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Satavian Airlines

IATA ICAO Callsign SA SAA SATAVIAN
Founded	23 January 1935 (1935-01-23) (as Satavian Imperial Airways Corporation)
Commenced operations	18 December 2007 (2007-12-18) (as Satavian Airlines)
Hubs	Port Hope/O'Connell
Secondary hubs	Port Arthur/Fort Kinnon Victoriaburg
Frequent-flyer program	SkyPoints
Alliance	Sky Alliance
Subsidiaries	SatavianExpress Vlugwell
Fleet size	98
Destinations	65
Parent company	Government of Satavia (66%)
Traded as	PHSX: SATX
Headquarters	Greystone, Port Hope, Hope Province, Satavia
Key people	Derek Moyne, Chairman Jack Lawson, CEO
Revenue	G9.1 billion (2020)
Operating income	G995 million (2020)
Net income	G412 million (2020)
Employees	18,339
Website	satavian.co.sv

Satavian Airlines Corporation Ltd, commonly known as Satavian Airlines, is the flag carrier of Satavia and its largest airline by fleet size, international destinations and passengers carried. Satavian Airlines is one of the world's oldest airlines through its predecessor companies, with Satavian Imperial Airways Corporation, commonly known as SIAC, the oldest of those, founded in 1935 to provide a trans-Vehmens service from Port Hope, at the time capital of the Dominion of Satavia to Morwall, Estmere. Satavian Airlines dominated the Satavian commercial aviation industry during the late 20th century and into the early 21st century but struggled to survive following the 2005 global financial recession. In 2006, the airline fell into enormous debt, before being rescued by the Norton government, which began a huge reconstruction process that saw the airline lose a large portion of its market share both internationally and domestically.

Satavian Airlines remains one of the largest airlines in the Asterias, and is a founding member of Sky Alliance, the world's second-largest airline alliance, through its predecessor Air Satavia. Satavian Airlines operates a fleet of 98 aircraft, across 65 destinations on all four inhabited continents. The airline operates primarily out of its main hub in Port Hope O'Connell International Airport, the larger of the two airports that service Port Hope, in addition to smaller operations originating from Port Arthur-Fort Kinnon International Airport and Victoriaburg Fort Zilverzee International Airport. Its headquarters are in the Greystone suburb of Port Hope, adjacent to Port Hope/O'Connell Airport, situated in Burnaby.

The airline operates a fleet consisting of Airbus A220, Airbus A320, Airbus A321, Airbus A330, Airbus A350, Boeing 747 and Boeing 787 aircraft. Following the nationalisation of the airline in 2006, the airline moderninsed it's ageing fleet. The airline has won Airtrax Best Asterian Airline for three consecutive years, in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

History

1935-1939: The early years

Following Satavia's liberation towards the end of the Great War, Neville Moyne, a wealthy Estmerish businessman, sought to connect Satavia, at the time a part of the Estmerish Empire, to Morwall. On 23 January 1935, Satavian Imperial Airways Corporation, operating a Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta aircraft, flew the first trans-Vehmens flight of the Airline, carrying eleven passengers (including Moyne) and mail. The aircraft, registered G-SVAA Dominion, flew Port Hope-Fort Kinnon-Kingsport-Port Fitzhubert-Montecara-Bouley before arriving in Morwall on 14 February, to find that the war had ended.

Within the same year, the airline (now partly-owned by the Imperial Airways Corporation) had expanded its operations to become the largest airline in Satavia. When Satavia declared independence in 1936, the airline's focus was diverted from operating the Port Hope-Morwall connection (although it maintained this route, with less frequent flights) to the Asterian market. In 1937, SIAC began operating flights to Asteria Inferior for the first time, with a twice-weekly rotation from Port Hope Aerodrome to Liberty City Airfield. Later that year, Neville Moyne took the opportunity to raise capital for four brand new Spartan Cruiser aircraft, decreasing his own stake in the company to 33%. By 1939, the airline had grown to become one of the largest in Asteria Inferior, and had acquired many of its rivals in the region. In February 1939, a military coup displaced the elected government and brought an end to the Union of Satavia.

