Hi Fly, a leading wet lease specialist and charter airline operating worldwide, has expanded its fleet with the addition of two Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Registered as 9H-HFJ and 9H-HFK, these modern and reliable acquisitions will further strengthen the company’s capabilities as a go-to organisation for airlines when they need additional capacity.
The two A330-200 aircraft share identical features, offering a comfortable seating capacity of 269 passengers. The cabin configuration is designed to cater to a diverse range of travellers, featuring 18 spacious Business Class and 251 Economy Class seats.
The Business Class is a double seat with a generous 78-inch legroom and flat-bed recline, ensuring a comfortable travel experience. This class features motorised adjustability for headrests, backrests, legrests, and seatpans. It has lumbar control, lap safety belt, electrical and mechanical adjustability and electrical massage divided into five zones, each with two motors.
The Economy Class passengers also enjoy a comfortable pitch of 32-inch, within the available space.
Hi Fly resumed the expansion after the pandemic period and is currently adding a new aircraft every quarter and this rate is expected to be kept until end of 2024.
Global Airlines and Hi Fly have signed an agreement to work together on the development and maintenance of the four A380 aircraft the new airline has agreed to acquire.
Hi Fly, who were the first to operate the A380 in the secondary market, will use their extensive experience of the aircraft, to work with Global on not only preparing it for service, but on helping the new carrier realise its ambition to provide customers with the best way to fly on commercial services, as it prepares for operations.
The short-term focus for both organisations are the EIS and Return to Service (RTS) processes for Global’s first aircraft, expected to commence in the months ahead. However, both companies will explore further ways to broaden their collaboration, united by a passion for the aircraft, and a shared belief in its enduring potential and appeal.
Global Airlines was launched in 2023 with an aspiration to offer passengers the best way to fly. The airline is a wholly owned subsidiary of Holiday Swap Group and headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The airline is led by CEO James Asquith and backed by aviation experts and investors around the world. The airline has commenced an aircraft acquisition programme with four A380s secured.
The journey is 2,500 nautical miles, flying for just over five hours each way. The aircraft will be used this season to fly a small number of tourists, alongside scientists and essential cargo to the White Continent.
In 2021 Hi Fly landed the first ever Airbus widebody in Antarctica in a historical flight.
flypop has announced that it is forming a joint venture with Hi Fly airline in the United Kingdom.
The two companies have been partnering throughout the global pandemic utilizing flypop’s aircraft for cargo operations. This new partnership agreement will see the two expand their collaboration onto passenger flights out of the United Kingdom.
Speaking from the flypop headquarters at London Stansted Airport, (Nino) Navdip Singh Judge, Founder and CEO of flypop, commented:
“We expect a surge in demand in and out of our home market over the coming months and we look forward to serving our customers with the newly formed joint venture”
Hi Fly President, Paulo Mirpuri, speaking from the Hi Fly head offices in Lisbon, said:
“We are looking forward to operating flypop’s aircraft out of the UK. Hi Fly’s leading expertise in Airbus widebody aircraft will prove to be a winning recipe for the joint venture.”
Over the next few weeks flypop will be adding additional aircraft to the joint venture that will be operated by Hi Fly.
Nino added: “We are in active discussions with several parties to grow the fleet further in the near future and look forward to welcoming these aircraft to the joint venture”.
Top Copyright Photo: flypop (People Over Profit) (FlyPop Ltd.) Airbus A330-343 9H-POP (G-FPOP) (msn 1445) ZRH (Rolf Wallner). Image: 957972.
Captain Carlos Mirpuri and his crew flew the widebody aircraft, from Cape Town to the White Continent and back; the journey is 2,500 nautical miles, flying for just over five hours each way. Never before has an A340 landed on an Antarctic blue glacial ice runway. The aircraft will be used this season to fly a small number of tourists, alongside scientists and essential cargo to the White Continent.
Hi Fly 9H-SOL is an A340-313HGW (High Gross Weight) (9H-SOL) with a maximum take-off weight of 275 tons. It is an aircraft that delivers, every time. Highly reliable, comfortable, with an excellent safety record, the aircraft was carefully chosen to perform well in this extreme environment. Its exceptional range and 4 engine redundancy also makes it ideal for this type of remote operation.
