.gif)
Astraeus (airline)
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
based at Astraeus House in Crawley
Crawley
Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the 2001 Census.The area has...
, West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In May 2008, Astraeus changed its business model and ceased full time charter and scheduled service flying to concentrate on sublease activities. Astraeus provides aircraft anywhere in the world to meet short and long term lease requirements, wet lease, damp lease or dry lease options. The main base is London Gatwick Airport. The company is named after the Greek God of the dusk.
Current customers include bmi
Bmi (airline)
British Midland Airways Limited , is an airline based at Donington Hall in Castle Donington in the United Kingdom, close to East Midlands Airport, and a fully owned subsidiary of Lufthansa...
, Iceland Express
Iceland Express
Iceland Express is a low-fare airline headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. It operates services to 17 destinations in Europe and North America using leased aircraft...
, Tonlésap Airlines
TonleSap Airlines
TonleSap Airlines is an airline with its head office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It is a regional carrier operating a scheduled domestic network and regional flights to neighbouring countries...
and Trawel Fly
Trawel Fly
Trawel Fly is a virtual airline that sells scheduled and charter flights through its website. It is based in Orio al Serio, Italy-Business Model:...
.
Astraeus Airlines also has a history in providing ad-hoc capacity to various clients. This includes sports charters (Manchester United, Arsenal
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...
, UK and Irish FA and many others), military charters, show business charters (Disney, Warner Bros), varied Government contracts and general charters for the leisure and business industry.
Astraeus Limited holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence and is therefore permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. Astraeus Airlines is an IOSA registered company by the International Air Transport Association.
On the 21st of November 2011, Astraeus Airlines entered administration, ceasing operations the same day.
History
Astraeus Airlines commenced charter operations in 2002 with Boeing 737 aircraft and also operated under the Flystar brand for a short time. After establishing itself as a reliable charter carrier to UK leisure tour operators for both summer and winter seasons, the fleet was extended in 2004 to include Boeing 757 aircraft. By 2008 the fleet had grown to two Boeing 737-300s, two Boeing 737-700s and five Boeing 757-200s.As of 2009, Astraeus Airlines is now the only airline charter company which remained based at London Gatwick Airport, and grew its fleet, adding a Boeing 737-500 and 737-700.
Astraeus is a 100% subsidiary of Eignarhaldsfelagid Fengur hf, an Icelandic based travel group that also owns Iceland Express
Iceland Express
Iceland Express is a low-fare airline headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. It operates services to 17 destinations in Europe and North America using leased aircraft...
in Iceland.
The airline ended operations on 21 November 2011 and entered Administration. The airline cited a lack of contracts for the winter of 2011 and some "extremely bad luck" with technical issues as reasons for ending operations.
Fleet
As of November 2011, the Astraeus fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 17.4 years:
| Aircraft | In Services | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-300 | 2 | 148 | stored |
| Boeing 737-500 | 1 | 123 | stored |
| Boeing 737-700 | 2 | 148 | stored |
| Boeing 757-200 | 4 | 160-221 | stored |
| Total |
Astraeus and Iron Maiden
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
commissioned an Astraeus 757 as transport for their 'Somewhere Back in Time' tour in 2008 and nicknamed it Ed Force One. The aircraft was converted into a combi
Combi
In commercial aviation, the term combi refers to versions of various aircraft that can be used for either passenger, as an airliner would, or cargo duties, as a freighter would, and often have a partition in the aircraft cabin to allow both uses at once...
configuration, repainted with an Iron Maiden livery and was used in this scheme until 28 May 2008. The same aircraft (G-OJIB) was used again on the second leg of the Somewhere Back in Time tour in 2009. The same aircraft was meant to be used for The Final Frontier World Tour
The Final Frontier World Tour
The Final Frontier World Tour was a concert tour by Iron Maiden in support of the band's 15th album, The Final Frontier, which began on 9 June 2010 in Dallas, Texas and ended in London, England on 6 August 2011...
in 2011, however on February 8, 2011 another 757 200 aircraft (G-STRX) departed Southend with a sightly differing Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
livery for The Final Frontier World Tour
The Final Frontier World Tour
The Final Frontier World Tour was a concert tour by Iron Maiden in support of the band's 15th album, The Final Frontier, which began on 9 June 2010 in Dallas, Texas and ended in London, England on 6 August 2011...
.
When not performing as lead singer for Iron Maiden, Bruce Dickinson
Bruce Dickinson
Paul Bruce Dickinson is an English singer, songwriter, airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, screenwriter, actor and marketing director, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden....
is an Astraeus Captain flying the Boeing 757 aircraft and now is Astraeus's Marketing Director. On 20 October 2010, Dickinson flew the Liverpool FC team to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, for their European Cup match against Napoli.