Sentra Airways (SER, Manchester International) has returned its only A330-200 to lessor Air Lease Corporation, casting doubt over its launch plans. According to ch-aviation analysis of aircraft data, the widebody will now likely be placed with HiSky Europe, which recently announced a lease contract for the type.
G-SAHA (msn 1138) was deregistered from the United Kingdom on September 21, 2023, less than ten months after the start-up added it. It was re-registered in Guernsey with an unknown registration ahead of redelivery to the new operator. For now, the 13.3-year-old aircraft remains parked at Kemble airport.
Sentra Airways was planning to operate direct point-to-point services between Manchester International and Accra in Ghana, targeting the sizeable visiting-friends-and-relatives market. It was one of a number of British start-ups born in recent years eyeing the VFR niches, such as Hans Airways, flyPOP (both targeting India), and Himalaya Jet (targeting Nepal). Of the three, only flyPOP briefly launched as a virtual carrier, albeit proferring cargo charters and never the intended low-cost flights to India.
Sentra applied for an Operating Licence in April 2023, but has, so far, secured neither the OL nor an AOC. It has not issued any public statements since April and did not respond to ch-aviation's question of whether it was still planning to launch. The Bradford-based firm remains registered as an active company owned by Ishmael Musah and Balqis Zakaria Isma-Il, who are also its directors.
Sentra Airways secured the A330 in late 2022 and formally registered it in the UK in January 2023.
