Aero Airlines

Infobox Airline
airline = Aero Airlines

logo_size =
fleet_size = 3
destinations = 4
IATA = EE
ICAO = EAY
callsign = REVAL
parent =
company_slogan =
founded = 2000
headquarters =
key_people =
hubs = Tallinn Airport
secondary_hubs =
focus_cities =
frequent_flyer =
lounge =
alliance =
website =

Aero Airlines was a regional airline based in Tallinn, Estonia. It operated services between three Finnish destinations as well as international flights to Tallinn. All of their flights were operated under Finnair's designation "AY". Its main bases were Helsinki-Vantaa and Tallinn Ülemiste. Aero ceased it's operations in January 2008.

History

The name harkens back to Aero Airlines's and Finnair's first incarnation, "Aero AS", founded in 1923, and its first Junkers F 13 seaplane took off from Helsinki harbor in Katajanokka to a lake near to the present Ülemiste Airport in Tallinn for its first flight, March 24, 1924, carrying 162 kg (357 lbs) of mail. Other destinations were quickly added: Stockholm and the then Königsberg (Kaliningrad), from where passengers took trains respectively to Göteborg (sometimes boarding other planes to Copenhagen, Oslo and London) and to Berlin, and passengers began to queue up at some periods — up to 48 per day in 1926 waiting for the four-seaters to fly them.

After initial reluctance from the Finnish authorities to build airports, Aero's fleet could eventually dispose of its seaplanes and get on wheel-landing aircraft in 1938. But the airlines disappeared as a consequence of the annexion of Estonia by the Soviet Union in June 1940.

Finnair retained Aero AS's IATA designator AY, while the modern-day Aero Airlines flew as EE. The airline was re-established in 2000 and started operations in March 2002 within the Baltic region. It was owned by Aero Holding (51%) and Finnair (49%), was the ownership was later transferred wholly to Finnair. Aero had 128 employees (at March 2007) Flight International 27 March 2007, p. 46] .

Aero scaled down it's operations during 2007 and finally flew it's last flight on 6th January 2008. All its former routes are now operated by Finncomm Airlines and Finnair.

Destinations

Aero Airlines operated services to the following scheduled destinations (at December 2007): Helsinki, Tallinn, Turku and Vaasa.

Fleet

The Aero Airlines fleet consisted of ATR-72-200 turboprop airplanes, which were formerly operated by its parent company Finnair. The last two were sold to UTair when Aero ceased it's operations.

References

External links

*en icon wayback|http://www.aeroairlines.com|Aero Airlines official website
*et icon wayback|http://www.aeroairlines.ee|Aero Airlines official website