Eastern Airways

Eastern Airways, legally incorporated as Air Kilroe Limited, is a British regional airline whose head office is at Humberside Airport near the village of Kirmington, North Lincolnshire, England. It operates domestic, international and private charter services. Around 800,000 passengers a year are carried on the scheduled route network.
It has crew bases at Aberdeen, East Midlands, Humberside and Newquay.
Air Kilroe Limited (trading as Eastern Airways) holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence. It is permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats and is IOSA approved.
History
Early years
Co-founded by Bryan Huxford and Richard Lake, the airline started operations in December 1997 with a scheduled service between Humberside and Aberdeen by a leased Swearingen Metro, following KLM uk's withdrawal from the route. In February 1999, it purchased Manchester based Air Kilroe, granting the company an Air operator's certificate and giving the airline a fleet of two BAe Jetstream 32 aircraft.
In 2002, the first BAe Jetstream 41 entered the Eastern fleet, the aircraft type which now forms the majority of the fleet. Twelve aircraft and their associated routes were transferred from British Airways CitiExpress on 30 March 2003. An Embraer 145 and 135 were also wet leased from City Airline in 2003, which were then replaced with Saab 2000 aircraft, which 8 of such being acquired from Crossair and other European carriers. In 2006, Eastern Airways wet leased a Dornier 328 from Cirrus Airlines to operate a Newcastle to London City service which has since been terminated. Eastern Airways also purchased a Jetstream 41 training simulator.
As part of One North East's "Passionate People Passionate Places" campaign for North East England, Eastern Airways had a Jetstream 41 painted in promotional colours. It also featured in the 2007 Sunderland International Airshow. A Saab 2000 was also painted in a promotional 'Aberdeen City and Shire' colour scheme. The airline closed its base at the Isle of Man in August 2009, discontinuing routes to Birmingham and Newcastle upon Tyne from the airport.
Developments since 2010
In July 2010, the airline took delivery of an Embraer 135 with 37 seats and signed a lease on a second, thus adding jet aircraft to their fleet for the first time since the acquisition to replace their previously operated Embraer ERJ aircraft. They will be used mainly on charter services to central and Eastern Europe; however, they will also offer increased flexibility on the airline's scheduled services. Also in July 2010 the airline named one of their BAe Jetstream 41 aircraft after the comedian Ken Dodd in celebration of the year anniversary of the start of scheduled services from Liverpool and Dodd's support shown in the region. Service from Liverpool to both Aberdeen and Southampton ended in 2011. In September 2010, it was announced that Eastern Airways had bought Air Southwest, however shut down the airline a year later.
In August 2012, Eastern Group purchased the 82% Manchester Airports Group stake in Humberside Airport, becoming the primary airline serving the airport. In February 2014 the Bristow Group, a major helicopter operator serving the offshore oil and gas industry acquired a 60% interest in Eastern Airways and in 2018 acquired the remaining 40%. The airline continued to operate under the Eastern Airways brand. Bristow also acquired a controlling interest in the Australian airline Airnorth, another regional airline which operates fixed wing regional jet and turboprop aircraft. During this time, the airline's route network was focused on Aberdeen, providing service to the oil industry, as well as a smaller operation in Newcastle. The airline also commenced a number of French domestic routes in 2015, supported by PSO subsidies. Facing increased competition from airlines such as Loganair and Wideroe, Eastern has significantly scaled back its route network from Aberdeen in recent years, and ceased flying to Newcastle in 2023.
In March 2017, Eastern re-entered the Isle of Man with service to Belfast City, Glasgow and Newcastle, following the collapse of local airline Citywing. The airline also took over PSO-funded service between Cardiff and Anglesey, facilitating the opening of a base in Cardiff. Isle of Man service was cancelled a year later, whereas Cardiff service continued until the Welsh Government stopped providing funding in 2021.
Franchise partnership with Flybe
It was announced on 21 September 2017 that Eastern Airways would enter a franchise with Flybe, starting on 29 October 2017. The franchise saw all scheduled flights operated by Eastern Airways carry BE (Flybe) flight numbers. Following Loganair's decision to end its partnership with Flybe, Eastern announced a significant expansion onto routes also operated by Loganair, largely targeting the Scottish Highlands, including introduction jet service into Sumburgh for the first time. The last of these new routes was dropped by the end of 2018, citing a lack of demand for two competing airlines.
Also in September 2017, Eastern received its first of two new ATR 72-600. The aircraft operated on the Aberdeen - Scatsta route on behalf of Bristow Helicopters. With the Bristow Group in financial difficulties, it sold the Eastern Airlines group of companies back to one of its founders, Richard Lake, in May 2019.
Post-Flybe administration, relaunch as an independent airline
On 5th March 2020, Flybe entered administration and ceased operations, resulting in Eastern Airways resuming flying under its own brand. Seeking to take advantage of Flybe's demise, the airline announced the opening of a base in Southampton, where Flybe had operated 95% of the airport's flights, with new routes to Manchester and Newcastle, evenutally being joined by Belfast City and Dublin, along with pre-existing service to Aberdeen, Leeds/Bradford and Teesside. In 2021, Eastern announced new service from Southampton to Nantes and Rennes, however neither service ever commenced. The airline was unable to capture the market left by Flybe, resulting in operations in Southampton being gradually scaled back, with all new service being axed by 2023.
In May 2021, Eastern commenced flying to Gibraltar for the first time, with service to Birmingham and Southampton, however cancelled both routes a year later. The airline also commenced service between Cardiff and Belfast City, seeking to fill another gap left by Flybe's collapse, but suspended the route in early 2022. In December 2021, the company was awarded PSO route contracts to operate service between Newquay and London Gatwick, as well as between Aberdeen and Wick.
Corporate affairs
Headquarters
The head office is located at Schiphol House, on the property of Humberside Airport, in Kirmington, North Lincolnshire.
Awards
European Regions Airline Association Airline of the Year Silver Award 2003/04 and 2004/05
European Regions Airline Association Airline of the Year Gold Award 2006/07
Baltic Air Charter Association Best Passenger Charter Airline 2011
European Regions Airline Association Airline of the Year Gold Award 2014
Fleet
Current fleet
Former fleet
Eastern Airways formerly operated the following aircraft:
British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 (Super 31 version)
British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 32
de Havilland Canada DHC-8-300 Dash 8
Dornier 328
Embraer 135
Embraer 145
Saab 2000
Short 330
Notes
References
External links
Official website
Airlines of the United Kingdom
European Regions Airline Association
Airlines established in 1997
1997 establishments in England
Companies based in the Borough of North Lincolnshire
Bristow Helicopters
British companies established in 1997