Region Air
Region Airways was a small regional airline based in Southend Airport. It operated between 1988 and 1991.
History
Regionair Ltd. was formed at Southend Airport in July 1987 out of the remains of Harvestair. The first revenue service was flown on 8 March 1998, between Southend and Rotterdam with an 18-seat Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante. By year's end it had flown almost 8,000 passengers. Over the next 18 months the scheduled network was expanded to reach Guernsey and Jersey domestically, and Paris and Brussels in the continent, but by early 1990 only the last two destinations were still ACTIVE. Contract fishery patrol work in Scotland was also undertaken for the Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries using a Dornier 228 and a Fokker F-27 Friendship.
On May 4, 1990, Regionair ceased scheduled operations and ten days later entered financial administration. The administrators Touche Ross were brought in to operate the air carrier which was acquired by Navco (Airways), a subsidiary of the David Martin Group, for £570,000 in July. The arrangement and costs placed a very heavy burden on the company's ability to self-finance. Shortly afterwards. on May 21, flights were resumed. Unable to maintain its viability in a recessionary economy, the airline ceased operations on 4 January 1991 after its owners elected to withdraw funding.
Fleet
Regionair fleet consisted of the following aircraft types in the operating years:
- 1 x BAe Jetstream 31
- 6 x BN.2 Islander
- 1 x Dornier 228
- 2 x Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante
- 1 x Fokker F27 Friendship
- 1 x leased Short 360