The turnaround in Antarctica took less time than the initially planned three hours, with Flight Operations, Ground Operations and Maintenance doing an impeccable job. A true winning team.
Captain´s Log
Hi Fly 801 and 802 – 2 November 2021
The crew assembled and departed the hotel in Cape Town at 5 am local. Transportation took 30 minutes to CPT airport. Processing through the airport took another 30 minutes and we arrived at the aircraft at 6 am, with two hours left to our STD (Scheduled Time of Departure).
Engineers and Ground Operations staff had left the hotel an hour earlier, so when we arrived at the aircraft refueling was completed and cargo loading was underway. We expected 23 passengers, all staff from the customer, and as this was the first flight of the season, most of the ground support equipment that we would need in WFR (Wolf’s Fang Runway, Antarctica) was actually in our cargo compartments. The first two sorties are solely for the purpose of setting up the operation down in Antarctica, ahead of the 2021/2022 summer season.
The 2500 nm between CPT and WFR would take us 5h10m on the way down, and 5h20m on the return. As this was the very first flight, with limited support on the ground, we planned for a 3h turnaround time in WFR.
It would be a long day for the crew but the excitement of participating in such a unique event stood above anything else.
As always we start with a crew briefing on arriving at the aircraft. This is not just another flight, there are specificities related to this very remote operation we would be conducting, the harsh environment we would face, and the need to ensure proper protective clothing would be on board.
While cabin checks and catering loading was undergoing, me and my crew were inspecting the aircraft, checking its systems, loading the route into the navigation computers, and briefing the details of our departure.
Passengers arrived 20 minutes before STD. It was exactly 8 am local time when we pushed back from the gate. On-time. Every time. This is the Motto at Hi Fly.
We lined up on runway 01 but had to pause for a moment before launching; I spotted intense bird activity over the runway and asked the tower to roll the truck in charge of scaring them out, at eventually they moved out of the way. The last thing we want is a bird strike and potential engine damage on any flight. At 8:19 am we were finally airborne. A beautiful morning in Cape Town and magnificent views.
There is no fuel in WFR. We carried 77 tons of fuel. 9H-SOL is an A340-313HGW (High Gross Weight) with a maximum take-off weight of 275 tons.
It is an airplane that delivers, every time. Robust, comfortable and safe, performs well in this environment.
Video:
Its 4 engines redundancy and very long range, make it the ideal airplane for this type of mission.
The route to WFR was almost direct, after complying with the instrument departure procedure clearance issued by CPT air traffic control. Soon we were handed over to Johannesburg oceanic through CPDLC / ADS, avoiding therefore the tiring and noisy long range HF communication that dates back to the 50’s. Digital communication is the norm these days in most air navigation regions. We only lost data link connection 250 miles before WFR. But at around 180 miles from destination we could reach WFR via VHF. It is not an air traffic control, just a person that has a hand held portable radio that looks after the runway. And indeed they look very well for its condition.
South of 65 degrees we revert to polar navigation techniques, and use True heading as reference.
Also a plotting chart is used to ensure we are not drifting off course. During the route we receive via ACARS (another digital system of communication), frequent weather reports from WFR passed to us through our operations in Lisbon. The guys at WFR have an Iridium Satphone, the only means to communicate from that part of the Globe. Forecasters do a great job, and we only launch to Antarctica when the weather meets our dispatch requirements. But a forecast is a forecast, and when you fly to the end of the world you need frequent assurance that the actual weather meets the forecast.
Weather was looking great, and closing to the top of our descent they are also supposed to pass us runway friction reports. This is measured by a car properly equipped, that covers the length of the runway taking measurements every 500 meters. The frictions were also all above what we considered as minimum, so we started our descent.
Carrying fuel to cover both ways means we would be landing at maximum landing weight of 190 tons. Add the fact that we are operating to an airfield carved out of blue glacial ice and one easily understands that the first ever Airbus A340 landing there attracted a lot of attention and anxiety. But we at the front office were confident that we had done our homework properly.
Our operations department conducted a several months preparation of this flight and the success of our first landing is testimony to a job well done.
