ASTRAEUS LEASES TO AIR ITALY-POLSKA

ASTRAEUS FLYSTAR
PRESS RELEASE

ASTRAEUS DAMP LEASES BOEING 757-200 TO AIR ITALY–POLSKA.

Gatwick-based Astraeus has damp leased a Boeing 757-200 to Air Italy–Polska.

The aircraft will be based in Warsaw and operate from April through to October 2008 to help address seasonal demand.

“We have now committed to a change in business focus towards providing dry, damp and wet lease aircraft – and we are finding that the combination of our fleet, reputation, experience and expertise is driving demand apace,” said Shaun Monnery of Astraeus.

“We have placed a number of Boeing 737 and all of our Boeing 757 aircraft with major airlines, we have a number of deals for more 737s and 757s closing in on completion, but we are now in the process of reviewing sourcing of additional Boeing and Airbus equipment to bring into the company to address requests from a number of carriers.

“We are providing aircraft on dry, damp and wet lease agreements – that is without crew, with just flight crew and with full flight and cabin crew. Our resource and flexibility has suddenly made us an extremely attractive source.

“We are well established as a reliable provider of substitute and ad hoc aircraft to a number of airline and operators, but our involvement with both British Airways, bmi and a number of other operators is a clear indication of the way forward for Astraeus.

“We have been running these sorts of arrangements in parallel with our charter and scheduled services for some time, and we have developed a slick and no-nonsense product that has appealed to operators the world over.”

UK-based Astraeus commenced operations in 2002, employs more then 300 people and operates a fleet of Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft from a number of UK airports, currently flying charter and scheduled routes to destinations in Canada, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, but moving strongly into dry, damp and wet lease partnerships with a number of airlines and operators worldwide. Astraeus is part of Iceland-based Northern Travel Holdings (NTH) along with sister operators Sterling and Iceland Express.

Ends