Air Europa Express (legally incorporated as Aeronova, S.L.U. and previously doing business as Aeronova) is a Spanish regionallow-cost airline. It is a subsidiary of Globalia (which is also the parent company of Air Europa). The airline is set to operate regional routes for Air Europa.[3]
History
The airline was founded in Spain in 1996 as Aeronova and flew scheduled and charter flights on behalf of other companies. Aeronova also had a school offering training for pilots on the two types the airline flew, the ATR 42 and the Fairchild Metroliner.[4]
In November 2015 Globalia Corporacion, parent company of Air Europa, bought Aeronova.[2][5] Later the same month it was announced that Globalia would rebrand the company as Air Europa Express to operate Air Europa's regional flights.[2][6][7][8]
The new Air Europa Express is Globalia's third attempt at creating a regional subsidiary. The first was another airline with the same name which collapsed in 2001; a second airline, known as Universal Airlines, never commenced operations.[3]
The airline commenced operations as Air Europa Express on 11 January 2016 with two daily flights between Valencia and Madrid; and one daily flight between Valencia and Palma de Mallorca; operating under the Aeronova Air operator's certificate (AOC).[9][3][10] It was expected to get a new AOC in March 2016 to fully change the name from Aeronova to Air Europa Express.[2] This change has not occurred yet, as the company still operates under the Aeronova legal name and AOC.[1] Tickets for flights are only available for purchase from the Air Europa website.[11]
As of 2016, Globalia planned to have Air Europa grow and operate long-haul flights, and have Air Europa Express for short-haul and regional routes to be more competitive and reduce costs. The airline is not a part of Air Europa and therefore the staff of the airline would be totally independent of Air Europa.[2][7][12]