Air Comet

Air Comet
IATA ICAO Callsign
A7 MPD RED COMET
Founded 1996 (as Air Plus Comet)
Ceased operations 21 December 2009
Hubs Madrid Barajas Airport
Frequent-flyer program Club Air Comet
Fleet size 12
Destinations 10
Parent company Grupo Marsans
Headquarters Madrid, Spain
Key people Gerardo Díaz Ferrán
Website aircomet.com

Air Comet (formerly Air Plus Comet) was an airline based in Madrid, Spain.[1][2] It operated scheduled long-haul services from Madrid to 13 destinations in Central and South America, as well as services in Europe. Its main base was Terminal 1 at Madrid Barajas Airport. The airline cooperated with airlines such as AeroSur through codeshare agreements.

History

Air Plus Comet

Air Plus Comet Airbus A310-300

The airline was established on 23 December 1996 as Air Plus Comet and started operations on 1 March 1997, based at Madrid Barajas Airport. On 11 December 1996 Oasis airline ceased operations and their only aircraft, an Airbus A310, and many of their pilots, ground and office personnel, etc. became the foundation of Air Plus Comet. In the post-takeover haste, the airline lacked a commercial name and its ICAO code was MPD, which stood for the last names of its three main executives (Mata, Pascual and Díaz).

It mainly operated long-haul charter services from Madrid and Palma de Mallorca to destinations in America and the Caribbean. It relaunched as a full-service carrier under the Air Comet name in January 2007. It was wholly owned by Grupo Marsans.

Air Comet

In January 2007, Air Comet took over some of now-defunct Air Madrid's Latin American routes. The airline was renamed 'Air Comet' and changed its livery.[3]

On 11 February 2009, Air Comet was suspended from the IATA Clearing House due to non-payment of its January balance.[4] On 21 December 2009, a High Court in London emitted a verdict favouring the German bank HSH Nordbank, which had sued Air Comet for not meeting the terms of payment for their leased aircraft. Therefore, the airline became legally unable to either operate their four A330-200s or sell any fare tickets. Air Comet's directors announced the airline was ceasing operations owing to bankruptcy.[5]

Destinations

Air Comet flew to the following destinations:[6]

Europe
North America
South America

Fleet

Air Comet Airbus A330-200

When operations ended, the Air Comet fleet consisted of the following aircraft[7] (as of 21 December 2009):

Air Comet Fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers Notes
F C Y Total
Airbus A320-200 3 0 12 156 168
Airbus A330-200 4 24 0 259 286 One of them ended in Batavia Air
Airbus A340-300 2 6
30		 42
28		 204
227		 252
255

References

  1. ↑ "Oficinas Centrales." Air Comet. 10 February 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2010.
  2. ↑ "dondeestamos.gif." Air Comet. 3 February 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2010.
  3. ↑ Airlines Remembered; R. Leeuw - Air Plus Comet
  4. ↑ Air Comet - IATA
  5. ↑ Milenio - Air Comet cerrará sus operaciones
  6. ↑ Air Comet Schedules (as of December 2009)
  7. ↑ Planespotters - Air Comet

External links

Media related to Air Comet at Wikimedia Commons

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