Even a visit to WFR, on a business jet carrying scientists, was performed 2 days before our flight, by captain Antonios Efthymiou. This is considered a C category airport, and except for this first flight, all crew will have observed a flight from the cockpit before they operate.
A blue glacial ice runway is hard. It can stand a heavy airplane on it. Its depth is 1,4 kms of hard air free ice. The next important thing is that the cooler it is the better. Grooving is carved along the runway by special equipment, and after cleaning and carving we get an adequate braking coefficient; the runway being 3000 meters long, landing and stopping an A340 that heavy of that airfield wouldn’t be a problem. At least not on paper, as never an A340 landed before in blue glacial ice.
The reflection is tremendous, and proper eyewear helps you adjust your eyes between the outside view and the instrumentation. The non-flying pilot has an important role in making the usual plus extra callouts, especially in the late stages of the approach.
It is not easy to spot the runway, but at one point we have to see it, as absolutely no navigation aids exist in WFR and from around 20 miles we must be in visual contact.
We finally spotted the runway alignment, and started configuring early, selecting flaps and landing gear to be fully stabilized 10 miles before the runway. There is also no visual glide slope guidance, and the blending of the runway with the surrounding terrain and the immense white desert around, makes height judgment challenging, to say the least.
The altimeters in cold weather also suffer from temperature errors, and need adjustments. All this was accounted for. We flew a textbook approach to an eventful landing, and aircraft performed exactly as planned. When we reached taxi speed I could hear a round of applause from the cabin. We were joyful. After all we were writing history.
The turnaround time was much less time than the planned 3 hours. Our Flight Ops and ground ops did an impeccable job and so did our engineers. A true winning team. Equipped for extreme cold we venture outside, greeted people, seen details and places of the runway for a better confidence in the system put in place. All looks good to launch repeatable operations to and from Antarctica.
Take off was uneventful, as so was the returning flight. Customer was happy, we were happy. All goals for this first flight had been met. The event was registered by our reporter Marc Bow.
flypop has announced it is partnering with ACMI and wet-lease specialist Hi Fly to start a cargo service to India ahead of the planned launch of its passenger services.
Hi Fly is the largest wide-body aircraft wet lease specialist in the world, EASA and IOSA certified and FAA approved, with AOC’s in Portugal and Malta, and licensed to operate globally. The airline operates a large fleet of all Airbus aircraft, Airbus A320, A330 and A340.
flypop is focused on serving the Indian and South Asian diaspora communities living in the UK and their visiting friends and relatives. flypop believes the most effective way to start flying operations is with cargo until the frequency cap on UK-India flights is increased.
flypop plans to commence its first passenger services between London Stansted and India once the global pandemic situation becomes clearer. Several destinations on the Indian subcontinent are currently being considered including Amritsar, Hyderabad, Goa, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kochi and Chandigarh.
Hi Fly has announced the addition of one more Airbus A330-300 to its fleet. It was exactly 2.40pm local time when the aircraft, msn 1779 and registered as 9H-HFA, touched down at Beja Airport, flown in from Malta by Commander Carlos Mirpuri.
With comfortable interiors, warm colors and relaxed atmosphere, the aircraft seats 249 passengers in a two class configuration (46 high comfort business class seats with flat beds and 203 economy seats).
New wingtip TRINITAIR is capable of reducing fuel consumption by up to 2% and on particular applications even more. In aviation for every kg of fuel saved carbon emission is reduced by 3.16 kg.
Hi Fly will be the first airline in the world to go on a flight with this new technology, supporting the transformation to a greener environment.
The new climate-saving and greenhouse-gas-emission reducing project will have its maiden test-flight on a Hi Fly A330.
This pioneering initiative to create sustainable innovation will forever revolutionize the aviation industry.
We are pleased to present the new wingtip TRINITAIR, capable of reducing fuel consumption by up to 2% and on particular applications even more than that. In aviation each kg of fuel saved on a flight reduces CO2 emissions by 3.16 kg. This unprecedented equipment will bring airlines not only financial benefits; they will also enable them to strongly reduce their environmental footprint.
