OAG Travel News

This past weekend I visited the local zoo.  As I visited the various animals, I naturally started thinking about airlines that take their names from animals.  So this week’s article reviews the air service of several such airlines that are currently operating scheduled passenger flights.

Aeropelican Air Services – Australia
Based in Newcastle in New South Wales, Aeropelican is known for its scenic routes.  The fleet of four aircraft – all turboprops – provides service between Newcastle, Sydney and Inverell.  On flights between Sydney and Newcastle, passengers are able to experience the beauty of Sydney and its harbor from an altitude of 5,000 feet.  Truly a “pelican eye’s” view!

Bearskin Airlines – Canada
This Ontario-based carrier operates a fleet of 13 Fairchild Metroliner aircraft and provides service to 16 destinations in the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba.  The company’s motto is “Let the Bear take you there!”  And the Bear can do that – approximately 90 times per day (Bearskin’s number of daily flight departures).

Hawkair Aviation Services – Canada
Hawkair provides service on Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft between Vancouver and three cities in British Columbia – Prince Rupert, Smithers and Terrace.  The entire fleet includes only three aircraft, and the carrier averages three daily departures.

Kingfisher Airlines – India
A kingfisher is a brightly colored bird.  It is also the name of a privately-held Indian airline that averages over 400 daily flight departures.  The carrier offers an extensive domestic network (with its primary hub in Bangalore) in addition to flights to Hong Kong, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.  (Kingfisher is also a popular beer.)

Lion Airlines – Indonesia
With nearly 200 daily flight departures, Lion Air ranks among the kings of the animal-themed airlines.  From its main hub in Jakarta, Lion Air provides service to over 20 destinations – primarily domestic, but with flights to neighboring Singapore and Malaysia.  Lion Air provides numerous other intra-Indonesia flights in addition to service from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City and Bali.  Their motto – We make people fly – certainly sounds like something a lion could get away with saying.  Lion Air is also planning a subsidiary in Australia – Lion Air Australia.

Lynx Air International – United States
Lynx Air links Ft. Lauderdale with nine destinations in the Caribbean, including Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay.  Averaging 10 daily flight departures, Lynx also links Miami with Cap Haitien, Haiti.

Pelican Air Services – South Africa
Pelican Air Service operates flights from Johannesburg to two destinations – Nelspruit (South Africa) and Vilanculos (Mozambique).  The company’s motto – Connecting you to paradise – accomplishes its goal by connecting passengers to the famous Kruger National Park, the largest game reserve in South Africa.
 
Tiger Airways – Singapore
Singapore-based Tiger Airways is a low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.  With an average of 44 daily departures, Tiger links Singapore with 16 cities in Australia, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.  The current fleet includes 9 Airbus A320, with an additional 57 on order.  Clearly this tiger has big expansion plans.

Tiger Airways Australia – Australia
Tiger Airways Australia is a subsidiary of the aforementioned Singapore-based Tiger Airways (which, as mentioned above, is itself a subsidiary!).  Melbourne serves as the main base of operations for Tiger Airways Australia, and four Airbus A320 aircraft connect Melbourne with 10 Australian cities, including Canberra, Hobart and Perth.  Tiger Airways Australia will establish a second focus city in Adelaide in March 2009.  (As you can see, setting up subsidiary animal-themed airlines in Australia is quite popular these days.)

Extinct Airlines
There are numerous airlines no longer in operation that took their names from animals.  Italy’s AirBee (technically a bee is an insect) ceased operations just last September.  And Emu Airways – based in Adelaide, Australia – operated flights to Australia’s Kangaroo Island until late 2005.  Emu is definitely an interesting choice for an airline; after all, an emu is a flightless bird!  Perhaps that is why the service did not last.

For now we will have to be satisfied with taking to the skies on Lions and Tigers (and their subsidiaries) and Bear(skin)s.

Source: Official Airline Guide (OAG) Schedule Tapes; Air Transport Intelligence; Company Web sites.

Note: Data included is not intended to represent all airlines that might incorporate animals in the corporate or operating name; Includes only airlines that file schedules with OAG; Schedules for nonstop service for February 2009 only, unless otherwise noted.

OAG contributor Laura Jackson was just two weeks old when she took her first flight on Piedmont Airlines.  In junior high school, she developed a business plan for her own airline.  Today she manages strategy and policy issues at one of the world's busiest airports and provides original content and aviation industry analysis for OAG.