Heston Airlines eyes US charters

Lithuania’s Heston Airlines (HN, Vilnius) has applied to operate passenger and cargo charter flights to the United States, according to a regulatory filing with the US Department of Transportation (DOT).

The airline has applied for expedited processing of a foreign air carrier permit and exemption authority to allow it to begin operations as soon as possible of foreign charters of persons, property, and mail between any point/s in the member states of the European Union (EU), and any point/s in the US, to the full extent allowed under the EU-US Open Skies agreement.

In particular, Heston Airlines has applied to fly from any base/s behind any EU member state via any point/s in any member state and via intermediate points to any station/s in the US and beyond. It also wants to fly between any destination/s in the US and any point/s in any European Common Aviation Area member.

The application also covers foreign cargo charter between any point/s in the US and any other stations.

Heston Airlines Chief Executive Officer Jonas Rinkauskas was not immediately available for comment.

According to its application, Heston Airlines obtained an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) from the Lithuanian Civil Aviation Authority on May 5, 2021.

Its current all Airbus fleet includes three A320-200s leased from CRA Aircraft Ireland, GFL Holdings, and Genesis Aircraft Services. Two more are due for delivery, according to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module. The rest of Heston Airlines' fleet comprises three A330-200s leased from Avolon.

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