Ascend Airways has been granted an updated Air Operator Certificate (AOC), Type A Operating License and Route License from the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) allowing it to commence flights.

Ascend Airways is Great Britain’s newest ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance) and charter airline and an addition to Avia Solutions Group’s (ASG) expanding portfolio of airlines.

A UK AOC ensures unrestricted access to the UK ACMI and charter market, enabling ASG to increase its market share in this high-value market and worldwide.

Ascend Airways says it plans to operate a fleet of two Boeing 737 aircraft this year and to further expand its fleet in the future.

Alastair Willson, chief executive of Ascend Airways, said: “Obtaining the Air Operator Certificate and license takes a huge amount of work and resources and I’m extremely proud of everyone involved that we have been able to achieve this in time for the summer season.

“We will now focus on repaying the faith of our launch customer and establishing our sister company, Ascend Airways Malaysia.

“Our aim is to move our capacity seasonally between UK and Malaysia to access the growing South-East Asian market and maintain year-round utilisation.”

Irish based ASG is the world’s largest ACMI provider with a fleet of 212 aircraft and currently holding 12 AOCs internationally. ASG says it aims to establish and acquire four additional airlines across various countries, including Brazil, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia by the close of 2024.