From A380s to electric planes: airlines debuting in 2024
Waiting for mergers (Iberia-Air Europa), privatizations (Ita Airways) and new agreements between carriers; air transport is preparing in 2024 to [...]
Riyadh Air
Waiting for mergers (Iberia-Air Europa), privatizations (Ita Airways) and new agreements between carriers; air transport is preparing in 2024 to welcome the debut of new airlines.
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According to the International Airline Transport Association (Iata) there will be over 4.7 billion people will fly in 2024 and the companies' revenues are expected to reach $964 billion, a 7.6% increase over last year.
There is room for everyone
This is a sign that the sector enjoys good health, despite the crisis that arose during the pandemic. But in air transport, the possibilities and market space are always there, as long as we can balance costs with appropriate fares and networks.
According to the specialized website Ch Aviation will be well 27 the airlines debuting later this year. Here is a selection of 7 carriers (plus one that may be ahead of the 2025 startup announcement) to follow and travel with in the coming months.
AirJapan
AirJapan will launch its operations in February. Until last it was considered the charter carrier owned by All Nippon Airways (ANA), but a few months ago it was rebranded as a medium-haul low-cost airline with routes to Southeast Asia and Oceania.
Air Japan will fly exclusively with Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, offered on wet lease by the parent company ANA.
The configuration will be All-economy with a total of 324 seats.
The airline will begin operations on February 6, 2024, with direct flights between Tokyo's Narita Airport (NRT) and Bangkok, Thailand (BKK).
Ecojet Airlines
The payoff already says it all: "Flag carrier for Green Britain", that is, the flag carrier of Green Britain. It will be called Ecojet and the ambition is to be the first electric airline in the world.
The project is led by the founder of the renewable energy company Ecotricity, Dale Vince, who assures that Ecojet, powered by renewable energy, will mark the beginning of "a real revolution in aviation, making net zero-emission air travel possible for the first time."
The British carrier will begin operating domestic flights and then expand to Europe and even intercontinental flights.
The Ecojet fleet will consist of "classic" aircraft, converted with hydrogen electric motors. The ceo Dale Vince announced that it will begin operating with fuel engines this year, but in the meantime will equip its fleet of aircraft (a 19-seat Q400 and a 70-seat Dash 8, both turboprop) with hydrogen engines by applying for flight licenses from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
This will result in the first aircraft with green engines entering the fleet by 2025.
Flights within the UK will begin in the second half of 2024, starting from the route Edinburgh-Southampton, later expanding to flights to Europe and later to long-haul.
SEM New Air Antilles
This airline was born from the ashes of Air Antilles (based in Guadeloupe, a French Overseas Territory in the Caribbean). CAIRE, the parent company of Air Antilles, experienced a very severe financial crisis last year that resulted in the bankruptcy and liquidation of the entire company.
Now SEM New Air Antilles has taken up the baton and will leave to March 2024 with a fleet of 10 ATRs inherited precisely from Air Antilles. The network is still flights between the Lesser Antilles, Caribbean islands such as Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Martin, Dominica, and Barbados.
Global Airlines
This is the most anticipated airline of all. In the space of a few months it has bought as many 4 A380 aircraft: the giants of the skies that during the pandemics seemed like they were going to disappear from circulation and instead have come back into fashion.
Global Airlines' goal is ambitious, to say the least: to operate with a fleet consisting exclusively of A380 Uk-U.S. transatlantic flights.
The British startup founded by James Asquith will be based in London Gatwick with direct flights to New York and Los Angeles, not exactly a "free" corridor since they already operate on the same route (from London, including Heathrow). Virgin Atlantic, JetBlue, Delta Air Lines, Norse Atlantic and British Airways., among others.
It is scheduled to start by the first half of the year and meanwhile the carrier has signed prestige agreements with American Express and Laurent Perrier Champagne just to give a signal as to what the target audience of the project is.
The airline's top management claims that there is no quality competition in the chosen segment and that the model includes four classes of service on board. We are still waiting, however, to see aircraft, fares and services.
Air Iveria
Air Iveria is the new national airline of Georgia. The airline plans to operate from the capital of Tbilisi to European and Asian destinations. There is very little news about it, but the carrier is expected to take off in the second half of the year with a fleet of 3-4 single-aisle aircraft.
Really Cool Airlines
The Thai private airline aims to begin flight operations in the second quarter of 2024. Really Cool Airlines will be based in Bangkok and fly to major destinations in the area-Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai Pudong, Singapore, and Tbilisi-but in 2025 it also plans to operate long-haul flights to Europe.
The first aircraft in the fleet are two A330-300 and a pair of A350-900s. The ceo of the company is Patee Sarasin, founder and first CEO of the Thai low-cost carrier Nok Air.
Air Cahana
Air Cahana will debut in the United States in the third quarter of 2024. The carrier aims to fly with hydrogen-powered aircraft. The mission, clearly, is to "decarbonize aviation." To reduce costs and make the product more affordable Air Cahana will use a fleet of ATR turboprop aircraft with electric motors.
The California-based airline has signed an agreement with the company ZeroAvia for 250 electric motors. These, however, are not yet ready for commercial use, and in the meantime Air Cahana will use SAF (the sustainable fuel) and steadily increase the rate until the fleet operates on 100% clean fuel. The first routes will be domestic if not interstate along the West Coast of the States.
The Riyadh Air unknown.
In the last position is the great expectation: Riyadh Air. The new Arab carrier, which within a few months has placed maxi-orders, unveiled two liveries, signed billion-dollar partnerships and launched a very ambitious network.
The official line is to debut in 2025, but many industry analysts are betting that as early as late 2024 the ex-Etihad-led airline, Tony Douglas, may begin flight operations to the Middle East and Europe.
Some recent statements by Douglas have focused, meanwhile, On board experience with the controversial choices to abolish crew uniforms and dispense with First's cabins.
In the meantime, however, it seems official the approach that will see Two hub airports for the two companies of Saudi Arabia with Riyadh focusing on flights to and from the Kingdom's capital, undermining Saudia, which will have only Jeddah airport as its hub.
The speed with which the Saudi Kingdom is setting up. Riyadh Air, therefore, may foreshadow a start of flights as early as the end of the year and certainly in a big way.
