Cobalt launched flights to its third UK destination from Larnaca (LCA) on 10 December – Birmingham

The airline already links the Cypriot airport to Manchester and London Stansted. The 3,396-kilometre link to the UK’s second city will be flown by Cobalt twice-weekly (Wednesdays and Saturdays) on its A319 fleet according to OAG schedules, although Flightradar24 data shows that the inaugural flight was operated by the carrier’s sole A320. Monarch Airlines already links the two airports with a three times weekly service this winter. Blue Air will become the next carrier to launch flights between Larnaca and Birmingham when it commences the route on 26 March.

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Cobalt, the first Cypriot airline to take to the skies since the grounding of Cyprus Airways, commenced service on its first commercial flights on 7 July, with routes from Larnaca (LCA) to Athens (ATH), London Stansted (STN) and Manchester (MAN).

• The carrier has also added service to Chania (CHQ), Heraklion (HER), Thessaloniki (SKG) and Dublin (DUB). It should be noted that just before Cyprus Airways’ demise, it did operate to Athens, Stansted and Thessaloniki from Larnaca, while Heraklion was also served by the carrier until 2014. The new airline, which operates under the code CO (formerly used by Continental Airlines), plans on building on the success of the low-cost flying model, by offering services that will not only fill the gap left by Cyprus Airways, but also by strengthening the image of Cyprus as an all-year-round destination, and by creating an important regional aviation hub at Larnaca. Of Cobalt’s seven routes only two will face no direct competition, while the average weekly frequency is 4.5. The airline currently has one A320 in its fleet according to ch-aviation, with the airline’s website stating that it is hoping to have seven single-aisle Airbus aircraft in its fleet by next January. Looking at the airline’s schedule, it requires some services to be flown by third parties until it gets more aircraft of its own. Currently Astra Airlines, SmartLynx and Titan Airways are all flying for the carrier. 

Launched	From	To	Aircraft (WF)	Competition (WF)
7 July	Larnaca (LCA)	Athens (ATH)	A320 (14)	Aegean Airlines (42), Blue Air (14), Emirates (5)
		London Stansted (STN)	A320 (6)	Thomas Cook Airlines (1)
		Manchester (MAN)	A320 (2)	Jet2.com (4), Thomson Airways (4), Thomas Cook Airlines (3)
8 July		Chania (CHQ)
		Heraklion (HER)		Aegean Airlines (4)
		Thessaloniki (SKG)	A320 (4)	Aegean Airlines (9), Blue Air (5), Ellinair (5)
9 July		Dublin (DUB)	A320 (2)
Source: OAG Schedules Analyser data for w/c 12 July 2016.

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Cobalt board member's shady past comes to light

The Swiss Attorney General's Office has confirmed it has three indictments pending against Urs Meisterhans, a member of the board of start-up carrier Cobalt (CO, Larnaca).

The Cyprus Business Mail says indictments for “aggravated money laundering, securities fraud and negligence in financial operations,” would date back to May last year and stem from Meisterhans' alleged dealings at Sinitus AG, a Swiss financial services company.

Basing its case on US court cases against the Swiss national, the AGO alleges Meisterhans, who was the founder and principal of Sinitus AG, colluded with his ex-wife and a German national to defraud US-based investment management firm Absolute Capital Management of more than USD200 million from at least September 2004 to September 2007.

Meisterhans has denied the reports stating categorically that he has never been indicted in any country.

For its part, the Cypriot Ministry of Transport, whose various departments are responsible for vetting and ensuring compliance with local and EU laws, has said it was unaware of any criminal proceedings pending against any Cobalt board members at the time it issued its Air Transport Services License. Given the report and its evidence, investigations have now been launched.

The Cypriot Air Transport Licensing Authority (ATLA) has the power to revoke an airline's license should any one of its board members or executive leadership be found to have committed illegal acts or have acted unprofessionally. As such, the ATLA has said it may ask for Meisterhans' removal from Cobalt's board. 

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Photo:Pedro Filipe  - LPPT




Though technically operational, Cobalt will only begin regular, scheduled passenger services to Europe later next month.

Cyprus's Cobalt commences operations

Cobalt (CO, Larnaca) officially inaugurated operations on Wednesday, June 1 with a return flight between Larnaca and Athens Int'l. Guests on-board included journalists and company officials.

The start-up said in a statement that it expects to commence regular, 3x daily return flights between the two cities later this month. The actual launch of revenue flights has been the subject of much speculation in the local press given reported delays in the Air Transport Licensing Authority's (ATLA) issuance of an Air Services License (ASL) to the start-up. According to the Phileleftheros daily, the ATLA has cited a lack of satisfactory vetting of the company’s foreign shareholders for the delays.

In any event, Cobalt has outlined several destinations that are scheduled to start in the near future and they include: Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Chania, London, Manchester Int'l, Dublin Int'l, and Paris. Operationally, Cobalt plans to add three more aircraft (A320 and A321) to its fleet by month-end.

ch aviation / Photo:Glenn Palmer - Lanarca

Cypriot start-ups Cobalt, TUS Airways announce launch plans

Cobalt (Larnaca) has gone with Airbus Industrie for its fleet needs with its first of two initial A320-200s set to arrive next month. Last year, CEO Andrew Pyne said the start-up was close to having completed its certification with the Cypriot Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) ahead of a possible spring launch.

The carrier will initially focus on destinations in Western Europe and the Middle East that are within a 4-hour flying time of Larnaca. A list of seven destinations is expected to be announced next month.

Meanwhile, fellow Cypriot start-up Tus Airways (CYF, Larnaca) has announced a new launch date of February 14 with its maiden commercial routes set to be Larnaca to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion and Haifa in Israel. Thereafter, flights to Heraklion will commence on March 28. All operations are on-board Saab 340B turboprop aircraft.

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