US's ExpressJet acquires first E145 ahead of restart

Nigeria's Rano Air secures four E145s - report

Nigerian startup Rano Air reportedly has secured four EMB-145LRs for a planned debut in 2022, according to Francophone aviation news provider Newsaero.

According to Rano Air's social media posts, the company in January appeared to have restarted its drive for an Air Transport License (ATL) with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). It published part of an NCAA letter to Rano Air dated January 17, 2022, and said, "progress, step-by-step it shall come to fruition".

This could not be immediately confirmed, as neither the regulator nor Rano Air owner Auwalu Rano responded to requests for comment from ch-aviation.

Rano Air had initially applied to the NCAA for an ATL in mid-2020 to operate scheduled and non-scheduled passenger and cargo services within and outside of Nigeria, according to its social media post dated July 19, 2020.

The company in November started advertising online for key personnel, including EMB-145 engineers.

Meanwhile, ch-aviation research reveals that four E145LRs were deregistered from the US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) aircraft registry on February 23, 2022, for export to...

US's Current Aviation eyes underserved point-to-point routes

Current Aviation is to raise USD40 million to exploit a regional market gap in the United States by launching point-to-point airline services between underserved cities, using other – as yet unnamed - independent carriers as flight operating partners.

Led by a team of experienced airline, hospitality, and travel technology industry executives, the Dallas-based company in a statement said it had contracted global investment bank DelMorgan & Co. as strategic advisor for its capital raise.

A virtual carrier, the start-up plans to debut within months but will not acquire aircraft or facilities. Instead, its operations will be outsourced to third party carriers which will fly their own aircraft with their own employees, but under the Current Aviation brand. Sources in the know said this may ultimately involve ExpressJet Airlines (EV, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) and/or other US regional carriers. ExpressJet Airlines declined to comment when contacted by ch-aviation.

Current Aviation’s role will be to handle all commercial and customer-facing functions including determining the route network, setting competitive fares, scheduling, marketing, distribution, and e-commerce.

Direct flights...

United Airlines ready to sell stake in ExpressJet - Kirby

United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) is prepared to sell its 49.9% stake in ExpressJet Airlines (EV, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson), formerly its regional capacity provider but now a wholly independent regional carrier planning operations under its own aha! brand, Chief Executive Scott Kirby told The Points Guy.

"If anybody wants it, they should give us a call," he said.

United Airlines acquired ExpressJet Airlines in 2018 from SkyWest Airlines (OO, Salt Lake City) through a firm named Mana Air LLC, a 49.9/50.1 partnership with KAir Enterprises. At that time, the regional carrier operated E145s on behalf of United under the United Express brand. ExpressJet suspended all operations in September 2020 after the mainline carrier decided to consolidate all E145 operations at CommutAir (C5, Cleveland Hopkins). However, ExpressJet did not go out of business but rather recertified as an independent scheduled operator. It plans to launch its first regional routes out of Reno/Tahoe on October 24, 2021, flying to underserved second- and third-tier airports in the western...

US's ExpressJet to relaunch as aha! out of Reno/Tahoe