Airlines launched in 2021 - the list is now closed (as of 31/12/21)

New year is a great time to get new projects started, whether an airline…or a list of new airlines!

Despite all the doom and gloom that has abated over the aviation industry in 2020, a handful of airlines managed to launch and I guess were are going to see a few more this year, including several carriers whose demise may have been announced too prematurely…

Islas Air (Spain)

The first airline to kick-off this list is a seaplane operator (did I mention that I love seaplanes?), Islas Air aims to launch regular services connecting the Balearic Islands with each other and with the Spanish mainland with DHC-6 Twin Otters. I must confess that I had thought about this market opportunity myself and I wonder why it doesn’t exist yet. Perhaps some regulatory hurdles I am not aware of? In any case, hoping to see this interesting niche product taking off some time later this year!

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi (UAE)

It has been in the making for quite some time, but, finally, the Gulf subsidiary of Eastern Europe’s largest low cost carrier, Wizz Air, is ready to take off from its new base. It will be very interesting to see how this venture operates alongside the large global carriers based in the UAE.

Northern Airlines (Sweden)

This new Swedish airline, based at Arlanda airport, Stockholm (ARN) has got a website up. The little information that it is known so far, it plans to operate Boeing 737-800 aircraft (its goal is to have a fleet of 3 by the end of 2021) and will have as first two destinations Málaga and Beirut.

EGO Airways (Italy)

Although not “new” in the strict sense of the word, since it had an AOC and been operating as a charter since 2019, EGO Airways is expecting to launch in March 2021 as an scheduled carrier in the Italian domestic market. The airline has currently one Embraer E190, but expects to increase its fleet size later this year. The prospective network it has outlined focuses on connecting second-tier airports, at first glance it looks like a niche similar to that covered by Volotea, even if the two may not be immediately in direct competition in some of these routes.

Flyr (Norway)

We included it in this previous list of airlines started in 2020, but given that they are actually launching in Q2 of 2021, I think it is best to add it to the 2021 list too. Also, more details are being unveiled about this Norwegian airline startup. It seems that it has finally opted for the Boeing 737-800 and it is expected to launch in June as soon as it gets its AOC. As per the route network, it is what you would expect, linking Oslo to Norways major cities in the west coast (Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger) and the far north of the country (Narvik, Bodo, Tromso) as well as some destinations on the Mediterranean (Barcelona, Nice, Malaga and Alicante, the latter two home to sizable Norwegian communities)

(By the way, Flyr, the Norwegian airline, shares its name with another unrelated firm that we featured in these pages, Flyrlabs, the brainchild of Dutch entrepreneur Alexandre Mans, is in the airline revenue management business! Here is a profile I wrote when it was an early stage startup you can find an interesting podcast explaining the new business model they pivoted too shortly after)

Canarian Airways (Spain) / Lattitude Hub - it’s complicated!

A new airline to service the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago of 7 islands off the coast of North Africa and a prime all-year tourist destination. This airline , which will be launching in June, with a single Airbus A319 with 144 seats, is a project of the Tenerife hotel industry and has been funded also by the local government to the tune of €700k. The governmental involvement here is a bit puzzling, since there seems to be no problem of supply in the Canary Islands, with plenty of low cost and full service carriers serving them. Canarian Airways will initially fly to Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin, Cardiff, Vigo, Bilbao and Glasgow.

UPDATE (as of 21/11/21): Canarian Airways changed its name to “Lattitude Hub” even before starting operations, then it stopped operations for a number of months and restarted operations in November 2021 under the original name of Canarian Airways

Vietravel Airlines (Vietnam)

An airline catering for the leisure market and owned by the Vietravel Holding group. It got its AOC in December 2020 and its first flights in January, shortly after receiving the first aircraft of its A321 fleet. Vietravel Airlines operates only domestic flights so far.

Burundi Airlines

Although it has yet to fly, Burundi Airlines has now been officially incorporated. The new airline is 92% government-owned and it builds upon the legacy (and assets apparently) of the late Air Burundi, which stopped flying in 2009. Apparently, before its demise, Air Burundi had received Chinese-made Xian MA60 aircraft, which may (or may not) be used now by the new airline.

Uep Airways (Spain)

Quite a few new airlines in the Spanish islands this start of the year! The latest project to come forward is Uep Airways, led by a former Spanish Harrier fighter pilot. According to media reports, this new airline will have a fleet of 3 ATR-72 aircraft, operated by Swiftair. It will focus on connections between the three main Balearic islands, Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza. As Air Europa is about to be absorbed by Iberia (and IAG), some in the islands fret about a potential reduction in inter-island connectivity. Interestingly this airline will compete in the same markets as the new seaplane airline Islas AIr, also featured in this list.

Norse Atlantic Airways (Norway)

Norwegian’s founder and former CEO, Bjorn Kjos is behind this new airline project that expects to launch before the end of 2021. It basically replicates Norwegian’s former transatlantic operation, which the low cost carrier had to give up due to its worsening financial situation. It will operate also Boeing 787s. Could this new airline partner with the rump of Norwegian to recreate what the latter was just a couple of years back, but as two separate companies instead of one? Interesting times in Norway, which has seen also former Norwegian staff start low cost startup airline Flyr (detailed further above in this post) as well as Wizz Air entering the domestic market.

