CityJet

CityJet
IATA
WX		 ICAO
BCY		 Callsign
CITY-IRELAND
Founded 1992
Commenced operations 1994
Hubs
Airport lounge Departure Lounge
Alliance SkyTeam (Affiliate)
Fleet size 23
Destinations 19
Parent company Intro Aviation[1]
Headquarters Swords Business Campus
Swords, Ireland
Key people Peter Oncken (Chairman)
Website www.cityjet.com

CityJet is an Irish regional airline with headquarters in Swords, Dublin.[2] It operates mainly out of London City Airport, as well as Cardiff Airport and wet-lease services on behalf of its partner Air France, which was the main owner until May 2014 when CityJet was sold to German owners Intro Aviation.[1] The airline owns and operates maintenance facilities at Dublin Airport. CityJet operates a fleet of Avro RJ85 aircraft, with former sister-company VLM Airlines operating three Fokker 50 aircraft and Stobart Air operating a single ATR 72 on CityJet's behalf.

History

A CityJet Saab 2000 in 1998

The airline was established on 28 September 1992 and started scheduled operations on 12 January 1994. It was founded by Pat Byrne and began operations between London City Airport and Dublin under a franchise agreement with Virgin Atlantic Airways. On 4 July 1997, the airline began operations on the route using its own identity, with Saab 2000 aircraft.

Initially, CityJet operated the Paris to London City service on behalf of Air France. In May 1999, in partnership with Air Foyle Ireland, Air France took a 25% equity stake in the airline. In February 2002, Air France assumed complete control.[3] The airline from this time was marketed as CityJet for Air France.

Geoffrey O’Byrne White replaced Jacques Bankir as CEO of CityJet in 2000, and held this position until 2010.

On 24 December 2007, Air France-KLM announced that it had signed an agreement for a full takeover of VLM Airlines NV from Panta Holdings[4] and announced on 28 May 2009 that VLM Airlines would gradually start to operate under the brand name CityJet. As of 1 June 2010, the whole VLM Airlines Fokker 50 fleet wore full CityJet livery, although VLM remained the owner of its own Airline Operators Certificate, and the Fokker 50 fleet is listed on the Belgian registry.

CityJet filed a pretax loss of €51.5 million for the year to the end of March 2010. This compared to a €53.9 million loss in the year to end March 2009. Revenues fell by 8 percent from €282.4 million to €258.9 million over the same period. Passenger numbers grew, climbing by 6.5 percent to 2.1 million, while average fares dropped by 16 percent.[5]

Christine Ourmières joined as new chief executive on 1 October 2010. She has previously held a number of senior posts within the Air France-KLM group. In the IATA year ending 31 March 2010, CityJet carried just over 1 million passengers on its London City Network.

In June 2012 it was announced that Air France-KLM was considering selling CityJet to support its own ailing business,[6] with a further statement in April 2013 that the winning bidder would be announced in the summer of 2013.[7]

As of October 2013 the operational agreement with Air France has been replaced by codesharing. CityJet since then operates most routes under its own WX code instead of Air France's.[8] In December 2013 Air France announced to sell CityJet including VLM Airlines to German investor Intro Aviation. The transfer was completed in May 2014.[1][9] Intro's owner announced shortly after, that CityJet would be merged with InterSky to form a new, larger regional carrier.[10]

It was announced in November 2014, that CityJet routes from Cardiff to Edinburgh and Paris-Orly were to be operated by Stobart Air from 1 December 2014.[11]

VLM airlines was bought by its own management and cut itself loose from Cityjet. They will remain flying routes from/to LCY as ACMI operator for Cityjet until at least Summer 2015, however.

Destinations

Main article: CityJet destinations

CityJet operates mainly under its own name with a codeshare-agreement with Air France[12] and additionally also operates some routes for Air France on a wetlease contract.[12] Its operations are focused at London-City, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. One of its main competitors is BA CityFlyer. Cityjet's main hub is London City Airport with many aircraft based there.

Fleet

CityJet Avro RJ85 in 2009
CityJet Fokker 50 in 2010

As of May 2014, the CityJet fleet consists of the following aircraft.[13][14]

CityJet Fleet[15]
Aircraft Total Passengers Y Operator
ATR 72-200 1 70 Stobart Air
Avro RJ85 17 95 CityJet
Fokker 50 5 50 VLM Airlines
Total 23

Sponsorships

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Air France confirms offer from Intro Aviation for CityJet, VLM - ch-aviation.com". Ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  2. ↑ "CityJet." Air France. Retrieved on 21 June 2010. "Address: CityJet Ltd. Swords Business Campus Balheary Road Swords, Co. Dublin Ireland"
  3. ↑ CityJet wins Airline of the Year; CityJet.com
  4. ↑ Message on the VLM website announcing the takeover - access date 24 December 2007]
  5. ↑ Irish Times article reporting filing of CityJet's annual accounts
  6. ↑ volaspheric: Air France-KLM considering to sell CityJet
  7. ↑ "Irish regional CityJet CEO impressed with bidders | Wales Air Forum". Walesairforum.wordpress.com. 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  8. ↑ "Cityjet to terminate Air France franchise agreement from October - ch-aviation.com". Ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  9. ↑ http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/transport-and-tourism/irish-based-airline-cityjet-finalises-sale-to-intro-aviation-1.1780044
  10. ↑ "Intro Aviation to merge Cityjet, InterSky to form new Euro carrier - ch-aviation.com". Ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  11. ↑ Stobart Air
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Cityjet to terminate Air France franchise agreement from October - ch-aviation.com". Ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  13. ↑ "Aircraft and Fleet Lists - ch-aviation.com". Ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  14. ↑ "CityJet's fleet of Avro RJ85 and Fokker 50 aircraft| CityJet our fleet". Cityjet.com. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  15. ↑ http://jethros.org.uk/fleets/fleet_listings/cityjet.htm
  16. ↑ "Celebrates The Heineken Cup As Official Airline Of The Leinster Team". CityJet. Retrieved 2014-03-07.

Further reading

External links

Media related to CityJet at Wikimedia Commons