Wet-lease specialist Avia Solutions Group has sold its Latvian division of SmartLynx and aims to merge its Estonian and Maltese arms of the carrier.
Avia Solutions Group has divested the company to its management team as well as a Dutch fund, as part of a broader strategic effort to consolidate its European air operator’s certificates.
The company has not disclosed the terms of the SmartLynx Latvia sale.
But it leaves Avia Solutions with AOCs in six European countries – Estonia, Malta, Lithuania, Slovakia, the UK and Turkey – and says most have virtually equal traffic rights.
The SmartLynx Estonia and SmartLynx Malta operations will be merged and rebranded, the company states.
SmartLynx had indicated earlier this year that it would be simplifying its structure, concentrating on a single-type fleet – based on the Airbus A320 family – and cutting back its A321 freighter service.
Avia Solutions says it believes an AOC should optimally have around 27-30 aircraft. It adds that it will “explore further efficiency enhancements” within its European AOC network.
Aside from SmartLynx, the company’s European brands include Avion Express – which has Maltese and Lithuanian arms – plus Ascend Airways, AirExplore, BBN Airlines and KlasJet.
It indicates that it will consolidate the operations into three brands. But the company says it has not finalised a decision on the brand names.
“By consolidating our European AOCs and expanding into counter-cyclical markets in Asia Pacific and Latin America, we aim to optimise year-round operations,” says chief executive Jonas Janukenas.
Avia Solutions has diversified outside of Europe in order to offset seasonal demand and capacity fluctuations.
Its fleet of 187 is distributed among 11 AOCs and it has been establishing operations in such countries as Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and Thailand.