1939-1988: Satavian Airways and merger with SRA

Satavian Airways Douglas DC-8 SX-NZA taxiing at Port Hope/O'Connell

By late 1939, tensions between Satavia and some of its Asterian neighbours hostile to the coup forced the airline to cancel many of its international routes - including the Port Hope-Morwall connection that the airline had been founded upon. The effects of this, coupled with a financial crisis that gripped the nation in the aftermath of the coup forced the airline into debt. In response, the Satavian military government nationalised the airline, rebranding it as Satavian Airways. For much of the 1940s, the airline struggled to turn a profit whilst running primarily domestic routes and started losing out to privately-owned competitors, such as Satavian Regional Airlines. SRA became Satavian Airways's largest competitor and began a price war which saw aviation in Satavia increasingly become more accessible and cheaper to the wider public before it did in many other nations.

The price war continued into the early 1950s but was ultimately unsustainable for both airlines, and so resulted in the Aviation (Pricing & Regulations) Act, 1955 which saw both airlines forced to abandon many competing routes in an attempt by the government to control the airlines. Whilst Satavian Airlines had lost significant ground domestically, it had an effective monopoly on international routes originating in Satavia, and was able to rapidly expand into friendly Asterian states.

In the 1960s, Satavian Airways would be revitalised and began to target the leisure market that had previously been the domain of other Asterian carriers, such as Nuvanian flag-carrier NLM and the Imaguan Civilian Air Service, which both offered more competitive prices. Satavian Airways offered Asteria's first package holiday in 1961, with a flight from Port Hope/O'Connell to Peter Hansson International Airport in Imagua.

By the late 1960s, Satavian Airways' main competitor, SRA, had fallen into debt as it struggled to keep up with Satavian Airways and its significantly larger budget. In 1969, SRA went into a state of insolvency, and facing the collapse of Satavia's second-largest airline prompted the government to pass the Aviation (Insolvency, Protection & Mergers) Act, 1969 which allowed for the merger of Satavian Airways and SRA. Satavian Airways now dominated the Satavian aviation industry, and the coup that lead to the installation of a democratically elected government in 1976 allowed Satavian Airways greater access to the international market. For the first time since 1941, the airline re-opened the Port Hope-Morwall connection, operating with just one stop in the city-state of Montecara before operating non-stop from 1979 with a Boeing 747-200.

For the early part of the 1980s, Satavian Airways prospered as it was the only major airline in Satavia, capturing both the business and leisure market. Its rapid expansion across Euclea was remarkable, and soon it operated one of the world's largest fleets.

1988-2007: Air Satavia and downfall

Air Satavia Airbus A319 SX-KBO

In late 1988, with the election of a Conservative & Country government, a huge privatisation programme began in Satavia, that saw a vast majority of state-owned enterprises sold to investors - and in December 1988, Satavian Airways was listed on the Port Hope Stock Exchange for the first time. A consortium led by Arthur Moyne (son of Neville Moyne, founder of Satavian Airways' predecessor) and the Estmerish-Jindanese conglomerate the Dane Group acquired a controlling stake in the company. The airline was re-branded as 'Air Satavia' and continued its rapid expansion plans.

In 1990, Air Satavia became a founding member of Sky Alliance, now the world's second-largest airline alliance by passenger numbers, alongside Estmair, TBD, TBD and TBD. The arrangements of the alliance allowed Air Satavia to codeshare with the other alliance members, some of the world's largest airlines, in addition to allowing passengers to seamlessly connect to flights around the world, the first time this had been possible.

In 1993, Air Satavia launched a dedicated regional airline that serviced smaller airports in Satavia and Nuvania, SatavianDolphin, as Air Satavia, made its first attempt to break into neighbouring Nuvania's aviation market, which at the time was experiencing a huge increase in demand. However, by 1999 SatavianDolphin had ended its Nuvanian operations as it struggled to compete with established Nuvanian carriers, such as NLM and its regional subsidiary NLM Express.

As Air Satavia became larger and more ambitious, it began expanding into the wider Transportation and Hospitality market, and in 2001 opened the first of a chain of limited service budget hotels, Hotelair, in Cuanstad. Later that year it began ferry operations across the Van Horn Straight with AirFerries, and in 2003 began its own inter-provincial coach service, AirCoach. Ultimately, none of these ventures would be profitable and contributed to Air Satavia's nationalisation in 2006.

The Financial Crash of 2005 saw Air Satavia slide into debt as demand for leisure routes decreased, and soon Air Satavia's operating costs far outweighed its revenue. Hotelair alone declared a loss of G490 million at the end of that year. In early 2006, in an attempt to keep the struggling airline afloat, longstanding CEO Richard Westham was replaced by Petter Desnoo, who promised to cut back on expenditure and unnecessary luxuries. Despite the grounding of nearly 70% of the airline's fleet, it still was wracking up enormous debts and by September of that year, it became clear to industry experts that without drastic measures the airline would collapse.

