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Air Contractors

IATA AG ICAO ABR Callsign CONTRACT
Founded	1972
Hubs	Dublin Airport Glasgow-International Airport Manchester Airport Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport Shannon Airport
Alliance	FedEx Express
Subsidiaries	ACL Aviation Support Europe Airpost Air Contractors Engineering ACL Aircraft Trading
Fleet size	16
Destinations	23
Company slogan	Easing the Financial burden
Parent company	ASL Aviation Group Limited
Headquarters	Dublin
Key people	Hugh Flynn (CEO) Colin Grant (COO)
Website	www.aircontractors.com

Air Contractors (Ireland) Limited is a freight airline based in Dublin, Ireland. It operates scheduled freight services within Europe, mainly on behalf of postal organisations and express parcel operators. It also operates ad hoc charters throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Air Contractors has 5 European bases in Dublin Airport, Glasgow-International Airport, Manchester Airport, Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, and Shannon Airport

History

The airline was established and started operations in 1972, as AirBridge Carriers at East Midlands. The name Hunting Cargo Airlines was adopted in September 1992 and then changed to Air Contractors, following the acquisition of the airline by Compagnie Maritime Belge (51%) and Safair (49%) in June 1998, and a move to Ireland. It has expanded as a group to include aircraft leasing (ACL Aviation Support and Aircraft Trading both based in Southend, UK) and maintenance (Air Contractors Engineering, previously called Aeroscot, Edinburgh, UK).

Over the years Air Contractors has operated several types of cargo aircraft including the Boeing 727 and Airbus A300, as well as a number of turboprop platforms in support of its clients operations.

Air Contractors is a one of the largest operators of ATR42/72 series of turboprop aircraft, providing services to a range of clients, the largest of which being Fedex.

Air Contractors is the only operator of a civil registered Lockheed L100 Hercules aircraft in Europe. The aircraft, EI-JIV, is based at East Midlands airport in the UK and is a primary response oil spill management aircraft for ORSL.

Air Contractors acquired French carrier Europe Airpost on 14 March 2008.^[1] Following the acquisition of EAP into the ACL group of companies, the group was rebranded ASL Aviation Group [1], representing the three core activities of the group; Airlines, Support and Leasing.

Associated ASL Aviation Group companies, ACL Aviation Support (ACLAS) and ACL Aircraft Trading (ACLAT), promote their association with the Air Contractors brand. Air Contractors Engineering (ACE) is the aircraft heavy engineering operation based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Destinations

Air Contracters Boeing 727 in Hamburg Airport

Air Contractors has a short-haul European network with over 20 destinations. There are also ad hoc charter flights operated throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Many of the airline's European scheduled services are operated on behalf of FedEx Express.

Below are the destinations served by Air Contractors as of January 2009.

Belgium

Liège

Czech Republic

Prague

France

Paris-Charles de Gaulle

Lyon

Marseille

Nice

Germany

Berlin-Schönefeld
Frankfurt-Main
Hamburg
Stuttgart

Ireland

Cork
Dublin
Shannon

Italy

Rome-Fiumicino
Pisa

Ancona

Milan

Poland

Warsaw

Spain

Barcelona

Sweden

Jönköping
Malmö
Umeå
Stockholm-Arlanda

United Kingdom

Birmingham
East Midlands
Glasgow International
Isle Of Man
London-Stansted
Manchester

Fleet

The Air Contractors fleet consists of the following aircraft as of July 2009^[2]

See also

Aviation portal

• FedEx Express
• Transport in Ireland

References

External links

• Air Contractors
• ASL Aviation Group