The United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted an updated Air Operator Certificate, Type A Operating License and Route License to Ascend Airways, allowing it to commence flights. The carrier is one of the latest additions to Avia Solutions Group’s (ASG) expanding portfolio of ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance) airlines. Avia Solutions Group is the world’s largest ACMI provider with a fleet of 212 aircraft.
A UK AOC ensures unrestricted access to the UK ACMI and charter market, enabling ASG to increase its market share in this high-value market and worldwide. The airline plans to operate a fleet of two Boeing 737 aircraft this year and to further expand its fleet in the future.
“Obtaining the Air Operator Certificate and license takes a huge amount of work and resources and I’m extremely proud of everyone involved that we have been able to achieve this in time for the summer season. We will now focus on repaying the faith of our launch customer and establishing our sister company, Ascend Airways Malaysia. Our aim is to move our capacity seasonally between UK and Malaysia to access the growing South-East Asian market and maintain year-round utilisation,” says Alastair Willson, the CEO of Ascend Airways.
Irish based Avia Solutions Group currently holds twelve AOCs internationally and aims to establish and acquire four additional airlines across various countries, including Brazil, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia by the close of 2024.