Breeze Airways (US)

The latest project by serial airline entrepreneur David Neeleman (who previously founded JetBlue and Azul and for some time controlled TAP). Breeze aims to connect second and third tier airports that have currently little direct connectivity between them. This is a business model that Volotea has exploited successfully in Europe. Breeze will start with Embraer E190/195s and the plan is to later transition to A220s.

Avelo Airlines (US)

Although this project is based on an airline already in existence (charter and ACMI operator Xtra Airways), its new owners are plotting its entry into the scheduled airline business in 2021 with a new brand identity and a B737-800 fleet. It looks like its focus market is going to be also secondary airports.

Waltzing Matilda Aviation (US - Canada)

This is not an entirely new operator, since it already managed an executive jet charter service, but the news are that it is to become a scheduled commercial airline before the end of 2021 (in Q4 if all goes according to plan). The plan is to link Toronto’s Billy Bishop airport, right next to downtown Toronto, to several destinations in the US using Bombardier Q400 turboprops.

SkyAlps (Italy)

A new regional airline that expects to launch this summer out of a base in Bozen/Bolzano, in the German-speaking area of Italy (Südtirol/Alto Adige), right in the heart of the Alps. SkyAlps will operate Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 aircraft. Interestingly, the investor behind this new airline project is a renewable energy company (a new twist to the concept of green aviation"!)

Global X (USA)

This is a Florida-based airline that seems to be starting soon with a focus on the charter market, including routes between the US and Cuba (for this purpose it set up a dedicated tour-operator, aptly named CubaX). GlobalX has already received its first A321. Interestingly, the airline’s parent company, Global Crossing Airlines, is also a shareholder of Jetlines, a planned Canadian low cost carrier several years in the making, although it hasn’t launched yet. After a recent capital restructuring, Jetlines may be soon join this list.

Grecian Air (Greece)

Greece seems to be a country particularly suited for seaplane operations and, yet, seaplanes are hard (check out this podcast interview with seaplane entrepreneur Rob Ceravolo to understand the logic and challenges of the seaplane business) . There have been attempts to set up seaplane operations in Greece and other points of the Mediterranean throughout the last decade, although none has crystallized yet. Is this time different? If all goes according to plan, Greece may have its seaplane operator after the summer.

JetSmart Perú

As the name indicates, this is the new Peruvian subsidiary of JetSmart, one of the low cost airlines in Indigo Partners portfolio. JetSmart started up in Chile and then expanded into Argentina, where it acquired the assets of Norwegian Air Argentina when the latter decided to exit that market. Jetsmart Perú is expected to start operations sometime during the second quarter of this year, as soon as it receives its AOC.

Ecuatoriana Airlines (Ecuador)

Yet another startup in Latin America. This one for now focused on the domestic market in Ecuador. Interestingly, they will operate Boeing 717s, an aircraft type with a very limited number of operators, as well as Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft. You can see how Ecuatoriana’s livery will look like here.

Air Montenegro

The former flag carrier of this small and touristic Balkan republic, Montenegro Airlines, was in last year’s airline bankruptcy list. But the Montenegrin government has not spend much time relaunching a national airline with an almost identical name. Let’s see if this time it turns out to work better!

PLAY (Iceland)

This new startup airline in Iceland is the new project of some of the executives at now-gone low cost carrier WOW! What we have seen so far is much in line with their previous project, just that the livery now is going to be red instead of purple. PLAY is expected to operate A321neos, which may be an optimal aircraft choice for the sort of routes that Icelandic carriers typically specialize in.

Green Africa Airways (Nigeria)

The Nigerian market has been a difficult one to crack, even for experienced airline entrepreneurs like Richard Branson. With nearly 200M people and 1M Sq. km the need for better air connectivity is certainly there. Will this ambitious startup manage to do it? Almost everything is ready for the kick-off. The first aircraft, ATR turboprops, have already arrived. For more on this new Nigerian airline, check out this post we published earlier this year (and for an overview of African aviation, there is also this podcast episode!)

ITA (Brazil)

Brazilian bus operator Grupo Itapemirim has decided to branch out into aviation and launch ITA (that stands for Itapemirim Transportes Aereos) (Coincidentally, the holding company of financially troubled Alitalia is also called ITA!). Apparently this is not the first time that this firm attempts to operate an airline. In the 1990s it had a cargo and passenger operation flying Boeing 727s and Cessna Caravans. This time it seems to be focused on the passenger market and, unlike many airline startups nowadays, it is opting for a full service model. The plans are quite ambitious, with the expectation to get to a 50-strong A320 fleet already by next year, with the idea to keep growing from there.

