Air Europa (UX, Palma de Mallorca) has announced plans to add 11 new aircraft to its fleet during the course of 2022, including four B787s on medium-term sublease contracts from Norse Atlantic Airways (N0, Oslo Gardermoen).
The Spanish carrier plans to add five B787s in total. The four subleased from Norse Atlantic Airways comprise two B787-8s and two B787-9s. Subject to the finalisation of the agreement, the quartet will be delivered to Air Europa during the second quarter of 2022. The sublease will last for at least 18 months.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Norse Atlantic Airways plans to have three B787-8s and twelve -9s in its early fleet, on lease from AerCap (the -8s and six -9s) and BOC Aviation (six -9s). However, the nascent long-haul low-cost carrier recently deferred its launch by three months and will not require all of the aircraft during the ramp-up phase of its operations.
"This sublease agreement with Air Europa provides a compelling opportunity to generate positive cash flow from aircraft that we were not planning to fully utilise in our start-up phase. The agreement strengthens our already solid financial position as we continue to stay true to our strategy of cautiously entering the market and ramping up based on customer demand," Chief Executive Bjørn Tore Larsen said.
Air Europa did not disclose any details concerning the variant or the source of the fifth B787 and the six B737s, other than stating they would "be added progressively over the coming months". However, the El Economista daily has reported that the B737s will be B737-800s formerly operated by Ukraine International Airlines (two), Malindo Air (two), Ryanair, and one of the TUI Group carriers (one each).
The airline did not respond to ch-aviation's request for clarification.
The Spanish carrier's fleet currently comprises fourteen B737-800s, eight B787-8s, and ten B787-9s. It also wet-leases a single A320-200 from Iberojet (Spain) (E9, Palma de Mallorca).
