Mesa Air Group, an American aviation holding company, eyes an expansion in Europe. It has formed a joint venture with Gramercy Associates, a London-based management consultancy.
Mesa Airlines plans to apply for an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) in the European Union (EU). Once operational, the company will be offering European air carriers the Capacity Purchase Agreement (CPA) or ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance) services for passenger and cargo operations across the continent using its Bombardier CRJ-900 aircraft. After the AOC is obtained, Mesa will own 49% of the stake in the joint venture, while Gramercy will own the majority stake. On March 2, 2021, Mesa Air Group announced that the joint venture would start its services by the end of 2021.
“We are looking forward to teaming up with Mesa to help bring the CPA and ACMI models that have been so successful in the US to Europe,“ Tony Davis, the Managing Director of Gramercy, is quoted in a press release. Davis is also the former CEO of both bankrupt Tiger Airways and no longer operating UK air carrier Bmibaby.
“We are very excited at the potential to expand our regional business overseas,” Jonathan Ornstein, the CEO of Mesa stated.
According to the Planespotters.com data, the company’s subsidiary Mesa Airlines has a total of 64 Bombardier CRJ-900 aircraft, with 47 in service along 17 jets currently parked or in storage.