Air Nostrum (

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

Iberia Regional) is a Spanish

regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

based in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

that merged with CityJet in 2023, forming the region's largest aviation holding company, Strategic Alliance of Regional Airlines (SARA). An affiliate member of the

Oneworld Oneworld (Computer reservations system, CRS: *O, stylised as oneworld) is a global airline alliance consisting of 14 member airlines. It was founded on 1 February 1999. The alliance's stated objective is to be the first choice airline alliance f ...

airline alliance An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare agreement, codeshare ...

, it operates 91 domestic and international routes to 51 destinations, and charter flights. Its main base is

Valencia Airport Valencia Airport (, ) , also known as ''Manises Airport'', is the tenth-busiest Spain, Spanish airport in terms of passengers and second in the Valencian Community after Alicante Airport, Alicante. It is situated west of the city of Valencia, i ...

, with hubs at Barcelona–El Prat Airport and

Madrid–Barajas Airport Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport is the main international airport serving Madrid, the capital city of Spain. At in area, it is the second-largest airport in Europe by physical size behind Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. In 2019, 61.8 ...

. Limited operations are also carried out on behalf of Brussels Airlines, replacing related wet-lease specialist airline CityJet, having begun in late 2018. Air Nostrum is also a part owner of

Iryo Iryo is the brand of ''Intermodalidad de Levante S.A.'' (ILSA), a private high-speed rail operator in Spain. The company is jointly owned by the Italian state-owned railway company Trenitalia (51%), the Spanish regional airline Air Nostrum (25%), ...

, a Spanish high-speed rail service which began operating in November 2022.

History

The airline was established on 23 May 1994 and started operations on 15 December. It used to offer a comprehensive meal service on all scheduled flights. In early 2008, the airline eliminated its 'regional business class' cabin. The cabin is now split into separate business and economy sections along the lines of other major airlines. Economy passengers can purchase drinks and snacks from an onboard menu. On February 7, 2012, Air Nostrum presented an ERE (a legal form of workforce reduction and redundancies) that will affect its 1,800 workers for two years, due to the increase in fuel prices and the drop in income. It is estimated that during the two years, 15 Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft will be grounded and most of its routes will be abandoned at a loss. On March 31, 2014, the airline announced the entry into the company's capital of a group of Valencian businessmen with the participation of the then CEO of the company, Carlos Bertomeu, as well as Antonio Pellicer and José Remohí, owners of the IVI, with an estimated capital of 25 million euros, divided between capital and debt. In September 2017, it filed an application to operate high speed rail services from Madrid Atocha to

Gare de Montpellier-Saint-Roch Montpellier-Saint-Roch station (, ) is the main railway station in Montpellier, France. The station was formerly known as Gare de Montpellier, but since March 2005 it has been named after Saint Roch, a native of the city who was born in the 14th ...

in Southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

from 5 October 2018 with

AVE Class 100 The Renfe Class 100 is a high-speed train used for AVE services by the Renfe Operadora, in Spain. It was the first high-speed train put into service in Spain, in 1992. History This class lived through all the changes involved in the creation ...

trains leased from

Renfe Operadora Renfe (, ), officially Renfe-Operadora, is Spain's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. It was created in 2005 upon the split of the former Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles, Spanish National Railway Netwo ...

. On 17 July 2018, Air Nostrum and

CityJet CityJet is an Irish regional airline with headquarters at Dublin Airport. It was founded in 1992 and has gone through a series of corporate structures. In 2023, it merged with Air Nostrum, forming Strategic Alliance of Regional Airlines (SAR ...

of Ireland announced they would merge to form the largest regional airline in Europe, however will remain as separate brands. In June 2022, it was announced that Air Nostrum had placed a reservation on ten Hybrid Air Vehicles Airlander 10

airship An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying powered aircraft, under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the ...

s. Introduction to service is scheduled for 2026. In August 2023, Air Nostrum doubled their reservation from ten to twenty HAV Airlander 10 aircraft. In October 2023, Air Nostrum completed its merger with CityJet. Air Nostrum shareholders acquired a controlling 80% interest in the entity created from the merger, Strategic Alliance of Regional Airlines (SARA).

Fleet

As of January 2025, the Air Nostrum fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Incidents and accidents

*On 17 January 2003, an Air Nostrum

Fokker 50 The Fokker 50 is a turboprop-powered airliner manufactured and supported by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It was designed as an improved version of the successful Fokker F27 Friendship. The Fokker 60 is a stretched freighter version of t ...

overran the runway at Melilla Airport and crashed into the perimeter fence resulting in the aircraft splitting into two major parts. Nine passengers were injured. *On 24 January 2006, Air Nostrum flight IB 8665 from

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

made a

belly landing A belly landing or gear-up landing occurs when an aircraft lands without its landing gear fully extended and uses its underside, or belly, as its primary landing device. Normally the term ''gear-up landing'' refers to incidents in which the pilo ...

at Barcelona El Prat Airport. Two of the forty passengers sustained minor injuries while disembarking from the aircraft, a

Bombardier CRJ200 The Bombardier CRJ100 and CRJ200 (previously Canadair CRJ100 and CRJ200) are regional jets designed and manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace between 1991 and 2006, the first of the Bombardier CRJ family. The ''Canadair Regional Jet'' (CRJ) pr ...

with registration EC-IBM. The cause was determined by the

Comisión de Investigación de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviación Civil The Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission (, CIAIAC) is the Spain, Spanish national agency responsible for air accident investigation. It is a division of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (Spain), Ministry of Pub ...

to be pilot error.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Airlines established in 1994 Airlines of Spain Companies based in the Valencian Community European Regions Airline Association Iberia (airline) Oneworld affiliate members Railway companies of Spain Spanish brands Transport in Valencia Spanish companies established in 1994 Railway companies established in 1994 2023 mergers and acquisitions