Hans Airways – a new long-haul airline serving routes between the UK and India, celebrated the arrival of its first Airbus A330-200 on UK soil this week. The new aircraft, which flew in from Palma Airport in Mallorca, was welcomed by the airline’s CEO Satnam Saini, COO Nathan Burkitt and CCO Martin Dunn.

Hans Airways has collaborated with maintenance and repair overhaul (MRO) specialist STS Aviation Services for re-registration tasks and entry into service modifications ahead of its route-proving flight for the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the coming weeks.

Commenting on its arrival in Birmingham, Saini said: “Our first widebody Airbus arriving in the UK is a big and significant milestone on Hans Airways’ journey to launch. These past 12 months we are pleased to have added a wealth of competence and experience to our leadership and management team and recruited and trained up a full complement of exceptional pilots and cabin crew, who will be ready to fly as soon as the airline’s AOC is awarded.”

Prior to arriving in Palma, the aircraft underwent a thorough 200-hour inspection in Abu Dhabi (UAE) by Etihad Engineering before returning to Spain (its original country of registration) for final contractual, administration, financial transfer and customs clearance.

“We are delighted STS has been selected as a long-term key maintenance supplier to support Hans Airways Airbus A330,” said Colby Payne, Head of Sales for STS. “As a result of this partnership, we have accepted the first aircraft for a maintenance visit at our state-of-the-art, wide-body aircraft MRO facility in Birmingham and look forward to supporting Hans Airways with further projects as its growth continues.”

Initially, and once it has been awarded its AOC alongside similar accreditation from India’s DGCA, Hans Airway is planning a four times weekly service between Birmingham in the UK and Amritsar in North India. A major commercial and cultural centre in the heart of Punjab, Amritsar is the spiritual and cultural centre of the Sikh religion and home to the Harmandir Sahib, famously known as the Golden Temple.

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