Pan-island flight provider Blue Islands is wet leasing an ATR72 plane from SprintAir, which was founded in 2004, to address what has been described as a “short-term operational requirement”.
The move resulted in some confusion last week, when Blue Islands customers received messages informing them that their carrier had been changed.
But Blue Islands have since provided reassurance that this is “common practice in the aviation industry.”
“Blue Islands is using a dedicated specialist operator to provide aircraft and crew whilst we have a short-term operational requirement, ensuring our customers and schedules are unaffected during this busy travel period,” a spokesperson explained.
While the airline will be the operator for some of Blue Islands’ routine services, SprintAir usually specialises in charters, and says it operates “for clients such as French and Polish football teams, well known automotive companies, world-renowned artists, music bands, fashion brands and many more.”
Noting that SprintAir is not IOSA certified, one customer queried its safety status on social media, to which Blue Islands responded: “All European airlines are regulated by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the relevant Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The regulator sets the safety standards and ensures all operators adhere to the highest standards to maintain their Air Operator Certificate (AOC), and therefore does not issue a safety rating.”