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.jpg) An Eastern AirwaysBAe Jetstream 41 | |||||||
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| Founded | 19 November 1997 (1997-11-19) | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | December 1997 (1997-12) | ||||||
| Ceased operations | 27 October 2025 (2025-10-27) | ||||||
| AOC # | Air Kilroe Limited | ||||||
| Operating bases | |||||||
| Fleet size | 4 | ||||||
| Destinations | 6[2] (as Eastern Airways) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Humberside Airport Kirmington,North Lincolnshire | ||||||
| Key people | Richard Lake, owner, Orient Industrial Holdings | ||||||
| Employees | 280 | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
Eastern Airways was a Britishregional airline headquartered atHumberside Airport near the village ofKirmington,North Lincolnshire, England. The airline operated domestic, international and private charter flights.[3] Around 1,300,000 passengers flew with the airline per rolling year including on services for KLM Cityhopper, charter operations,[4] and government subsidisedpublic service obligation (PSO) services which would otherwise be commercially unfeasible.
The airline had its own hubs inAberdeen andHumberside.[5]
Air Kilroe held aUnited Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence. It was permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats and wasIOSA approved.[6][7]
Co-founded by Bryan Huxford and Richard Lake, the airline started operations in December 1997 with a scheduled route betweenHumberside andAberdeen with a leasedSwearingen Metro, followingKLM UK's withdrawal from the route. In February 1999, it purchased Manchester basedAir Kilroe, thereby acquiring anair operator's certificate and a fleet of twoBAe Jetstream 32 aircraft.[8]
In 2002, the firstBAe Jetstream 41 entered the Eastern fleet,[8] the aircraft type which formed the majority of the fleet up until the airline ceased operations.
12 aircraft and their associated routes were transferred fromBritish Airways CitiExpress on 30 March 2003. AnEmbraer 145 and 135 were alsowet-leased fromCity Airline in 2003, which were then replaced withSaab 2000 aircraft, which peaked at 8 being operated by 2013 including acquisitions fromCrossair and other European carriers.[9]
In 2006, Eastern Airways wet-leased aDornier 328 fromCirrus Airlines for six months to operate aNewcastle toLondon City service before switching this onto the BAe Jetstream 41. Eastern Airways also purchased a Jetstream 41training simulator.
As part ofOne NorthEast's "Passionate People Passionate Places" campaign forNorth East England, Eastern Airways had a Jetstream 41 painted in promotional colours. It also featured in the 2007Sunderland International Airshow. ASaab 2000 was also painted in a promotional 'Aberdeen City and Shire' colour scheme. The airline shut down its hub at theIsle of Man in August 2009, discontinuing routes toBirmingham andNewcastle from the airport.[10]
In July 2010, the airline took delivery of anEmbraer 135 with 37 seats and signed a lease on a second, thus adding jet aircraft to their fleet for the first time since the acquisition to replace their previously operated Embraer ERJ aircraft. They were to be used mainly on charter services to central and Eastern Europe; however, they also offered increased flexibility on the airline's scheduled flights.[11] In July 2010, the airline named one of theirBAe Jetstream 41 aircraft after the comedianKen Dodd in celebration of the year anniversary of the start of their flights fromLiverpool and Dodd's support shown in the region.
In September 2010, it was announced that Eastern Airways had boughtAir Southwest, however shut down the airline a year later following continued losses and changes in the growth of Flybe.
In August 2012, Eastern Group purchasedManchester Airports Group's 82% stake inHumberside Airport, becoming the primary airline serving the airport.
In February 2014,Bristow Group, a major helicopter operator serving the offshore oil and gas industry, acquired a 60% interest in Eastern Airways[12] and in 2018 acquired the remaining 40%. The airline continued to operate under the Eastern Airways brand.[13] Bristow also acquired a controlling interest in the Australian airlineAirnorth, another regional airline which operates fixed wing regional jet and turboprop aircraft. During this time, the airline's route network was focused on Aberdeen, providing service to the oil industry, as well as a smaller operation in Newcastle. The airline also commenced a number of French domestic routes in 2015, supported bypublic service obligation (PSO) subsidies.[14]
Facing increased competition from growing low-cost airlines and the aggressive UK expansion of airlines such asFlybe andWideroe, the airline has significantly scaled back its schedule route network from Aberdeen, concentrating on contract and charter services for which Eastern Airways had become recognised as a market leader in delivering.
In March 2017, Eastern re-entered theIsle of Man with service toBelfast City,Glasgow andNewcastle, following the collapse of local airlineCitywing.[15] The airline also took over PSO-funded service betweenCardiff andAnglesey, facilitating the opening of a base in Cardiff.[16] The Isle of Man service was cancelled a year later, whereas the Cardiff service continued until the Welsh Government stopped providing funding in 2021.[17]
Eastern also operated flights from the Isle of Man toLondon City Airport on behalf ofBritish Airways usingSaab 2000 aircraft.
