Right, let's get this cleared up! Here's the full story for all those who are joining, or considering joining Astraeus;
Astraeus is a medium sized privately owned charter and scheduled operator with bases at London Gatwick, Manchester and new for this summer, Leeds Bradford.
SUMMER 2005
LGW
B757-200
B757-200
B757-200
B737-300
MAN
B737-700
B737-700
LBA
B737-300
I can only really speak for the LGW base, so these are where we are supposed to be flying this summer:
RETURN FLIGHTS (2 operational sectors, or 'there and back')
ALGERIA
Hassi Messoud
AUSTRIA
Salzburg
CANADA
Deer Lake
CANARY ISLANDS
Tenerife
CROATIA
Dubrovnik
Zadar/Split triangle pattern
CYPRUS
Paphos
EGYPT
El Alamein
Hurghada
Sharm el Sheikh
Taba
FRANCE
Bastia
Calvi
GREECE
Heraklion
Kalamata
Kefalonia
Mykonos
Preveza
Samos
Santorini
Volos
Zakynthos
ITALY
Alghero
Olbia
Verona Brescia
Verona Brescia W pattern with Bristol
NORWAY
Bergen
RUSSIA
Murmansk
SPAIN
Murcia
TURKEY
Bodrum
One sector 'trip' flights
DJIBOUTI
Flights are operated for Daallo Airlines. Twice weekly in the summer, weekly in the winter. Flights operate via Paris CDG both ways. Arrive early morning, depart again the same late evening. Hotel is very nice, great pool and nice food.
EQUATORIAL GUINEAU
Malabo. Once weekly, arrive SSG early morning, depart again the same late evening. Hotel OK, no pool.
GHANA
Accra. These flights have been suspended due to lack of payment from the tour operator, but will hopefully be resumed in the near future. Great hotel down there apparently! Flights should be twice weekly with MON-THU or THU-MON trips.
SIERRA LEONE
Freetown. These flights currently operate twice weekly, with a possibility of a third rotation. Trips are either MON-FRI or FRI-MON. We stay in an OK hotel but very basic, it has a nice pool. Weather is usually hot all year round.
PAY
Main crew clear in the summer, between approx 900 and 1500, and Seniors between 1100 and 1600 pcm. It all depends on your roster, how many trips, how many long day flights with more flight pay and better commission. Astraeus offers incentives, and bonuses for top sellers and top bars. We also operate flights for Jetair, a broker and they have an employee of the month scheme.
In my opinion, Astraeus is a great company to work for. I have been here over a year now, and have been flying for over 3 years. Astraeus is friendly, the flying programme is anything BUT boring, and when you join, you are not just a number, people know your name. The company organises staff day trips, the next of which is to Rome. When I joined in Feb 2004, a lot of people from my training course had left by the end of the summer season, for varying reasons, as is the same with ANY airline. Not one person was laid off at the end of the summer period, and we have a very active flying programme in the winter too.
At the end of the day, we are all different, and to some, AEU is the best airline to work for, for some it is the worst. You have to make up your own mind. Before you join, or consider joining, have an open mind and take on the positive comments about AEU aswel as the negative.
Regards
Mike