CityJet received the CAPA Regional Airline of the Year award at the CAPA Aviation Awards for Excellence event in Berlin this evening. This award is presented by CAPA to the regional airline that has been the biggest standout strategically, has established itself as a leader, and demonstrated innovation in the regional aviation sector.
CitJet was selected for its successful strategic transformation that has resulted in its emergence as Europe's leading third-party provider of regional airline capacity under ACMI/wet lease arrangements.
Since 2015, CityJet has been transforming its business from being primarily a scheduled service provider into an exclusively wet lease airline supplying services to airlines across Europe. Today, CityJet fleet of 44 aircraft fly on behalf of major airline customers including Aer Lingus, Air France, Brussels Airlines and SAS.
CAPA also noted that CityJet has emerged as a leading consolidator in the European regional airline market, having acquired Finnish airline Blue1 in 2015 and Danish airline Cimber Air in 2017, both from SAS. In Jul-2018, CityJet pursued further consolidation by announcing a proposed merger with Air Nostrum that would create Europe's largest regional airline.
"CityJet has pioneered a new vision of regional airline operations in Europe, focusing on third party wet leasing to offset revenue risk and driving consolidation in pursuit of greater efficiency," Mr Peter Harbison, Executive Chairman of CAPA said.
Chief Executive Pat Byrne commented "We set out on a journey to transform CityJet a few years ago and today have over 1,300 staff employed across ten countries in Europe, all of whom have contributed to the delivery of our strategy. I thank them and all of our customer airlines, and look forward to many more years of leading the way in Europe".
CAPA – Centre for Aviation was launched in 1990 with a mission to make a strategic difference in aviation knowledge, delivered with the highest levels of intellectual integrity. CAPA is renown for its world-class industry conferences and industry analysis, including its CAPA Airline Leader Summit held annually at Powerscourt, Co. Wicklow. CAPA's Aviation Awards for Excellence are intended to reward airlines and airports that are not only successful but have also provided industry leadership in adjusting to a new environment.