Swedish regional carrier BRA (Braathens Regional Airlines) has retired its last remaining British Aerospace ‘Avro’ RJ85 and RJ100 airplanes.
The so-called ‘Jumbolino’ aircraft have been flown to Norwich Airport (IATA: NWI) in the United Kingdom for storage or scrapping.
According to the Stockholm-based airline, the Avro jets are being retired earlier than planned due to the ongoing Coronavirus crisis. The spread of the virus disease (Covid-19) to Europe has caused various travel restrictions and a significant drop in demand for all airlines.
Braathens Regional Airlines is a ‘virtual airline’, meaning that, while using a standardised branding, all its planes are operated by other airlines, in this case mostly by sister companies. BRA itself does not have an air operator certificate (AOC) that would be required for operating planes. The carrier was founded in 2016 through the merger of Malmö Aviation and Sverigeflyg to create this virtual airline. Malmö Aviation became Braathens Regional Aviation.
The carrier’s fleet consists mostly of ATR 72-500/600 aircraft, which are operated by sister company Braathens Regional Airways. In addition to the ATR turboprops, Embraer E190 jets are wet-leased from Germany-based WDL Aviation (‘German Airways’) via Braathens Regional Aviation. Furthermore, 30 year-old Fokker 50 aircraft are in service for BRA and operated by Amapola Flyg.
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Nick Wenzel founded International Flight Network in 2016. He is the Social Media Manager and an Editor for IFN.news.