This pioneering initiative to create sustainable innovation, that will forever revolutionize the aviation industry, is now on its final phase. The new climate-saving and greenhouse-gas-emission reducing project will have its maiden test-flight on a Hi Fly A330. Hi Fly will be the first airline in the world to go on a flight with this new technology, supporting the transformation to a greener environment.
“In an industry that is increasingly more concerned with a sustainable planet, and which is looking to have a positive impact with its day to day operations, investing in environmentally friendly technology is the right way to a better world”, says Paulo Mirpuri, President of Hi Fly and the Mirpuri Foundation.
The new wingtip provides an enhanced aerodynamic solution, assisting aircraft manufacturers and airlines to reduce their CO2 emissions. TRINITAIR was designed by The Aircraft Performance Company GmbH (The APC) as a cost-effective retrofit solution for valuable in-service aircraft. Along with a downtime of less than one day for installation, the new hardware brings performance enhancement, lower engine wear, range extension and payload increase as well as a significant reduction of fuel burn that leads to lower emissions of CO2 and NOX.
Harald Zirngibl, Managing Director of The APC, explains that “With its 3-finger wingtip solution, born from a sketch on a napkin, The APC is developing a new technology that enables aircraft to reduce its carbon footprint. The new winglet not only reduces fuel consumption, but also optimizes the overall performance. The engineers at The APC uses well-founded, patented knowledge of flow and structural mechanics to achieve an optimal circulation distribution of the outer wing by locally influencing or expanding the wingtip vortex. A flight from Frankfurt to Hong Kong, for example, would save at least 1.2 tons of fuel. Applied to global air traffic, this means a considerable overall reduction in fuel and thus in CO2 emissions. The handling of available resources, cost effectiveness and pragmatism are also fundamental. Increasing the efficiency of valuable in-service aircraft will immediately benefit our environment. With the “Plug & Fly” concept, the winglets are airworthy within one day. The use of further resources to optimize the fleets is kept as low as possible. It is not the time to wait for the one big solution that can make aviation emission-free in one fell swoop. Effective and implementable transitional steps must be taken quickly on the way there, which drive and support the entire process – that’s our approach at The APC.”
TRINITAIR is a joint project for the environment supported by Hi Fly and its principal sustainability partner, the Mirpuri Foundation. Teaming up for a cleaner sky.
Hi Fly is planning the phase out of it’s Airbus A380 at the end of the lease term later this year, following almost three years of successful operations worldwide. The decision to not extend the initial agreed lease period came as a consequence of the covid-19 pandemic, that drastically reduced the demand for very large aircraft.
Hi Fly belongs to the very exclusive club of only 15 airlines to ever operate the A380, the largest and most advanced aircraft of all times. This aircraft was a testimony to how far human being can go in developing something so extraordinary.
Above all, the iconic 9H-MIP “Save the Coral Reefs” was inspiring, and carried this responsible message to hundreds of millions of people in the four corners of the world.
The Airbus A380 will be replaced in the Hi Fly fleet by additional Airbus A330’s, a smaller and more adequate aircraft for current market conditions.
A380 Tribute
If our A380 has touched you as it has touched us, for all the work and raising awareness all over the world… If you have seen it, if it was part of your history somehow, please show us your love.
Send us your tribute message to a380tribute@hifly.aero and share your 9H-MIP memories with stories, photos, collage, artwork, paint-stained hands… the sky is literally the limit!
All messages will be showcased on the A380 mural (at our Headquarters in Lisbon) until the last day of this iconic aircraft at Hi Fly service, then they will be placed inside a box and fly onboard 9H-MIP on its final lap with us.
Airbus A380 joined Hi Fly’s fleet in 2018.
Hi Fly was the 4th European airline and the 14th global operator to fly this magnificent aircraft, becoming also the first wet leasing airline operating an A380 and inaugurating its second hand market.
The iconic model aligned perfectly with the company’s sustainability concern, being able to carry more people with less impact on the environment as it combined mass passenger transportation with efficient technologies, resulting in a lower carbon footprint per passenger and per kilometer.
The Hi Fly A380 supported Mirpuri Foundation’s “Save the Coral Reefs” campaign and carried the message across the five continents, raising awareness for an unprecedented fight to stop the destruction of our oceans. The livery was comprised of one side painted in dark blue displaying destroyed corals, contrasting with a light blue on the other side representing a pristine ocean, with images of colorful and healthy marine life.
