Canada's Nolinor Aviation secures first B737-400s

Nolinor Aviation (N5, Montréal Trudeau) has announced, via its official Twitter account, that it is planning to add "a fleet" of B737-400s in 2020. It did not, however, disclose any details regarding numbers and dates.

An airline spokesman confirmed the move in a statement to ch-aviation but refused to disclose any further details for the time being.

The Canadian charter and scheduled airline currently operates a Boeing fleet of two B737-200Adv.s, six B737-200(C)s, one B737-200(F), and one B737-300(QC) almost all of which exceed 39 years of age. It also owns four CV-440s and a CV-340, as well as two Learjets.

Nolinor uses the aircraft to operate a mix of passenger and cargo charters, mostly within Canada, but also runs a single scheduled route between Montréal Mirabel and Val d'Or where it is the only airline operating scheduled passenger flights.

Miami Air International (LL, Miami Int'l) has filed a motion with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) opposing an emergency exemption that would allow Nolinor Aviation (N5, Montréal Trudeau) to carry out relief flights to Puerto Rico.

The Canadian operator has been transporting emergency personnel and humanitarian aid to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of a January 7 earthquake, under a contract awarded by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). On January 8, the airline applied to the DOT for emergency exemption from cabotage (ninth freedom) restrictions given the fact that flights between the mainland US and Puerto Rico, a US territory, are considered domestic operations.

Nolinor Aviation was tentatively awarded the contract through January 15, 2020. It used three B737-200(M)s, C-GNLN (msn 23050), C-GNLK (msn 20836), and C-GNLW (msn 23130), to operate from Norfolk Int'l, VA to San Juan Luis Muñoz Marin, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.

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