Estimated reading time 3 minutes, 20 seconds.
Air Georgian Limited (“AGL”), a leading Canadian charter provider and Capacity Purchase Agreement (“CPA”) airline, headquartered in Mississauga, Ont., and Regional 1 Airlines (“R1”), headquartered in Calgary, Alta., a subsidiary of Avmax Group Inc., a fully integrated aviation company with operations in Canada, the United States and Africa, have completed a joint venture through the creation of a parent company, Regional Express Aviation Ltd. (“REAL”), based in Calgary, Alta.
This strategic transaction, officially announced on Sept. 12, 2013, positions REAL as a unique, fully integrated aviation company leveraging the strong airline management and operational background of Air Georgian and the technical, geographical and asset strengths of Avmax. Air Georgian and R1 will both benefit from having access to the world’s largest private fleet of Dash 8 and CRJ series aircraft, over $100 million in spare parts and domestic maintenance bases in Halifax, Montreal, Kingston, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. International operations will be supported through Avmax maintenance bases in Great Falls, Montana, Jacksonville, Florida, Nairobi, Kenya and N’djamena, Chad.
Air Georgian will continue to focus on its long-term CPA relationship with Air Canada, its core business. AGL currently operates a fleet of 16 Beechcraft 1900D aircraft under the brand name Air Canada Express.
Regional 1 Airlines will be rebranded as R1 and will grow its business of providing specialized air charters, with particular attention to the transportation needs of customers in Canada’s resource sector. In addition, R1 will continue to leverage its expertise in international operations, specializing in ACMI contracts in remote regions, as well as continuing to support the United Nations World Food Programme and other peacekeeping and humanitarian programs.
“I would like to thank the dedicated team of people from Avmax and Air Georgian who have worked on this project allowing us to bring together two great aviation brands,” said Eric Edmondson, CEO of REAL. “R1 gives us a platform to aggressively pursue both domestic and international charter opportunities, while allowing Air Georgian to remain entirely focused on meeting and exceeding the needs of our partner Air Canada.”
The combined operations will utilize Beechcraft 1900D, de Havilland DHC 8 100/200, DHC 8 300 and CRJ 100/200 aircraft types, with the ability to quickly add additional larger gauge aircraft types with the long term goal of positioning the operating brands under REAL as major Canadian players in the 18-76 seat turbo-prop and jet market. Air Georgian will continue to operate and provide maintenance and support in the corporate jet charter market in Toronto, as well as offering third-party pilot and technical aircraft training to the airline and corporate aviation sectors.
”We would like to welcome Air Georgian to the Avmax family and congratulate the dedicated staff from both groups on completing this merger,” said Avmax Group Inc. CEO, John Binder. He added, “Our goal is to continue providing full service solutions to our customers.”
