Avion Express Philippines has been granted a temporary operating permit (TOP) by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), enabling the airline to proceed with its preparations for the scheduled launch in November this year.
The new airline, a subsidiary of Avia Solutions Group, will provide ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance) services to help airlines meet seasonal travel demand and boost capacity without long-term commitments.
Passenger traffic in the Philippines grew 11 percent in the first quarter of the year, and with the Asia-Pacific region expected to have the fastest growth in the aviation market over the next two decades, the launch comes at a time of high demand for flexible aviation solutions.
During the first quarter of the year, passenger traffic in the Philippines increased by 11 percent.
With the Asia-Pacific region projected to experience the quickest growth in the aviation sector over the next twenty years, this launch aligns with a significant demand for adaptable aviation solutions.
The company has planned to take its first Airbus A320-200 in time for the launch.
With a focus on ACMI, the airline will base its aircraft out of Clark International Airport.
To complete its certification, the airline still needs a permanent certificate of public convenience and necessity from the CAB and an air operator's certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
Avion Express Philippines is part of a bigger move by Avia Solutions Group to tap into Asia's growing demand for flexible fleet support, especially as airlines in the region navigate post-pandemic recovery, aircraft delays, and rising operating cost.
According to Ikram Zainy, Regional Head of Marketing Communications Avia Management Group Asia, Avion Express Philippines was established in February of this year.
The company is expecting their first aircraft in November and plans to add more aircraft by mid-2026 to support airlines in the Philippines and the region, with further expansion in the future.
"We are an ACMI company, meaning we provide wet lease service to airlines with our own aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance. The advantage for airlines to use our ACMI service is that they can scale operations during peak periods or cover grounded aircraft without significant investment or long-term commitment or buying their own aircraft or training more crew. ACMI also fully covers maintenance and insurance," Zainy said.
"We only obtained our TOP from CAB this week and will start our preparation to operate from Clark," he added.
Avia Solutions Group is currently aggressively pushing into Southeast Asia and the Pacific, markets that would allow its European-based carriers to offset seasonality by moving their aircraft there.
The group has already launched BBN Airlines Indonesia, acquired Australia's Skytrans (recently rebranded as SmartLynx Australia), and is certifying Thai SmartLynx Airlines and Ascend Airways Malaysia alongside the Filipino unit.
Simultaneously, the group is expanding in the Americas through already certified Avion Express Brasil and recently announced Avion Express Mexico.
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