More than a year ago, on August 27, 2020, a new Ukrainian airline was founded. Only now are a few details about Air Ocean Airlines known.
No, Air Ocean Airlines will probably not fly over the oceans, but rather offer mostly regional services. As the online edition of the Ukrainian logistics and infrastructure magazine MINTRANS reports, Air Ocean wants to purchase aircraft from the domestic manufacturer Antonov.
The three used and Russian-made Antonov An-148s are to join Air Ocean via the Russian leasing company Ilyushin Finance Co (IFC). So far, all machines were in operation with the Siberian Angara Airlines and had the registration numbers RA-61709, RA-61710 and RA-61713. However, as a result of the Covid 19 crisis and difficulties in obtaining spare parts, this airline parted with its only jet aircraft in the summer of 2020. Angara Airlines currently only flies with Antonov An-24, Antonov An-26 freighters and Mil Mi-8 helicopters from the base in Irkutsk, Siberia.
The livery of two aircraft has already been neutralized and Ukrainian registration has been applied to each. However, the UR-CTC and UR-CTF labels have not yet been entered in the official register.
Due to the low capacity (75 seats) and the lack of EASA and FAA certification, Air Ocean is only allowed to fly domestically. Another area of application would be wet leasing operations in some African countries. But the managing director of Air Ocean, Nikolay Melnichuk, is still completely covered about his airline's plans.