In January, we introduced you to a new Croatian flight company named Smile Air, a Zagreb-based startup airline registered in the summer of 2017 by the director and co-owner Nino Borić, who has been working in the field of aviation for over thirty years.
The exciting new project is in no particular rush to begin, however, and is instead proceeding with caution. Thus, Smile Air hopes to start operations by 2020 using two Embraer E190 jets for year-round travel. They’ll also lease an Airbus A321 for seasonal flights, and eventually the wide-body A330 for long haul operations, reports Ex Yu Aviation on February 10, 2019.
“We would like to start operations at the end of this year, but it will be difficult to do so, as we need to secure the right aircraft for the market. Prices are currently too high. We are in no real hurry, but we want to make this a sustainable and long-term project void of any mistakes. In addition, obtaining flight permits also takes some time, so we hope to launch in 2020,” Borić said.
“The airline will initially operate in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, while worldwide operations are also planned,” he added.
Borić works alongside the other co-owner of Smile Air, Bernard Lukač, a 30-year-old pilot and former instructor in Croatia Airlines, who has worked as an inspector at the Croatian Civil Aviation Agency (CCAA) for the last eight years. The team is completed by Krunoslav Dumlija, a pilot with fifteen years of experience, who is also a former CCAA inspector.
Smile Air will begin with two aircraft on operational leases, which would require between 3-5 million dollars.
It’ll be interesting to see how this new startup airline fares, considering Croatia’s mostly unsuccessful projects in the past, such as Air Croatia, Sea Air, Dalmatian, Libertas Air, AWEX and Splitair, concluded Ex Yu Aviation.
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