Air Contractors

Air Contractors (Ireland) Limited is a freight and passenger airline. It operates scheduled freight services throughout Europe on behalf of major integrators such as FedEx Feeder and DHL Express; and operates unscheduled passenger air charter flights. ASL Aviation Group Limited, the parent company of Air Contractors, has its head office at No.3 Malahide Road, Swords, County Dublin, Ireland.^[1]

History

The airline was established and started operations in 1972, as AirBridge Carriers at East Midlands Airport. In September 1992 the name Hunting Cargo Airlines was adopted and in 1997 the transfer of all airline operations to Ireland was completed. In June 1998 the Hunting Group sold its aviation arm to a joint consortium of CMB Compagnie Maritime Belge and Safair (part of the Imperial Group) and the airline was rebranded Air Contractors. The Imperial Group transferred its 49% shareholding in the company to 3P Air Freighters/Petercam S.A. in 2007.

Air Contractors acquired French carrier Europe Airpost on 14 March 2008.^[2] Following the acquisition of EAP into the ACL group of companies, the group was rebranded ASL Aviation Group, representing the three core activities of the group; Airlines, Support and Leasing.

In 2010 Air Contractors entered a new era with the start of passenger flying on a Boeing 737-300 aircraft in conjunction with its Group partner, Europe Airpost.

Today Air Contractors is providing services to a range of clients, the largest of which being FedEx Express. It operates a fleet of ATR42/72 turboprop aircraft, Boeing B737-300/400 and B757-200 aircraft. The Airbus aircraft it operates include the A300-622R and the A320.

Destinations

Air Contractors flights operate between the airports of Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Glasgow, Manchester, Paris, Madrid, Marseille, Nice, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Prague, Warsaw, Katowice, Gdańsk, Ancona, Bergamo, Naples, Hong Kong, Boston, New York and Toronto.

Air Contractors Airbus A300-200F, flown for DHL Aviation, landing at London Heathrow Airport. (2010)

Air Contractors ATR 42-300 in FedEx Feeder colours

Fleet

Aircraft	In Fleet	Notes
Airbus A300-600F	2	operating for Air Hong Kong
Airbus A320	3	operating for Afriqiyah Airways
ATR 42-300F	6	operating for FedEx Express
ATR 72-200F	11	operating for FedEx Express
Boeing 737-300	1	operating for Europe Airpost
Boeing 737-400	3	operating for DHL Aviation
Boeing 757-200	3	Damp leased to Aer Lingus
Total	29

References

↑ "Contact Us." ASL Aviation Group. Retrieved on 15 April 2014. "Contact ASL Aviation Group Limited, No 3 Malahide Road, Swords Co. Dublin Ireland.
↑ "Press Release: Acquisition of Europe Air Post by Air Contractors". Air Contractors. 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2009-08-03.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Air Contractors.

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