The Satavian Government, led by Prime Minister Edward Norton first considered a rescue plan in early 2006, but following the Airline's appointment of Petter Desnoo and claims that it was recovering from the initial shock of the financial crash it ceased plans for a rescue package. However, as the airline continued to lose money the government proposed its rescue plan, which was soon approved unanimously by the Air Satavia board of directors.

In December 2006, the airline was re-nationalised and entered a period of reconstruction and reorganisation. Air Satavia CEO Petter Desnoo was replaced by Jack Lawson, who had previously served as CEO of Estmair for 3 years, from 2002-2005, in addition to a large part of the airline's management. Air Satavia's ventures into other forms of transportation and hospitality and transportation were sold-off and a large portion of the carrier's fleet was also sold. As part of the nationalisation programme, the government had injected a little over G1 billion, most of which was used to clear the airline's debts. Following the sell-off of much of the carrier's ageing fleet and cut-back on unnecessary expenditure, the airline would return in a new-look form in December of 2007.

2007-present: Satavian Airlines

Satavian Airlines Airbus A330-300, SX-JHL, painted in the new fleet-wide Orange Tail livery

The new-look Satavian Airlines began services on 18 December 2007. The re-structured carrier was focused on the domestic and Asterian markets, with the vast majority of its wide-body fleet sold or scrapped; it however did retain four Boeing 747-400 in addition to some of its Airbus A330-300 fleet. In 2009, Satavian Airlines placed an order for ten new Boeing 787-8 aircraft, with a further option for six which the airline did not exercise.

By 2010, the carrier had re-established itself among the Asterian market, but had lost out to other Satavian airlines that had expanded in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis, such as Air Hope and FlyBlu, in addition to other Asterian carriers. The Airline had also lost its slots at Morwall International Airport during the restructuring period, and in January 2011, it was reported that Satavian Airlines had purchased four landing slots at Morwall Airport from Air Gaullica for €56 million, at the time the most expensive landing slot purchase in aviation history. Later that year, on 15 April 2011, Satavian Airlines suffered its first fatal crash since Satavian Airways Flight 1884, when Satavian Airlines Flight 1445, an Airbus A320-200 suffered multiple bird strike and crash-landed just short of the runway, and into the M12 motorway that circles Northport J. D. Haynes Airport in the Orange Province. 54 people on the aircraft and the ground were killed. The STSB, Satavia's Air Accident investigator, published its final report in late 2012. It stated that the pilots had been warned about reports of a flock of birds in their path by Air Traffic Control, but neglected to deviate their course. The airline was sued by surviving relatives for 'breach of care' and in 2013 was ordered to pay €12.96 million to the families (or just over €240,000 per person), the largest such payout in Satavian aviation history. In early 2012, Satavian took possession of the first of ten Boeing 787-8, which was rolled out across Satavian's trans-Vehmens routes.

In 2013, Satavian Airlines rebranded Satavian Dolphin to Satavian Express, in addition to launching it's own low-cost regional airline, Vlugwell.

Corporate affairs

Subsidiaries

SatavianExpress Airbus A319, in the FlyBlu transitional livery

Brand and livery

• Gallery
• 

  Boeing 747-400, SX-OEI Lady of the Vehmens on approach to Port Hope/O'Connell in the Native Danger livery

• 

  Boeing 747-400, SX-GNL City of Port Hope, sporting the IAC Centenary livery

• 

  Satavian Airlines subsidiary Vlugwell 777-300ER, pictured here in 2011 operating the Bright Sea livery

• 

  Boeing 747-400, SX-OCB Lady of the Arucian sporting the Satavian Grand Prix promotional livery

• 

  Airbus A330 painted in the new Orange Tail livery

Destinations

Hub

Seasonal service

International

  Satavia

  Satavian Airlines destinations

Codeshare agreements

Satavian Airlines maintains codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

• Air Hope
• Air Imagua
• AirLight
• Bylight Airlines
• Eagle Air
• Estmair
• Republic Air
• SatavianExpress
• Vlugwell
• Vulture
• Wozz Air
• Zuloot

Fleet

Satavian Airlines operates a mainline fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft exclusively. Regional flights operated by Satavian Airlines' subsidiary SatavianExpress operate a fleet of Bombardier and Embraer regional jets. Satavian Airlines' low-cost subsidiary Vlugwell operates a fleet of Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 family aircraft, of which some are flown under the Satavian Airlines brand but operated by Vlugwell.

