ASL Airlines Ireland
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| Founded | 1972 | ||||||
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| Fleet size | 30 | ||||||
| Destinations | - | ||||||
| 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, Ireland.[1][2]
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.
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.
Fleet
The Air Contractors fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average fleet age of 23.8 years (at 22 September 2012):[4]
| Aircraft | In Fleet | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Airbus A300-B4-F | 9 | operating for DHL Aviation |
| ATR 42-300 | 1 | leased to Mistral Air |
| ATR 42-300F | 5 | operating for FedEx Express |
| ATR 72-200 | 2 | leased to Aer Arann |
| ATR 72-200F | 11 | operating for FedEx Express |
| Boeing 737-300 | 1 | operating for Europe Airpost |
| Total | 30 |
See also
References
- ^ "Contact Us." ASL Aviation. Retrieved on 24 February 2011. "Contact ASL Aviation Group Limited The Plaza Swords Co. Dublin Ireland."
- ^ "How to find us." ASL Aviation. Retrieved on 24 February 2011.
- ^ "Press Release: Acquisition of Europe Air Post by Air Contractors". Air Contractors. 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
- ^ Air Contractors fleet
External links
