Dubai-headquartered cargo airline SolitAir has obtained an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) General Civil Aviation Authority.
SolitAir Holding confirmed the AOC had been granted in a LinkedIn post on 27 March.
"The Founder and CEO of SolitAir, Hamdi Osman, has led the company to achieve an extraordinary milestone! SolitAir has secured its AOC in the UAE, in record time," said the company.
As well as obtaining an AOC, the airline has expanded its fleet. According to Planespotters, SolitAir now has three 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighters (BCFs), two of which are currently in operation by ASL Airlines Ireland. The third aircraft, leased from ASL Aviation Holdings, is currently parked at Sofia (SOF).
At the end of last year, it was announced that ASL Airlines Ireland would operate 737-800BCFs in partnership with SolitAir.
Since starting operations last year, SolitAir has been growing its network. The airline launched routes to Bangalore, India and Erbil, Iraq in January.
As well as Bangalore and Erbil, the airline also launched flights to Riyadh late last year.
According to SolitAir’s LinkedIn profile, there are plans for the airline to operate flights in Africa; the Middle East Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman; the Indian Subcontinent and the “Stan” countries - Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
