The new airline’s first flight was operated by an ATR72-200 freighter from its new base at East Midlands Airport to Belfast International Airport and it will now operate this route on a daily basis.
ASL Aviation Holdings chief operating officer Colin Grant said: “Our decision to establish a UK airline was customer focussed.
“We want to offer our customers flexibility in their route planning when they want to operate domestically in the UK, or, in time, to fly from the UK to the EU.”
Grant added ASL is looking to grow operations in the UK domestic network and it has also applied for a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Third Country Operator (TCO) authorisation for cargo flights from the UK to Europe.
ASL UK will be closely aligned to ASL Airlines Ireland with common standard operating procedures (SOPs) and shared support services in order to harmonise operations, remove unnecessary duplication and the creation of ‘centres of excellence’ serving all airlines.
ASL Aviation Holdings CEO Dave Andrew added: “The launch of ASL Airlines UK further strengthens our customer offering as a leading global aviation services provider.
“We will continue to explore opportunities to grow by offering all customers, new and old, a neutral service with the agility to deliver, develop and grow according to their requirements.”
