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| Founded | 1989 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | September 7, 2008 | |||
| Hubs | Palma de Mallorca Airport | |||
| Fleet size | 27 | |||
| Destinations | 146 | |||
| Headquarters | Palma de Mallorca, Spain | |||
| Website | http://www.futura.aero/ | |||
Futura International Airways was an airline based in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. It operated scheduled services and charter flights for tour operators and other airlines, in Europe, as well as wet lease and ad hoc charters. Its main base was Palma de Mallorca Airport.[1]
After failing to re-finance itself the company ceased trading on the 8 September 2008, leaving many passengers stranded in and around Spain.[2]
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The airline was established in 1989 by Aer Lingus, Belton Air and Banco Santander, starting operations on 17 February 1990 with a flight from Palma de Mallorca to Manchester. During the 1990s, the airline expanded to cover most of Europe and it used to operate, under the leadership of CEO Roman Pané [1], its own scheduled flights and ad-hoc flights on behalf of various tour operators and airlines in Europe, North and South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Futura operated from 5 permanent bases: Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife, Málaga, Gran Canaria and Dublin; as well as various other seasonal bases throughout the year. (Source: [2]).
The airline was later owned by Corpfin Capital (65%), Aer Lingus (20%) and management and employees (15%). On 16 October 2007, Corpfin Capital and Aer Lingus sold their stakes, during the process of a secondary buyout instigated by the present management team, making way for the participation of the investment fund Hutton Collins, so that the resulting shareholdings are as follows: the Futura Group (management and employees) has 53.5 % and Hutton Collins owns 46.5%. The airline had 1,211 employees (at May 2008). It wholly owned cargo subsidiaries Flyant and Futura Gael.[1]
The airline abruptly ceased operations at 00:00 on September 8th, 2008 due to a lack of cash (with debts of around €50 million). Its AOC was revoked by the Spanish Aviation Authority two weeks later, after the airline was unable to show a Viability Plan. Since then its grounded fleet is being returned to lessors.
Flyant continued on the cargo business, operating a reduced fleet of a single Boeing 737-300, although eventually this other airline also ceased operations on 14 December 2008. [3]:
Futura Gael - An Irish based wholly owned subsidiary set up in 2007 to begin charter flights from Ireland to the EU.
Futura's aircraft were painted in white through the fuselage area, with the name Futura in blue over the front passenger windows. The tails carried Futura's logo and were painted blue.
The Futura International Airways fleet consisted of the following aircraft (as of 4 September 2008) [4]:
| Aircraft | # | Seats | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-300 | 2 | 146 | one aircraft was operated by Aerolínea Principal |
| Boeing 737-400 | 11 | 170 | one aircraft was operated by Aerolínea Principal, one aircraft was operated for Blue Panorama Airlines, two aircraft were operated for Jetairfly, one aircraft was operated for Air Algérie, one aircraft was operated for Binter Canarias and one aircraft was operated for Blue Air |
| Boeing 737-800 | 12 | 189 | one aircraft was operated for SunExpress, one aircraft was operated for JetX Airlines and one aircraft was operated for Jetairfly |
| Boeing 737-900ER | 2 | which were operated for Arkefly |