This campaign was also showcased for more than 400,000 visitors at the famous Farnborough Air Show 2018 and Paris Air Show 2019.
The “Save the Coral Reefs” aircraft was a record breaker:
– Was the first A380 to connect London to New York
– Operated the longest nonstop domestic flight in the world, from St. Denis to Paris
– It’s Marketing campaign received a double award from the magazine Global Transport Finance
– Was the first to land in Wuhan, China, following the coronavirus outbreak
– Completed an around the world humanitarian mission which lasted four days, starting and ending in Beja, Portugal. Covered 31047 km in a flight time of 33 hours and 45 minutes with stops in Tianjin and Santo Domingo.
Hi Fly’s A380 was the first to be converted to cargo version, removing economy seats to meet the high demands during covid-19 crisis. Was able to carry 68 tons and offered 340m3 of volume capacity. Plus, it could fly direct for over 17 hours. This combination of volume, payload and range made it unique for cargo transportation.
The aircraft made a show with a fly-by over Lisbon Airport and also Algarve, where Locals and beach vacationers were able to spot the king of the skies, drawing attention to its environmental message “Save the Coral Reefs” A380 was one of the most photographed and loved by spotters all over the world.
At Hi Fly service, the aircraft visited 53 different airports, in 33 countries and 4 continents.
Abidjan
2. Abu Dhabi
3. Antananarivo
4. Athens
5. Baku
6. Bangkok
7. Beja
8. Boston
9. Buenos Aires
10. Cairo
11.Cancún
12. Caracas
13. Châteauroux
14. Copenhagen
15. Dalaman
16. Diass
17. Dresden
18. Enfidha-Hammamet
19. Farnborough
20.Glasgow
21. Hamburg
22. Hanoi
23. Istanbul
24. Istres
25. Jeddah
26. Kuala Lumpur
27. Larnaca
28. Las Palmas
29. London Gatwick
30. London Stansted
31. Madrid
32. Malta
33. Manchester
34. Montréal
35. New York
36. Nice
37. Orlando
38. Oslo
39. Palma de Mallorca
40. Paris-Châlons Vatry
41. Paris-Charles de Gaulle
42. Paris-Le Bourget
43. Reunion Island
44. Rome
45. Santo Domingo
46. Seoul
47. Shangai
48. Singapore
49. Stockholm
50. Tarbes
51. Tianjin
52. Toulouse
53. Wuhan
Of the 15 current A380 operators in the world, Hi Fly was the first airline in Europe and second worldwide in number of landing destinations. This accomplishment was achieved in only two years.
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Top Copyright Photo: Hifly (Malta) Airbus A380-841 9H-MIP (msn 006) (Mirpuri Foundation) FAB (Antony J. Best). Image: 942855.
Hi Fly is planning the phase out of it’s Airbus A380 at the end of the lease term later this year, following almost three years of successful operations worldwide. The decision to not extend the initial agreed lease period came as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, that drastically reduced the demand for very large aircraft.
Hi Fly belongs to the very exclusive club of only 15 airlines to ever operate the A380, the largest and most advanced aircraft of all times. This aircraft was a testimony to how far human being can go in developing something so extraordinary.
Above all, the iconic 9H-MIP “Save the Coral Reefs” was inspiring, and carried this responsible message to hundreds of millions of people in the four corners of the world.
The Airbus A380 will be replaced in the Hi Fly fleet by additional Airbus A330’s, a smaller and more adequate aircraft for current market conditions.
A380 Tribute
If our A380 has touched you as it has touched us, for all the work and raising awareness all over the world… If you have seen it, if it was part of your history somehow, please show us your love.
Send us your tribute message to a380tribute@hifly.aeroand share your 9H-MIP memories with stories, photos, collage, artwork, paint-stained hands… the sky is literally the limit!
All messages will be showcased on the A380 mural (at our Headquarters in Lisbon) until the last day of this iconic aircraft at Hi Fly service, then they will be placed inside a box and fly onboard 9H-MIP on its final lap with us.
