Switzerland's Chair Airlines to debut A320 ops in 4Q21

Switzerland's Chair Airlines adds first A320

Chair Airlines (GM, Zurich) took delivery of its first A320-200, its largest type yet, on December 12, 2021, after HB-JOK (msn 3923) was ferried from Ostrava to Zurich in the Swiss carrier's livery. It has yet to be deployed into revenue service. The 12.6-year-old jet was previously operated by Aeroflot (SU, Moscow Sheremetyevo) and is owned by Merx Aviation Finance, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows.

The delivery was deferred in relation to the original schedule, which foresaw the induction of the type in November 2021. The A320 will join the airline's current fleet of two A319-100s, replacing a third A319-100, which was damaged beyond repair during maintenance at Naples Capodichino airport in mid-2020.

During the recent peak summer season, Chair Airlines supplemented its in-house fleet with a B737-800 wet-leased from 49%-shareholder Enter Air (E4, Warsaw Chopin). The addition of the third aircraft will therefore allow it to avoid wet-leasing in capacity going forward.

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Switzerland's Chair Airlines to add first A320 in 4Q21

Chair Airlines (GM, Zurich) has announced it has reached a deal to add its first in-house A320-200 in November 2021 to replace one of its three A319-100s, which was damaged beyond repair during maintenance at Naples Capodichino in mid-2020.

The Swiss carrier, formerly known as Germania Flug, said its first A320 would initially operate full charter flights on behalf of its tour operator sister firm, Air Prishtina, to Pristina and North Macedonia. While it declined to identify the aircraft in question, Chair Airlines said it would be configured in a single-class layout for up to 180 passengers. A second A320-200 is planned to arrive before the Summer 2022 season, although the finalisation of that plan will depend on further developments concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and market recovery.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Chair Airlines currently operates two in-house A319-100s. It also wet-leases a single B737-800 from 49% shareholder, Poland's Enter Air (E4, Warsaw Chopin). The B737 is leased on an interim basis...

Switzerland's Chair Airlines adds wet-leased B737

Chair Airlines (GM, Zurich) began wet-leasing a B737-800 from its Polish parent Enter Air (E4, Warsaw Chopin) on July 21, 2021, under a previously announced summer-long capacity-boosting ACMI contract.

SP-ESE (msn 30688) has had the Enter Air logo replaced with Chair's but otherwise remains in the Polish carrier's livery. Enter Air ferried it from Antalya to Zurich on the morning of July 21 and operated its first revenue flight for the Swiss company to Skopje, on the evening of the same day.

Chair Airlines operates two A319-100s, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows. The carrier's third unit of the type was damaged beyond repair during a maintenance mishap at Naples Capodichino in mid-2020, precipitating the need for wet-leased capacity for the peak season.

Enter Air owns a 49% stake in Chair Airlines. The Polish leisure carrier operates twenty-four B737-800s and two B737-8s. It has a further six B737-8s on firm order from Boeing.