Australia’s Alliance Air launches E190 commercial ops

Alliance Airlines (QQ, Brisbane Int’l) on April 10 launches commercial service with its recently acquired ERJ 190-100AR fleet based out of Adelaide and Darwin. In an Australian Stock Exchange filing, the regional carrier, previously an all Fokker Aircraft operator, announced it had received regulatory approval and a revised Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) from the country’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) on March 31 to commence commercial operations with its E190 fleet. This followed “an intense six-month programme of aircraft and spare parts acquisition, maintenance, training, and regulatory and compliance checks,” it said. Alliance Air Chief Executive Officer Lee Schofield confirmed the operating base for these aircraft would be Adelaide and Darwin. Three aircraft would be wet-leased to Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) from May 25, 2021, on a previously-announced three-year wet-lease contract. These aircraft will also be based in Adelaide and Darwin. Alliance has firm purchase commitments for the delivery of thirty E190s to be used to expand the airline’s operations. So far, 18 aircraft have been paid for and delivered to Alliance. The balance of 12 aircraft would be delivered progressively through to November 2021. Fourteen of the E190s have been acquired from Azorra Aviation and sixteen from Jetran, both US-based lessors, the airline revealed previously. The status of those delivered are as follows: Five have been delivered to Australia; three are receiving base maintenance overseas; and 10 are in storage pending base maintenance. The company’s full flight simulator is scheduled to be available for training in early May with pilots currently being trained with Finnair (AY, Helsinki Vantaa) in Helsinki. The carrier said its fleet of twenty-seven Fokker 100s, five Fokker 50s, and fourteen Fokker 70s is used across fly-in- fly-out (FIFO), charter, and wet-lease operations.