Air Contractors

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Air Contractors
IATA
AG
ICAO
ABR
Callsign
CONTRACT
Founded 1972
Hubs

(Central European Hub)

Focus cities Dublin
Alliance FedEx Express
Subsidiaries
Fleet size 46
Destinations -
Company slogan Easing the Financial burden
Parent company ASL Aviation Group Limited
Headquarters Swords, Ireland
Key people Hugh Flynn (CEO)
Colin Grant (CFO)
Website www.aircontractors.com

Air Contractors (Ireland) Limited is a freight airline. It operates scheduled freight services throughout Europe on behalf of major integrators such as FedEx Feeder and DHL Express. ASL Aviation Group Limited, which controls Air Contractors, has its head office at No.3 Malahide Road, Swords, County Dublin, Republic of Ireland.[1][2]

Contents

[edit] History

The airline was established and started operations in 1972, as AirBridge Carriers at East Midlands Airport. The name Hunting Cargo Airlines was adopted in September 1992 and then changed to Air Contractors, following the acquisition of the airline by Compagnie Maritime Belge (51%) and Safair (49%) in June 1998, and a move to Ireland. It has expanded as a group to include aircraft leasing (ACL Aviation Support and Aircraft Trading both based in Southend, UK) and maintenance (Air Contractors Engineering, previously called Aeroscot, Edinburgh, UK).

Air Contractors has operated several types of cargo aircraft including the Boeing 727 and Airbus A300, as well as a number of turboprop platforms in support of its clients operations.

Air Contractors is a one of the largest operators of ATR42/72 series of turboprop aircraft, providing services to a range of clients, the largest of which being Fedex Express.

Air Contractors is the only operator of a civil registered Lockheed L-100 Hercules aircraft in Europe. The aircraft, EI-JIV, is based at East Midlands airport in the UK.

Air Contractors acquired French carrier Europe Airpost on 14 March 2008.[3] Following the acquisition of EAP into the ACL group of companies, the group was rebranded ASL Aviation Group, representing the three core activities of the group; Airlines, Support and Leasing.

[edit] Destinations

Air Contractors has a short-haul operation from Dublin, with short-haul services also from London-Stansted, Manchester and Paris-Charles de Gaulle. All services are operated for FedEx Feeder with some aircraft painted in FedEx colours.

It also operates the Airbus A300-B4 fleet on behalf of DHL with a main operational base of Leipzig in Germany.

Air Contractors Airbus A300-200F, flown for DHL Aviation, landing at London Heathrow Airport. (2010)

[edit] Fleet

The Air Contractors fleet consists of the following aircraft (at 7 September 2010):[4]

Air Contractors Fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Notes
Airbus A300B4-103F 4 Operating for DHL Aviation
Airbus A300-B4-203F 13 Operating for DHL Aviation
ATR 42-200F 5 Operating for FedEx Express
ATR 42-200 1 Leased to Aer Arann
ATR 42-500 7 Operating for CSA Czech Airlines
ATR 72-100 4 Operated by Air Contractors
ATR 72-200 5 leased to FedEx Express
ATR 72-100 2 Operating for Aer Arann
C130 Hercules 1 Operated by Air Contractors
Fokker 27-100 1 Leased to Fly 540
Boeing 737-300 1 Operating for Europe Airpost
Total 46

[edit] See also


Air Contractors ATR 42-300 in FedEx Feeder colours

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Contact Us." ASL Aviation. Retrieved on 24 February 2011. "Contact ASL Aviation Group Limited The Plaza Swords Co. Dublin Ireland."
  2. ^ "How to find us." ASL Aviation. Retrieved on 24 February 2011.
  3. ^ "Press Release: Acquisition of Europe Air Post by Air Contractors". Air Contractors. 2008-03-14. http://www.aircontractors.com/detail.aspx?page=Document&call=News&Item=2118. Retrieved 2009-08-03. 
  4. ^ Air Contractors fleet

[edit] External links

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