US’s AirBahn takes first A320-200

AirBahn (ARB, Santa Ana, CA) has taken delivery of its first A320-200, following transfer from Pakistani sister carrier AirBlue (PA, Karachi Int’l). N768PB (msn 3974) was ferried from Istanbul New via Reykjavik Keflavik and Bangor to Ontario over the course of November 20-21, 2021, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. The 12.4-year-old aircraft had been operated by AirBlue through January 2021 and is now owned by AirBahn, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module indicates.

In preparation for its launch, the Californian start-up has also started recruiting for a number of administrative and crew positions at its planned headquarters in Irvine, CA. It is also seeking maintenance specialists to work at Ontario, indicating that it will at least maintain its fleet there. Finally, AirBahn is also seeking station managers at Oakland, Sacramento Int’l, and San José, CA airports, suggesting that it would serve all three in its initial phase.

The start-up, which has been in the works since 2018, said in a recent Department of Transportation (DOT) filing that it expects to complete its certification in either December 2021 or early 2022. It said it would base operations out of California, operating mainly regionally, but otherwise did not disclose much of its planned network. Its original plan had foreseen launching with a single A320 and the addition of another unit within the first 12 months of operations.

AirBahn is backed by the Chaudhary family, which also owns AirBlue, and has secured USD13.5 million in launch capital.