake in the airline.

In 2006 Eastern Airways wet leased a Dornier 328 from Cirrus Airlines to operate a Newcastle to London City service. This was however withdrawn due to increasing charges at London City Airport.

Eastern Airways won the European Regions Airline Association Airline of the Year Gold Award for 2006/07. Previously it had won the Airline of the Year Silver Award for 2003/04 and 2004/05. The airline was awarded as runner-up for punctuality at UK airports in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 by Flight on Time, based on CAA statistics.

Eastern Airways purchased a Jetstream 41 training simulator from the USA, this is also used by other airlines for their own pilots' training, such as Yeti Airlines. Eastern acquired two more used Saab 2000 aircraft, to support both the new route to Stavanger and the booming 50-seat charter market – which is a major source of business for the airline.

As part of One North East's "Passionate People Passionate Places" campaign for North East England, Eastern Airways had a Jetstream 41 painted in promotional colours. It also featured in the 2007 Sunderland International Airshow. A Saab 2000 is also painted in a promotional 'Aberdeen City and Shire' colour scheme.

The airline closed its base at the Isle of Man in August 2009, discontinuing routes to Birmingham and Newcastle from the airport.

In July 2010 the airline took delivery of an Embraer 135 with 37 seats and signed a lease on a second, thus adding jet aircraft to their fleet for the first time since the acquisition to replace their previously operated Embraer ERJ aircraft. They will be used mainly on charter services to central and Eastern Europe; however, they will also offer increased flexibility on the airlines scheduled services.

Also in July 2010 the airline named one of their Jetstream 41 aircraft after the comedian Ken Dodd in celebration of the year anniversary of the start of scheduled services from Liverpool Airport and Dodd's support shown in the region.

In September 2010, it was announced that Eastern Airways bought Air Southwest. However, Air Southwest ceased operations from Plymouth on 14 September 2011 and all remaining services from Newquay ceased on 30 September 2011.

Eastern Airways was named "Best Passenger Charter Airline" in 2011, at the annual Excellence Awards ceremony of the Baltic Air Charter Association.

In August 2012, Eastern Group purchased the 82% Manchester Airports Group stake in Humberside Airport.

In February 2014 the Bristow Group acquired a 60% interest in Eastern Airways. The airline continues to operate under the Eastern Airways brand. Bristow also has a controlling interest in another regional airline which operates fixed wing regional jet and turboprop aircraft, being Airnorth which is based in Australia.

Corporate affairs

The head office is located at Schiphol House, on the property of Humberside Airport, in Kirmington, North Lincolnshire.

Destinations

Since 2008 Eastern Airways has been providing fixed wing services to and from Aberdeen Airport and Scatsta Airport in Shetland. The flights are used to transport oil workers employed by the companies that make up the IAC consortium. Eastern Airways supply fixed wing operations on behalf of Bristow Helicopters. Bristow Helicopters are responsible for providing all air transportation and ground handling services under the terms of the IAC contract. In 2010, the contract with Bristow was extended to 2015. Eastern will continue to provide fixed wing services to Scatsta

Codeshare agreements

Eastern Airways has codeshare agreements with the following airlines (as of January 2015):

Current fleet

The Eastern Airways fleet include the following aircraft as of October 2016

Historic fleet

Eastern Airways formerly operated the following turboprop aircraft:

Awards