In September 2017, Eastern received its first of two newATR 72-600. The aircraft operated on the Aberdeen – Scatsta route on behalf of Bristow Helicopters. With Bristow Group in financial difficulties, it sold the Eastern Airways group of companies back to one of its founders, Richard Lake, in May 2019.[18]
It was announced on 21 September 2017 that Eastern Airways would enter a franchise with Flybe, starting on 29 October 2017. The franchise saw all scheduled flights operated by Eastern Airways carry BE (Flybe) flight numbers. Following Loganair's decision to end its partnership with Flybe, to remain on multiple markets flyBe announced a significant expansion onto routes also operated by Loganair using Eastern Airways to operate the services, largely targeting theScottish Highlands, including introduction jet service intoSumburgh for the first time as part of the operating plan flyBe contracted Eastern Airways to provide.[19] The last of these new routes was dropped by the end of 2018, citing a lack of demand for two competing airlines given capacity had doubled on many with a static market size.[20]
On 5 March 2020, Flybe entered administration and ceased operations,[21] resulting in Eastern Airways resuming flying under its own brand.[22] Seeking to take advantage of Flybe's demise, the airline announced the opening of a base atSouthampton, where Flybe had operated 95% of the airport's flights, with new routes toManchester and Newcastle, eventually being joined by Belfast City andDublin, along with pre-existing service to Aberdeen,Leeds Bradford andTeesside.[23] The routes from Manchester were subsequently cancelled.
In May 2021, Eastern commenced flying toGibraltar for the first time, with services from bothBirmingham and Southampton airports, however cancelled both routes a year later as international travel remained in slow recovery post Covid-19.[24] The airline also commenced service betweenCardiff and Belfast City, seeking to fill another gap left by Flybe's collapse, but suspended the route in early 2022 after the Welsh Government decided to permanently cancel the PSO service between Cardiff and Anglesey suspended during Covid-19, thus rendering the airline's Cardiff base unviable as a single route operation.[25]
Eastern Airways had previously operated the Welsh Government PSO service between Cardiff Airport and Anglesey Airport from 2015 until the government removed funding for the service in 2022 and did not reopen the north–south connection to the capital post Covid-19.
In December 2021, Eastern Airways was awarded the PSO contract to operate a service betweenNewquay andLondon Gatwick which between 2021 and 2024 saw the growth of passenger volumes back to over 85,000 annually between Cornwall and London.
Additionally in April 2022 Eastern Airways were awarded another PSO contract in Scotland to operate services betweenAberdeen andWick. The service was the only scheduled flight into Wick, operated by the Scottish Government / Transport Scotland viaHighlands and Islands Airports, with the aim of revitalising air travel from the remote region.
Both these PSOs remain operated in 2025 on the ATR72-600 and BAe Jetstream 41 respectively supporting directly and indirectly over 80 jobs between the two services labelled as lifeline air services.
In 2024, with over a decade of operating between Aberdeen and bothSumburgh Airport andScatsta Airport in theShetland Islands for multiple oil & gas sector clients, Eastern Airways were awarded a seven year contract extension in conjunction with Bristow Helicopters to support BP Oils in their shuttle flying between Aberdeen and Sumburgh on the BAe Jetstream 41 and ATR72 fleet types.
In March 2024, Eastern Airways commenced an ACMI on behalf of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, taking over the operation of theHumberside Airport andTeesside Airport KLM services to theNetherlands with additional flying toManchester,Glasgow,Newcastle andNorwich on two 100-seat Embraer E190 E-Jets.
By October 2024 this had expanded to three Embraer 190 aircraft with the addition ofBristol as a base for KLM including operating toSouthampton and Cardiff, and by March 2025 a fourth UK base had been added at Bristol with the addition of a fourth Embraer 190, bringing the airlines weekly seat capacity for KLM to 22,400 and over 1.15 million per year.
As this KLM Cityhopper and Eastern Airways ACMI relationship grew, ways of protecting the critical worldwide Amsterdam hub connectivity which is fundamental to regional UK economic prosperity was added aligned to the E-Jet fleet expansion of the carrier. KLM Cityhopper ceased the contract with Eastern Airways on 5 October 2025, just a few weeks before Eastern Airways ceased operations.[26]
On 27 October 2025, Eastern Airways filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, which resulted in the suspension of all flight operations.[27] On 31 October, the majority of Eastern Airways' staff were made redundant.[28] The company formally went intoadministration on 6 November 2025. This marked the end of theBAe Jetstream 41's active passenger service in theUK.[29]
The administration resulted in the cancellation of the Aberdeen–Wick and Gatwick–Newquay PSO services.[30][31] On 6 November,Cornwall Council announced thatIsles of Scilly Skybus had been appointed as replacement operator for the Gatwick–Newquay route.[30][32]
The head office was located at Schiphol House, on the property ofHumberside Airport, inKirmington,North Lincolnshire.[33][a]
Eastern Airways formerly hadInterline agreements with the following airlines:[34]
Before ceasing operations these were the aircraft in the fleet:[35][failed verification]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers |
|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 72-600 | 4 | — | 70-72 |
| BAe Jetstream 41 | 7 | — | 29 |
| Embraer 170 | 1 | — | 76 |
| Embraer 190 | 4 | 2 | 100 |
| Total | 16 | 2 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
