CityJet (WX, Dublin International) is to retain its fleet of ARJ-85s in service beyond their previously anticipated 2018/19 retirement timeline, the Irish operator's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pat Byrne has said.
In an interview with The Sunday Independent, Byrne said: “We originally thought we wouldn’t be using [the ARJ-85s] by 2018 or 2019, but we see more opportunity for them.” He added that in anticipation of the Avro's prolonged stay in service, until "about 2021", they are currently being upgraded.
CityJet currently operates fifteen of the type with an average age of just over eighteen years. The quadjets were to have been withdrawn from service with the introduction of the carrier's incoming fleet of fifteen SSJ 100/95s of which five have thus far been delivered.
The ARJ85s are primarily deployed to London City, Amsterdam Schiphol, Copenhagen Kastrup, Dublin International, and Paris CDG where they are used on flights to Italy, France, Latvia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and the Netherlands, both on its own scheduled services and on ACMI flights operated for Air France (AF, Paris CDG), KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol) and SAS Scandinavian Airlines (SK, Copenhagen Kastrup).
