Hans Airways performed its formal route proving flight for the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Aug. 31, aboard its newly re-registered Airbus A330-200, G-KJAS. Two sets of flight and cabin crew, led by COO Captain Nathan Burkitt and Neeru Prabhakar, manager - Cabin Safety and Service, operated the flight, whilst Simon Prower, director of Ground Operations, focused on dispatch and logistics, with ground handling managed by Swissport.
With over 100 guests on board, flight time was a little over two hours, flying along the west coast towards the North Atlantic and back to Birmingham Airport.
The previous day, Aug. 30, CEO and founder of Hans Airways, Satnam Saini welcomed 55 guests made up of family, friends and airline partners, for a familiarization test flight replicating a full-service offering. The A330, still a white aircraft, took off from Birmingham and made landings at Glasgow Prestwick, Doncaster, and then back to Prestwick, before returning to Birmingham Airport.
“It is my honor and privilege to take the controls on our first A330 flight,” said Burkitt. On the first leg, to Prestwick, he was joined by Senior Captain Graham Ness (ex Oman Air, easyJet) - one of the first pilots to join the company.
Saini thanked STS Aviation Services at Birmingham Airport for working swiftly and enthusiastically over weekends to ready the aircraft for first flight – and praised all his team – who have, collectively, “contributed so much to making this day happen, a culmination of four years’ planning and shaping.“
The route proving flight for the CAA is the penultimate regulatory milestone in being able to start commercial revenue operations. On the award of its UK Air Operator’s Certificate, Hans Airways will apply to India’s equivalent regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for its license to fly from India.
It has ambitions to be the UK’s now third long-haul scheduled carrier, operating a hybrid, affordable, full-service model.
Hans Airways, with its community airline mission, intends to make Amritsar in Northern India its first destination from Birmingham Airport, and expects to be able to start flying in October (subject to license approval).
“This week was a very significant one in the Hans Airways’ journey,” commented Chief Commercial Officer Martin Dunn, adding, “we are now really looking forward to pro-active engagement with the travel trade community.”
The company is currently recruiting and looking to add 20 more cabin crew from its Birmingham, UK base.
