Futura International Airways

Infobox Airline
airline = Futura International Airways

logo_size = 180
fleet_size = 27
destinations = 146
IATA = FH
ICAO = FUA
callsign = FUTURA
parent =
company_slogan =
founded = 1989
ceased = September 7, 2008
headquarters = Palma de Mallorca, Spain
key_people =
hubs = Palma de Mallorca Airport
secondary_hubs =
focus_cities =
frequent_flyer =
lounge =
alliance =
website = http://www.futura.aero/

Futura International Airways was an airline based in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. It operated scheduled services and charter flights for tour operators and other airlines, in Europe, as well as wet lease and ad hoc charters. Its main base was Palma de Mallorca Airport.cite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work= Flight International | page= 85 | date= 2007-04-03]

After failing to re-finance itself the company ceased trading on the 8 September 2008. [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/privateEquity/idUSL8638820080908] ]

History

The airline was established in 1989 by Aer Lingus, Belton Air and Banco Santander, starting operations on 17 February 1990 with a flight from Palma de Mallorca to Manchester. During the 1990s, the airline expanded to cover most of Europe and today it operates, under the leadership of CEO Roman Pané [http://www.iaca.be] , its own scheduled flights and ad-hoc flights on behalf of various tour operators and airlines in Europe, North and South America, Africa and South East Asia. Futura operates from 5 permanent bases: Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife, Málaga, Gran Canaria and Dublin; as well as various other seasonal bases throughout the year. (Source: [http://www.futura.aero] ).

The airline was later owned by Corpfin Capital (65%), Aer Lingus (20%) and management and employees (15%). On 16 October 2007, Corpfin Capital and Aer Lingus sold their stakes, during the process of a secondary buyout instigated by the present management team, making way for the participation of the investment fund Hutton Collins, so that the resulting shareholdings are as follows: the Futura Group (management and employees) has 53.5 % and Hutton Collins owns 46.5%. The airline has 1,211 employees (at May 2008). It wholly owns cargo subsidiaries Flyant and Futura Gael.

The airline ceased ops at 00.00 on September 8th 2008 due its lack of cash (debts of around €50 million). Its AOC was revoked by the Spanish Aviation Authority two weeks later after the airline was unable to show a Viability Plan. Since then its fleet is being returned to lessors. Flyant is still on the business operating two Boeing 737-300 and one Boeing 737-400

Subsidiaries

Futura Gael - An Irish based wholly-owned subsidiary set up in 2007 to begin charter flights from Ireland to the EU.

Destinations

Domestic

*Alicante
*Almería
*Barcelona
*Bilbao
*Fuerteventura
*Girona
*Granada
*Gran Canaria
*Ibiza
*Jerez
*La Palma
*Lanzarote
*Madrid
*Málaga
*Menorca
*Oviedo
*Palma de Mallorca
*Pamplona
*Reus
*Santander
*Santiago de Compostela
*Seville
*Tenerife North Airport
*Tenerife South Airport
*Valencia
*Valladolid
*Vitoria
*Zaragoza

International

*Aberdeen
*Amsterdam
*Antalya
*Athens
*Basel
*Banjul
*Belfast
*Bergamo
*Bergen
*Berlin
*Billund
*Birmingham
*Bodo
*Bologna
*Bournemouth
*Bremen
*Brno
*Brussels
*Bucharest
*Budapest
*Cairo
*Cardiff
*Catania
*City of Derry Airport
*Copenhagen
*Corfu
*Cork
*Dresden
*Dublin
*Düsseldorf
*East Midlands
*Edinburgh
*Exeter
*Faro
*Frankfurt am Main
*Freetown
*Glasgow
*Gothenburg
*Graz
*Hamburg
*Hanover
*Helsinki
*Humberside
*Iraklion
*Istanbul
*Jönköping
*Kalmar
*Katowice
*Keflavík
*Klagenfurt
*Kyiv
*Knock
*Cologne
*Kos
*Kristiansand
*Leeds/Bradford
*Leipzig
*Liège
*Lille
*Linz
*Lisbon
*Liverpool
*London
*Luton
*Luxor
*Lyon
*Madeira
*Malmö
*Manchester
*Marseille
*Marrakech
*Metz
*Milan
*Moscow
*Mulhouse
*Munich
*Nantes
*Naples
*Newcastle upon Tyne
*Norrköping
*Nuremberg
*Örebro
*Oslo
*Ostrava
*Palermo
*Paris
*Porto
*Poznań
*Prague
*Prestwick
*Rhodes
*Rome
*Saint Petersburg
*Salzburg
*Sandefjord
*Shannon
*Stansted
*Stavanger
*Strasbourg
*Stockholm
*Stuttgart
*Tallinn
*Tangier
*Tel Aviv
*Teesside
*Toulouse
*Treviso
*Trieste
*Tromsø
*Trondheim
*Tunis
*Turin
*Venice
*Verona
*Vienna
*Warsaw
*Zagreb
*Zakinthos
*Zürich

Livery

Futura's aircraft were painted in white through the fuselage area, with the name "Futura" in blue over the front passenger windows. The tails carried Futura's logo and were painted blue.

Fleet

The Futura International Airways fleet consisted of the following aircraft (as of 4 September 2008) [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=FH&al_op=1] :

In July 2006 Futura ordered 3 Boeing 737-800s for delivery in 2009 and 2010 with purchase rights for another three aircraft.

External links

* [http://www.futura.aero/ Futura International Airways]
* {fr} [http://www.partircharter.com/futura-airways.html Descriptif compagnie Futura International]
* [http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=FH&al_op=1 Futura International Airways Fleet]
* [http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/05/13/223605/futura-gets-europes-first-737-900ers.html]

References