VVB Aviation (Elstree) is looking to enter the European ACMI market in cooperation with Welsh MRO provider Cardiff Aviation with the delivery of its first aircraft - a B737-400 - due in September.

Cardiff Aviation, the South Wales-based aircraft maintenance and flight-training organisation which counts British metal icon, Bruce Dickinson, among its founding shareholders, acquired a 50% stake in VVB Aviation in 2012 and is now working to expand VVB's Air Operators Certificate to include aircraft operations.

According to FlightGlobal, over the next two years, Cardiff Aviation plans to operate a fleet of between six and eight aircraft - B737 Classics and A320s - sourced from two leasing firms.

The Welsh operator intends to use the aircraft for ad-hoc charters in Europe during the summer before moving them to South East Asia during the quieter Winter months.