One Air is lobbying the new UK government to establish a bilateral agreement with the European Union (EU) that makes it easier to source pilots, engineers and maintenance to help it save money and improve efficiency as it strives to grow its operations.
The cargo airline, which launched in April last year and is the sole operator of 747 freighters in the UK, is being hindered by costly and time-consuming employment and maintenance matters post-Brexit.
As a result of the Brexit trade agreement, effective from the end of 2020, the UK lost its membership of the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). EU/UK reciprocity on aircraft design and manufacture was maintained but professional qualification reciprocity on pilots, engineers and maintenance was omitted, explained Paul Simmons, director of One Air.
According to Simmons, the lack of reciprocity on pilots, engineers and maintenance is believed to be “an oversight”.
He said it is understood by the UK aviation sector and One Air that this was due to a combination of the speed of policy agreement on aviation as part of Brexit discussions and the lack of an impact study as it was determined that one was not needed.
“No one can justifiably say why we don’t recognise other people’s licenses in engineering and in pilot aviation,” he reflected.
“There's no real reason we can see why there is no reciprocity between the UK Civil Aviation’s qualifications and licensing arrangements for engineers and pilots and engineering facilities and the EASA’s. They were the same standard until Brexit. It's causing an impediment to growth.”
He added: “The reason it's caused a problem for us in particular, is that we are the only 747 operator in the UK. The pool of engineers, pilots, training and engineering facilities has decreased markedly in the UK.”
While the airline, which primarily operates out of Heathrow Airport and East Midlands Airport, is in the process of training senior pilots, an EU agreement would allow it to more easily source senior pilots from Europe.
He points out that Lufthansa is still operating 747s in Germany and Air France also did so until recently.
“One of the ways we're accessing pilots quickly under the current licensing is using an agency that is finding people with European licenses on a temporary basis and it’s costing us about 20% more for employment costs.”
Meanwhile, he said engineering capacity for 747s is very limited in the UK and he has identified only one facility in Europe licensed for the UK-registered 747Fs, in Germany.
If a bilateral agreement was put in place then more facilities would be eligible and available for UK-registered aircraft.
But the current situation means One Air has been forced to go further afield to maintain its aircraft, which is more time consuming and expensive than using facilities in Europe, plus reduces availability for flights.
Simmons pointed out that the UK did sign some bilateral agreements with other countries, including the US, Canada and Brazil, which makes maintenance possible in these countries, but isn’t a long-term solution that makes good business sense.
As an example, Simmons highlighted: “We recently had to take an aircraft to America for heavy maintenance because we couldn’t find anywhere in the UK or Europe at the time to get the aircraft fixed.
“There is one facility in Germany, which has held onto its licenses, and we normally use them but they were busy.
“It cost us about half a million pounds more than it would have done had we sent it to Germany.
He added that the aircraft was out of service for an extra two weeks more than it would have been had it been serviced in mainland Europe.
However, more facilities are needed to enable operational and business efficiency, stressed Simmons.
“Even just having one place in Germany that we can use means that we have aircraft on the ground waiting for a slot, so it hits the ability to maximise efficiency.
“We have to either pay more or wait for slots, because there are fewer slots for our type of aircraft. Given the lack of bilateral agreement you can't just go anywhere (with a 747).”
Growth goals
Speed is important to One Air as grows and prepares to add a third leased 747F by the end of the month.
The production noseloader is currently in Indonesia undergoing checks before being transported to Germany for importation registration, after which it will join One Air’s existing two passenger to freighter (P2F) aircraft at Heathrow.
The aircraft will be able to carry oversized cargo as its nose opening enables allows wider pallets of cargo to be loaded.
One Air launched in April last year with a leased 747-400 freighter after being awarded its Air Operators’ Certificate by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Following this, in December last year, the carrier added a second 747-400F, acquired on a long-term lease.
Further fleet expansion is part of the airline’s growth plans. “We are looking at expanding the fleet and see a future which has a mix of 747s and other aircraft.”
The company has been flying charters between Europe and China/Hong Kong on behalf of freight forwarders and charter broker customers since its launch.
Bolstered by demand out of Asia, as of late last year One Air has aimed to expand its flights to Hong Kong into a daily operation and gain a licence for long-term operations to China.
“That’s still the plan,” confirmed Simmons.
In May 2023, the freighter operator also filed an application with the US Department of Transportation to operate cargo charter flights between the US and UK and was subsequently awarded a two-year operating permit.
“We haven't started this route yet, but it’s in our plan,” added Simmons.
In April this year, One Air also added East Midlands Airport (EMA) a regular origin and destination point for services connecting Asia and Europe as well as for ad hoc global charter services.
Simmons said scheduled operations are being considered but this depends on the speed of growth.
Change ahead?
As the new Labour government in the UK finds its feet, One Air is anticipating change.
“In the Labour Party manifesto, there was a promise to fix reciprocity of professional qualifications between Europe and the EU and the UK,” said Simmons. “Part of our lobbying now is to make sure that aviation is included in that agreement.”
As well as forming part of the Labour Party manifesto, the issue is on the policy agenda for Airlines UK, the trade body for UK airlines, and the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA).
“We're hoping this gets fixed as soon as possible,” Simmons added.
While there may not be many other airlines that encounter this particular issue, One Air has noted that the UK government would do well to remember that downtime for a UK airline with significant air cargo capacity results in a loss of trade that ultimately impacts the UK economy.
