ASL Airlines Ireland (original) (raw)

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Irish cargo airline

ASL Airlines Ireland
IATA ICAO Call sign 5H ABR CONTRACT
Founded 1972
Hubs Dublin East Midlands Paris Charles de Gaulle Shannon
Fleet size 36
Parent company ASL Aviation Holdings
Headquarters Swords, Dublin, Ireland
Key people John Rawl (Managing Director)
Website http://www.aslaviationholdings.com/asl-airlines-ireland/

ASL Airlines Ireland (ASLI), formerly Air Contractors, is a cargo airline with an extensive operations network. It operates scheduled freight services throughout Europe on behalf of major parcel integrators such as Amazon, FedEx Feeder and DHL Express; and some wet lease services for scheduled airlines. ASL Aviation Holdings,[1] the parent company of ASL Airlines Ireland, is headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland.[2]

The airline was established and started operations in 1972, as Air Bridge 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.

Former "Air Contractors" logo.

Air Contractors acquired French carrier Europe Airpost on 14 March 2008.[3] 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.[_citation needed_]

On 4 June 2015, ASL Aviation Group announced that Air Contractors would be rebranded as ASL Airlines Ireland, Europe Airpost as ASL Airlines France, Farnair Hungary as ASL Airlines Hungary and Farnair Switzerland as ASL Airlines Switzerland.[4]

The company announced on 5 February 2016 that it had agreed to buy TNT Airways and PAN Air, on the condition that FedEx's purchase of TNT goes ahead. The sale went through in May 2016.[5] TNT Airways became ASL Airlines Belgium and Pan Air became ASL Airlines Spain.[6] In early 2017, ASL Aviation Group rebranded as ASL Aviation Holdings.

Subsidiary ASL Airlines Switzerland ceased all operations on 1 February 2018,[7] while ASL Airlines Spain ceased all operations in August of that same year.[8]

ASLI maintains crew bases in 10 European countries and has its own maintenance hangar in Shannon, Ireland. The airline's operations span a network of more than 50 regular destinations across Europe, North America and the Middle East under its own brand name and on behalf of customers such as DHL, Amazon and FedEx.

ASL Airlines Ireland ATR 72-200F in Air Contractors Livery

The ASL Airlines Ireland fleet consists of the following aircraft as of June 2022;[9]

ASL Airlines Ireland Fleet

Aircraft In Fleet Orders Notes
Airbus A300F 4 Operated for DHL Aviation
Airbus A330-300F 3 — Operated for DHL Aviation
ATR 72-200 2 —
ATR 72-500F 5 —
ATR 72-600F 6 — Operated for FedEx Express
Boeing 737-400F 15 —
Boeing 737-800 5 —
Boeing 737-800BCF 2 — Operated for Amazon Air
Total 40 —

In June 2021, ASL Aviation Holdings announced an order with Boeing for up to 20 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) aircraft - 10 firm orders and 10 options at the Paris Air Show.[10] This was extended to an additional 20 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighters (BCF) in March 2022. [11] ASL's order, including options brings the number of 737-800BCF to 40 aircraft. Eleven aircraft operate for ASL Airlines Belgium,[12] ASL Airlines France,[13] ASL Airlines Ireland[14] and ASL joint venture, K-Mile Asia.[15]

  1. ^ "ASL – Aviation". Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Contact Us" ASL Aviation Group. Retrieved on 15 April 2014. "Contact ASL Aviation Group Limited, No 3 Malahide Road, Swords Co. Dublin Ireland". Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Press Release: Acquisition of Europe Air Post by Air Contractors". Air Contractors. 14 March 2008. Archived from the original on 8 July 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  4. ^ "Ireland based ASL Aviation Group is to launch a new European airline brand, ASL Airlines, as part of its strategy for continued growth in passenger and cargo operations". ASL Aviation Group. 4 June 2015. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  5. ^ globaltrademag.com - ASL Finalizes Acquisition of TNT Air Operations Archived 10 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine 2 June 2016
  6. ^ aslairlines.be - ASL AIRLINES BELGIUM formerly TNT Airways Archived 6 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 26 June 2016
  7. ^ "ASL Airlines Switzerland concludes flight operations". ch-aviation.
  8. ^ "ASL Airlines Spain on ch-aviation". ch-aviation.
  9. ^ "Latest Register and Monthly Changes". Irish Aviation Authority. 30 September 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  10. ^ "ASL Aviation Holdings Confirms It Will Exercise Options for 10 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighters – ASL". Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  11. ^ "ASL Aviation Holdings Confirms Up To 20 More Boeing 737-800BCF Aircraft – ASL". 31 March 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Welcome to the new addition in the ASLB fleet: OE-IWB (B737-800BCF)". www.aslairlines.be. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  13. ^ "First ASL Airlines B737-800BCF Enters Service In France". AVIATOR. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  14. ^ "ASL prepares for Amazon 737 operations". ch-aviation. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  15. ^ "AirAsia's Teleport serves e-commerce demand with own-controlled 737 freighter". Air Cargo World. 3 November 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2022.

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