The German charter and ACMI specialist Avanti Air will very soon part with the last Fokker 100 and replace it with a more modern aircraft type. A re-fleet is nothing new for Avanti Air, as one of the two managing partners recently announced to Aviation.direct.

Avanti Air (now referred to as avantiair on the outside) was founded 27 years ago by the two pilots Markus Baumann and Stefan Kissinger. Since then, the Siegerland Airport airline has gone through some changes, but the two founders are still on board as a constant. Initially it started with a Piaggio P.180 Avanti (hence the company name), various small business jets and turbo-props will follow in the next few years. Two years after the company was founded, the first regional aircraft was purchased in the form of a Beech 1900C, which was soon supplemented with a Beech 1900D. In some cases, both aircraft flew crew shuttles for Britannia Airways. From 2001 onwards, scheduled flights were also operated for various providers for the first time. A first ATR2002-42 was also used from 300 and a larger ATR72-200 three years later. Well-known airlines such as Air Berlin, Bangkok Air, Darwin Airline, Intersky or Meridiana also counted on the services of Avanti Air.

First larger jet planes

As of 2015, the turboprop fleet was completely replaced by the Fokker 100. Avanti Air sometimes had up to three of this 28-seater in operation. After two machines had already been sold, the last machine from the former Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker is now looking to be replaced. The aircraft registered as D-AOLG should still be flying for Avanti Air for just under a week, says Stefan Kissinger to us. The 1993-year-old machine was delivered to TABA from Brazil in 2004, before it found a new home three years later at TAM Linhas Aéreas, also from Brazil. From 100 the Spanish ACMI operator GirJet used the machine for almost four years, after which it received the current license plate and flew for a few years with the German OLT Express. This Fokker 2015 was Avanti Air's first jet, which it joined in early 2021. The owner (Kissinger & Baumann OHG) has already sold the aircraft to the Australian company Qantas and it is to continue to be used there by the subsidiary Network Aviation. A handover is planned for October XNUMX.

Which successor model will Avanti Air receive?

Stefan Kissinger informed Aviation.direct that they are in the final negotiations for the successor model. At the beginning of the year he mentioned to another aviation portal that the evaluation had the following models: Airbus A319 resp. A320, Boeing 737NG and Embraer E190. The A320 and B737 were soon excluded from the evaluation process and instead two turboprop models were considered (would have to be the ATR72-500 / -600 and DHC-8-400). A decision has been made in the meantime, but Stefan Kissinger is still keeping a low profile.

Last year Avanti Air decided not to fly for the Austrian tour operator Idealtours in the 2021 summer season. Stefan Kissinger stated that they did not have a back-up solution for the operations from Innsbruck (only one aircraft in the fleet). This would have had cruel economic consequences for Avanti Air if compensation had been claimed in accordance with Regulation EU 261/2004 (passenger law). Such orders could be carried out again with the future aircraft type, because Avanti Air will purchase several aircraft at the same time.

The corona pandemic has also hit the German charter and ACMI specialists massively. However, since the aircraft were always owned, no leasing installments had to be paid. Without the enormous leasing costs, Avanti Air was able to maneuver through this crisis a little more relaxed. In this way, Avanti Air secures an advantage over the competition. Stefan Kissinger stated that Avanti Air tries to earn money with every flight it takes, which is why they deliberately refrain from entering into a ruinous competition for the sake of flying.

Aviation.direct will shortly inform you which aircraft type will soon be wearing the colors of Avanti Air.