UK Turboprop charter availability

[matspart3]

A local tour operator is struggling to find operators with weekend aircraft availability for 30-50 seaters in the UK for various short haul European charters from Gloucester during winter 2012 & summer 2013. The new declared distances (LDA 1147/1241m 09/27 TODA 1319/1317) should improve performance capabilities....who's got what these days?

[Artic Monkey]

Flybe are always looking out for charters/opportunities, they've conducted Q400 trials out of Gloucester in the past too. Obviously the Q400 is 78 seats as opposed to the 30-50 seats, but if the price is right and all that ;)

[harriewillem]

Denim Air have been flying lots of flights in the UK with the Fokker 50

[Jamesair]

Eastern have plenty of aircraft in that capacity range, I'm sure with most scheduled routes operating Mon-Fri, should have availability at weekends.

[PlymouthPixie]

Suckling Airways with their Dorniers would no eoubt be a good choice.

[BAladdy]

Is the Turboprop stipulation due to the size of runway at GLO?. I though GLO could handle small regional jets such as the ER3, ER4 or D328 JET??.


I am suprised that they are having difficulty chartering a small regional aircraft for weekend charter flights. Over the last few years I have chartered small regional aircraft from a number of airlines in the UK and Europe. Here is a list of all the companies I have used to charter regional aircraft from

BMI Regional - Operates charter flights using either a 37 seater Embraer ERJ 135 or 49 seater Embraer ERJ 145

Hire a plane with bmi regional (http://www.bmiregional.com/en/bottom-menu/charter)

Cityjet - Operates charter flights using a 50 seater Fokker 50

CityJet Charter Bookings | CityJet (http://www.cityjet.com/booking-and-online-check-in/charters/)

Denim Air - Operates charter flights using a 50 seater Dash-8-300 or Fokker 50

Eastern Airways - Operates charter flights using a 29 seater Jetstream 41, 37 seater Embraer ERJ 135, 50 seater Saab 2000 or Embraer ERJ 145

Charter Flights | Eastern Airways (http://www.easternairways.com/charter-flights)

Suckling Airways - Operates charter flights using a 31 seater Dornier 328 Turboprop

Suckling Airways (http://www.scotairways.co.uk/charter.asp)

Sun-Air of Scandinavia A/S - Operates charter flights using a fleet of 32 seater D328 Turboprop or 32 seater D328 Jet's painted in BA and non BA Livery

British Airways SUN-AIR | Flights, Flight tickets (http://www.uk.sun-air.dk/)

[matspart3]

Thanks. Doesn't need to be turboprop...We've had 146 ops before with payload restrictions and I'd be interested to know what the Embraers can do from those distances.

[Expressflight]

I would suggest the tour operator gets in touch with a decent broker to find the best deal.

[Phileas Fogg]

This sounds much alike another London/Kidlington (rumour network) publicity stunt to the effect "Staverton has a nice shiny new runway ... come and fly your Fokkers from us"!

[BAladdy]

Thanks. Doesn't need to be turboprop...We've had 146 ops before with payload restrictions and I'd be interested to know what the Embraers can do from those distances.

If thats the case then what about BA Cityflyer?. They have over the last couple of summers been operating weekend charters for a couple of tour operators but they still have some aircraft parked up over the weekend doing nothing.

They operate a fleet of 98 seater E190's and 76 seater E170's. The aircraft operate a 3 hour flight to FAO off the runway at LCY which is just slightly larger than the one at GLO.

[Espada III]

What does it cost to charter say, a 70 seat jet for a three hour flight?

[TRY2FLY]

Loganair Saab 340 up to 36 seats could operate those runway lengths

Loganair Charter Enquiries - SAAB 340 Aircraft
Tel: +44 141 848 7594

[mathers_wales_uk]

Aer Arann - ATR42 (48 Seats)
Aer Arann - ATR72-201 (68 Seats)
Aer Arann - ATR72-500 (72 Seats)
BA CityFlyer - Embraer 170 (76 Seats)
BA CityFlyer - Embraer 190 (98 Seats)
bmi Regional - Embraer 135 (37 Seats)
bmi Regional - Embraer 145 (49 Seats)
Cello Aviation - BAe 146-200 (50 Seats)
CityJet - BAe RJ85 (95 Seats)
Eastern Airways - Jetstream 41 (29 Seats)
Eastern Airways - Embraer 135 (37 Seats)
Eastern Airways - Embraer 145 (50 Seats)
Eastern Airways - Saab 2000 (50 Seats)
Flybe - Dash8-Q400 (78 Seats)
Flybe - Embraer 175 (88 Seats)
Flybe - Embraer 195 (118 Seats)
Jet2.com - B737-300 (148 Seats)
Jet2.com - B737-800 (189 Seats)
Jet2.com - B757-200 (229/232 Seats)
Monarch Airlines - Airbus A320 (174 Seats)
Monarch Airlines - Airbus A321 (214 Seats)
Suckling Airways - Dornier 328 (31/32 Seats)
Suckling Airways - Saab 340 (34 Seats)
Titan Airways - BAe146-200 (77/80 Seats)
Titan Airways - B737-300 (44/130)
Titan Airways - B757-200 (80/148/202)

I hope this helps however a broker may be able to suggest an airline/aircraft to best suit your needs using their own contacts. Of course you can cut out the middle man and contact the airlines directly.

What does have to take into consideration is the costs for positioning flights and it may be cheaper to use an alternative airport near Gloucester that deals with some of these airlines regular.

Cardiff, Bristol or Birmingham could be an alternative option for departure airports.

[ATP_Al]

Give Eastern a call, the Saab 2000 is perfectly suited to this sort of operation

[FougaMagister]

... or look up Danube Wings; I bet their ATR72 rates will undercut the competition. For ATR42 size, Avanti Air of Germany can be of help too.

Cheers :cool:

[matspart3]

Thanks all, some useful info and interesting leads as a result. The tour operator has been in touch today with a number of operators (and several brokers) who had not previously been considered or contacted.