Georgian startup to launch with first freighter

Georgia-based Easycharter plans to launch operations with its first freighter in June.

The startup carrier took redelivery of an A300B4-200F (210, ex-AeroUnion) in February [FAT 005435] and confirmed to Cargo Facts that it owns the aircraft, which carried out a short test flight for crew familiarization and training purposes May 25.

The aircraft, which is close to thirty-eight years old, was withdrawn from the AeroUnion fleet at the end of 2019, and ferried from Mexico City (MEX) to Tbilisi (TBS) via Bangor (BGR), Keflavik (KEF) and Burgas (BOJ), arriving Feb. 13.

Easycharter said it has already secured customers for the aircraft, which isn’t surprising especially given the current market conditions.

The carrier also told Cargo Facts it plans to add another A300F by the end of the year, but didn’t specify which variant would be a potential purchase.

Easycharter might not have to look too far. Fellow Georgian cargo operator AMS Airlines, which no longer appears to be in operation, previously had four A300Fs (126, 157, 277, 292) that are currently inactive. Another A300B4-200F (141) that had been in service with AMS Airlines was acquired by Kazakhstan-based Sigma Airlines in July 2019.

Toward the end of 2019, Kyrgyzstan-based startup Kyrgyz Airlines Plus (KAP.KG) acquired an A300B4-200F (183) from Geo Fly Airways, another Georgia-based carrier that appears to be defunct.