Archive for April, 2008
Celtic Airways has had a long history with the Airbus A320 family, and that does not figure to change any time soon. Over the coming weeks and months, the A320 and A321 fleets will see a few additions, as well as the addition of its smaller sibling, the A319. Celtic inaugurated operations with a small fleet of A319s and A321s back in 1998. This will mark the return of the A319 to the fleet after nearly 5 years. The A319s had been returned to the leasing company in exchange for A320s during the relaunch period of the airline. The 319s are going to allow for some significant growth, with the addition of several new and interesting destinations not currently in our route network.
April 14 2008 | News and Uncategorized | No Comments »
The decision has been made. The EMB120 and BAe146 will not be repainted in the new colors and will instead be phased out as new aircraft come online. Celtic will be going to an all jet fleet, ranging from 35 seats all the way up to 112 seats. Discussions are ongoing with Embraer and Bombardier for either a split or exclusive order. This will enable us to enhance our current Celtic Link Ireland, Scotland and Wales service, as well as extend point to point commuter service to smaller markets in Britain and eventually continental Europe.
Short routes on realistic flight models with interesting flight lines is what virtual pilots look for in a virtual airline. While the long haul, widebody service is more glamorous, not many pilots have the time or family members’ patience to fly 8 or 10 hour routes. While we will be expanding on both ends of the service spectrum, expect this segment to receive a lot of attention.
April 14 2008 | News and Uncategorized | No Comments »
Our testing with the A330 has concluded, with the Airbus demonstrator A330-200 arriving back in Dublin from an around-the globe trip. Next up is the 777 family! A Boeing 777-200ER has arrived in Dublin and will follow the same around the world routing as the A330 to compare the economics of the airframe. An order announcement will shortly follow the conclusion of the 777 flight testing.
Meanwhile, our first 767-300ER is undergoing final preparations at our Ontario, California, widebody maintenance facility and could possibly join the fleet by the end of the weekend. It is expected to be placed on some of the heavier existing routes and one new route, while the 767-200ER currently on those routes will be shifted to some new destinations.
April 12 2008 | News | No Comments »