Nova Airlines AB, operating as Novair, was a Swedish airline headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden that operated on behalf of one of Sweden's largest travel agencies, Apollo. It was owned by Jet Nordic Groupnovair.se - About Novair retrieved 22 February 2023 and operated charter flights mainly to the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. Its main base and hub of operations was Stockholm Arlanda Airport, but the airline also operated from Oslo Airport, Copenhagen Airport, Gothenburg Landvetter Airport and Billund Airport. Novair closed on 9 October 2023.
History
Foundation and early years Novair was established and started operations in November 1997 with services from Stockholm to Phuket, Thailand and the Canary Islands of Spain on behalf of Apollo, a Swedish travel agency. In 1998, the airline began operating three more Lockheed L-1011 TriStar to destinations in the Far East and the Caribbean, and placed an order for three new Boeing 737-800 to operate destinations in the Mediterranean and Canary Islands. The airline replaced the L-1011 TriStar with two Airbus A330-200 and leased one from Swissair.
After the September 11 Attacks, Novair was forced to ground one of its Airbus A330-200 due to lack of demand, and leased out the aircraft to a Libyan company. In 2003, Novair took over the Cuban airline Cubana's flights from Cuba to destinations such as London, Madrid and Paris. The airline also replaced its Boeing fleet with new Airbus A321-200. After the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Novair were the first Swedish airline to arrive with relief supplies and doctors and to evacuate tourists. Novair also briefly leased an aircraft to Air Madrid in 2006, however, due to their bankruptcy, the aircraft was returned and was instead leased to Kuwait Airways in 2007. When the aircraft was returned from Kuwait, it was parked in Zürich to be stored, thus ending all A330 operations.
In 2009, Novair became the first and only Scandinavian airline to undertake EU project SESAR, and also participated in the MINT-Project to fly "green approaches", also known as continuous descent approaches to reduce fuel burn and noise. Novair also leased an Airbus A330-200 from Orbest and from Air Europa, to be operated with a cockpit crew from the respective airline, and a Novair cabin crew.
Development since 2010 Between 2013 and 2014, Novair leased an Airbus A330-200 from Aer Lingus using the same crew composition, to operate their long-haul destinations. The airline also closes down its crew base at Gothenburg Landvetter Airport in March 2016.
The airline took delivery of two brand new Airbus A321neo aircraft in 2017. The airline originally ordered three aircraft, however, due to the closing of one of its hubs, it was reduced to two aircraft. The airline also operated an Airbus A320 aircraft from Titan Airways between 2016 and 2017 due to a delivery delay with their new aircraft. In 2019, the airline closed its crew base at Oslo Airport. All aircraft are placed at Stockholm Arlanda Airport.
As of 2018, The airline was owned by the German corporation DER Touristik which is a part of the REWE Group, and employed approximately 70 pilots and 245 cabin crew to operate their current fleet of Airbus A321neo aircraft. In April 2021, Novair announced that the airline will be sold to Denmark’s Jet Nordic Group. As a result, two airlines’s Airbus A321 aircraft were supposed to join the fleet of Jet Time, a Danish charter airline.
In February 2023, it was announced that Novair will cease operations in October 2023 due to a negative business perspective after the airline's owners failed to acquire new contracts. The current partnership with tour operator Apollo will end on this date.aerotelegraph.com - "Swedish charter airline Novair to end operations" 20 February 2023 The airline ceased trading on 9 October 2023.
Destinations Novair operated flights from Stockholm, Gothenburg, Oslo, Copenhagen, Billund and Oulu to charter destinations on behalf of Apollo. The destinations varied depending on season and include locations in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands and Egypt. In the past it also operated long-haul flights to destinations including Thailand, India, and Indonesia as well as the Caribbean.
Fleet
Current fleet At the time of closure, the Novair fleet consisted of the following aircraft:
+ Current fleetAircraftIn serviceOrdersPassengersNotesAirbus A321neo2—221Total2—
Former fleet Formerly Novair also operated the following types of aircraft:
AircraftIn serviceYearsNotesAirbus A32031997 – 1998Leased from TransAerAirbus A32011998 – 1999Airbus A32012002 – 2003Leased from Air LuxorAirbus A32012016 – 2017Leased from Titan AirwaysAirbus A32132004 – 2017Airbus A32112016 – 2017Leased from SmartLynx AirlinesAirbus A33011999 – 2000Leased from SwissairAirbus A33022011 – 2013Leased from Air EuropaAirbus A33022013 – 2015Leased from Aer LingusAirbus A33012007 – 2009Leased from OrbestAirbus A33022000 – 2007Boeing 737-30011999Leased from Air New ZealandBoeing 737-80031999 – 2005Lockheed L-1011 TriStar31997 – 2000
References
External links
Novair Safety Video Airbus A321 Novair Music Video "Lifting You"