Equair (Quito International) took delivery of its first aircraft, a B737-700, on December 4, two weeks ahead of its first scheduled service between Quito International and Guayaquil.

A 10.8-year-old ex-KLM Royal Dutch Airlines jet owned by Nomura Babcock & Brown and managed by BBAM, HC-CXB (msn 38125) was ferried from storage at Lleida to Reykjavik Keflavik on November 25, 2021, and then via Boston to Latacunga on December 3-4, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. The aircraft is currently in an all-white livery and will be painted at the Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana facilities at Latacunga airport.

Equair, legally Equinoxair S.A.S., plans to launch operations on December 20 and intends to use two dry-leased B737-700s in the first phase. The second unit is set to arrive in Ecuador around December 20. Another two will join in May and November 2022. The start-up obtained its Operating Licence and domestic traffic rights - including for services to the Galapagos Islands - in March 2021 but has yet to complete its AOC drive.

Chief Executive Officer Gabriella Sommerfeld has already told ch-aviation Equair is aiming to obtain its AOC by December 15.