Spain’s Aura Airlines targets US flights

Aura Airlines (GWR, Madrid Barajas) is planning to start commercial flights to the United States as soon as it is given the go-ahead by the US Department of Transportation (DOT). In its application to the DOT for exemption authority and a foreign air carrier permit, the Spanish charter specialist said only that it would run the flights using a combination of A320 and A330 equipment. In terms of operations, it requested permission to serve the US using a combination of scheduled and chartered flights carrying passengers, cargo, and mail. As per the US-EU Open Skies agreement, the permit should cover said flights from any point or points behind any Member State of the European Union, via any point or points in any Member State and via intermediate points, to any point or points in the United States and beyond. While it did not reveal any further details, last month, Aura said it planned to add two A320-200s (including EC-NMY (msn 4008), an ex-IndiGo Airlines aircraft due shortly) and “one or two” A330-200s this year, primarily to provide cargo-only services to/from Bogotá, Lima Int’l, Caracas Simón Bolivar, Valencia Arturo Michelena Int’l, San José Juan Santamaría, Panamá City Tocumen Int’l, and Quito Int’l. Given the DOT application, it is assumed the US would also feature in any future operational plans. Overall, the Americas flights would provide feed into Aura’s cargo airbridge between Bogotá and Madrid Barajas that it operated using passenger aircraft wet-leased from Wamos Air (EB, Madrid Barajas) and Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas (PU, Madrid Barajas) last year. The last service on the route operated on November 8 using Wamos A330-200 EC-LNH (msn 551) according to RadarBox ADS-B data. Previously known as Gowair Vacation Airlines (GWR, Madrid Barajas), Aura Airlines’ in-house fleet consists of two A320-200s on lease from FTAI Aviation.