US start-up carrier Airbahn appears to have scrapped mid-year launch plan
US start-up airline Airbahn appears to have quietly shelved its launch plan after regulators failed to renew an operating certificate and its only aircraft recently left the USA. The carrier could not be reached for comment, but Airbahn’s airframe, a 12-year-old Airbus A320 with the registration N786PB, was flown from Los Angeles-area Ontario International airport to Bangor, Maine on 23 June, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.com. On 26 June, the website tracked the aircraft flying from Bangor to East Midlands airport in the UK. The A320 had been leased from Pakistan’s AirBlue, according to Cirium fleets data. Numerous attempts to reach Airbahn chief executive Tariq Chaudhary – who is also AirBlue’s chief executive – for further information were unsuccessful. Emails to him were returned to sender as “undeliverable”. The carrier’s website, which had been nothing more than a recruiting platform, now reports, “No job openings are available at this time”. Airbahn’s last posts on social media networks Facebook and Twitter were on 20 June. The company had received US Department of Transportation (DOT) approval for a certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity in 2020, giving Airbahn a green light to carry passengers, mail and cargo. But new airlines also require FAA certificates, and must pass a five-phase process to prove compliance. In February, now-former chief operations officer Scott Hall told FlightGlobal Airbahn was in phase three, and that its timeline had repeatedly shifted due to the vagaries of the commercial aviation industry’s pandemic recovery, which made planning difficult. That said, the carrier was aiming to launch revenue service ahead of the summer travel season. But on 30 April, the carrier’s DOT certificate expired. Airbahn CEO Chaudhary requested an extension until 30 August, which DOT denied. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2022-06-28/unaligned/us-start-up-carrier-airbahn-appears-to-have-scrapped-mid-year-launch-plan
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US start-up carrier Airbahn appears to have scrapped mid-year launch plan
US start-up airline Airbahn appears to have quietly shelved its launch plan after regulators failed to renew an operating certificate and its only aircraft recently left the USA. The carrier could not be reached for comment, but Airbahn’s airframe, a 12-year-old Airbus A320 with the registration N786PB, was flown from Los Angeles-area Ontario International airport to Bangor, Maine on 23 June, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.com. On 26 June, the website tracked the aircraft flying from Bangor to East Midlands airport in the UK. The A320 had been leased from Pakistan’s AirBlue, according to Cirium fleets data. Numerous attempts to reach Airbahn chief executive Tariq Chaudhary – who is also AirBlue’s chief executive – for further information were unsuccessful. Emails to him were returned to sender as “undeliverable”. The carrier’s website, which had been nothing more than a recruiting platform, now reports, “No job openings are available at this time”. Airbahn’s last posts on social media networks Facebook and Twitter were on 20 June. The company had received US Department of Transportation (DOT) approval for a certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity in 2020, giving Airbahn a green light to carry passengers, mail and cargo. But new airlines also require FAA certificates, and must pass a five-phase process to prove compliance. In February, now-former chief operations officer Scott Hall told FlightGlobal Airbahn was in phase three, and that its timeline had repeatedly shifted due to the vagaries of the commercial aviation industry’s pandemic recovery, which made planning difficult. That said, the carrier was aiming to launch revenue service ahead of the summer travel season. But on 30 April, the carrier’s DOT certificate expired. Airbahn CEO Chaudhary requested an extension until 30 August, which DOT denied. <br/>
