CSAir

CSAir, formally known as Cutaway States Municipal Airline, is the flag carrier for the state of Cumonico and the national airline of The Cutaway States.

## CSAir

### Owner

Gogglyboi (Cumonico) 80%, TomBradford (Republia) 10%, TaajManzoor (Krakistan) 10%

## History

   Cutaway States Municipal Airline was founded in October 1995 in Cumonico City, Cumonico. After the formation of The Cutaway Union in 1991, it was announced that a national airline would be created to show solidarity between the three members of the union. It would be based out of Cumonico Municipal Aerodrome, which as a result would receive a £10 billion overhaul. The airline and airport upgrades were all funded entirely by The Cutaway Union. Due to heavy pushback from Cameron and a small conflict at the Cumonico-Cameron border which nearly resulted in an outbreak of war, Cutaway States Municipal Airline was not formed until October 1995. Construction on the Cumonico Municipal Aerodrome upgrade began 3 months later in January 1996, with the grand opening of the new terminal taking place 4 years later in March 2000. During this time, the airline used a temporary terminal on the eastern side of the airport, which has since been dismantled and the apron converted for use as remote stands.

The first route commenced operations on 17th November 1995 with a **Douglas DC-2**, operating from Cumonico Municipal Aerodrome to Akklid Hammud International Airport in Grestin, Republia, alongside the existing flights operated by Republiair on this route. 5 other routes also commenced operation upon the launch of the airline to Krakowsi International, Ourcity Wickham, Exminster Western, Southampton and Belfast City. All of these routes were operated by a fleet of 3 **Douglas DC-2** aircraft, all of which have since been retired. These aircraft were registered and named after the 3 cutaway union members, those being CM-BRO 'State of Cumonico', CM-HAM 'State of Republia', and CM-KRA 'State of Krakistan'. The Southampton and Belfast routes were scrapped just 2 years later in September 1997, as British passengers refused to fly on the aging fleet, leading to a huge lack of usage and eventual withdrawal. A new seasonal route was trialled in the summer of 1998 to Spruce Villa, however this was not continued in the following years. In March 2000, to celebrate the opening of the new terminal at Cumonico Municipal Aerodrome, 2 new routes were launched to Cameron Callastakia and Sighthill, and an all new fleet of 5 **Boeing 737-600** aircraft to replace the aging fleet of **DC-2s**.

The airline remained this way until May 2009, when the state of Cumonico had a major financial crisis. This resulted in a ripple effect that hit Cutaway States Municipal Airline badly, forcing them to withdraw the routes to Cameron, Krakowski, Sighthill and Exminster, leaving it with just 2 routes to Akklid Hammud and Ourcity Wickham airports. Along with this, 2 of the **Boeing 737-600s** were withdrawn and sold. The routes to Cameron and Krakowski were restored in February 2012. In March 2015, The Cutaway Union announced that Cutaway States Municipal Airline would be reformed and rebranded as CSAir, or Cutaway States Airlines. The rebrand took place that same month. With a rebrand came new aircraft and new routes. The route to Exminster Western was restored after an almost 6 year absence, along with a new route to Southminster. The Boeing fleet was replaced with 5 **de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter** aircraft and 3 **Embraer ERJ145** aircraft. In August 2019, CSAir announced that Transport for Ourcity had granted the airline landing slots at Ourcity Oakley International Airport, the most centralised airport to the city itself. The airline commenced operations to Oakley in September that year, and ceased operations to Wickham.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating effect on CSAir, with the airline grounding all its aircraft in March 2020 and not operating any flights until June 2021. For just over 1.5 years, CSAir operated a temporary timetable flying only to Akklid Hammud, Southminster and Ourcity Oakley. In February 2022 The Cutaway Union confirmed that the airline was expected to resume full operation at the start of the summer 2022 season. However, due to numerous issues at the time, this did not happen. It was finally announced in October 2022 that work was underway to reinstate a full timetable from January 10th 2023, along with a new order of 2 yet to be confirmed aircraft. This time the timetable changes went ahead, although as of April 2023 nothing more had been announced about the new aircraft.

## Routes and Fleet

Despite being less than 30 years old, CSAir has operated a wide range of routes and aircraft. These are listed below.

### CSAir Fleet

 **Boeing 737-600** | 5
 **de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter** | 5
 **Embraer ERJ145** | 3
 **TBA** | 2

## Accidents & Incidents

CSAir has had a relatively uneventful life, with only 2 recorded incidents since the beginning of operation.

### Incident 1

On March 17th 1996, Douglas DC-2 CM-BRO 'State of Cumonico' was returning to Cumonico Municipal Aerodrome with a flight from Belfast City. Shortly after departure from Belfast, the captain received information that a member of the Irish Republican Army was onboard the flight and claimed to have a bomb. Fortunately there was also an off duty police officer onboard that assisted the crew to restrain the passenger. After some communication with authorities on the ground, the flight returned to Belfast City where the subject was arrested and the plane evacuated so a bomb squad could search the aircraft. No bomb was found, and the subject later admitted it was a hoax. The aircraft remained out of service for 4 days whilst authorities ensured no bomb was present. The flight returned to Cumonico 5 days late on March 22nd, and all passengers were offered a refund.

### Incident 2

On August 4th 2009, Boeing 737-600 CM-FGW was on approach to Republia Grestin Akklid Hammud International Airport over Cameron with the morning flight from Cumonico Municipal Aerodrome when it received heavy gunfire from the ground. The flight managed to land safely and was evacuated on the runway. The airspace surrounding the airport was closed off while investigations commenced into where the gunfire had come from. It was quickly discovered to be a group of Cameronian rebels that had stationed themselves under the approach path into Grestin in order to try and shoot down inbound aircraft. However due to them being on Cameronian soil, the Republian government were powerless to do anything. As it was the beginning of the summer season, this incident was having a detrimental effect on Republia's tourism. It took 2 weeks to come to an agreement with the Cameronian government and get the subjects arrested. The airspace reopened on August 20th after Cameron agreed to keep the area under control. CM-FGW remained out of service at Grestin for 4 months whilst repairs were carried out, leaving Cutaway States Municipal Airline with just 2 Boeing 737-600 aircraft to work their network after the 2 aircraft withdrawals just weeks earlier. To CSMAs luck, they were only operating 2 routes at the time due to the network massacre earlier that year. CM-FGW returned to service on December 21st 2009.