European Aviation Air Charter

Infobox Airline
airline=European Aviation Air Charter
logo=Europeanaviation-logo.pnglogo_size=245
fleet_size=6
destinations=N/A
IATA=E7
ICAO=EAF
callsign=EUROCHARTER
parent=European Aviation
founded=1989 (as European Aviation)
headquarters=Bournemouth
key_people=Paul Stoddart
hubs=Bournemouth Airport
frequent_flyer=
lounge=
alliance=
website= http://www.eaac.co.uk

European Aviation Air Charter is an airline based in Bournemouth, United Kingdom. It operates ad hoc charter services, VIP flights, and inclusive-tour and sub-charter flights, as well as ACMI wet leases for other airlines. Its main base is Bournemouth Airport.cite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work= Flight International | page= 79 | date= 2007-04-03]

European Aviation Air Charter Limited holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence. It is permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. [ [http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?categoryid=183&pagetype=90&pageid=340 CAA Operating Licence] ]

History

European Aviation Air Charter began in 1989, as European Aviation. Paul Stoddart, the boss of European Aviation Air Charter, saw a gap in the market for an ad-hoc charter airline. The aircraft used at first were rather old BAC-111 jets, which had been first built during the 1960s. The aircraft were flown over from Australia, as their previous owner was the Royal Australian Air Force. European Aviation was initially based in the building where the British Aircraft Corporation used to make aircraft such as the Vickers Viscount and, coincidentally, the BAC-111s that the airline was operating. European Air Charter has flown from Bournemouth-Hurn International Airport since its beginning, making the airport a hub for the airline. The airline was profitable, so the company expanded its operation into other areas such as flight crew training, maintenance for other operators and leasing and selling aircraft.

In 1993, the company directors took the decision of changing European Aviation's name to "European Aviation Air Charter", or EAC for short. That same year, twenty other BAC-111s were bought from British Airways. This meant the airline could include tour groups among its charter clients. By then the airline also operated the far newer Airbus A300, as well as Boeing 737s. By 1997 European had acquired some Boeing 727 airliners as well.

European Air Charter asked for permission to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Chicago and other US and Canadian destinations in 2001. Due to the volume of passengers the airline projected to transport on each flight to North America, Boeing 747s were bought, once again from British Airways. A total of six former British Airways aircraft of that type entered service with the airline after the permits were granted. Although black and silver became prevalent colors in the airline's livery after operating with a standard (for European Aviation) red and white livery, the airline reminded some of Braniff because, after the 747s arrived, the airline's livery also featured lines that crossed both their airplanes' fuselages and engines. The colors used for that line included pink, blue, yellow, red and others. European Air Charter has formed an association with Palmair, which used to fly over passengers to Bournemouth so they could board the European Air Charter jets to North America.

However, in 2004, EAC started losing money. Paul Stoddart resumed control of EAC and went about cost cutting, this involved selling or scrapping the Boeing 747s, selling some Boeing 737-200s and disposing of the rest of the fleet. Currently, EAC has 10 Boeing 737-200s, 1 is used for Palmair, and 4 are used by ozjet with their own registrations.

In May 2008 it was announced that Paul Stoddart had sold his stake in OzJet to HeavyLift Cargo Airlines, and the 4 B737-200s which were in European's fleet were handed over in the process.

The airline is wholly owned by Paul Stoddart and has 270 employees (at March 2007).

Fleet

The European Aviation Air Charter fleet consists of the following aircraft:

*6 Boeing 737-200 (one aircraft is wet leased to Palmair) [ [http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=60&pagetype=65&appid=1&mode=summary&aircrafttype=Boeing&owner=European Registered aircraft on the Civil Aviation Authority website] ] as of 2008-07-01

Previously operated

* Boeing 747 [ [http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1053039/M/ Image of Boeing 747 G-BDXE in European livery] ]
* BAC 1-11
* Airbus A300

External links

* [http://www.eaac.co.uk European Aviation Air Charter]

ee also

* G-BDXJ

References