| Airline: | Air Comet |
| Iata: | A7 |
| Icao: | MPD |
| Callsign: | RED COMET |
| Founded: | 23 December 1996 (as Air Plus Comet) |
| Commenced: | 1 March 1997 |
| Ceased: | 21 December 2009 |
| Bases: | Madrid–Barajas Airport |
| Frequent Flyer: | Club Air Comet |
| Subsidiaries: | Air Comet Chile |
| Fleet Size: | 9 |
| Destinations: | 11 |
| Parent: | Grupo Marsans |
| Headquarters: | Madrid, Spain |
| Key People: | Gerardo Díaz Ferrán |
| Website: | aircomet.com |
Air Comet was an airline based in Madrid, Spain.[1] [2] It operated scheduled long-haul services from Madrid to 13 destinations in Central and South America, as well as services in Europe. Its main base was Terminal 1 at Madrid–Barajas Airport. The airline cooperated with airlines such as AeroSur through codeshare agreements.
The airline was established on 23 December 1996 as Air Plus Comet and started operations on 1 March 1997, based at Madrid-Barajas Airport. On 11 December 1996 Oasis airline ceased operations and their only aircraft, an Airbus A310, and many of their pilots and staff became the foundation of Air Plus Comet. In the post-takeover haste, the airline lacked a commercial name and its ICAO code was MPD, which stood for the last names of its three main executives (Mata, Pascual and Díaz).
It mainly operated long-haul charter services from Madrid and Palma de Mallorca to destinations in America and the Caribbean. It relaunched as a full-service carrier under the Air Comet name in January 2007. It was wholly owned by Grupo Marsans.
In January 2007, the airline took over some of now-defunct Air Madrid's Latin American routes and was renamed Air Comet and changed its livery.[3]
On 11 February 2009, Air Comet was suspended from the IATA Clearing House due to non-payment of its January balance.[4] On 21 December 2009, a High Court in London emitted a verdict favoring the German bank HSH Nordbank, which had sued Air Comet for not meeting the terms of payment for their leased aircraft. Therefore, the airline became legally unable to either operate their four A330-200s or sell any fare tickets. Air Comet's directors announced the airline was ceasing operations owing to bankruptcy.[5]
Air Comet flew to the following destinations:[6]
The Air Comet fleet consisted of the following aircraft[7] [8]
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A310-300 | 10 | 1997 | 2009 | 1 leased from Austrian Airlines |
| Airbus A320-200 | 3 | 2007 | 2009 | |
| Airbus A330-200 | 8 | 2006 | 2009 | 4 leased from Grupo Marsans 1 leased from Eurofly 1 leased from Iberworld |
| Airbus A340-300 | 3 | 2007 | 2009 | |
| Boeing 737-300 | 2 | 2003 | 2006 | |
| Boeing 747-200B | 4 | 2003 | 2008 | 2 leased from Aerolíneas Argentinas |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 2 | 2006 | 2007 | |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-88 | 2 | 2005 | 2007 | Leased from Aerolíneas Argentinas |