Air Catalogne (France)

This is a virtual airline (which does not operate under its own AOC and rents the planes from another operator instead) serving the Balearic Islands and Paris from the French Catalan city of Perpignan/Perpinyà (an airport that has some other elements of interest for aviation enthusiasts). The first flights , with an ATR-72, have been charters for the local rugby team, but the general public will soon be able to book too.

flylili (Romania)

Little is known so far of this startup airline that aims to connect several Romanian cities to Munich and offers also services in the ACMI and air cargo market. While passenger services are going to be flown on Airbus A320 aircraft, for the cargo ops flylili has secured, interestingly enough, an Airbus A310 aircraft.

ETF Airways (Croatia)

Croatia is one of Europe’s major tourist destinations and it is precisely at Dubrovnik, the pearl of the Adriatic, that ETF Airways (code EZZ) has set up base. ETF Airways stands for “Easy to Fly” and at the time if writing these lines it has received already its first two Boeing 737-800s. One of them is apparently going to be based at Dubrovnik, while the other will be made available for leasing. ETF Airways plans are to grow the fleet to five aircraft. By the way, if you wish to learn more about the dynamics of the airline industry in the Balkans region, check out the podcast we did with Petar Vojinovic, aviation expert and organizer of the South East Europe Aviation Summit.

Alvir Airways (Pakistan)

This new domestic carrier in Pakistan has just been granted its license by the country’s aviation authorities. From the information available it seems that they haven’t got the airplanes yet, although have opted already for a fleet of E195 and ERJ145 aircraft.

United Nigeria

A bunch of airline startups coming up in Nigeria this year. We had covered what is, perhaps, the most ambitious of the lot, Green Africa Airways, but this one has actually beaten it to the inaugural flight, which took place in February. It operates a fleet of 4 ERJ145 regional jets.

Qanot Sharq (Uzbekistan)

Not yet flying but it seems that the first privately owned airline in Uzbekistan has secured its first 2 A320s. This is a cargo operator that, following the local authorities’ new policy to liberalize the air travel sector, is moving into the passenger market.

WestAf (Algeria)

The first private lcc in Algeria has announced its route plans, that include several domestic destinations from Oran (the country’s second largest city) as well as Barcelona, Alicante, Toulouse and Montpellier. It will operate Bombardier Q400 turboprops painted in a dashing yellow livery.

Africa Airlines (Republic of Congo)

Started operations in August 2021, although apparently had already been approved by the local authorities back in 2019. Africa Airlines flies between the country’s two main cities, Brazzaville (the capital) and Pointe Noire with a Boeing 737-300.

Air Astra (Bangladesh)

A new private carrier that will operate domestically in one of the most densely populated countries on Earth. The new Bangladeshi airline, Air Astra, is expected to launch before the end of this year, but it has already presented its livery and how it will look like on its ATR-72-600 turboprops.

Uzbekistan Express

I was hesitant about including this one, which had its inaugural flight at the end of August, since it is unclear to me how differentiated it is from its parent company, Uzbekistan Airways, which is the source of its A320s too. Finally adding it.

South African Airways (v.2)

Not sure if this counts, but since this is a sort of rebirth for SAA, let’s include it here. In Sept.21 South African Airways has returned to the skies, although with a reduced fleet.

Aha! (United States)

This is ExpressJet Airlines comeback as an independent airline. The regional carrier ceased operations in 2020 when United Airlines didn’t renew its feeder contract, but, it has managed to reinvent itself. It will launch in October from its new base in Reno, Nevada, and operating a fleet of ERJ145 aircraft. By the way, “Aha"!” apparently stands for “Air, hotel, adventure”.

ITA Airways (Italy)

Second airline named ITA on this list! (the other one is in Brazil and is unrelated to the Alitalia successor). I wrote about this Alitalia reincarnation here. So, essentially, the old Alitalia with a new name, new livery and free of old debts.

Greater Bay Airlines (Hong Kong)

The new HK airline has received its AOC and, in principle, is slated to begin operations this year. Although, with HK’s draconian travel restrictions still in place and with no sign of abating, not clear what the operational roll out plan is at this point in time.

FlyOne Armenia

The Armenian off-shot of the Moldovan low cost carrier FlyOne has just received its AOC and expects to start operating soon its 180-seat A320s out of Yerevan. Interestingly this is the second LCC announced for the Armenian market this year, another venture called Fly Arna, backed by Air Arabia, is also in the process of being formed.

Zambia Airways

The messy situation back home (where the capital city is threatened by an armed offensive) has not deterred Ethiopian Airlines from pushing ahead with launch plans for its 45%-owned Zambian project (part of a much larger pan-African investment strategy). The new airline is expected to have its inaugural flight on 21st Dec on the domestic Lusaka to Ndola sector.

British Airways (Gatwick)

I was hesitant whether to include this one or not, since this new BA subsidiary essentially a legal and accounting trick to operate out of Gatwick airport with some cost (and perhaps operational) advantages, but the planes and brand will essentially remain the same as mainline BA. Also, it will start operating in 2022, but since it has already started selling tickets, I thought it was best to include it in this year’s list. BA is planning to launch some 35 short haul routes out of Gatwick airport, as a complement to its mainline Heathrow operation.

Go2Sky (Slovakia)

A charter and ACMI operator that had ceased flying operations in 2020 (and was included in our list of defunct airlines that year), but then staged a comeback operating flights for third parties, such as Corendon.