The airport in Poprad below the High Tatras. (source: TASR)
The newly emerging low-cost airline, Blue Slovakia, wants to provide scheduled domestic air transport in Slovakia and is waiting for permits.
“We have submitted our request to obtain an air operator’s certificate (AOC) to the Transport Authority and now we have to wait for the request to be approved,” said the company’s managing director, Ľubomír Kolárik, as cited by the TASR newswire. “We’re planning to launch our first domestic flights within Slovakia in early May.”
Kolárik is the founder and main investor of Blue Slovakia. He worked for 10 years in military aviation, the airline website states.
The airline should receive its own AOC permit as well as the necessary licences from the Transport and Construction Ministry by the end of 2017. Until then, it wants to operate the flights under the AOC held by the Van Air Europe airline.
At the moment Van Air Europe possesses two 19-seat L 410 UVP transport aircrafts. It is planning to expand the fleet with an Aerei di Transport Regional ATR 72 aircraft, TASR reported.
Blue Slovakia wants to interconnect the biggest Slovak airports, such as those in Bratislava, Košice, Poprad-Tatry (near the High Tatars), Sliač (Banská Bystrica region), Žilina and the spa town of Piešťany (Trnava Region).
Later Blue Slovakia wants to specialise on charter passenger and cargo air transport within Europe on regional routes.
Currently, Slovakia does not have a national airline. The only regular regional route is between Bratislava and Košice. It is operated by Czech Airlines and the route continues on to the Czech capital, Prague.
