Corendon to Lease World2Fly A350 for Two Years

Corendon and World2Fly have signed a leasing agreement for an Airbus A350 for two years. Here are the details.

DALLAS - Dutch low-cost and leisure carrier Corendon Dutch Airlines (CD) has signed a long-term leasing agreement with the Spanish operator World2Fly (2W) to operate flights from the Netherlands to the Dutch Caribbean until 2025.

The announcement came just after the delivery of the third Airbus A350-900 to the Madrid-based carrier, which is registered as EC-NZF and has one of the densest passenger cabins worldwide, carrying 432 passengers in a single-class layout, just 8 below the certified maximum.

Specifically, CD expects to introduce the modern A350 in their future service between Amsterdam-Schiphol (AMS) and Willemstad Curaçao-Hato (CUR) airports, located in the Netherlands Antilles. The flight is one of the most crucial connections for the country of the Netherlands and is currently served as well by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL) and TUIfly Netherlands (OR).

Atilay Uslu, founder and top executive at CD, said, "We found a very good partner in World2Fly. Both the Iberostar Group and Corendon are successful family businesses. We speak the same language and I have rarely experienced such a rapid agreement on such a comprehensive cooperation."

Bruno Claeys, CEO of World2Fly, commented, "We are very pleased that Corendon has chosen us as a strategic partner to operate this route to Curaçao, a highly demanded destination among the Dutch. Thanks to this agreement we are diversifying our model of business."

Corendon is mostly known for its short-haul network, but the airline now wants to also expand transatlantic. Photo: Alberto Cucini/Airways

Corendon's Search for Long-Haul Aircraft

Corendon Airlines is one of the most influential leisure airlines in Europe, heavily competing with other similar companies in the industry such as the TUI Group, Condor (DE) or Jet2 (LS). At the moment of writing, the carrier owns and operates 30 Boeing 737-800 and six 737-8s across its three subsidiaries from Turkey, Malta, and the Netherlands.

However, CD has now found a new market to compete in apart from flights between the Netherlands and Southern Europe, and it is the Dutch Caribbean. In the past months, the Turkish subsidiary of Corendon already leased an Airbus A330-300 from GetJet, registered as 9H-LEON, which was destined to fly high-demand routes in Europe, so this is the first time Corendon expands intercontinental.

Now, with the addition of the World2Fly aircraft, CD also ends its decade-long relationship with KL on transatlantic flights, as the company decided to run these services on its own leased aircraft.

Despite being direct competitors, World2Fly and Iberojet have identical similarities in route network and fleet. Photo: Adrian Nowakowski/Airways

About World2Fly

World2Fly is a young Spanish leisure airline that commenced operations in June 2021. 2W is a member of the Iberostar Group and World2Meet and was founded and is currently directed by a part of the former executive board of Iberojet (E9), a different leisure airline as well based at Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD).

Two years after the start of its operations, the airline owns and operates four aircraft, an Airbus A330-300 and three Airbus A350-900, across its two brands in Spain and Portugal. The carrier expects delivery of another A330 soon.

Apart from operating regular commercial flights to Central America, 2W has recently also positioned itself in the wet-leasing market, already having operated important ACMI services for airlines such as Air Europa (UX), Jet2 (LS), or Corsair (SS), as well as having participated in important operations like the soccer fans transport to the UEFA Europa League final in May 2023.

Despite being a direct competitor, World2Fly has traced exactly the operational strategy of its rival Iberojet, as both airlines operate the same types of aircraft with the exact passenger cabin configurations. As well, they serve the same market, flying leisure passengers from Madrid and Lisbon to the Caribbean, coinciding with flights to Cancún (CUN), Havana (HAV), and Punta Cana (PUJ).

Featured image: Adrian Nowakowski/Airways

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