Satavian Airlines fleet

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers					Notes
			F	J	W	Y	Total
Airbus A220-100	12	—	—	—	28	82	110	Asteria Inferior launch customer for A220 family
Airbus A220-300	16	—	—	—	28	102	130	Asteria Inferior launch customer for A220 family Airbus A220-300 fleet was briefily grounded following several mid-flight engine failures connected to loss of oil pressure in PW1500G engines
Airbus A320-200	7	—	—	—	32	124	156
Airbus A321-200	14	—	—	14	32	160	206
Airbus A330-300	24	—	14	48	88	127	277
Airbus A350-1000	11	5	20	48	88	210	366	5 further examples are on order, but were delayed following production backlog at the Verlois plant
Boeing 747-400	4	—	24	48	—	344	416	To be retired and replaced by Airbus A350-1000 aircraft planned for 2024
Boeing 787-8	10	—	8	24	32	178	242
Total	98	5

Environmental issues

Eco Warrior (SX-EIM), wearing the short-lived 'eco livery'

As part of the airline's climate pledge, it began research and development into sustainable fuels in partnership with Satoil and Clam. In 2019, the airline ran an 'eco livery' on one of its Airbus A330-300 aircraft, SX-EIM Eco Warrior, with the message "Go Green, Go Sustainable". The livery prompted backlash from the general public in Satavia, and the aircraft in question was re-painted just three weeks after the livery was first introduced.

Incidents and accidents

Satavian Airlines maintains a relatively clean safety record and is consistently ranked as one of the safest airlines in Asteria Inferior. Over the course of its 87-year history, Satavian Airlines and its predecessors have suffered four accidents resulting in hull loss, and the deaths of 120 passengers and crew, in addition to nine people on the ground. Satavian Airlines in its current form has suffered only one fatal accident, Satavian Airlines Flight 1445.

• On 11 May, 1943, a Douglas DC-4 (G-SVDL) crashed during a go-around at Morwall International Airport in poor weather, resulting in the death of all 42 passengers and crew.
• On 3 December, 1947, a Douglas DC-5 (G-SVAI) struck the control tower at Port Arthur Aerodrome whilst landing in extreme crosswinds, resulting in the death of 25 of the 28 onboard the aircraft, in addition to all four Air Traffic Controllers.
• On 18 August, 1959, a Vickers Viscount (SX-ADD) suffered substantial hull damage following the collapse of the front landing gear upon touchdown at Pietersburg International Airport, Nuvania. Despite a lack of fatalities, several people were seriously injured and the plane was eventually declared a hull loss and written off.
• On 29 January, 1972, a Vickers VC10 (SX-ALO) suffered severe damage when it caught fire at Port Hope/O'Connell whilst parked at a ramp. A police investigation later ruled that the plane had been the target of arson. Two teenagers were later arrested, but released without charge. The plane was written off.
• On 30 November, 1986, Satavian Airways Flight 1884, a Boeing 747-200, Lady of the Arucian (registered SX-NZX), lost power in all four engines whilst attempting to land at Morwall International Airport, and crash-landed 200 meters short of the runway, having struck the ILS beacon causing significant damage. The aircraft was written off, and four passengers died, in addition to 37 serious injuries.
• On 9 February, 1999, a Boeing 737-400 (SX-NNP) clipped the empennage of another Air Satavia aircraft, a Boeing 757-200 (SX-LAO), ripping off the vertical stabiliser and damaging its own right-wing whilst taxiing at Port Hope/O'Connell International Airport.
• On 22 October, 2004, an Airbus A320-200 (SX-POL) was destroyed whilst parked at a gate at Terminal 3, Port Hope/O'Connell following an electrical fire on board the aircraft.
• On 15 April, 2011, Satavian Airlines Flight 1445, an Airbus A320-200 (SX-DOA) suffered multiple bird strike, resulting in the loss of both engines. The pilots attempted to glide the plane towards the nearest airport, Northport J. D. Haynes Airport, but ultimately landed just short of the runway, crashing into the M12 motorway, killing 49 on board the aircraft, and five more on the ground.