| Airline: | Eastern Airways |
| Iata: | T3[1] |
| Icao: | EZE |
| Callsign: | EASTFLIGHT |
| Headquarters: | Humberside Airport Kirmington, North Lincolnshire |
| Founded: | 1997 |
| Key People: | Richard Lake OBE, Owner Orient Industrial Holdings |
| Bases: | |
| Fleet Size: | 16 |
| Destinations: | 11 |
Eastern Airways, legally incorporated as Air Kilroe Limited, is a British regional airline headquartered at Humberside Airport near the village of Kirmington, North Lincolnshire, England. The airline operates domestic, international and private charter flights.[2] Around 800,000 passengers fly with the airline per year.[3]
It has hubs at Aberdeen, East Midlands, Humberside and Newquay.[4]
Air Kilroe Limited holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence. It is permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats and is IOSA approved.[5] [6]
Co-founded by Bryan Huxford and Richard Lake, the airline started operations in December 1997 with a scheduled route between Humberside and Aberdeen with a leased Swearingen Metro, following KLM uk's withdrawal from the route. In February 1999, it purchased Manchester based Air Kilroe, granting the company an air operator's certificate and giving the airline a fleet of two BAe Jetstream 32 aircraft.[7]
In 2002, the first BAe Jetstream 41 entered the Eastern fleet, the aircraft type which now forms the majority of the fleet.
12 aircraft and their associated routes were transferred from British Airways CitiExpress on 30 March 2003. An Embraer 145 and 135 were also wet leased from City Airline in 2003, which were then replaced with Saab 2000 aircraft, which 8 of them being acquired from Crossair and other European carriers.[8]
In 2006, Eastern Airways wet leased a Dornier 328 from Cirrus Airlines to operate a Newcastle to London City service which has since been terminated. Eastern Airways also purchased a Jetstream 41 training simulator.
As part of One North East's "Passionate People Passionate Places" campaign for North East England, Eastern Airways had a Jetstream 41 painted in promotional colours. It also featured in the 2007 Sunderland International Airshow. A Saab 2000 was also painted in a promotional 'Aberdeen City and Shire' colour scheme. The airline shut down its hub at the Isle of Man in August 2009, discontinuing routes to Birmingham and Newcastle upon Tyne from the airport.[9]
In July 2010, the airline took delivery of an Embraer 135 with 37 seats and signed a lease on a second, thus adding jet aircraft to their fleet for the first time since the acquisition to replace their previously operated Embraer ERJ aircraft. They will be used mainly on charter services to central and Eastern Europe; however, they will also offer increased flexibility on the airline's scheduled flights.[10] In July 2010, the airline named one of their BAe Jetstream 41 aircraft after the comedian Ken Dodd in celebration of the year anniversary of the start of their flights from Liverpool and Dodd's support shown in the region.
In September 2010, it was announced that Eastern Airways had bought Air Southwest, however shut down the airline a year later. Flights from Liverpool to both Aberdeen and Southampton ended in 2011
In August 2012, Eastern Group purchased the 82% Manchester Airports Group stake in Humberside Airport, becoming the primary airline serving the airport.
In February 2014, the Bristow Group, a major helicopter operator serving the offshore oil and gas industry, acquired a 60% interest in Eastern Airways[11] and in 2018 acquired the remaining 40%. The airline continued to operate under the Eastern Airways brand.[12] Bristow also acquired a controlling interest in the Australian airline Airnorth, another regional airline which operates fixed wing regional jet and turboprop aircraft. During this time, the airline's route network was focused on Aberdeen, providing service to the oil industry, as well as a smaller operation in Newcastle. The airline also commenced a number of French domestic routes in 2015, supported by PSO subsidies.[13]
Facing increased competition from airlines such as Loganair and Wideroe, the airline has significantly scaled back its schedule route network from Aberdeen.
In March 2017, Eastern re-entered the Isle of Man with service to Belfast City, Glasgow and Newcastle, following the collapse of local airline Citywing.[14] The airline also took over PSO-funded service between Cardiff and Anglesey, facilitating the opening of a base in Cardiff.[15] Isle of Man service was cancelled a year later, whereas Cardiff service continued until the Welsh Government stopped providing funding in 2021.[16] Eastern also operated flights from the Isle of Man to London City Airport on behalf of British Airways using Saab 2000 aircraft.
In September 2017, Eastern received its first of two new ATR 72-600. The aircraft operated on the Aberdeen – Scatsta route on behalf of Bristow Helicopters. With the Bristow Group in financial difficulties, it sold the Eastern Airlines group of companies back to one of its founders, Richard Lake, in May 2019.[17]
It was announced on 21 September 2017 that Eastern Airways would enter a franchise with Flybe, starting on 29 October 2017. The franchise saw all scheduled flights operated by Eastern Airways carry BE (Flybe) flight numbers. Following Loganair's decision to end its partnership with Flybe, Eastern announced a significant expansion onto routes also operated by Loganair, largely targeting the Scottish Highlands, including introduction jet service into Sumburgh for the first time.[18] The last of these new routes was dropped by the end of 2018, citing a lack of demand for two competing airlines.[19]
On 5 March 2020, Flybe entered administration and ceased operations,[20] resulting in Eastern Airways resuming flying under its own brand.[21] Seeking to take advantage of Flybe's demise, the airline announced the opening of a base in Southampton, where Flybe had operated 95% of the airport's flights, with new routes to Manchester and Newcastle, eventually being joined by Belfast City and Dublin, along with pre-existing service to Aberdeen, Leeds/Bradford and Teesside.[22]
In 2021, Eastern announced new service from Southampton to Nantes and Rennes, however neither service ever commenced.[23] The airline was unable to capture the market left by Flybe, resulting in operations in Southampton being gradually scaled back, with all new service being axed by 2023.
In May 2021, Eastern commenced flying to Gibraltar for the first time, with service to Birmingham and Southampton, however cancelled both routes a year later.[24] The airline also commenced service between Cardiff and Belfast City, seeking to fill another gap left by Flybe's collapse, but suspended the route in early 2022.[25]
In December 2021, the company was awarded PSO contract to operate service between Newquay and London Gatwick. Also in April 2022 Eastern was awarded another PSO contract in Scotland to operate services between Aberdeen and Wick.
The head office is located at Schiphol House, on the property of Humberside Airport, in Kirmington, North Lincolnshire.[26]
The Eastern Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft:[27]
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 72-600 | 4 | — | 72 | |
| BAe Jetstream 41 | 6 | — | 29 | |
| Embraer 170 | 2 | — | 76 | |
| Embraer 190 | 2 | 1 | 106 | |
| Total | 14 | 1 |
Eastern Airways formerly operated the following aircraft: