Croatia's ACI Air eyes seaplane operations in 2022

Germany's USC eyes ten A340s, imminent debut

Germany's USC certifies, ready for lease ops with A340

USC (Germany) (XG, Frankfurt International) has obtained its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) from the German civil aviation authority (Luftfahrt Bundesamt - LBA) and is set to now proffer its first A340-300 to the wet-, damp-, and dry-lease markets.

D-AUSC (msn 646), an 18.7-year-old jet formerly in service with South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo), was registered in Germany in late April 2023. Configured for up to 253 passengers, including 38 in business class and 215 in economy class, it remains parked at Frankfurt Hahn, awaiting its first commercial deployment.

While the start-up plans to focus on the passenger market initially, it will later expand into the cargo sector. It has already acquired an ex-SAA A340-600, D-AUSZ (msn 557), which will be converted by Avensis Aviation, but the timeline remains unclear as the conversion variant has yet to be certified. USC estimates the process will take between eight and 11 months. USC's A340-600 will be the first unit of the type converted by the British firm, which has so...

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Germany's USC receives first aircraft, an A340-300