Air Columbus

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Air Columbus
Air Columbus logo
Air Columbus Boeing 737-300
IATA code : BO
ICAO code : CNB
Call sign : AIR COLUMBUS
Founding: 1989
Operation stopped: 1994
Seat: Lisbon , PortugalPortugalPortugal 
Home airport : Madeira airport
Fleet size: 3
Aims: Western Europe, Canada, Madeira
Air Columbus ceased operations in 1994. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

Air Columbus - Transporte Aéreo Não Regular, SA was a Portuguese charter airline based at Madeira Airport that ceased operations in 1994.

history

Air Columbus was founded in 1989 by private investors in Lisbon . The Danish airline Sterling Airways owned a 34 percent stake in the company and provided a Boeing 727-200 with which on October 5, 1989 flight operations on the route from Faro to London Gatwick began. The company received another Boeing 727-200 in March 1991. In March 1992, the fleet was expanded with two Boeing 737-300s . In the summer season, took advantage of Air Columbus mainly to Faro airport in the Algarve as a base for tourist charter flights. In winter, the company used its aircraft mainly from Madeira .

In 1993 the company carried over 230,000 passengers and began charter flights from Madeira to Canada for the first time . In the same year, Sterling Airways filed for bankruptcy , which worsened Air Columbus' financial situation . The company's economic downturn continued in July 1993 after Air Columbus lost one of its main customers to the bankruptcy of the German tour operator MP Travel Line . As a result, the company terminated a leasing contract for a Boeing 757-200 at short notice in August 1993 , immediately before delivery of the machine, which was already painted in company colors. The loss of the main customer led to insufficient utilization of the aircraft and made profitable flight operations difficult. In the period that followed, the company carried out sub-charter services for other airlines in addition to its own charter flights. Air Columbus ceased operations in December 1994 and was liquidated in spring 1995.

fleet

See also

Individual evidence

  1. Leisure Airlines of Europe, K. Vomhof, 2001